It costs much to obtain the power of the Spirit:
it costs self-surrender and humiliationand the yielding up of our most precious things to God;it costs the perseverance of long waiting,and the faith of strong trust.But when we are really in that power we shall find this difference,that whereas before it was hard for us to do the easiest things,now it is easy for us to do the hardest things.(Adoniram Judson Gordon, The Holy Spirit in missions: six lectures, pp. 209-210,accessed 11/14/2011, formatting mine)
"Self-surrender..."
"The yielding up of our most precious things to God..."
"The perseverance of long waiting..."
"The faith of strong trust..."
Here in the long waiting, needing strong trust, what "most precious things" have I not yet yielded to my Creator and Redeemer? What part of self am I still holding in reserve? This dream, that relationship, this plan, that acquisition...
All of it, Lord? You really want it all?
Yielding, perseverance, faith - I don't much like these things. (Where's the dessert cart instead?) But easy to do the hard, power of the Spirit, presence of the Spirit - yes, yes, that would be nice.
Today I'm in the waiting, the listening, the weighing, seeking to learn from these wise and challenging words. Perhaps I'm not the only one?
May God grant grace for us to yield what we think most precious in order to grow in knowing Him who is above all most precious.
Linking with Laura, Michelle, and Jen today:
"The yielding up of our most precious things to God..."
"The perseverance of long waiting..."
"The faith of strong trust..."
Here in the long waiting, needing strong trust, what "most precious things" have I not yet yielded to my Creator and Redeemer? What part of self am I still holding in reserve? This dream, that relationship, this plan, that acquisition...
All of it, Lord? You really want it all?
Yielding, perseverance, faith - I don't much like these things. (Where's the dessert cart instead?) But easy to do the hard, power of the Spirit, presence of the Spirit - yes, yes, that would be nice.
Today I'm in the waiting, the listening, the weighing, seeking to learn from these wise and challenging words. Perhaps I'm not the only one?
May God grant grace for us to yield what we think most precious in order to grow in knowing Him who is above all most precious.
