Issuu

BERITA ICCC INDONESIA 2012 Dari Mejanya National President

MEI BERITA INTERN UNTUK ANGGOTA DAN KOMUNIKASI BAGI KALANGAN BISNIS DAN PROFESI KRISTEN ICCC (INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CHAMBER OF COMEMRCE) ADALAH MIMBAR DIMANA PESAN KRISTUS BAGI KITA DI ZAMAN INI DIJABARKAN, DIBAGIKAN DAN DINYATAKAN TERHADAP DUNIA BISNIS

NATIONAL BOARD National President Bunan Djambek Vice Presidents:  Admin/Secretary Eliezer H. Hardjo 

Finance/Treasurer: Johanis S. Najoan



Membership/Mentoring/ Network Manimbul L. Sitorus Simon Aditan



Teaching / Training Benjamin B. Juwono Ridwan Naftali



Business Development/ Micro-Enterprise Tonny Soetjoadi Rudolf A.S. Sinaga



Intercessors (Mrs.) Josephine S. Sitorus (Ms.) Hermina M. Usmany Eddy S. Kristiawan

Kantor Nasional ICCC Indonesia:

Website: www.iccc-indonesia.com Pertokoan Pulo Mas Blok B I / 8, Jalan Perintis Kemerdekaan. Jakarta 13260 Telp (021) 4890211, fax: (021) 4722274. E-mail: djambek-plus@cbn.net.id, ehardjo@gmail.com, js.najoan@gmail.com

Tuhan! Allah itu baik, sangat baik ! Kita dapat mengakhiri bulan April 2012 , bulan yang penuh dengan kebaikan dan anugerah Allah! Bagaimana tidak, delegasi kami pada tanggal 2 April tiba kembali di tanah air dengan selamat dipenuhi dengan berbagai berkat, secara rohani maupun jasmani setelah mengikuti ICCC Asia Regional Conference di Bangkok dari tanggal 29 Maret 2012 . Akan tetapi saya pribadi masih belum puas dan bertanya apakah sesungguhnya “hidden agenda” dari Allah bagi delegasi Indonesia yang diutus oleh DIA? Maka pada pertemuan bulanan lalu terungkap bahwa ada beberapa jiwa yang telah dimenangkan dan masih ada yang sedang di proses. Juga pada pertemuan sebelum keberangkatan kita putuskan hal-hal yang perlu dikemukakan sekiranya kita ditunjuk jadi host untuk ARG selanjutnya, ternyata kita bukan saja diputuskan untuk jadi host bahkan di beri bangsa-bangsa se-Asia untuk dijangkau! Kita ditunjuk untuk menyelengarakan South East Asia Sub-Regional meeting tanggal 6-8 September 2012 yang akan datang dengan tema: “A New Wave in the Marketplace” sesuai FirmanNya di Mazmur 2:8: “Mintalah kepada-Ku, maka bangsa-bangsa akan Kuberikan kepadamu menjadi milik pusakamu, dan ujung bumi akan menjadi kepunyaanmu.” Dahsyat bukan? Rupanya Indonesia termasuk dalam rencana Allah yang lebih besar lagi, seperti kita ketahui WPA 2012 akan dilaksanakan pada tanggal 14-18 bulan ini dengan puncaknya pada tanggal 17 sore harinya di Gelora Bung Karno. Karena WPA 2012 adalah tempat berkumpulnya umat dari lebih dari 200 bangsa-bangsa, dan kita mengimani setelah usai acara ini, kita akan melihat dan menunggu terwujudnya janji-janji Allah tentang kebangunan rohani seluruh dunia dengan Indonesia sebagai epicentrumnya. Nah bagaimana dengan‘Marketplace Track’ WPA 2012 yang telah terbentuk selama ini? Ini adalah kekuatan yang luar biasa untuk mentransformasi dunia sesuai pula dengan visi Demos Shakarian, pendiri FGBMFI Internasional dalam buku “Vision Intensified” yang ditulisnya pada tahun 1950-an. FGBMFI yang nanti tanggal 25 Juli 2012 akan memperingati hari jadinya yang ke-60 di Denpasar dengan tema “New Wave” seperti WPA 2012! Para pelaku marketplace track, termasuk ICCC Indonesia pada tanggal 11 April 2012 yang lalu telah membentuk Indonesia Market Network (IMN) yang mempunyai misi untuk memenangkan dunia melalui dunia usaha. Dan kICCC Indonesia di SEA Sub-region Conference melanjutkan pula pelayanan marketplace untuk mentransformasi bangsa-bangsa di dunia. Nah saudara-saudaraku kiranya sharing saya ini lebih memperat kita untuk memperbesar Kerajaan Allah di dunia ini.

Bunan Djambek National President ICCC INDONESIA www.iccc-indonesia.com

Page 1

masing juga akan ada program-program bersama dan selain WPA 2012 juga ada gerakan yang disebut AYO (Adopt Your Office) Movement sebagai bagian dari MY HOME Movement untuk menggiatkan doa di kalangan marketplace dan memberkati lingkungan dan jalan-jalan dimana kita berada.

ICCC INDONESIA 

WORLD PRAYER ASSEMBLY 2012 World Prayer Assembly (WPA) 2012 yang akan berlangsung di SICC Sentul pada tanggal 14 sampai dengan 17 Mei 2012, semakin dekat. ICCC Indonesia menghimbau kepada seluruh member ICCC Indonesia untuk mengambil bagian dalam ”historical event” ini dimana akan berkumpul delegasi sekitar 220 negara dan 350 kota di Indonesia akan ikut mengambil bagian.

ICCC ASIA  LAPORAN ICCC ASIA REGIONAL CONFEFRENCE

Puncaknya adalah Konser Doa yang akan dihadiri sekitar 100 ribu orang, diantaranya 20 ribu anak-anak di Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Senayan pada tanggal 17 Mei sore hari. Untuk Acara tanggal 17 Mei sore ini tidak dikenakan biaya dengan prinsip ”First come; First served” Para pemimpin aras nasional, gereja-gereja dan marketplace track bersama children, teen dan youth dan delegasi dari seluruh negara peserta akan mengambil bagian dalam Acara spektakuler Perhimpunan Umat TUHAn di Akhir Zaman ini.

FORUM ANGGOTA 

MEMBERSHIP FEE

Bagi anda yang ingin bergabung dan member yang akan memperpanjang kartu keanggotaan anda untuk tahun 2012 agar menghubungi Manimbul Luhut Sitorus V.P. Membership (HP: +628159694545) atau Simon Aditan – Membership Domain (HP: +62816974647) atau mengirimkan email ke V.P. Admin/ Secretary (ehardjo@gmail.com) Annual Membership Fee untuk tahun 2012 kategori Developing Nation menjadi Rp. 600.000 dimana US$ 50 dikirim ke Kantor Pusat di Swedia sebagai syarat dan kewajiban International Membership

 INDONESIA MARKETPLACE NETWORK (IMN)

Membership Fee dapat ditransfer ke rekening ICCC Indonesia atau FORUKIN dibawah ini, dan mengirimkan bukti transfernya dengan fax ke alamat yang tercantum paling bawah dari setiap halaman Newsletter ini:

Pada tanggal 11 April 2012 yang lalu, bertempat di Plaza Indonesia. Lantai 2, telah diadakan pertemuan dari beberapa marketplace ministry dalam rangka persiapan WPA 2012 dan TUHAN telah menuntun dalam kesempatan tersebut untuk membentuk sebuah Network yang diberi nama: Indonesia Marketplace Network (IMN) yang nantinya akan go global menjadi International Ministry.

Rekening Bank:

ICCC Indonesia menjadi salah satu anggota dan pendiri disamping FGBMFI Indonesia, BOM, JDK, JPDK, PKKO, KBC, The Multiplicator dan Meek Foundation dan nantinya akan diperluas dengan mengajak semua marketplace ministries di Indonesia bergabung.

CIMB NIAGA BANK Cabang Senen - Jakarta No. 200-01-00012-00-0 a/n : Forum Komunikasi Usahawan Kristen Indonesia (FORUKIN).



Ruang Konsultasi Bisnis / Pekerjaan Bagi member yang membutuhkan konsultasi dalam bidang bisnis / pekerjaan silahkan menghubungi via email: ehardjo@gmail.com yang

Untuk waktu yang akan datang, selain masing-masing marketplace ministry mengadakan kegiatan masing-

Page 2

akan kami masukkan dalam kolom konsultasi agar dapat dibaca dan bermanfaat bagi yang lain yang mengalami hal yang sama. Oleh karenanya harus bersifat terbuka, walau identitas (atas permintaan yang bersangkutan) akan kami samarkan. Jawaban atau saran, selain dari National Board, juga dari member lain yang dapat memberi masukan, setelah di edit oleh Redaksi Berita ICCC Indonesia. For serious inquiry, please contact: Junias Hidajat E-mail: junias@indosat.net.id Cell: +62 81 2287 1778

KONTAK BISNIS

3. Surya Delapan Mas Tonny Soetjoadi – Director Offices: 1. HWI Lindeteves 4th Floor, Block B No. 7 Jalan Hayam Wuruk Jakarta (Barat) 11180 – INDONESIA Phone: 062 (21) 6259625 Fax: 062 (21) 6259561

GOLDEN MOMENT TOUR AND TRAVEL

2. Taman Berdikari Santosa Block M No. 16 Jalan Pemuda Jakarta (Timur) 13220 – INDONESIA Phone: 062 (21) 4712821 & 91282388 Fax: 062 (21) 4718293

Serving : Incentive Tour Ticketing, Holyland Tour, Event Organizer

Line of Business: Distribution of Chladianplast Corrugated Roof & Flat sheet for Jakarta Metro & Outer Java and International market

With Ethos “Serving With Love “

PT. Golden Moment Tour Komp. Bukit Gading Indah Blok K no. 1 Phone : (62 21) 4585 2511 / 46394115 Fax : (62 21) 4585 2611

2. PT. Chantique Inti Décor Junias Hidajat – Director Offices: JL. Semarang – Purwodadi Km 17.8 Gudang No. 8 Kalitengah, Mranggen, Demak 59567, Jawa Tengah – Indonesia Phone: +62-24 673 5496 & 673 5498 Fax: +62-24 673 5497 e-mail: chantique@indosat.net.id Website: www.chantique-id.com Line of Business: Manufacture of customize outdoor furniture for hotels and restaurants.

Page 3

Business Opportunity: Looking for bona-fide Sub-distributors all-over Indonesia as well as outside of Indonesia, preferably having vast networks & experiences in distribution of building materials. Serious inquiry can be directed to Tonny Soetjoadi, Director (tonnystd@indo.net.id or mobile: +62811193202 4. HeavenSpring Consulting & Agencies Co. Eliezer Hernawan Hardjo Ph.D., CM

Jalan Pegangsaan Indah Barat B I / 8 Pondok Gading Utama Jakarta 14250 – INDONESIA Phone: 062 (21) 4521141 Fax: 062 (21) 4533070 Mobile: (062) 815-13203415

the moment I get my income for the month. This is my testimony about tithing and God’s great financial blessings to me. This entry has been inspired by God’s blessings in my life – His molding of my character, and His recent prosperity test

E-mail: eliezer@heavenspring.com, ehardjo@gmail.com

for me. To you oh Lord, I give my greatest thanks and praise.

Partners: 1. Institute of Certified Professional Managers – James Madison University, VA, USA 2. DF Solusi Consulting – Indonesia

give my tithe to God. Bad budgeting.

May this entry always glorify you! And for the month of February, I’ll be going negative if I do You see, I’ve been supporting campus missionaries. And there’s this specific campus missionary that I give a sizable amount to. My support for this person is charged via credit

Line of Business: Business & Management Consulting (Seminar, Training & Consulting) Bagi member yang berminat untuk dicantumkan dalam kolom ini (free of charge) dimohon untuk meng-update data dan mengirim ke e-mail: ehardjo@gmail.com seperti contoh diatas  Nama Perusahaan  Person in Charge dan Contact person  Alamat lengkap termasuk no. Telepon/fax dan e-mail  Line of business  Specific products yang ingin ditawarkan (dengan foto kalau ada – yang di-compressed)

card. On November 2011, I cut that specific credit card due to bad service. What happened was, my support for that campus missionary got cut too – 4 months behind as of February 2012. I was only able to transfer the billing to my other credit card on Feb 2012. That money isn’t mine. I pledged it to God to give to that campus missionary. Because it was 4 months already, it was an even bigger amount. I knew that I’ll be going negative on March’s credit card billing. I asked God if my support to that campus minister could be considered as my ‘tithe’ – apparently God said ‘NO’. Little did I know that God’s ‘No’ is because He wants to bless me more than that.

The Prosperity Test:

Let’s roll back a little bit – where I am now

How God blessed me triple in 16 days

I’m an internet marketer and SEO specialist. Right now I’m the proprietor and managing director of SEO Hacker – an internet marketing company. We offer a wide variety of bestquality services and we prove our worth by applying our

By: Sean

internet marketing strategies to our own website. Right now

Just recently, I’ve

we have 10 wonderful full-time workers (including me!) and a lot of part time writers and are looking for more people!

been struggling to give my tithe

The company was started by God in my life through helping me test and experiment with this blog, God and You. I was not born rich. My family is not rich. I had no money to start a

to God –

business. No capital at all – ZERO. And yet, God started the

because I will be going

company with me from doing freelance SEO work – to signing contracts with big name clients. God is my provider.

negative. I’ve had this bad habit of waiting 3 months until I give God 3 months’ worth of my tithe. I’m not saying that it’s a sin to do so. All I’m saying is that it’s much better if I give God my tithe

Page 4

Aneglyn Co - She’s the girl of my dreams. And once, while I was driving with her after I’ve made that ‘compromise with God’, she told me that, for her, tithing should be different than my support for other people. Strike one. Charles Sy - He’s the youngest brother of pastor Dennis Sy. A really good friend and ‘older brother’ to me. He suddenly just chatted me one night – asking me if I’m already getting married. Of course I told him about my financial status – and the first thing he asked me was: “Are you giving your tithe?” I was convicted even if I was giving my campus missionary support. It was a confirmation from God that my tithe is different – and I shrugged it off.

The SEO Hacker Team

The company earns a good amount each month and I get to

Bill Hybels - Senior Pastor of Willowcreek church. Powerful

keep a portion for myself – enough for me to spend for

preacher and an amazing life-example of how he

myself, my dates with my wonderful girl, my family, etc… It

surrendered his finances to God. I was listening to Billy

was a blessed amount. It was also more than enough for me

Hybels in his current podcast ‘Financial Series 2012′ – and I

to give and support other people in need. Which, I believe,

was strongly reminded of the real reason behind tithing. In

God has called me to. And to top it all off, I get to save a fair

this podcast he said “Is tithing like breathing to you? Is it the

amount at the end of each month.

first check you write? Only those with a high view of God will

All these blessings were brought to me by God just like that

answer a resounding ‘yes’.”

in the year 2010 when I graduated college. He just provides!

Right there and then, I knew that I had to refresh my

But last year (2011), I had no new contracts to boost up my

perspective. I had to have a high view of God when it comes

savings and earnings even if I worked hard for them.

to money and His provisions. I didn’t waste any more time. I

Strange. Still, I gave my tithe to God and my support to other

gave my tithe to God.

people.

Everything I have right now is because of Him. Every talent,

But February 2012 was different – I was going to go red.

every skill, every teammate, every penny, every hair of my

I didn’t want to go red.

head – is because of His great love for me. Because our God

I want to get married this year – and, I can humbly and

wants us to enjoy life to its full even here on Earth.

honestly tell you that I’m VERY far off financially.

What happened to my February?

Caution: Tithe only if you want to be blessed. Otherwise, spend it on what you want. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” – Malachi 3:10 There is no logic in tithing. How can I get richer than how I could be if I give 10% of what I have every month to the God who created this universe? Does He need my money?

God is Amazing!

No. Tithing is an aspect of complete faith in action. It is a no-

By faith, I gave my tithes and paid what I pledged to the

logic act. Only people with real faith in God will be moved to

campus missionary. I’m expecting to have a big hit on my

tithe because they love God and want to honor the Great

savings when March comes. Well, it’s March now. March 16,

Provider with the results of their work.

2012 to be exact. In that 16 days of March, 3 contracts were

How God said that my support cannot be considered as

signed. So much so that I do not have enough manpower to

my tithe:

handle more contracts and I’m rejecting new clients who are

At first, I thought that my compromise with my tithe being my

looking to hire our services.

support for the campus missionary is alright. But there were

To top it all off, my offshore client gave us so much work on

three people who told me that I had to tithe and my campus

February that this offshore client alone could pay for all my

missionary support cannot be considered as my tithe.

Page 5

barang dan menyediakan jasa, saling mendukung dan menguatkan secara rohani dan materi. Berdasarkan eksistensi dari visi itu sendiri memproklamirkan otoritas Kristus yang mutlak diseluruh dunia.

support and tithe to God! AMAZING! I didn’t go red – not even for a month! God is indeed faithful in seeing me through. That small step of faith – of me giving my tithe even if I was going to take a hit on my savings (and will give up the idea of getting married this year), resulted into a big blessing. I cannot even begin to believe that three contracts have already been signed these 16 days (and 2 more on the

Pada intinya ICCC adalah kehendak TUHAN untuk memperluas tali kasih-Nya, melalui gereja-Nya, didalam dunia usaha. Hal ini menuntut para pelaku bisnis mencari terlebih dahulu Kerajaan-Nya dan segala Kebenaran-Nya.

way!). All praise and Glory be to God.

Urapan tersedia bagi mereka yang dengan mata melihat dan telinga mendengar panggilan jaman. Sebagaimana halnya Raja Daud yang menerima urapan untuk menjadi raja, jauh sebelum dia menjadi Raja, yang keadaan pada saat urapan diberikan sama sekali tidak mungkin bagi Daud untuk menjadi Raja, demikianlah ICCC memanggil para pengusaha Kristen sebelum peristiwanya terjadi untuk mengalami kebebasan masuk ke dalam dimensi baru, dimana sasaran, strategi dan perencanaan bersama-sma diwujud-nyatakan sesuai dengan iman di dalam Kristus.

There is a Prosperity Test And God gives it to each and every one of us. This is when God gives us the talents for us to grow or keep or spend for ourselves. I want to encourage you to let your talent grow and to give. There is no better way to spend your money than to use it to further God’s Kingdom here on Earth. I know that whatever happens from this point on with my finances, God is faithful and He has miraculously helped me in this specific time of my life. May He continue to bless me and use me to bless others. (Kirimkan kutipan, artikel, kata-kata mutiara atau kisah pengalaman anda yang dapat memperkuat iman pembaca Newsletter ini kepada TUHAN baik itu berupa pengalaman pribadi maupun orang lain dengan ciri utama bisnis dan rohani)

ICCC mencanangkan panggilan itu sejalan dengan rencana TUHAN bagi jaman ini sebagai kunci memperoleh berkat dan pertumbuhan dan agar dapat bangkit berkemenangan diatas gelombang ombak yang mengancam. Panggilan ICCC: “Mereka akan menjadi milik kesayanganKu sendiri, firman TUHAN semesta Alam pada hari yang Kusiapkan. Aku akan mengasihi mereka sama seperti seseorang menyayangi anaknya yang melayani dia. Maka kamu akan melihat kembali perbedaan antara orang benar dan orang fasik, antara orang yang beribadah kepada TUHAN dan orang yang tidak beribadah kepada-Nya.” (Maleakhi 3: 17-18)

VISI DAN TUJUAN ICCC TUJUAN ICCC International Christian Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) lahir dari kepatuhan terhadap visi yang diberikan selama kurun waktu enam tahun kepada seorang usahawan Swedia J. Gunnar Olson, yang diteguhkan dengan nubuatan dan terbukanya pintu kesempatan disekitarnya yang sebelumnya tertutup.

KEYAKINAN IMAN ICCC:

ICCC merupakan panggilan yang serius dan menantang bagi pengusaha Kristen untuk mengenali jaman yang sedang kita masuki dan dengan terang dari pengenalan itu memasuki dimensi iman yang baru yang disediakan bagi mereka yang …” takut akan TUHAN … berbicara satu sama lain … dan menghormati namaNya.” (Maleakhi 3: 16) Visi ini memanggil para pengusaha dan kaum profesi di seluruh dunia yang terbeban untuk saling berhubungan, bertukar pendapat, memperdagang-kan

Page 6



Satu-satunya TUHAN pencipta segala sesuatu dalam kesatuan Trinitas: Bapa, Anak, dan Roh Kudus.



Keilahian TUHAN Yesus Kristus. KelahiranNya dari rahim seorang Perawan. Karya penebusan dosa manusia melalui kematianNya diatas kayu salib. Kebangkitan-Nya. Hak otoriatas diri-Nya atas dunia dan Kedatangan-Nya yang kedua kali dalam Kuasa dan Kemuliaan-Nya.



Alkitab, sepenuhnya sebagai Firman TUHAN yang memberikan inspirasi dan berbagai peraturan bagi kehidupan yang dilandasi iman.



Keselamatan pribadi orang berdosa dan kebutuhannya untuk mengalami proses regenerasi melalui karya Roh Kudus dalam

menuju menjadikannya sebagai manusia yang dikehendaki oleh TUHAN, seutuhnya.

Submission to God’s Will Transformed Working Life (TWL) adalah Pelatihan resmi dari Kantor Internasional bagi anggota ICCC dalam memperlengkapi anggota dengan pengetahuan dan pemahaman latar belakang, tujuan dan penerapan prinsipprinsip Kerajaan TUHAN bagi dunia bisnis dan profesi. TWL diperuntukkan bagi anggota dan dapat diikuti secara Cuma-Cuma, namun terbuka juga bagi siapa saja yang berminat untuk mengikutinya.

TWL

diselenggarakan dalam bahasa Indonesia dan dilengkapi dengan buku panduannya, yang telah diterjemahkan kedalam Bahasa Indonesia juga, sehingga para peserta betul-betul akan memperoleh manfa’at yang besar dan mengalami transformasi dalam kehidupan pribadi maupun bisnisnya. TWL difasilitasi oleh anggota National Board yang terlatih dan dikoordinir oleh V.P. Teaching: Benjamin B. Juwono bersama dengan Teaching Team: Ridwan Naftali Transformed Working Life (TWL) akan ditayangkan dalam salah satu channel di Indonesia agar dapat dimanfaatkan oleh para pebisnis & profesional Kristiani di Indonesia bagaimana menerapkan prinsip-prinsip Kerajaan Tuhan dalam kehidupan berbisnis dan bekerja mereka. TWL bagi members secara rutin diadakan pada hari Sabtu ke 2 setiap bulan dan terbuka dan dianjurkan bagi semua member untuk mengikutinya sebagai pembekalan wajib.

Page 7

Our wills are naturally selfish. We love to have our own way. It’s not easy to submit to the will of another, unless there’s some strong motive that impels us to submission. The carrying out of our wills in a selfish way only leads to more selfishness and to a stronger inclination to have our own way. It’s this selfish inclination in the will that makes it necessary for God to demand submission from us. His will is never selfish, but always benevolent. The cheerful doing of it always leads to an increase of benevolence in us. Therefore, when God demands us to submit our wills to him, he’s doing that which is best for us. The more consideration for others and true benevolence is developed within us, the more our natures are purified and exalted and the more we are able to fulfill the purpose of our creation. Submitting to God is often the hardest of all tasks, yet it’s the most necessary if we’re to be exalted to fellowship with God and enjoy the highest development of our faculties and powers. Selfishness always tends to degrade. It’s ignoble--exercise tends to dwarf and blight the finest things in our characters. The adoption of a submissive attitude toward God and his will, paves the way for the natural development of those qualities within us which are most worth developing, and which ennoble us most when they’re developed. The more our souls run out God-ward, the more like him we become; and the more like him we become, the happier and more useful we are. Unselfish devotion to benevolent service toward God and toward our fellow man enriches the heart and life as nothing else can do, and leads the way to happiness, peace, and contentment, which make one truly blessed. Submission to God is the one necessary thing in order to enjoy the Christian life. The more fully we’re submitted to his will, the more cheerfully we can carry it out, and the sweeter and richer will be the joy of doing it. Reluctant submission to God is not real submission. Reluctant obedience is never real obedience. It’s only when the heart responds to God willingly and cheerfully that the power of

such service to make one happy is realized. We must conquer our reluctant wills. “The essence of sacrifice of self is the sacrifice of the will. Unwilling offerings are a contradiction, and in fact, there are no such things. The quality of unwillingness destroys the character of the offering and robs it of all sacredness. Reluctant Christianity is not Christianity.” True nobility of both the inner and the outer life comes from submission to, and cooperation with, God. The nature of our relations with God depends upon the extent of our submission to him. This is well illustrated in the relation of husband and wife. When two marry, and there’s no merging of the wills and purposes, but each retains his or her individuality, standing apart from the other in wish and desire, in choosing and willing, their union can never be a happy one. They must yield themselves to each other. There must be a merging of their wills into each other, a combining of their purposes, a consideration of each other, a sacrificing of the individual will. The husband and wife who really love each other can enjoy each other’s society and draw near to each other in spirit and affection. This makes their union a blessed reality, and a source of more true joy than any other natural relation. Those who thus enjoy each other are the ones who have sacrificed self and lost sight of selfish considerations; each desires to please the other and each finds his or her happiness in the happiness of the other. In the Scriptures, Christ is represented as being the husband of the church, and the church is taught to submit to him as a wife should submit to her husband. The wife submits to her husband because she loves him---if she submits from any other reason she must be unhappy in her submission. The submission, that comes from love, and is the willing response of love, is the source of the deepest and truest happiness that can come from human sources. So the submission to God, which is acceptable to him, and which reacts in blessedness to the soul who submits, must be based upon love. The secret of such submission is thus stated by John, “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us.” (1 John 4:16) So he exclaims in the next breath, “God is love.” Only the truly submitted heart can fathom the love of God, or can love God with that self-enriching love, which inspires devotion and causes us to delight in God. The fervor of love softens the will and makes it flexible. When we love, it is easy to obey; it is easy to submit. All the irksomeness and compulsion is taken out of religion when the heart is full of love toward God. The more we love, the easier it is to serve, and the more joyful is that service. Self-surrender is the heart of all true religion. Paul told the secret when he said of a certain church, that they “first gave their own selves.” Then they could endure persecutions. They could bear with patience the things, which came upon them, and still be full of joy. The yoke of God was not galling to them. The sufferings that came upon them were not hard to be borne. They were overrunning with love. Their hearts were knit together with bonds stronger than death. They could be exceedingly joyful in all their tribulations, because they had first given themselves. Oh, the barrenness and unhappiness, in the lives of many persons, because they are trying to give service, when they haven’t given themselves! They are trying to serve God, but at the

Page 8

same time they’re serving themselves. They try to combine these two services, and what an unsatisfying, irksome service they find it! How often their will is contrary to God’s will! How often their will breaks out to claim its own way! This conflict of wills shuts out from their lives the blessed sense of God’s nearness and approval, which is granted to those who have first given themselves; who have yielded their all without reservation to God; who have surrendered themselves, and their wills, and now find a continuous inspiration to service in the delight of their own hearts in serving. A religion, which is not based on selfsurrender is a mere form. It is of no more value than the religion of the pagan, for it is the same kind of a religion that he has. True religion is love---love flowing out in devotion, and service, and self-surrender. The forms of religion are nothing without the real inner substance. If we have the form, without the inner content, we are poor indeed; but if we are thoroughly submitted to God, we have the inner content of religion, no matter in what form it manifests itself. The attitude of our wills toward God is thus beautifully expressed by one writer, “A man’s will, should be an echo, not a voice; the echo of God, not the voice of self. It should be silent as some sweet instrument is silent till the owner’s hand touches the keys.” It is self-surrender that tunes all the strings of our hearts to a unison of purpose, and makes them responsive to the touch of the Divine Musician. And when we are attuned to God’s will through self-surrender, our hearts will be filled with his melodies; there will be celestial harmonies in our lives; our hearts will join with the angels in their chorus of praise, and we shall be raised up together with Christ and made to sit in heavenly places with him. Self-surrender is the key that unlocks all the riches of our own natures, and causes them to bud and blossom and produce rich fragrance. Every noble thing in us is made nobler, by submission; every beauty is rendered more beautiful---a thousand new beauties and riches are brought into the life that was not there before. Self-surrender empties our hearts and makes them ready to receive divine treasures. Love, joy, faith, peace, contentment, and all the blessed fruition of righteousness have their roots sunk deep in selfsurrender. Many people seem to think that surrender to God impoverishes men, and that it is a wholly one-sided thing, but God asks that we be emptied of self only that he may fill us and that he may give himself to us in the fullest measure of our capacity and willingness to receive him. If we hold to anything of self, or of the world, it’s because we’re not willing to be filled with God and don’t believe that he will be to us more than all else beside. All lack of submission, shuts our God from that part of our nature, which is not submitted, and prevents him from having control of that part of the will, which remains un-submitted. Open the door of thy heart wide. Unlock its every chamber. Hand over the key to God. Entreat him to come in, and fill you to your fullest capacity. Empty your heart of self, all selfish plans, purposes, desires, reluctance of the will and every hesitation to obey. Give him your all. Let not one thing be kept back. When all is his, the floods of his grace will flow into your soul till you will wonder why you ever

hesitated to yield your all to him. He yields his all to us. He withholds no good thing when we are yielded to him fully. So the yielding is mutual, although he gives more than we, because he is greater than we. He asks the surrender of our wills only that he may guide us into paths wherein we never could walk without his guidance---paths of peace beneath the sunny skies of his love. Cheerful self-surrender has a wonderful power to banish the gloom and the clouds of human life. The un-surrendered life is like the mountain whose top is ever veiled in clouds.

accomplish without being surrendered. Our wills should speak, after God’s will speaks. If our wills speak first, they may bring us into many miseries and troubles and be the cause of many failures and sins. We must let God speak, and then when he speaks, echo the same thing. Thus shall we be workers together with God in the accomplishment of his grand and glorious purpose.

It has been said, “Peace is: to will as God wills.” We all desire peace, but this is the secret of peace. When we have said, “Not my will be done,” the conflict of wills has ceased. Then we can will as God wills, and his peace which passeth all understanding will fill our hearts; then in the quiet, joyous eventide, the dew of heaven will fall upon our souls, refreshing and blessing them, and calm content will overspread our life like the quiet of the evening twilight. True happiness is predicted on perfect conformity to God’s will by our wills, both in our characters and in our conduct. The surrendered life is necessarily a happy life, for it possesses the elements of true happiness within itself. The un-surrendered life is an unsatisfied life, always filling itself with evanescent joys, which fade away as soon as they are grasped and leave nothing of satisfaction and contentment behind. “The one misery of man is self-will; the one secret of blessedness is a conquest over our own wills. To yield them up to God is rest and peace.” Self-surrender “means that our wills are brought into harmony with his, and that means that the one poison drop is squeezed out of our lives, and that sweetness and joy are infused into them, for what disturbs us in this world is not trouble, but our opposition to trouble. The source of all that frets, and irritates, and wears away our lives, is not in external things, but is the resistance of our wills to the will of God expressed by external things.” It’s fighting against circumstances, which makes them hard to bear. Self-surrender smoothes our way, lightens our burdens, fills our hearts with a song of joy, and gives us courage for the battles of life. Where obedience is free, and not reluctant, constant, not irregular, spontaneous, not constrained, we never feel that we have a “hard row to hoe,” for God’s sustaining grace and the joys of his salvation give much strength of soul and such buoyancy of spirit that life’s conflicts are all won, and our lives are kept sweetly victorious. The submitted will is not weakened because of that submission. We don’t have to be passive and feeble in order to submit to God. Submission frees the will from the bondage of sin, and it can then, act normally. The submitted will is: the will acting with God instead of against him. The un-submitted will, acts against him. The submitted will is an active, vital, powerful will, acting in conjunction with God’s will and directed by his will. Submission doesn’t mean the destruction of our will; it only means that our strength will be turned into the right channels, so that we shall desire God’s will. The cooperating will loses none of its strength through submission. It joins its strength with God’s strength, and being directed by him into the most effective channels, it can accomplish what would be impossible for it to

Page 9

People like to have their own way, and often think that if they surrender to God they can’t have their own way anymore. However, when we have chosen God’s will as our will, we always have our own way when God has his way. Some are afraid to submit to God’s will lest they should have to give up their own cherished plans or ambitions; lest they should not be able to choose for themselves. But we can always choose for ourselves if we choose what is best, for God’s will is that which is best. If we don’t choose God’s will, but choose some other way, we’re choosing less than the best for ourselves. Therefore, we are robbing ourselves of that which is best for us, and we thereby lose the joy and peace that are the fruits of choosing his will. Some fear to take God’s will, because they distrust God’s fidelity to them, and feel that they can choose best for themselves. This is doubting God’s wisdom and love, for God is wiser than we---his tender love for us will cause him to choose what is best for us, just as a loving parent will choose for his child that which is best for it. We must submit to God in faith. A submission that is full of doubts concerning God’s faithfulness and love is always a hesitating submission, and that very hesitation robs it of the joyfulness that comes from confident, trusting submission. When we are fully submitted, he sometimes lets us choose our own course. The author has had a number of such experiences, one of which will be mentioned. There was a time when two courses were open, and a choice must be made between the two. To follow either would be doing the Lord’s service, but which would please the Lord to follow was not clear, though earnest prayer was made to know the will of the Lord. For a time there seemed to be no answer. Then one day God said, “You can do just as you choose; you can go ahead as you are or you can take up the other line of work.” This proved a great source of comfort and inspiration to my soul. To feel that God saw in me sincerity enough to do his will to let me choose for myself what sort of work I should do, inspired my heart to faithfulness and to devotion to him, as perhaps nothing else could have done. In order for God to allow us the privilege of choosing for ourselves in such matters, the will must be wholly surrendered to his will. But what a blessed sense of soul-rest and what enriching of the nature come through this selfsurrender! All the blessedness of which we are capable comes to us through the channel of the submitted will, but any drawing back from God’s will, closes the channel and robs us of the blessedness that he would otherwise send. Our wills are naturally selfish. We love to have our own way. It’s not easy to submit to the will of another, unless there’s some strong motive that impels us to submission. The carrying out of our wills in a selfish way only leads to more selfishness and to a stronger inclination to have our

own way. It’s this selfish inclination in the will that makes it necessary for God to demand submission from us. His will is never selfish, but always benevolent. The cheerful doing of it always leads to an increase of benevolence in us. Therefore, when God demands us to submit our wills to him, he’s doing that which is best for us. The more consideration for others and true benevolence is developed within us, the more our natures are purified and exalted and the more we are able to fulfill the purpose of our creation. Submitting to God is often the hardest of all tasks, yet it’s the most necessary if we’re to be exalted to fellowship with God and enjoy the highest development of our faculties and powers. Selfishness always tends to degrade. It’s ignoble--exercise tends to dwarf and blight the finest things in our characters. The adoption of a submissive attitude toward God and his will, paves the way for the natural development of those qualities within us which are most worth developing, and which ennoble us most when they’re developed. The more our souls run out God-ward, the more like him we become; and the more like him we become, the happier and more useful we are. Unselfish devotion to benevolent service toward God and toward our fellow man enriches the heart and life as nothing else can do, and leads the way to happiness, peace, and contentment, which make one truly blessed. Submission to God is the one necessary thing in order to enjoy the Christian life. The more fully we’re submitted to his will, the more cheerfully we can carry it out, and the sweeter and richer will be the joy of doing it. Reluctant submission to God is not real submission. Reluctant obedience is never real obedience. It’s only when the heart responds to God willingly and cheerfully that the power of such service to make one happy is realized. We must conquer our reluctant wills. “The essence of sacrifice of self is the sacrifice of the will. Unwilling offerings are a contradiction, and in fact, there are no such things. The quality of unwillingness destroys the character of the offering and robs it of all sacredness. Reluctant Christianity is not Christianity.” True nobility of both the inner and the outer life comes from submission to, and cooperation with, God. The nature of our relations with God depends upon the extent of our submission to him. This is well illustrated in the relation of husband and wife. When two marry, and there’s no merging of the wills and purposes, but each retains his or her individuality, standing apart from the other in wish and desire, in choosing and willing, their union can never be a happy one. They must yield themselves to each other. There must be a merging of their wills into each other, a combining of their purposes, a consideration of each other, a sacrificing of the individual will. The husband and wife who really love each other can enjoy each other’s society and draw near to each other in spirit and affection. This makes their union a blessed reality, and a source of more true joy than any other natural relation. Those who thus enjoy each other are the ones who have sacrificed self and lost sight of selfish considerations; each desires to please the other and each finds his or her happiness in the happiness of the other.

In the Scriptures, Christ is represented as being the husband of the church, and the church is taught to submit to him as a wife should submit to her husband. The wife submits to her husband because she loves him---if she submits from any other reason she must be unhappy in her submission. The submission, that comes from love, and is the willing response of love, is the source of the deepest and truest happiness that can come from human sources. So the submission to God, which is acceptable to him, and which reacts in blessedness to the soul who submits, must be based upon love. The secret of such submission is thus stated by John, “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us.” (1 John 4:16) So he exclaims in the next breath, “God is love.” Only the truly submitted heart can fathom the love of God, or can love God with that self-enriching love, which inspires devotion and causes us to delight in God. The fervor of love softens the will and makes it flexible. When we love, it is easy to obey; it is easy to submit. All the irksomeness and compulsion is taken out of religion when the heart is full of love toward God. The more we love, the easier it is to serve, and the more joyful is that service. Self-surrender is the heart of all true religion. Paul told the secret when he said of a certain church, that they “first gave their own selves.” Then they could endure persecutions. They could bear with patience the things, which came upon them, and still be full of joy. The yoke of God was not galling to them. The sufferings that came upon them were not hard to be borne. They were overrunning with love. Their hearts were knit together with bonds stronger than death. They could be exceedingly joyful in all their tribulations, because they had first given themselves. Oh, the barrenness and unhappiness, in the lives of many persons, because they are trying to give service, when they haven’t given themselves! They are trying to serve God, but at the same time they’re serving themselves. They try to combine these two services, and what an unsatisfying, irksome service they find it! How often their will is contrary to God’s will! How often their will breaks out to claim its own way! This conflict of wills shuts out from their lives the blessed sense of God’s nearness and approval, which is granted to those who have first given themselves; who have yielded their all without reservation to God; who have surrendered themselves, and their wills, and now find a continuous inspiration to service in the delight of their own hearts in serving. A religion, which is not based on selfsurrender is a mere form. It is of no more value than the religion of the pagan, for it is the same kind of a religion that he has. True religion is love---love flowing out in devotion, and service, and self-surrender. The forms of religion are nothing without the real inner substance. If we have the form, without the inner content, we are poor indeed; but if we are thoroughly submitted to God, we have the inner content of religion, no matter in what form it manifests itself. The attitude of our wills toward God is thus beautifully expressed by one writer, “A man’s will, should be an echo, not a voice; the echo of God, not the voice of self. It should be silent as some sweet instrument is silent till the owner’s hand touches the keys.” It is self-surrender that tunes all the strings of our hearts to a unison of purpose, and makes them responsive to the touch of the Divine Musician. And when we are attuned to God’s will through self-surrender, our

Page 10

hearts will be filled with his melodies; there will be celestial harmonies in our lives; our hearts will join with the angels in their chorus of praise, and we shall be raised up together with Christ and made to sit in heavenly places with him. Self-surrender is the key that unlocks all the riches of our own natures, and causes them to bud and blossom and produce rich fragrance. Every noble thing in us is made nobler, by submission; every beauty is rendered more beautiful---a thousand new beauties and riches are brought into the life that was not there before. Self-surrender empties our hearts and makes them ready to receive divine treasures. Love, joy, faith, peace, contentment, and all the blessed fruition of righteousness have their roots sunk deep in selfsurrender. Many people seem to think that surrender to God impoverishes men, and that it is a wholly one-sided thing, but God asks that we be emptied of self only that he may fill us and that he may give himself to us in the fullest measure of our capacity and willingness to receive him. If we hold to anything of self, or of the world, it’s because we’re not willing to be filled with God and don’t believe that he will be to us more than all else beside. All lack of submission, shuts our God from that part of our nature, which is not submitted, and prevents him from having control of that part of the will, which remains un-submitted. Open the door of thy heart wide. Unlock its every chamber. Hand over the key to God. Entreat him to come in, and fill you to your fullest capacity. Empty your heart of self, all selfish plans, purposes, desires, reluctance of the will and every hesitation to obey. Give him your all. Let not one thing be kept back. When all is his, the floods of his grace will flow into your soul till you will wonder why you ever hesitated to yield your all to him. He yields his all to us. He withholds no good thing when we are yielded to him fully. So the yielding is mutual, although he gives more than we, because he is greater than we. He asks the surrender of our wills only that he may guide us into paths wherein we never could walk without his guidance---paths of peace beneath the sunny skies of his love. Cheerful self-surrender has a wonderful power to banish the gloom and the clouds of human life. The un-surrendered life is like the mountain whose top is ever veiled in clouds. It has been said, “Peace is: to will as God wills.” We all desire peace, but this is the secret of peace. When we have said, “Not my will be done,” the conflict of wills has ceased. Then we can will as God wills, and his peace which passeth all understanding will fill our hearts; then in the quiet, joyous eventide, the dew of heaven will fall upon our souls, refreshing and blessing them, and calm content will overspread our life like the quiet of the evening twilight. True happiness is predicted on perfect conformity to God’s will by our wills, both in our characters and in our conduct. The surrendered life is necessarily a happy life, for it possesses the elements of true happiness within itself. The un-surrendered life is an unsatisfied life, always filling itself with evanescent joys, which fade away as soon as they are grasped and leave nothing of satisfaction and contentment behind. “The one misery of man is self-will; the one secret of blessedness is a conquest over our own wills. To yield

them up to God is rest and peace.” Self-surrender “means that our wills are brought into harmony with his, and that means that the one poison drop is squeezed out of our lives, and that sweetness and joy are infused into them, for what disturbs us in this world is not trouble, but our opposition to trouble. The source of all that frets, and irritates, and wears away our lives, is not in external things, but is the resistance of our wills to the will of God expressed by external things.” It’s fighting against circumstances, which makes them hard to bear. Self-surrender smoothes our way, lightens our burdens, fills our hearts with a song of joy, and gives us courage for the battles of life. Where obedience is free, and not reluctant, constant, not irregular, spontaneous, not constrained, we never feel that we have a “hard row to hoe,” for God’s sustaining grace and the joys of his salvation give much strength of soul and such buoyancy of spirit that life’s conflicts are all won, and our lives are kept sweetly victorious. The submitted will is not weakened because of that submission. We don’t have to be passive and feeble in order to submit to God. Submission frees the will from the bondage of sin, and it can then, act normally. The submitted will is: the will acting with God instead of against him. The un-submitted will, acts against him. The submitted will is an active, vital, powerful will, acting in conjunction with God’s will and directed by his will. Submission doesn’t mean the destruction of our will; it only means that our strength will be turned into the right channels, so that we shall desire God’s will. The cooperating will loses none of its strength through submission. It joins its strength with God’s strength, and being directed by him into the most effective channels, it can accomplish what would be impossible for it to accomplish without being surrendered. Our wills should speak, after God’s will speaks. If our wills speak first, they may bring us into many miseries and troubles and be the cause of many failures and sins. We must let God speak, and then when he speaks, echo the same thing. Thus shall we be workers together with God in the accomplishment of his grand and glorious purpose. People like to have their own way, and often think that if they surrender to God they can’t have their own way anymore. However, when we have chosen God’s will as our will, we always have our own way when God has his way. Some are afraid to submit to God’s will lest they should have to give up their own cherished plans or ambitions; lest they should not be able to choose for themselves. But we can always choose for ourselves if we choose what is best, for God’s will is that which is best. If we don’t choose God’s will, but choose some other way, we’re choosing less than the best for ourselves. Therefore, we are robbing ourselves of that which is best for us, and we thereby lose the joy and peace that are the fruits of choosing his will. Some fear to take God’s will, because they distrust God’s fidelity to them, and feel that they can choose best for themselves. This is doubting God’s wisdom and love, for God is wiser than we---his tender love for us will cause him to choose what is best for us, just as a loving parent will choose for his child that which is best for it. We must submit to God in faith. A submission that is full of doubts

Page 11

concerning God’s faithfulness and love is always a hesitating submission, and that very hesitation robs it of the joyfulness that comes from confident, trusting submission.

his will, the more cheerfully we can carry it out, and the sweeter and richer will be the joy of doing it. Reluctant submission to God is not real submission. Reluctant obedience is never real obedience. It’s only when the heart responds to God willingly and cheerfully that the power of such service to make one happy is realized. We must conquer our reluctant wills. “The essence of sacrifice of self is the sacrifice of the will. Unwilling offerings are a contradiction, and in fact, there are no such things. The quality of unwillingness destroys the character of the offering and robs it of all sacredness. Reluctant Christianity is not Christianity.”

When we are fully submitted, he sometimes lets us choose our own course. The author has had a number of such experiences, one of which will be mentioned. There was a time when two courses were open, and a choice must be made between the two. To follow either would be doing the Lord’s service, but which would please the Lord to follow was not clear, though earnest prayer was made to know the will of the Lord. For a time there seemed to be no answer. Then one day God said, “You can do just as you choose; you can go ahead as you are or you can take up the other line of work.” This proved a great source of comfort and inspiration to my soul. To feel that God saw in me sincerity enough to do his will to let me choose for myself what sort of work I should do, inspired my heart to faithfulness and to devotion to him, as perhaps nothing else could have done. In order for God to allow us the privilege of choosing for ourselves in such matters, the will must be wholly surrendered to his will. But what a blessed sense of soul-rest and what enriching of the nature come through this selfsurrender! All the blessedness of which we are capable comes to us through the channel of the submitted will, but any drawing back from God’s will, closes the channel and robs us of the blessedness that he would otherwise send. Our wills are naturally selfish. We love to have our own way. It’s not easy to submit to the will of another, unless there’s some strong motive that impels us to submission. The carrying out of our wills in a selfish way only leads to more selfishness and to a stronger inclination to have our own way. It’s this selfish inclination in the will that makes it necessary for God to demand submission from us. His will is never selfish, but always benevolent. The cheerful doing of it always leads to an increase of benevolence in us. Therefore, when God demands us to submit our wills to him, he’s doing that which is best for us. The more consideration for others and true benevolence is developed within us, the more our natures are purified and exalted and the more we are able to fulfill the purpose of our creation. Submitting to God is often the hardest of all tasks, yet it’s the most necessary if we’re to be exalted to fellowship with God and enjoy the highest development of our faculties and powers. Selfishness always tends to degrade. It’s ignoble--exercise tends to dwarf and blight the finest things in our characters. The adoption of a submissive attitude toward God and his will, paves the way for the natural development of those qualities within us which are most worth developing, and which ennoble us most when they’re developed. The more our souls run out God-ward, the more like him we become; and the more like him we become, the happier and more useful we are. Unselfish devotion to benevolent service toward God and toward our fellow man enriches the heart and life as nothing else can do, and leads the way to happiness, peace, and contentment, which make one truly blessed. Submission to God is the one necessary thing in order to enjoy the Christian life. The more fully we’re submitted to

True nobility of both the inner and the outer life comes from submission to, and cooperation with, God. The nature of our relations with God depends upon the extent of our submission to him. This is well illustrated in the relation of husband and wife. When two marry, and there’s no merging of the wills and purposes, but each retains his or her individuality, standing apart from the other in wish and desire, in choosing and willing, their union can never be a happy one. They must yield themselves to each other. There must be a merging of their wills into each other, a combining of their purposes, a consideration of each other, a sacrificing of the individual will. The husband and wife who really love each other can enjoy each other’s society and draw near to each other in spirit and affection. This makes their union a blessed reality, and a source of more true joy than any other natural relation. Those who thus enjoy each other are the ones who have sacrificed self and lost sight of selfish considerations; each desires to please the other and each finds his or her happiness in the happiness of the other. In the Scriptures, Christ is represented as being the husband of the church, and the church is taught to submit to him as a wife should submit to her husband. The wife submits to her husband because she loves him---if she submits from any other reason she must be unhappy in her submission. The submission, that comes from love, and is the willing response of love, is the source of the deepest and truest happiness that can come from human sources. So the submission to God, which is acceptable to him, and which reacts in blessedness to the soul who submits, must be based upon love. The secret of such submission is thus stated by John, “We have known and believed the love that God hath to us.” (1 John 4:16) So he exclaims in the next breath, “God is love.” Only the truly submitted heart can fathom the love of God, or can love God with that self-enriching love, which inspires devotion and causes us to delight in God. The fervor of love softens the will and makes it flexible. When we love, it is easy to obey; it is easy to submit. All the irksomeness and compulsion is taken out of religion when the heart is full of love toward God. The more we love, the easier it is to serve, and the more joyful is that service. Self-surrender is the heart of all true religion. Paul told the secret when he said of a certain church, that they “first gave their own selves.” Then they could endure persecutions. They could bear with patience the things, which came upon them, and still be full of joy. The yoke of God was not galling to them. The sufferings that came upon them were not hard to be borne. They were overrunning with love. Their hearts were knit together with bonds stronger than

Page 12

death. They could be exceedingly joyful in all their tribulations, because they had first given themselves. Oh, the barrenness and unhappiness, in the lives of many persons, because they are trying to give service, when they haven’t given themselves! They are trying to serve God, but at the same time they’re serving themselves. They try to combine these two services, and what an unsatisfying, irksome service they find it! How often their will is contrary to God’s will! How often their will breaks out to claim its own way! This conflict of wills shuts out from their lives the blessed sense of God’s nearness and approval, which is granted to those who have first given themselves; who have yielded their all without reservation to God; who have surrendered themselves, and their wills, and now find a continuous inspiration to service in the delight of their own hearts in serving. A religion, which is not based on selfsurrender is a mere form. It is of no more value than the religion of the pagan, for it is the same kind of a religion that he has. True religion is love---love flowing out in devotion, and service, and self-surrender. The forms of religion are nothing without the real inner substance. If we have the form, without the inner content, we are poor indeed; but if we are thoroughly submitted to God, we have the inner content of religion, no matter in what form it manifests itself. The attitude of our wills toward God is thus beautifully expressed by one writer, “A man’s will, should be an echo, not a voice; the echo of God, not the voice of self. It should be silent as some sweet instrument is silent till the owner’s hand touches the keys.” It is self-surrender that tunes all the strings of our hearts to a unison of purpose, and makes them responsive to the touch of the Divine Musician. And when we are attuned to God’s will through self-surrender, our hearts will be filled with his melodies; there will be celestial harmonies in our lives; our hearts will join with the angels in their chorus of praise, and we shall be raised up together with Christ and made to sit in heavenly places with him. Self-surrender is the key that unlocks all the riches of our own natures, and causes them to bud and blossom and produce rich fragrance. Every noble thing in us is made nobler, by submission; every beauty is rendered more beautiful---a thousand new beauties and riches are brought into the life that was not there before. Self-surrender empties our hearts and makes them ready to receive divine treasures. Love, joy, faith, peace, contentment, and all the blessed fruition of righteousness have their roots sunk deep in selfsurrender. Many people seem to think that surrender to God impoverishes men, and that it is a wholly one-sided thing, but God asks that we be emptied of self only that he may fill us and that he may give himself to us in the fullest measure of our capacity and willingness to receive him. If we hold to anything of self, or of the world, it’s because we’re not willing to be filled with God and don’t believe that he will be to us more than all else beside. All lack of submission, shuts our God from that part of our nature, which is not submitted, and prevents him from having control of that part of the will, which remains un-submitted. Open the door of thy heart wide. Unlock its every chamber. Hand over the key to God. Entreat him to come in, and fill

you to your fullest capacity. Empty your heart of self, all selfish plans, purposes, desires, reluctance of the will and every hesitation to obey. Give him your all. Let not one thing be kept back. When all is his, the floods of his grace will flow into your soul till you will wonder why you ever hesitated to yield your all to him. He yields his all to us. He withholds no good thing when we are yielded to him fully. So the yielding is mutual, although he gives more than we, because he is greater than we. He asks the surrender of our wills only that he may guide us into paths wherein we never could walk without his guidance---paths of peace beneath the sunny skies of his love. Cheerful self-surrender has a wonderful power to banish the gloom and the clouds of human life. The un-surrendered life is like the mountain whose top is ever veiled in clouds. It has been said, “Peace is: to will as God wills.” We all desire peace, but this is the secret of peace. When we have said, “Not my will be done,” the conflict of wills has ceased. Then we can will as God wills, and his peace which passeth all understanding will fill our hearts; then in the quiet, joyous eventide, the dew of heaven will fall upon our souls, refreshing and blessing them, and calm content will overspread our life like the quiet of the evening twilight. True happiness is predicted on perfect conformity to God’s will by our wills, both in our characters and in our conduct. The surrendered life is necessarily a happy life, for it possesses the elements of true happiness within itself. The un-surrendered life is an unsatisfied life, always filling itself with evanescent joys, which fade away as soon as they are grasped and leave nothing of satisfaction and contentment behind. “The one misery of man is self-will; the one secret of blessedness is a conquest over our own wills. To yield them up to God is rest and peace.” Self-surrender “means that our wills are brought into harmony with his, and that means that the one poison drop is squeezed out of our lives, and that sweetness and joy are infused into them, for what disturbs us in this world is not trouble, but our opposition to trouble. The source of all that frets, and irritates, and wears away our lives, is not in external things, but is the resistance of our wills to the will of God expressed by external things.” It’s fighting against circumstances, which makes them hard to bear. Self-surrender smoothest our way, lightens our burdens, fills our hearts with a song of joy, and gives us courage for the battles of life. Where obedience is free, and not reluctant, constant, not irregular, spontaneous, not constrained, we never feel that we have a “hard row to hoe,” for God’s sustaining grace and the joys of his salvation give much strength of soul and such buoyancy of spirit that life’s conflicts are all won, and our lives are kept sweetly victorious. The submitted will is not weakened because of that submission. We don’t have to be passive and feeble in order to submit to God. Submission frees the will from the bondage of sin, and it can then, act normally. The submitted will is: the will acting with God instead of against him. The un-submitted will, acts against him. The submitted will is an active, vital, powerful will, acting in conjunction with God’s will and directed by his will. Submission doesn’t mean the destruction of our will; it only means that our strength will

Page 13

be turned into the right channels, so that we shall desire God’s will. The cooperating will loses none of its strength through submission. It joins its strength with God’s strength, and being directed by him into the most effective channels, it can accomplish what would be impossible for it to accomplish without being surrendered. Our wills should speak, after God’s will speaks. If our wills speak first, they may bring us into many miseries and troubles and be the cause of many failures and sins. We must let God speak, and then when he speaks, echo the same thing. Thus shall we be workers together with God in the accomplishment of his grand and glorious purpose.

(source: Jerry’s Haven n Tell)

Page 14

Terimakasih anda telah meluangkan waktu membaca Berita ICCC Indonesia ini dan silahkan mem-forward-nya ke rekan bisnis anda agar memperoleh berkat rohani yang sama. Redaksi