Introduction
“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”.
These words were coined by Dante in his poem Inferno. Dante along with his guide Virgil, the Roman poet, entered hell hearing the anguish and screams of those who were uncommitted and had no hope of ever escaping. What a terrible, all-encompassing dreadful feeling must be felt by those who enter. Saints and sinners alike would do well to read and reread Dante’s epic poem. (From Wikipedia. For more information click (here.)
The Cambridge Dictionary defines abandonment as: the act of leaving someone or something or of ending or stopping something, usually forever. The connotation is very clear, “Leave one thing for another”, or abandonment. We, as humankind, have that choice. We often abandon things, notions, thoughts, ways, and even people. In this paper I am using abandonment as leaving the ways of the world for another, Christ and His ways – forever. This paper will focus on Abandonment to Christ.
Suggestion
All my papers (Blogs) fit together. Sometimes to understand one better you need to have read another. In this paper you will have a better understanding if you read the following:
Authority / Absolutism and Woke (click here)
Excellence in Christ (click here)
Pride (click here)
Control Yourself (click here)
Upside Down
As you read this paper I want you to understand that when it comes to abandonment and surrender, it is God Himself who causes this separation to happen. We, by ourselves, are not able. Paul says in Galatians 1:15,
“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace,”
It is God who presents this separation before you. It is up to you to make the choice – do I or do I not? These things can not be done by our strength. If we try we will surely fail. It is all a part of drawing closer to Him. We, like Paul, must become recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God for one purpose, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“The great aim of the Holy Spirit is to get us abandoned to God.”
-Oswald Chambers
Here is the Wisdom of Oswald Chambers
“Have you ever had a crisis in which you deliberately and emphatically and recklessly abandoned everything? It is a crisis of will. You may come up to it many times externally, but it amounts to nothing. The real deep crisis of abandonment is reached internally, not externally. The giving up of external things may be an indication of being in total bondage. (OC April 17)
“Are you prepared to let God take you into union with Himself, and pay no more attention to what you call the “great things”? Are you prepared to abandon entirely and let go? The test of abandonment is in refusing to say — “Well, what about this?” Beware of suppositions. Immediately you allow — “What about this?” it means you have not abandoned, you do not trust God. Immediately when you do abandon, you think no more about what God is going to do. Abandon means to refuse yourself the luxury of asking any questions. If you abandon entirely to God, He says at once, “Thy life will I give thee for a prey.” The reason people are tired of life is because God has not given them anything, they have not got their life as prey. The way to get out of that state is to abandon everything to God. When you do get through to abandonment to God, you will be the most surprised and delighted creature on earth; God has got you absolutely and has given you your life. If you are not there, it is either because of disobedience or a refusal to be simple enough. (OC April 28)
Salvation
For the newbie Christian, there is no Salvation without repentance and this repentance includes abandoning our worldly ways and surrendering to God’s ways. For this Salvation to take effect we must consciously and willfully, forever, turn away from all worldly aspirations and turn all things; mind, body, and soul, to Christ. This is abandonment of and surrendering to. But, it does not stop there. As our minds are being renewed by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God we find that we must continuously abandon and continuously surrender our will to the will of God. This also means that there are steps and degrees of abandonment and surrender. It is a step-by-step process. This is never easy. Even if we know the will of God, its not easy. We continuously fight against our worldly system over which the god of this world, Satan, presides.
One of the most difficult scriptures in the Bible speaks of the abandonment of mother, father, family and life itself. Abandonment is necessary if we wish to follow Him and be His disciples.
“Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14: 25-27) ESV
God’s Promises
We look at God’s promises in the Bible and automatically assume they are ours. At least that is what we are taught. But, a further study into His Word reveals that to receive some of these promises we must abandon more of ourselves to the will of God. From what I have read and heard from various teachers, when we are totally abandoned, and I mean totally, our needs diminish and we finally achieve oneness with Him.
“So, which one of you by worrying could add anything to your life? “And why would you worry about your clothing? Look at all the beautiful flowers of the field. They don’t work or toil,” (Matthew 6:27) TPT
All our desires wants and needs are fulfilled in Him. Getting from here to there lies the problem. What turns us away from total abandonment and surrender is that we do not always see His promises fulfilled, at least not the way we think they should be.
We all say that we want to serve Christ, but when we look at all His promises and listen to the many prayers we pray, we want Him to continuously serve us. That’s not how it works. The promises and answers to prayer are a result of our obedience to Him. That does not mean that we must do something for God. He’s God. He doesn’t need anything from us but obedience.
Hindrances Involving Lack of Abandonment
“Because they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods and worshiped them and served them. Therefore he has brought all this disaster on them.” (2 Chronicles 7:3) ESV
“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4) ESV
Seven Reasons Why Prayer is Not Answered (for more click here)
1. Unconfessed sin
“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; (Isiah 59:1,2) but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. (Isiah 59:1-2) ESV
2. An unforgiving spirit
“And whenever you stand praying, if you find that you carry something in your heart against another person, release him and forgive him so that your Father in heaven will also release you and forgive you of your faults.” (Mark 11:25) TPT
3. An unbelieving heart
Just make sure you ask empowered by confident faith without doubting that you will receive. The ambivalent person believes one minute and doubts the next. Being undecided makes you become like the rough seas driven and tossed by the wind. You’re up one minute and tossed down the next. When you are half-hearted and wavering it leaves you unstable. Can you expect to receive anything from the Lord when you’re in that condition (James 1:6-8) TPT)
4. Improper motives
“And if you ask, you won’t receive it for you’re asking with corrupt motives, seeking only to fulfill your selfish desires.” (James 4:3) TPT
Note: Have you ever thought that your healing and claim of His promises may be a selfish desire?
5. An alienated marriage relationship
“Husbands, you, in turn, must treat your wives with tenderness, viewing them as feminine partners who deserve to be honored, for they are co-heirs with you of the “divine grace of life,” so that nothing will hinder your prayers.” (1 Peter 3:7) TPT
6. An anemic effort
Consider the words of E. M. Bounds: “Prayers must be red-hot. It is the fervent prayer that is effective … It takes fire to make prayers go. The warmth of soul creates an atmosphere favorable to prayer … By flame prayer ascends to heaven.”
“Confess and acknowledge how you have offended one another and then pray for one another to be instantly healed, for tremendous power is released through the passionate, heartfelt prayer of a godly believer! ” (James 5:16) TPT
7. The sovereignty of God
“He had every right to say to Moses: “I will be merciful to whomever I choose and I will show compassion to whomever I wish.” Again, this proves that God’s choice doesn’t depend on how badly someone wants it or tries to earn it, but it depends on God’s kindness and mercy. (Romans 9:15-16) TPT
Abandonment Also Means Surrender
When we abandon something we discard notions and thoughts while reaching out for something else. When we surrender we give up and resign from those things and ways that we think make us whole. Only Christ can fill in these gaps and when they are filled in we become whole in Christ.
When we stand at the edge of a cliff and are told to leap we are suddenly filled with fear. When we stand at the edge of Abandonment and Surrender we are also filled with fear. We tell ourselves that we don’t know what will happen because we will lose control. And that’s true, we don’t know and we are losing control but we trust in Him who says jump. It’s strange that even when we are told of salvation and all its “good things” we are fearful because we are confessing that we will lose total control and we don’t like that. But, isn’t losing control and putting our control in the hands of God what it’s all about?
The Answered – Suicide To Self
The only way we can truly abandon ourselves to Christ and surrender to Him is to draw ourselves as close to Him as we possibly can, believe as much as we can believe; and with all the power of the Holy Spirit we have within us (we won’t think we have much at all), take the plunge, take the leap of faith, jump not knowing but trusting only. It’s a suicide mission for all your self-desires, mental assent, fears, and bodily being. It’s committing suicide to the “self” within us that causes us to accept only what we know and can control. It’s strange that when we submit our control we suddenly find out we didn’t have control at all and never did.
If we have committed suicide to self what does it matter what others think of us? Why am I concerned about worldly things? Why should I be concerned that my carnal life should have any meaning except to Christ? While in Christ why should I be concerned about how my own carnal body affects me except by the will of He who created me?
“But I fear none of these things, neither do I count my life more precious than myself, so that I may consummate my course and the ministry of the word which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 29:24) DRB
I like what the King James version says “…none of these things move me.”
Conclusion
As a Christian, these are things we think we know: we can trust Him, He will not leave us, He only means good for us, He will not lead us astray, and if we do what He says we will be better off and, the list goes on. Here is where the “rubber meets the road”. We must do it! Back up those things we think we believe with action. This is also called Faith. Abandonment to Him takes faith. Surrender of all things to Him takes faith. Are we faithful and true as He is faithful and true? Exactly what do we believe? Exactly whom do we trust? Is it still ourselves? Do we lack faith because of “sin doubt and unforgiveness and more”, because of the unanswered prayers mentioned above? So your sick and God hasn’t answered your prayer right away. Get over it! Abandonment and Surrender means change. A change from what the world told you to what we know through Christ. A change from a worldly system of control which is self-control, to a God controlled life.
If you enter into this relationship of Abandonment and Submission by saying, “I hope this works”, that is a good thing. Do not be like those above entering into the eternal abyss abandoning hope. In Christ, there is always hope. Hope and have Faith He will accomplish what He started.
Let God be God.
Enough said
“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.” (Jeremiah 15:16) ESV
