Amazing Things - Draw the Circle

“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”

Joshua 3:5

More than a hundred years ago, a British revivalist spoke the words to Dwight L. Moody that would transform Moody’s approach to life — words of challenge that echo across every generation: “The world has yet to see5 what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.”

Why not you?

All of us want to do amazing things for God, but that isn’t our job; it is God’s job. Our job is simply to consecrate ourselves by yielding our will to His will. And if we do our job, God will do His job. If we consecrate ourselves to God, amazing things will happen. It’s absolutely inevitable. Consecration always ends in amazing!

The Israelites were camped on the eastern banks of the Jordan River when God gave them this command: “Consecrate yourselves.” And because they obeyed, God delivered on the promise. He parted the Jordan River, and the Israelites walked through on dry ground. We’d rather build a boat or build a bridge. We try to do things for God instead of letting God do things for us. And it’s certainly a two-way street. We need to work like it depends on us, but we also need to pray like it depends on God. That’s what consecration is all about. It’s letting God do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. And that’s how God gets all the glory.

Consecration is a complete surrender to the lordship of Jesus Christ. We relinquish everything to God — our time, talent, and treasure. It’s a complete divestiture. Nothing belongs to us, not even ourselves. But the exchange rate is unbelievable. All of our sin is transferred to Christ’s account, and all of His righteousness is transferred to our account. God cancels our debt, writes us into His will, and calls it even!

The word consecrate means “to set apart.” It means “to be designated for a special purpose.” It means “to be completely dedicated to God.”

The Son of God set the standard. Jesus gave all of Himself at Calvary, and He expects nothing less in return. If Jesus hung on His cross, we can certainly carry our cross. His death demands our lives.

Gate D8

During our prayer challenge at National Community Church, our church gathered for corporate prayer every morning at our coffeehouse. Like clockwork, we hit our knees at 7:14 a.m. sharp. It was such a regular routine that it became second nature. Almost like hunger pangs that hit you after going too long without eating, I couldn’t go too long without hitting my knees. Kneeling became almost as instinctual as eating or sleeping.

One day I had to miss our prayer meeting because of an early morning flight to Cleveland. As I got off the plane, I realized it was time to pray. I knew I’d be kneeling at our coffeehouse, but I was in the middle of an airport. And that’s when I felt the Holy Spirit throwing down the gauntlet, impressing on me the need to kneel right then and there. To be honest, I resisted: “But, Lord, I’m in the middle of the Cleveland airport.” The Lord said, “I know exactly where you are. Gate D8.”

At first I rationalized not kneeling.

I don’t want to feed negative stereotypes about religious fanatics. I can pray just as effectively as I walk toward baggage claim. I can kneel a little later in the privacy of my hotel room.

While all of these things are true, I knew it wasn’t the point. I knew the Lord was testing me to see if I’d be willing to obey Him whenever, wherever, whatever. I knew that if I failed this test, I would be standing in God’s way of using me in bigger ways. I wanted to prove to Him that I cared more about what He thought than about what people thought. I wanted to prove to Him that I belong to Him everywhere, all the time. And I knew that if God could trust me with the little things, then He could use me to do big things. So after looking both ways down the terminal, I hit my knees at Gate D8. It was one small step in the long journey toward complete consecration. A little piece of my ego died that day at Gate D8.

I shared that story with our congregation, and I was inspired by the response. You’ve heard of a flash mob? Well, our church became a kneeling mob! I’ve heard stories of people kneeling in elevators, in classrooms, in banks, and in courtrooms. It isn’t about kneeling in strange places at strange times; it’s about the willingness to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. It’s about a willingness to kneel anyplace, anytime.

Veto Power

Consecration means we no longer call the shots. We give God veto power. His word is the final word, whether it’s Holy Scripture or the Holy Spirit. Either way, it’s no longer a selfish spirituality that asks God to serve our purposes. It’s all about serving His purposes so that His glory is revealed.

Consecration is death to self.

I know there is a fear that if we give more of ourselves to God, there will be less of us left, but it’s the exact opposite. It’s not until we die to self that we truly come alive. The more we give to God, the more we have and the more we become. It’s only in losing our lives that we will really find them.

Sometimes prayer is a casual conversation with God. It’s like two friends catching up over coffee. But sometimes prayer involves intense intercession, as it was for Jesus praying in Gethsemane on the eve of His crucifixion. It was so intense that Jesus was literally sweating drops of blood. He was facing the greatest test of his life on earth, so He prayed through the night. Three times He prayed a prayer of consecration: “My Father, if it is possible,6 may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

Consecration is a process of surrender that never ends. And prayer is the catalyst. It begins with a sinner’s prayer. We confess our sins to the Savior and surrender our lives to His lordship. And along the way, our spiritual journeys are marked by decisive moments when we consecrate ourselves to God in our own garden of Gethsemane.

Jonathan Edwards is famous for his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” which helped spark the first Great Awakening. Along with his pastorate in North Hampton, Massachusetts, he served as the president of Princeton University. Of his known descendants, there are more than 300 ministers or missionaries, 120 university professors, 60 authors, 30 judges, 14 college presidents, 3 members of Congress, and 1 vice president. That’s an impressive family lineage! And that legacy, like every spiritual genealogy, traces back to a moment of consecration.

On January 12, 1723, Jonathan Edwards made a solemn dedication of himself to God. He consecrated himself, all of himself, to God.

If we give more of ourselves to God, God will give more of Himself to us.