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The Relinquished Life, VerseVisions Art; Galatians 2:20
Originally uploaded by MarkLawrenceGallery.com
No one is ever united with Jesus Christ until he is willing to relinquish not sin only, but his whole way of looking at things. To be born from above of the Spirit of God means that we must let go before we lay hold, and in the first stages it is the relinquishing of all pretence. What Our Lord wants us to present to Him is not goodness, nor honesty, nor endeavour, but real solid sin; that is all He can take from us. And what does He give in exchange for our sin? Real solid righteousness. But we must relinquish all pretence of being any thing, all claim of being worthy of God's consideration.
Then the Spirit of God will show us what further there is to relinquish. There will have to be the relinquishing of my claim to my right to myself in every phase. Am I willing to relinquish my hold on all I possess, my hold on my affections, and on everything, and to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?
There is always a sharp painful disillusionment to go through before we do relinquish. When a man really sees himself as the Lord sees him, it is not the abominable sins of the flesh that shock him, but the awful nature of the pride of his own heart against Jesus Christ. When he sees himself in the light of the Lord, the shame and the horror and the desperate conviction come home.
If you are up against the question of relinquishing, go through the crisis, relinquish all, and God will make you fit for all that He requires of you.
Thanks Mark for letting me use this picture. This is but one of many Mark has done re: Oswald Chambers writings.
This painting was inspired by the moving devotions penned and published by Oswald Chambers in the early 1900’s. His powerful book, My Utmost for His Highest, continues to touch my life and draw me closer to Jesus. I hope that this art and verse do the same for you!
Rich
2 comments:
The longer I live, the more I realize that the work of relinquishig is HIS to work in me. I am discovering more freedom to accept myself where I am at, and let HIM do the work in me - "to will and to work that which is of HIS good pleasure. It is a painfully slow process in my eyes. My temper tantrums come easily when I want things in my time rather than His, yet I continue to pray for HIS will in His time. I realize more and more that I do not want to move on until He has accomplished in me all that He desires on each step of this journey.
Oh the sweet agony of learning to trust Him more and more, each day no matter how it looks or doesn't look to me, or even to others. To live is Christ, to die is gain. Daily living out the dying of my own agenda's, that the life of Christ would be more manifested in me.
Mike,
Absolutely loved everything your heart longs for, and how you expressed the incarnational transformation unfolding with in you my friend and brother-YES!
Let’s try and set a time soon whereby we might kook up to have a live chat.
I most likely will come back to try and share some additional thoughts on what you shared here as it is ripe, pregnant with such delicious meaning to me as well.
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