And God Will Make You Fit

"I am crucified with Christ." Galatians 2:20

You’ve heard me describe the meaning of the verse about, “No greater love has any man than he lay done his life for another”. Most of us associate the action of “laying down” with being willing to die. You’ve heard me say that this means not only being willing to lay down your physical life but also and more importantly laying down your desires, your plans, your thoughts, and your attitudes. No one is ever united with Jesus Christ until he is willing to relinquish not only sin, but his whole way of looking at things. Advancing from the theme of Challenge 2009, resolved, ransomed, we need to relinquish. To be born from above of the Spirit of God means that we must first let go before we can seize. The initial phase of this objective is letting go of all deception. What is it that you have that God wants? What is it that we can produce that he wants to take from us? What Our Lord wants us to present to Him is not goodness, nor honesty, nor endeavor, but real solid sin; that is all He can take from us. Remember the verse about God not being able to be in the presence of sin. What does God give in exchange for our sin? Real solid righteousness. Psalm 23:3 He restores my soul: he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. And why does he do this…for His Name’s sake. This transaction is that important. God wants glory. He will get glory. He wants the glory to come through you and me. We have an awesome opportunity to be made right. And God will make that possible for His Name’s sake. In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Psalm 35:24

In the next phase, the Spirit of God will show us what further there is to relinquish. In the spirit of Challenge 2009 “Ransomed”, we have been bought with a price we cannot repay. The fact that we cannot afford to repay does not mean we should not try. We must give-up all fakeness of being any thing. We need to give-up all claims of being worthy of God's consideration. Here will have to be the relinquishing of any claim to the right to self. Am I willing to relinquish my hold on all I possess, my hold on my affections, my hold on my family, my holdon my career, and on everything, and to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?

There is always a sharp painful dashing of hopes to go through before we do relinquish. What I mean is when a man really sees himself as the Lord sees him the awful nature of pride is appalling. We realize how our own heart is against Jesus Christ. When we see ourselves in the light of the Lord, the shame and the horror and the desperate conviction come home. We question how we got to this point and the answer is disappointing to say the least. Review the February blog entry “Where the rubber meets the Road” for a reminder about being against Jesus.

Challenge 2009 brought us to the realization that we are not our own. We must live for God. If you are up against the question of relinquishing, go through the crisis, relinquish all, and God will make you fit for all that He requires of you.

Challenge 2010 will introduce you to that requirement. This year’s theme is Righteous Revolution. At Challenge you will be equipped and trained to make a stand with Jesus to thwart the enemy. The victory begins with you. On the inside and comes out. It continues in your family then to your community then to your state, your region, and your nation. Join the Challenge staff and me as we prepare to impact our nation for Jesus Christ.

Challenge Program Director
Bruce Stansbury