Devotional thoughts - Lent 2013 - day 29

Have really been thinking about how I live lately - about what attitude I have and am portraying as I go about this life.  While I have thought about this before, it was usually in terms of how my actions would be perceived to others, how God would be represented.  Now, however, the emphasis seems to be on how my heart will be perceived by God.  A “shift”, yeah? (Passion City Church sermon series “Shift” just completed last Sunday – can  be viewed at www.passioncitychurch.com/watch.)

The My Utmost for His Highest devotional speaks of this in terms of surrender:

Salvation does not mean merely deliverance from sin or the experience of personal holiness. The salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from myself, and being placed into perfect union with Him. When I think of my salvation experience, I think of being delivered from sin and gaining personal holiness. But salvation is so much more! It means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true Person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself. …

If we are truly surrendered, we will never be aware of our own efforts to remain surrendered. Our entire life will be consumed with the One to whom we surrender. … In fact, you will never know anything about it until you understand that John 3:16 means that God completely and absolutely gave Himself to us. In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave Himself for us— totally, unconditionally, and without reservation. The consequences and circumstances resulting from our surrender will never even enter our mind, because our life will be totally consumed with Him.

And - in being “totally consumed with Him” - the Our Daily Bread devotional reminds that …

…we are all called to be a living testament of Jesus’ work on our behalf. No matter the outcome, from a heart of gratitude for God’s gracious gift we can tell others what Jesus has done for us.

… so that we each, like Paul (from 2 Timothy 2:10, KJV), would be determined to “… endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.”

… and my journey with Him continues …