Total surrender is the bare minimum!

I have been reading 'With Christ in the school of prayer' (Andrew Murray) recently. I's like to post the following quote taken from Chapter 13 of that book (get an online copy by clicking here)

“While ordinary Christians imagine that all that is not positively forbidden and sinful is lawful to them, and seek to retain as much as possible of this world, with its property, its literature, its enjoyments, the truly consecrated soul is as the soldier who carries only what he needs for the warfare. Laying aside every weight, as well as the easily besetting sin, afraid of entangling himself with the affairs of this life, he seeks to lead a Nazarite life, as one specially set apart for the Lord and His service. Without such voluntary separation, even from what is lawful, no one will attain power in prayer: this kind goeth not out but by fasting and prayer.

Disciples of Jesus! who have asked the Master to teach you to pray, come now and accept His lessons. He tells you that prayer is the path to faith, strong faith, that can cast out devils. He tells you: 'If ye have faith, nothing shall be impossible to you;' let this glorious promise encourage you to pray much. Is the prize not worth the price? Shall we not give up all to follow Jesus in the path He opens to us here; shall we not, if need be, fast? Shall we not do anything that neither the body nor the world around hinder us in our great life-work,--having intercourse with our God in prayer, that we may become men of faith, whom He can use in His work of saving the world.”

I have believed for a long time that the complete and utter consecration of everything we have and are is the bare minimum acceptable to God. Entire sanctification is not an optional extra for 'specialist' Christians it is a mandatory obligation for anyone who claims to follow Jesus.

God will not do what he wants to do in The Salvation Army until Salvationists rediscover the importance of three essentials - these essentials need to be applied corporately (from the top down) and individually (from the bottom up). They are:

• Repentance
  
• Renunciation of the world, the flesh and the devil
  
• Total consecration to Christ
  

These essentials must be sought not legaistically but within the context of love. God loves me in spite of my rebellion, I love God because he first loved me, the love I hame for him is expressed in a practical love for the 'least of these my brethren."

Lord, we come, and from thee never
Self nor earth our hearts shall sever;
Thine entirely, thine for ever,
We will fight and die.
To a world of rebels dying,
Heaven and Hell and God defying,
Everywhere we'll still be crying:
Will ye perish, why? (GSR)

Love and prayers - Andrew