Obedience: The Name of the Game

Our battles are first won or lost in the secret places of our will in God's presence, never in full view of the world. The Spirit of God seizes me and I am compelled to get alone with God and fight the battle before Him....I must first get the issue settled between God and myself in the secret places of my soul, where no one else can interfere. Then I can go ahead, knowing with certainty that the battle is won.
- Oswald Chambers

I love how everything God shows me builds on each other. I love how I learn a new facet of a concept I thought I understood.

It's cool to read things from Oswald Chambers and realize that God has been teaching these very concepts to me. Oswald just hits the nail on the head everytime, verbalizes for me what I already know in my subconscious.

You can't learn biblical truths outside of His presence. It won't stick. I have 20 years of experience to attest to that. You won't get it. It won't make sense. You won't recognize the significance. I get frustrated with my siblings for not understanding "simple" biblical concepts, but I've come to realize that not only was I the same way when I was their age, but it's because I wasn't in God's presence that it didn't make sense. That's why everything is so fresh and new to me right now...because I'm learning everything anew, in His presence...and I'm REALLY learning it this time. The stuff I repeated over and over in Sunday School is making sense...the Bible is coming alive!

Things that I don't understand, concepts that are difficult or confusing, all of these things I have to work through with God's supervision. My faith has to become real and true and genuine and unique to me before I can go out and use it in the world.

...every once and a while, God brings us to a major turning point - a crossroads in our life. From that point we either go toward a more and more slow, lazy, and useless Christian life, or we become more and more on fire, giving our utmost for His highest - our best for His glory.
- Oswald Chambers

This is the point I have found myself. Every morning God wakes me up and I spend time soaking up as much as I can. During the day, He stays with me and whispers to me new things and new thoughts. Before I go to bed, He ministers to my heart and encourages me. The intimacy is astounding. The love is everlasting. The fire is unquenchable.

My Lord and Husband,
I am in awe. What a strange and wondrous thought to think of You, my God, as my eternal Husband. There is something so astonishing about discovering I am your Bride, the Bride of Christ. Yes, I want You to lift the veil and let me see You as my Prince and me as your Princess Bride. You are the one true love my heart has longed for all my life. So today I stand at Your altar ready to surrender my heart, my soul, and all that I am...May I find myself as I begin to seek You with all that is within me.
Love,
Your Princess Bride

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give Him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready."
- Revelations 19:7

I gladly submit. I gladly obey. I gladly sacrifice. I gladly surrender.