TOTAL SURRENDER by David Wilkerson

"But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested...even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference...being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:21-24). God has revealed to us a sure way to become absolutely holy and perfect in his sight, whereby all his children can live in absolute peace and joy, knowing God looks upon them as holy and pure. And this is all a free gift! His gift of holiness can never be a reward for anything we have done. It is an unearned, undeserved favor—an outright gift. "For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:3-5). Submission is the only way into God's holiness, submitting to the righteousness of Christ through faith. To submit means "to surrender the power of your will." With God there is no such thing as willpower—all power is his and he will permit no other power than his own. God demands absolute holiness so that we will be humbled by this demand! He watches over our struggles to be holy with patience, waiting for us to fail so miserably that we will run to his throne, fall on our knees, and cry out, "It's hopeless—I will never be holy! I am weak, sensuous, sinful. I have no good in me at all." The kind of repentance that God is looking for is confessing the weakness of our futile efforts and denying that we have any power at all in ourselves. You can never be clothed in Christ's holiness until you fall on your face before God's throne, naked, poor, wretched, weak, and totally helpless! You must once and for all admit you have no power to resist sin, that you have nothing to offer the Lord but a broken-down, defeated and helpless lump of clay. You must admit you can't be holy, even with help. You must be given holiness as a gift. The greatest gift you can give to God is your faith that he will give you his holiness. Isaiah exulted, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.... So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations" (Isaiah 61: 10-11).

Where Are All The Superheroes

Where Are All The Superheroes? USA Today begins their story with this line, “He stopped to help and died because others did not do the same.” America loves its superheroes, and we fantasize and fashion them with every kind of power that the human imagination can conjure up. Superman has powers that can be matched by no other force on Earth. His only weakness is a rock from another planet. Aquaman lives in the sea and communicates with all of its inhabitants. The Flash is as fast as lightning and Spiderman climbs walls and can sense danger. Then there are the superheroes that have no special powers, but are driven with a passion for justice and resources and gadgets that do not exist is reality. Men like Batman and the American superhero of today, IRON MAN. Something was done for all humanity 2000 years ago that no comic strip hero could have accomplished even if he possessed every power given to these imaginary super humans. Only one Man possessed this kind of power and was positioned to wield it, and with a ferocious and violent attack He conquered sin and redeemed every man woman and child who would believe on Him. Forever! He is the True Superhero, and His name is Jesus Christ! He destroys the works of darkness with the power of LOVE and He demonstrated its undeniable and dynamic force on the Cross at Calvary. His creed is this, found in John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (NIV). Hugo Tale-Yax, an out of work homeless man, was found dead on a sidewalk in Queens NY from multiple stab wounds received while trying to save a perfect stranger from an attack. It appears his creed was the same as our Lord’s. But for the 24 other people who just passed him by and left him lying there, they chose indifference instead of love as their manifesto. (click here to view entire story) This story grieved my heart in such a way I was inspired to share my thoughts with you. This simple man sparked a passion in me that can only be attributed to the indwelling of God’s Spirit and the desire to rise and live up to the name given by the One who gave His life on a cross. We are Christians! And it is time we infiltrate every area of our lives and bring to our work-place, schools, neighborhoods and all the world the flavor of Love! Jesus preached influence among those we are surrounded by. He says we are to be the salt of the earth and are to flavor the atmosphere with godliness or we are to be thrown out like a useless bag of trash. The Message Bible says it like this, Jesus’ words: Matthew 5:13 “Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.” Let me ask you this: How much influence do you really have? In Washington DC there is a group who call themselves The Capital City Super Squad. They are real life superheroes or RLSs. And in their principles is found this set of philosophical ideals, or their Superhero Paradigm as one member calls it. For every RLS there are core principles they must possess. 1. A desire to help others; 2. A sense of justice; 3. A commitment to the rules of social order; And 4. The resolve to actively pursue these ideals. And though these ideals are honorable and serve a higher purpose they did not originate with these modern day do-gooders, but are instead only half of the commandment given by Christ in Luke 10:25-37. What we find in Jesus’ example is something greater than just a philosophy that would have us risk ourselves for the victims of injustice. In the parable of the Good Samaritan he takes a man who has shown outright hatred towards the Samaritan and who has acted wickedly to his people all of his life and makes him the victim. The Samaritan had every reason to hate this man and to leave him lying there just as those New Yorkers did to Mr. Hugo Tale, but because of his obedience to God and his love to honor his God he chose instead to show compassion and mercy and to forgive every act of evil shown to him and demonstrate the Love of Christ to a fellow human being. It is this level of love we are to demonstrate in the giving of ourselves to others. Jesus says, “Now go and do likewise.” Authentic faith demands that we are able to look past the individual in need and see only the need. Where are all the Superheroes of today? Demonstrate Christ and people will see we are truly surrounded by them. They are working in your building or sitting in your class. They are driving in the car next to you as you are stuck in traffic or they may be living in your own home. What makes them Superheroes is the fact that in spite of their vulnerabilities and the danger of getting hurt by others or maybe even killed, they continue to give and to risk all the while showing mercy and love. We are Christians, and with that name come many blessings and the promise that God will never leave us or forsake us. But also with that name we have a great responsibility; give sacrificially for the sake of others even though it may cost you everything and God be glorified! So let me leave you with this question: Do you feel like a Superhero?