There are two main themes that seem to be central to what God wants me to learn this year. Through a variety of Bible Studies, influential books, and people God has brought into my path the Lord has been teaching me more about the power of prayer and the power that is available to me through the Holy Spirit. This is coming from a girl who likes to rely on her own strengths and capabilities to get things done!
As God leads Grace’s Kitchen closer to leasing a restaurant space, it is a daily struggle for me to supress my desire to take over and try to move things along in my own strength. God has been impressing on me daily to submit to His authority, rest in His strength, and make no decision without His go-ahead. This is an age-old struggle between God and man; the death of self is contrary to our sinful nature. It is so important that I remember Jesus’ own words in Luke 9:23-24: “Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.’ “
Daily means daily and ‘deny himself ‘ means complete and total surrender.
In the words of C.S. Lewis, “The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self–all your wishes and precautions–to Christ. Christ says ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked–the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: My own will shall become yours.’… ”
Please continue to pray for Paula and me every day as we walk this path. We long for a surrendered life and complete and total obedience.
-Lisa
