Relinquish

3/8/2020

Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ.”

Relinquish; to give over possession or control of, to yield or surrender

                                                                                merrium-webster.com

                                                                               

My journey with God has been wonderful and winding. Sometimes my faith has been strong, and sometimes it hasn’t. The times of weakness usually come about because of my perseverative mind, when I let the things of this world crush in. These are the moments that I cannot get out of the way, and I lose focus on Jesus. It is then that I feel a distance from God in my spirit because of worry, fear, and a lack of trust. Chambers says, “No one is ever united with Jesus Christ until he is willing to relinquish not sin only, but his whole way of thinking.” For me, sin is the easier thing to recognize, but my overactive mind and its destructive power, not so much. It is certainly a thing that Satan uses to neutralize me and make me ineffective for God.

Romans 12: 2 has become a very important verse for me, because it speaks directly to my struggle. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” The more I ask God to help me with such nonconformity, the closer I draw to Him and the more He refines my spirit. I must attempt to continuously relinquish my right to myself, and submit fully to God. I must perpetually die to self. 

Chambers says, “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.