Full Abdication to Him

10/12/2024

In my pursuit to not be a hearer only but to “put into practice” a life of genuine Communion, Fellowship, and Obedience with Jesus, I have realized just how much of a rebel my natural/carnal man is and the efforts my flesh makes to maintain status quo and control. So what follows isn’t “teaching”... it is just some somewhat orderly observations about myself, written to myself in an objective, declarative way. Like Moses on Nebo, I am not yet fully where I want to be, but I get glimpses of the Promised Land, and am trying here to clearly define what I see and where I want to go for His Sake. It is up to you whether references to “you” actually apply to you.

ROADBLOCKS TO Z

Living in the Z-axis1 is NOT hard, but it IS costly. In fact, it is fatal to your ego, your ambitions, your agendas, your preferences and opinions, and your sense of self-preservation.

To live in unbroken communion with God is not ethereal, mystical, or complex. It is not reserved for only the “special” ones or for “the lucky and the strong.” But it does require a continuous full surrender and abdication of self-rule.

Make no mistake... staying on the XY-axis is a choice to salve your conscience with religious activity and even “sacrifices” while still staying the god of your own life. Here is the lie that appeases your conscience: Even though you are sometimes (most of the time?) disConnected, you know how to keep your “spiritual nose” clean and to not appear to be a problem child, all while enjoying whatever things you like to do most. The point is, you get the final say, but all within an ethical framework. As the deceiver said in the garden, “For God knows that when you eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, your eyes will be opened, and you will be god-like, knowing good and evil.”

You fool yourself into thinking you want to obey God, but when doing so is costly or painful or even just not what YOU want to do, you hide behind principles and concepts and “truths” rather than doing the only thing that matters: obeying the real-time, living and active, current Word of God.

“Man shall not live by bread alone but by every living word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

In Jeremiah 42 and 43, the people begged Jeremiah,

“Pray that the Lord your God will tell us where we should go and what we should do.” Jeremiah replied, “I will certainly pray to the Lord your God as you have requested; I will tell you everything the Lord says and will keep nothing back from you.” Then they said to Jeremiah, “May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us. Whether it is favorable or unfavorable, we will obey the Lord our God, to whom we are sending you, so that it will go well with us, for we will obey the Lord our God.” Ten days later, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. What God said was not what they were expecting and wanting. So altogether they said, “You are lying! The Lord our God has not sent you to say this.”

What these people said and did are EXACTLY the same thing your flesh does to maintain “control.” They were convinced they wanted to do God’s will, but their sincerity proved to be false and they called Jeremiah a liar to justify their disobedience. No real fear/awe of God in their hearts.

In an old Michael Card song, he writes, “Is the reason we’re not still to hear You speak because we don’t believe You will.” While there is truth to that, the more accurate lyric might be, “Is the reason we’re not still to hear You speak is because we’re afraid You will and it won’t match what we want to do.”

It is soooo much “safer” to let your mind pick and choose and “interpret” the scriptures and stay in control rather than to risk knowing and then IGNORING what the God of the universe actually wants you to do.

Even IF you don’t think you live on XY due to rebellion, it is, at the very least lazy and slothful... not hungry enough to even try to hear God’s voice. When you start your day, do you find “prayer” hard? Maybe is it just that “humble dependence” is hard and it is simply easier to let “events and ideas be a substitute for a real walk of faith” in God. As the lyrics further say, “I’ve been living my life based on principles, and I lack the peace Knowing You brings.” XY rules of “christian conduct” are definitely the last refuge of a scoundrel... and the lazy.

“He has lost connection to the head, from whom the whole body, supported and knit together by its joints and ligaments, grows as God causes it to grow. If you have died with Christ to the childish rudimentary forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations: ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’? These will all perish with use (‘the day you eat of THAT tree, you will die’), because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” Colossians 2:19-23

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

From a broader perspective, all religious XY can be bundled with this Ishmael-producing human thinking, human rationalizing, human sympathy, and a host of other God-less origins. Every religion around the world functions from the same foundation... religious rules and constraints that start and end with self as the final arbiter and beneficiary.

But Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life IS radically different and on a completely other spectrum.

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” Luke 9:24

The contrast between the two is blindingly stark. And this has been THE war raging since the garden: The tree of knowledge of good and evil vs The Tree of Life, Ishmael vs Isaac, the five foolish virgins vs the five Wise virgins, XY vs Z, the law vs the Spirit. The battle of the ages isn’t between good and evil, as evil is obviously already holding satan’s hand. If you care at all (or at least think you do or want to), then your fight is this: will you settle for staying god of your own life with “moral” bumpers that make you “feel” spiritual (and occasionally guilty) or will you fully surrender to His Flame and thereby Commune with His Spirit?

SOME FACTS

• Pursuing Z to satisfy your desire to do XY correctly is IMPOSSIBLE. The chasm cannot be crossed.
• Pursuing Z for yourself (salvation, conscience, reputation, peace, friends, etc.) is a contradiction.
• XY wants to save your own life. Z wants Jesus to receive all the devotion, loyalty, obedience, and affection that He is due from those He has made. It doesn’t matter what happens to you. IT DOES NOT MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU!

HIS RIVER OF LOVE

Not only is it a lie that being led by the Spirit is complex or ethereal, it is also a lie (i.e. cop out) that you must sit on your hands until you are “led” to do something. Do NOT let ignorance of God’s will be an excuse to do nothing.

“The Lord confides in those who fear Him, and reveals His covenant to them.” Psalm 25:14

While religious “activity” can be self-deceiving by creating an illusion of busy-ness, love should always be the default action of someone Connected to the Vine. Find His River of Love.

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:12-13

FACTS OF LOVE

• Love is not the right thing to do to earn points or favor with God or man.
• Love is not (necessarily) baking casseroles or doing home repairs for others. (Is this a hiding place for you?)
• True love is purely for Jesus and others.
• Love’s highest expression is helping others get closer to and more like Jesus. +1
• More often than not, true love almost always involves taking a nail. If that were not true, then love—like constant communion with God—would be FAR more commonplace among those who wear His name. But few are those who take THAT Path.

BOILING IT DOWN

To simplify and summarize from Luke 9:23-24 “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself (and ALL XY self-governance) and take up his cross daily (practical +1 costly love) and follow Me (i.e. led by the Spirit in Communion) For whoever wants to save his life (i.e. self-centered religion) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (full abandonment) for My sake (and ONLY My sake) will save it.”

There is no contradiction between “What must I do to be saved?” and “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it.” You can trust His promise of TRUE Salvation, but total forfeiture and surrender of ALL is His Path.

HEALTHY INTROSPECTION

While there is always a process and a spectrum of maturity, here are some basic litmus tests to know whether you are living in the surrendered Z axis. If not, then do NOT be like the five virgins by fooling yourself. That is a lethal place to be.

1) Throughout each day, are you actually actually actually looking to heaven and listening for Father’s voice with open hands and a willingly obedient heart...?
a. never
b. occasionally
c. often
d. only for the “big” things
e. without ceasing

2) Are lives that you interact with changing more into the likeness of Jesus because of who you are and how you love? (John 15:8 True fruit proving that you are following Him and John 21:15-17 “Do you love Me? Feed my sheep.”)

3) Is ANYONE made uncomfortable by the Tough Love and True Light they feel coming from you? (John 15:19 “As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” And these links (Rivers of Alive Lava and No Good Deed Goes Unpunished) all speak of the cost of real love.

TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF, MOSES!

Related: Fear of “going to hell” is NOT fear of God per se. It is a fear of fire. It is a fear of pain. And ironically, if you fear pain, live for pleasure, and choose to avoid pain at all costs, then hell is likely where you will end up. Fearing God means (at the very least) that you comprehend Him enough to know that you deserve hell and respect Him enough to want to know Him more. Fellowshipping in His suffering is where intimacy with Him is found.

I ABDICATE

From JesusLifeTogether.com, If You Believe CD, I Abdicate: The song by the same title is there, too.

Abdicate, verb: To surrender or renounce a right or position voluntarily. It usually refers to a King or Queen stepping down to allow another to rule.

We all believe “the lie” at one time or another, that we can rule our own lives, and then “add” God and His Kingdom and His Ways. When we finally figure out that HE knows what He’s doing and that His Ways are right, no matter how we feel or what our flesh desires and regardless of how our flesh tries to creatively find a compromise, then and only then, will we discover the fullness of His Plan for our lives and His church in any locale. Take a chance. Try Him. Abdicate. That’s where HIS Life and Power are found.

Jesus, I am finished with the lie

The LIE that my life is my own

I can’t rule wisely—oh, I’ve tried

Lord, come and sit upon YOUR Throne!

I abdicate authority,

I abdicate my “rights”

I abdicate the power to decide

I’m taking my eyes off of me

To keep You in my sight

Beholding You: the antidote for pride

WHEN LOVE WAS SLAIN

On Apple Music and Spotify

This world is not my home

Oh, this world is not my home

My home’s been made at Heaven’s throne

This world is not my home

This life is not my own

Oh, this life is not my own

I am His and His alone

This life is not my own

I was bought when Love was slain

What high cost, to pay death’s wage

Now ransomed, I am freedom’s slave

My Jesus raised me from the grave

Come now and walk with me

Oh, come now and walk with me

Together we our Lord shall meet

Come now and walk with me

’Cause I was bought when Love was slain

What high cost, to pay death’s wage

Now ransomed, I am freedom’s slave

My Jesus raised me from the grave

’Cause I was bought when Love was slain

What high cost, to pay death’s wage

Now ransomed, I am freedom’s slave

My Jesus raised me from the grave

Soon Lord, very soon

Oh, soon Lord, oh very soon

You’ll come take me to be with You

Soon Lord, very soon

Soon Lord, oh very soon

CAPTIVATED

On Apple Music and Spotify

Your laughter, it echoes like a joyous thunder

Your whisper it warms me like a summer breeze

Your anger is fiercer than the sun in its splendor

You’re close and yet full of mystery

Ever since the day that I saw Your face

Try as I may, I cannot look away, I cannot look away

Captivated by You

I am captivated by You

May my life be one unbroken gaze

Fixed upon the beauty of Your face

Beholding is becoming, so as You fill my gaze

I become more like You and my heart is changed

Beholding is becoming, so as You fill my view

Transform me into the likeness of You

This is what I ask, for all my days

That I may, never look away, never look away

No other could ever be as beautiful

No other could ever steal my heart away

I just can’t look away

Captivated by You

I am captivated by You

May my life be one unbroken gaze

Fixed upon the beauty

Fixed upon the beauty

Fixed upon the beauty of Your face

The beauty of Your face

And, on the topic of being prophets and priests and kings, being led by the Spirit and doing the Spirit’s work... As opposed to just being religious and living for yourself:

We spoke recently about the “Train engineer.” The foolish, inexperienced XY engine engineer only looked at the gauge to see if the engine was overheating and otherwise was in his own world. If the gauge were broken and stuck in the same place, only the engineer who cares would draw on his experience, Hebrews chapter 5, to smell the engine overheating, to hear the creak and crack of the steel that he would not be hearing if everything was ok, to feel the glow of the boiler on his skin that he shouldn’t be feeling. The Z engineer can take action to save others' lives and his own based on sensing “in the spirit” something is not right.

The fool says in his heart “the gauge looks fine.” The Z engineer uses his spiritual Senses to save his own life and others by caring very little about “just watching the gauge.” He just looks for evidence of aroma, sense of Jesus, or lack of Jesus, not “behavior” per se.

1In this conversation, the XY-axis versus the Z-axis is being used as an illustration of the difference between eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil vs eating of the Tree of Life. XY-axis living is a “flat” natural living of good vs evil. Z-axis is a supernatural Zoe life in Jesus. Back

•  I Willingly Abdicate