Ever wondered how to go about accomplishing the impossible? This episode illuminates the four stages of achieving just that, from the despair of being unable to achieve your goals to the joy of leaning on God's strength. We delve into Apostle Paul's passionate journey of faith, where he learned to rely on Christ's atonement, not his self-will. We take a step towards surrender by accepting our helplessness and then shifting our focus entirely so that we can move from despair to expectant joy. We wrap up this episode with a promise - though sin may work in us, it doesn't define us.
If you are ready to become the woman God says you already are, you have to join me in Clarity+Courage, my cost-effective coaching group for Christian women.
Learn more and enroll at www.myhappyvault.com/clarityandcourage
Questions? Email Jill directly at Jill@thehappiestlives.com
Ever wondered how to go about accomplishing the impossible? This episode illuminates the four stages of achieving just that, from the despair of being unable to achieve your goals to the joy of leaning on God's strength. We delve into Apostle Paul's passionate journey of faith, where he learned to rely on Christ's atonement, not his self-will. We take a step towards surrender by accepting our helplessness and then shifting our focus entirely so that we can move from despair to expectant joy. We wrap up this episode with a promise - though sin may work in us, it doesn't define us.
If you are ready to become the woman God says you already are, you have to join me in Clarity+Courage, my cost-effective coaching group for Christian women.
Learn more and enroll at www.myhappyvault.com/clarityandcourage
Questions? Email Jill directly at Jill@thehappiestlives.com
You're listening to the Happiest Lives podcast with Jill Lillard, episode number 37. Welcome to the Happiest Lives podcast, where you'll learn to think better, feel better and become the woman God says you already are. Here's your host, jill Lillard. Hey everybody, welcome back. And today we're continuing the series the Surrendered Self.
Speaker 1:So what does it mean to surrender? Why should I surrender? Am I even interested in this topic? Does it sound terrible to me? Does it sound like a good thing? What am I surrendering to? Who am I surrendering to? How do I surrender? Okay, these are some underlying questions that may come up for you as we talk about this topic.
Speaker 1:Last week, I started by laying the foundation, the reminder that there is a battle going on between the flesh and the spirit. You may think that you're fighting against people. You may think you're fighting against sickness and diseases. You may think you're fighting against yourself, your shortcomings, but we must be reminded the battle is in a heavenly realm. Our battle isn't against people, nature or even ourselves. It exists spiritually and the victory has already been won for those who follow Christ. We are already a new creation. We are overcomers. We have all we need now and yet, until heaven, we don't realize the fullness of our new selves On earth. We're engaged in an ongoing battle. We are moving into this new creation, this becoming of our true selves and experiencing the blessings of God, the ones that he has for us here on earth. That requires a death of sorts. We must die to our carnal selves, our fleshly, human nature, in order that we can live that victorious, peace-filled, joyful life which comes through the Holy Spirit living inside us, so you can get saved and have that promise of earthly security in heaven. But are you living a life here on earth that is filled with the Holy Spirit? Are you relying on the Spirit to lead you and empower you? If not, your life will be one of mediocrity. If you forsake the Spirit and simply indulge the flesh, you won't experience impossible things. You'll miss out on the blessings and the life God has for you now. You won't reflect more and more the glory of God in your everyday life.
Speaker 1:This week we're going to talk about doing the impossible, and the only way to do the impossible is to allow the Holy Spirit to work in us. The bottom line is what we are becoming and what we are being led to experience in this life here on earth is impossible. Who we are required to become is impossible, and yet we must do it. God invites you to do things that are unachievable and unimaginable, and I'm not talking about being an Olympic athlete making a million dollars or winning a Grammy Award, although God may have that in the plan for some of you. I am talking about living your life in such a way that your will is aligned with God's will and you discover, you recognize, that you are playing an important part in the greater whole. I'm talking about abiding in great peace and victory, no matter what your circumstances are. I'm talking about a steadiness to your emotional life. I'm talking about experiencing a joy unspeakable and full of glory, about feeling so loved and loving that, even when others mistreat you, you are able to love. This is an abundant life, and it's possible only by the grace of God.
Speaker 1:So what impossible things does God call all of us to do? Well, first, he wants you to forsake everything, everything else, and follow Him. He wants you to be perfect, as your Father in Heaven is perfect. He wants you to live a holy life, a righteous life. When people are unkind to you or offend you, he wants you to love them. His word instructs you to do everything without grumbling and complaining, and he does not want you to worry about anything, but rather in everything, with praise and thanksgiving, to present your request to God. This feels like a very tall order. These are just a handful of the things that God has appointed, commissioned and commanded us to do. Yet how can we do these impossible things? Jesus tells us that on the day of judgment we will be held accountable for every careless word that we speak. And yet in the book of James, scripture tells us that no human being can tame the tongue. So what God calls us to do is impossible.
Speaker 1:If you've tried to be kinder and more patient, tried not to lose your temper, or you've tried not to overeat or indulge in too much, you soon discover that you fall short. Striving to be self-controlled in speech and actions, you soon realize it cannot be done perfectly and consistently. Try for one week not to gossip or complain about others, and you will realize how impossible it feels at times to be perfect in this area. You will even try to justify your actions and you might get confused about what gossip even means. If you're trying to be a more loving wife, a more patient mom or a better friend, you will see how short you fall in always being pleasing and kind. If you've set out to remove the little GODs in your life and always turn to God first, you will see that you have these moments that you still buffer to relieve your playing, whether it's Netflix, overeating, overspending, overworking you turn to other things to fill you up and in the long haul, those things are creating a net negative consequence in your life.
Speaker 1:You want to stop choosing these things and yet you find yourself stuck in familiar patterns. Maybe you find yourself constantly indulging feelings of frustration and disappointment as you still look to your husband or other people to fill the place. Only the Lord can fill. You covet what you don't have and you vacillate between getting caught up in your self-pity and determination or ultimately going unconscious from your life, recognizing that you can't live up to your standards or God's standards.
Speaker 1:You get caught up in the cycle of despair. Maybe you beat yourself up or retreat in defeat, or you grow apathetic and complacent as you quit trying and settle for mediocrity. You may tell yourself this is just the way it is and you quit aspiring and pressing on for victory Because you determine it is impossible. You quit trying and when you quit trying, you quit living, you quit being and becoming who you already are. And yet God wants us to be made complete. He wants us to be whole and fully developed. He wants us to persevere and be made new. In the process of trying Now, even though it's impossible, he calls us to pursue it and in doing so, we will become, we will learn to do things in a new way, in a way that it does not all depend on us. We will learn what it means to know God, what it means to surrender to Him as we persevere. This requires a large portion of faith and humility.
Speaker 1:Scripture has so much to say about this, about persevering, pressing on and running the race with determination. As we do, we are reminded to keep our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. Jesus, the one who endured the cross, despising its shame, and is now seated on the right hand of the throne of God. As we strenuously contend, with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in us, we discover what it means to live a spirit-filled life, a life surrendered to the one who is good, faithful and sovereign. Overall. When we remember to keep our eyes on Jesus, we are never stuck in our shame, shortcomings or failure. Eyes on Jesus, we can leave the past behind and we can move into the new. We can claim our identities in Christ and keep pressing on to become who we already are. When our eyes are on Jesus, we don't focus on ourselves, and as our focus shifts, we are willing to let go of our disappointments, hurts, bitterness and despair. We then move into an expectant hope of what God is doing. As we turn toward Him with songs of praise and worship, we leave our old song of doom and gloom behind and we sing a new song of joy and victory.
Speaker 1:This is how we do what is impossible. Matthew 19-26 says With men it's impossible. What with God, all things are possible. Luke 1-37,. For with God nothing should be impossible. Luke 18-27,. The things that are impossible with men are possible with God. God can do exceedingly, abundantly more that you ask or think. You must only believe and continually humble yourself before Him, letting go of what blocks the flow of the Spirit. This is a surrendered self. We surrender to a God who can and will, a God who has already, a God who is not far off but is as close as the mention of His name. As Christians, the Holy Spirit dwells inside of us. God, his very self, lives inside of you, but that's such an incredible truth if you really lean into what that means. So you can try to do it on your own through sheer will and determination, but your will will run out Soon. Once again, you'll be spinning in despair, disappointment and frustration. Why not, instead, lean into the power of the Spirit?
Speaker 1:There's a book that I want to recommend that my friend Terri shared with me. It was written in the 1800s and so it's quite old, but it is so relevant. The book is the Andrew Murray Collection on Prayer and, yes, it's available on Amazon. I highly recommend that, if you want to dive into this topic of surrender and humility, that this book will take you a little bit deeper. In the book he talks about doing the impossible, that God expects us to do the impossible. He points to a cycle of hope and despair that we go through as we discover what it looks like to do what we cannot do. Now I've modified those a little bit and described them as four stages of doing the impossible.
Speaker 1:The first stage is before you become a believer. It's a stage called I can't you realize that you can't do what you want to do, trying to be a better person. You recognize that you come up short. You fail over and over again. Sin is your identity. It defines you At the core. Your very nature is selfish and so you can't be any other way, coming to a place of despair and utter hopelessness. You discover the second stage, I can. Turning toward Jesus, you let Him expose your shortcomings and you receive His gift of salvation and wholeness. It starts in your mind with believing, and you confess your belief in Christ with your mouth. Instantly you become a brand new person. Something is permanently, forever changed inside you. You're given a new heart and your nature is changed. Your identity is changed. Sin is still a power at work in you, but it is no longer who you are. It does not define you. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you and you become excited to run the race. You're fighting the battle and you feel very confident in your victory, knowing that God is going to help you.
Speaker 1:But soon many of us will move into the third stage, where we feel despair again I can't. Having started in the Spirit, we fall back into the works of the flesh. As we try, with our own determination, will and effort, we return to the thought I can't. And we encounter the power of sin and shortcoming in our life. People say if you're determined, you can do whatever you want. And yet we can feel discouraged because we will and want something. We want to please the Lord, and yet our will and want is not enough. We fall short and we are reminded we can't. We are reminded that sin still abounds and that we are living in a finite human container. Willing and wanting isn't enough. We are not enough. Our efforts to be good and set apart, they fail us.
Speaker 1:So in this stage let us consider the Apostle Paul, who furtively loved the Lord. He was very determined and passionate and zealous, and yet he said in Romans 7, 18 through 19,. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me. That is in my sinful nature, for I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out, for I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do. This I keep on doing. Paul wanted to do good, and yet he would find that he would fall short. Not even the angels had enough determination and will to stand. So our will must be filled with God's Spirit.
Speaker 1:In Philippians 2, 13, paul tells us God works in us to will and to do his good pleasure. God gives us the desire and power to do what pleases him. And so these two passages, they may feel like a contradiction. If you're saved and you're struggling, you may be like Paul thinking God is working in me to will and to do his good pleasure, and yet I find the sin is there with me, something is wrong with me. What a mess I am.
Speaker 1:In Romans 7, 24, paul declares oh wretched man, what a wretched man that I am Realizing he cannot deliver himself. He then asks who will deliver me from this body of death? And he answers with the truth he has known all along I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So, proceeding this place where he recognizes his own wretchedness, his desire to do it is good and yet his failure to do it. Notice that in Romans 7, 6 through 25, where Paul is recognizing his desire to do what is good and yet his failure to do it, that the law is mentioned 20 times and the Holy Spirit and Christ are not mentioned at all. I, me and mine, are mentioned 40 times in this chapter, prior to verse 25, there is no mention of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Paul recognizes, though God is working in him, there is another law at work that is bringing him into captivity. He recognizes he cannot fulfill God's law. What a wretched man am I? This declaration is the portal that leads us to the next declaration that takes the focus off of me and I takes the focus off the law to Christ. Remembering sin is at work in you, but it is no longer your identity because of the work of Christ. You can remember that you can't, but Christ has. So Paul goes back to his focus on Christ, that Christ has, that he will do in him what is impossible.
Speaker 1:So many of us get stuck in the stage where we believe I can't, I can't and so I won't. They never move past I me to he to Jesus I can't, but he can Stuck on I. They set aside the call to love more, they set aside the call to holiness and perfection Because they've struggled, trying to obey God and have fallen short. They quit strenuously contending, they quit running the race and pressing on.
Speaker 1:Sadly, the lives of so many believers does not look much different than that of a non-believer. It is not a life full of rest or victory. It is a life caught up in the circumstances and disappointments. It's holding on to the little GOD's. It's stuck, focused on self and what it thinks it should do, have or achieve. But remember, the gateway from this place of despair and self-focus is to declare oh, what a wretched man am I.
Speaker 1:This is the portal to Romans 8, which begins with Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because, through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. We move from thoughts about our own wretchedness, sinfulness and despair to thoughts about Christ. We move to an expectant hope. We're reminded of the privileges of being a daughter of God who is led by the Spirit. We move from preoccupation with self and circumstances. We move from bondage to freedom. Notice the contrast in Romans 8 from Romans 7, where Paul mentions I and me and my 40 times in chapter 7, with no mention of the Holy Spirit. In chapter 8, the Holy Spirit is mentioned 16 times in the first 16 verses.
Speaker 1:When we come to the end of our flesh, our own efforts, recognizing our inability, we're reminded that sin lives in us and that we need the Lord. We are reminded that sin is not our identity but that we are covered and made new in Christ. As we declare what a mess we are and we declare what he has done and quickly move to joyful expectation of what God is doing in our lives, we leave the past behind, moving into the new. The law of the Spirit of Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death. So it's impossible. Yet we must do it. God expects it.
Speaker 1:In the third stage of I Can't we settle for our sin and use the impossibility as an endorsement. But we can move to that fourth stage. He can. God calls us to holiness Daily. We need His help. We need the Holy Spirit to overflow in our mortal containers, confessing our wretchedness and that Jesus is our only hope. We surrender and as we do so, hope renews and we enter into His rest. When we cry out it's impossible, what a mess I am, and then ask who will deliver me, we find our answer, the one we've known all along Jesus. This moves us to prayer and petition, interlaced and ending with praise and worship, turning toward eyes off me, letting go, surrendering, giving up without throwing in the towel. It is no longer I, it's not about my glory and achievement, but about His, about finding my heart to my creators and living my life as part of the greater whole.
Speaker 1:There's a popular phrase I've heard about being the hero of your own story, but that's not possible. I want God to be the hero of my story. The Holy Spirit dwelling in me, god dwelling in me. I cannot do the impossible, but God can, and that's great. By me, he has given me power and privileges. As His child, romans 8.15, says. We are no longer slaves to fear, but we hold the privileges of being children of God. He can and he will, and you are privileged to be His.
Speaker 1:And so pause and consider where you are in these four stages. Maybe you're not a believer and recognize that something is missing. You don't like who you are and you want a new identity. Or maybe you're someone who is a new Christian and you are serving the Lord and you are excited about your new identity, about what God's doing in you, and you feel like there's nothing that you can't do. Maybe you've known Christ for a while now, and yet you find yourself falling into a state of despair and discouragement. You are so focused on yourself, on your glory, achievements and the works you must do. You've lost hope and have quit running the race, casting off all that hinders. You have lost your focus on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of your faith. Peace, joy and victory. Do not define your life as you are letting sin and circumstances define you. Or maybe you've moved into that fourth stage of joyful acceptance and anticipation. You know that sin lives in you, but it no longer defines you. You are persevering, growing and focused on Jesus. You are consistently living with a joyful expectation of good things.
Speaker 1:You declare I'm a mess, but, thank God for Jesus, you are strenuously contending for your faith, asking the Holy Spirit to do the impossible in your life. Like Paul, we desperately need God's authority and power to work in us. We need him to give us the power to accomplish what his will desires. I encourage you to shift your focus off of yourself and to Philippians 2.13,. God is working in me. Participate in the process, exercising your free will that he's given you by surrendering daily to the work of the Spirit in you.
Speaker 1:Rely on the Spirit moment by moment. Walk in gratitude for his grace. Keep moving forward, casting off all that hinders. Let there be an end to relying on your flesh and its limited powers. Instead, embrace your helplessness and desperation as a portal to surrender to God. In every moment, as you accept both your human position and the command to be perfect, you can be reminded that it's impossible, and yet you still must do it. This can lead you to God's kindness, to repentance, to constantly turn toward the Lord, asking him to bind your heart to his and every struggle and then every shortcoming, and to do what you cannot do, as we humble ourselves before the Lord. He will lift us up and he will produce fruit. His Spirit will produce fruit in our life. We will take actions that are expressions of what we believe.
Speaker 1:I want to close with this quote from the book I referenced earlier, by Andrew Murray your Christian life is to be a continuous proof that God works in possibilities. Your Christian life is to be a series of impossibilities made possible and actual by God's almighty power. When the Holy Spirit overflows in our hearts, we are able to love in a brand new way. We're able to love those who hate us. We're able to love those who persecute us. We can love those who seem unlovable. When his Spirit overflows, even when we feel unappreciated or unloved by someone, we can love them even more. This is a love that is impossible. It is a love that is beyond us, but with God, all things are possible. As you trust and turn toward him, god will do more than you can ask, think or imagine. I hope you guys will join me next week as we talk about the act of surrender. How do we actually live a life surrender to God? How do we let go and trust Until then, have a beautiful week and keep stepping into the impossible?