You probably know the name, Dwight L. Moody. He was a great success as an evangelist in 1871. His tabernacle drew the largest congregations in Chicago. But according to Moody’s own estimate of those years, he was a “great hustler” and his work was being done largely in the energy of the flesh.
Two humble Free Methodist women used to attend those meetings and sit on the front row. Moody could not help seeing that they were praying during most of his services. Finally, he spoke to the women about it.
“Yes,” they admitted “We have been praying for you.”
“Why me? Why not for the unsaved?” the evangelist said, a bit perturbed. One of them answered. “Because you need the power of the Spirit.” After some weeks of this, Mr. Moody invited the women to his office to talk about it. “You spoke of power for service,” he prodded them. “I thought I had it. I wish you would tell me what you mean.” So, these two ladies told Moody what they knew about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Then the three prayed together. And the women left.
Moody wrote, “From that hour there came a great hunger in my soul. I really felt that I did not want to live if I could not have this power for service.”
One late autumn day in 1871 Dwight L. Moody was in New York walking up Wall Street. Suddenly, in the midst of the bustling crowds, his prayer was answered: the power of God fell on him so overwhelmingly that he knew he must get off the street. Spotting a house he recognized, Moody knocked on the door and asked if he might have a room by himself for a few hours. Alone there, such joy came upon him that “at last he had to ask God to withhold His hand, lest he die on that very spot from joy!”
In his own words, “The sermons were no different, and I did not present any new truths and yet hundreds were converted. I would not now be placed back where I was before that blessed experience if you should give me all the world – it would be as dust in the balance..”
The Helper~Catherine Marshall
Salvation changes our destination from hell to heaven. Surrender changes everything.
I don’t pretend to have all the answers about how God (The Holy Spirit) works in every single person. He is personal with each of us and we cannot put Him in a box.
I do know one thing, God comes to us in the only way He can; as He is. His very name tells us everything, “I Am who I Am.” If we seek after the God of heaven ( not trying to get better; that’s religion), we will find the God of heaven. Our entire world will get rocked to the core. No one will ever stay the same after a true encounter with God. God is available (mind boggling truth), yet few people find Him. Why?
One reason; we don’t want to.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13
That little word “when” is full of meaning.
When (definition)-at or during the time that.
We will find God “at or during the time that” we seek Him with ALL our hearts. There has to come a point in time where we forsake everything else and go after the only thing that matters; God. This is radical and violent (in a positive way). Our American dream is falling apart and most people are falling apart also. Our foundation has been shaken and it will probably get worse. There is one, and only one, safe place to live; in oneness with God. Fear is a great motivator. God says it is the beginning of wisdom. Only a fool would look around and say, “All is well.” God is the ultimate realist. He has told us plainly that we are in a very broken world and it is not our permanent home.
The damage done to most of us while on this planet is catastrophic.
Many (if not most) have experienced some type of abuse, divorce, death, sickness, molestation as a child (sometimes even from a parent), and the list could go on and on. These things wound our souls deeply and make us look at life through a horrible lens. Our parents were meant to protect us and show us who God is. It’s impossible to possess a healthy mind when our homes are not filled with God’s Spirit.
On the other end of the spectrum, even if a child is cherished and spoiled, a lack of God’s Spirit in mom and dad equals a damaged child. The greatest sin a parent commits is not knowing God. To bring children into this world and not depend on our Creator for help is the most wicked thing we do to them. When I see people chasing money, sports, and image over giving their children the life of God, I cringe. Even scripture tells us the same thing.
‘The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty. He lays the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations.’
Numbers 14:18
What do we do? Anyone who grew up in an unhealthy environment knows the power it holds over us. Are we destined to do the same thing to our children? Yes we are…unless we seek after God with our whole heart.
We will pour into our children the same junk our parents poured into us without a radical change. We will recreate our normal (no matter how abnormal it is). Little children tell the untold story of life in their homes. Ask any teacher about the home life of the littles they teach and they can probably tell you exactly who mom and dad are; even if they have never met them. Our children are the fruit our lives produce.
Is there any hope? Absolutely yes! It will only cost one thing…everything you have.
In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Luke 14:33
Those words came from Jesus. I see impossible situations all the time yet I am not discouraged. I know for a fact that all the hope in the world is on the other side of the door of surrender.
All the answers we crave are His Presence. I said that right. His Presence makes the questions not be important anymore. None of us have suffered as much as Job. Yet, when God showed up Job asked no questions of Him. His glory was more than he could take.
My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job 42:5-6
Every person in the Bible who encountered God had the same reaction. His Presence silences us and puts us in our rightful place. It is glorious.
Most people will be satisfied with salvation alone (which is huge). They will tell themselves there is nothing more. They may read the Bible daily and do ministry but that does not equal power from heaven. Dwight L. Moody did more before the baptism of the Holy Spirit (surrender) than most will ever do. Yet, he was operating in the power of his flesh. He had no idea what a manipulator and swindler he was. He didn’t know the power of God until He experienced it. No one does.
When I sought God with all my heart over 25 years ago, I only wanted a clear conscience. I was a Baptist so “baptism of the Holy Spirit” was something I didn’t believe in nor was I seeking it. I was seeking God with my whole heart. When I say “whole heart” I mean it. The only thing I could manage to do at that time was care for my children (they were small). Otherwise, I dropped out of life. I didn’t want to go on without the power and presence of God. I was sick of myself and my fake happiness. I think this has to happen. Remember, Dwight L. Moody said the desire became so great, he did not want to live if he could not have this power.
God made a powerful promise about seeking Him with our whole heart. He said we WILL find Him; guaranteed.
As previously stated, God comes as God. If it is God we want, it is God we will get. In finding Him, we will truly see ourselves. We will find out what fools we are. We will find out how much we do not know. We will find out that we have absolutely nothing to offer God at all.
We will also find out He loves us far more than we imagined. We will know for sure the only truly scary place is away from Him. No wonder Jesus begged God to let the cup pass from Him in the garden. I don’t believe the physical pain was what frightened Him most. I believe it was separation from His Father (my opinion).
We will find out we do not control or manipulate Him on any level and we will see what an abomination all our manipulation is. His presence is white, hot, glorious goodness and our blackness will be evident. We will begin to lack the ability to look down on others because we will see we are so opposite of the One we thought we had figured out.
Is this scary? Yes, it is! I was truly saved before I walked in power but I had no assurance. I wanted assurance of salvation, not God. We will usually not get one without the other (thank God or I would have taken assurance over God so I could stay in control).
To stay half-hearted and powerless is a choice. It’s hard to choose surrender because it involves quite a bit of misery on the front end. Why? Because it is a death to us so the new life God placed inside us can live.
If God’s Spirit is in you, you have unlimited potential. An acorn holds a potential 100 foot tall oak tree inside. Until the acorn is placed in the ground and dies, it will remain a single seed with a hard shell. We are the same. We will live in hard-shelled self protection and deep loneliness, producing very little eternal fruit.
Do not think surrender is an arrival. It is a beginning. An acorn starts as a little shoot with two leaves. Although the beginning is small, it’s on its way to becoming a mighty oak. It doesn’t produce any fruit at first but it has finally given up its life to produce the life it holds inside. The growth and fruit will come with time.
Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
John 12:24
If our lives have no power, we alone are to blame. God is available. Don’t wait another minute to do what He has told us to do–seek Him above every other thing.
Nothing has any value but the love of God and doing His will. There is no happiness outside of Him. The joy born from giving yourself totally to Him no man can take from you. My only desire is to completely give myself up into the hands of God without any idea of turning back or of fear of what may happen to me.
~Madame Jeanne Guyon
