As believers in Christ who love the Lord and are consecrated to Him, we need to be beside ourselves toward God and for the gospel, giving our all for the Lord’s sake and for the sake of the gospel because we love the Lord and His interest here on earth.
This is not one of the “rules” that we need to abide by in the church life; this is a spontaneous result of our loving the Lord with our first love and giving Him the first place. Amen!
What God is after is not what we have; He doesn’t want what we have – He wants us, the persons.
Whether we realize this or not, our being is occupied with and possessed by many things, and in particular, mammon usurps us and keeps us away from God.
Many times we are wondering how come certain saints in the church life love the Lord so much but we don’t; one of the main reasons is that our money is still in our pocket.
When we offer to God what we have and are when we give ourselves to Him with all we are and have, He is responsible to take care of us, and what we have and are contribute to the fulfillment of His purpose for the building up of the Body.
The apostle calls our giving of a gift to support the saints a sweet-smelling savor to God, an acceptable sacrifice to please God.
How can mammon of unrighteousness, the evil riches, become something that is pleasing to God and make Him happy? It is by our willing consecration, our voluntary giving of ourselves with all we are and have to Him.
And this is not because “we have to” or because we heard in a message that we need to do this; we offer ourselves up to the Lord with all we have and are because we love Him, we see His preciousness, and nothing compares to Him.
As we spend time with the Lord in His word, enjoy Him by calling on His name throughout the day, meet with the saints to corporately enjoy Christ, and experience Christ during the day, we have an inner sense that all we are and have belonged to Him, and we simply want to give our all to Him.
When the gold is in our possession, it is unrighteous and unclean, but when it is in the temple of God, the church, it is sanctified by God’s presence and useful for His purpose.
The gold and silver the children of Israel had and asked from the Egyptians were unclean, but once these were offered for the tabernacle they became sanctified and useful to the Lord.
May we realize that, the more we give, the more the Lord has a way to cause our money to go around the world and perform His miracles, and our being will be more free to serve Him and enjoy Him.
Being Fully Consecrated to the Lord, those Beside Ourselves in Offering all we have to Him out of Love for Him
In 2 Cor. 5:13 Paul says that the apostles were beside themselves to God and sober-minded for the saints. On one hand, toward others, we need to be sober-minded and balanced, not beside ourselves.
On the other hand, toward God, we need to be beside ourselves in offering all we are and have to Him. Amen!
In Acts 4:34-35, we see that in the early church many of the disciples sold their all and laid the money they received at the apostles’ feet.
This is to be beside yourself for the Lord – selling all you have and giving it all to the Lord. They didn’t do this because others told them to – they did it because they loved the Lord and were touched by Him to do this.
Many people agree that we should love God and be zealous for Him, but they say that we should be careful and balanced, and we shouldn’t go to extremes.
However, throughout the past two thousand years many have truly consecrated themselves to the Lord and have given up all for Him; they were beside themselves to God, but sober-minded toward others.
The more we love the Lord, the more we consecrate ourselves with all we have and are to Him.
This means that we offer up everything to Him – we are beside ourselves to God, and God has a way to use what we have in the way He wants for His purpose.
One of the secrets of loving the Lord to the uttermost is that we don’t give our money to Him; we still hold on to our money and wealth, and because of this our heart is still occupied and has less space for the Lord.
If we want that our heart would follow the Lord, our money must first go to Him; when we say Amen as we put our money in the offering box, our heart will go to the Lord as well.
Both of these are needed: we need to love the Lord and consecrate to Him, and we also need to give what we are and have to Him.
We can’t just say that we love the Lord, but our money is still our own, and we don’t give ourselves to Him.
We may earn a certain amount that takes care of the needs but not much to spare, but as long as we consecrate ourselves fully to the Lord, He in us will tell us how much to give and what to do.
When we see the Lord’s preciousness, when we see that the desire of His heart is to gain the church as the Body of Christ, and when we realize that He needs the overcomers in this age, we will be beside ourselves to God and consecrate ourselves fully to Him.
We will give Him the ground in our being, and He will have a way to become the treasure of our hearts.
May the Lord rekindle and increase our love for Him; may we come to Him again and again throughout the day to contact Him, enjoy Him, and tell Him that we love Him.
As we give ourselves to love the Lord, He will touch us concerning our giving, and because we love Him to the uttermost, we will be beside ourselves to God while sober-minded toward the saints.
Toward God, we give and give and give, and toward man, we are proper human beings who love the Lord and are consecrated to Him.
The problem is that today many people are too much for themselves; they consider their needs in the future, they set aside money for this and that thing, and they deposit their money in their savings account.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that, and God is not against doing this; what God is after is men and women who love Him to the uttermost to the point that they give all they are and have to Him.
If we keep saving and saving and saving but we are not giving and giving and giving, if we store up treasures for ourselves here on earth in the bank or by accumulating wealth, our treasure will be here on earth and not with the Lord in heaven.
May we come to the Lord again and again in our time with Him and honestly tell Him,
Lord Jesus, become the treasure of our heart. Rekindle our love toward You until we are beside ourselves to God and sober-minded toward man. Amen, Lord, we love You and we give ourselves with all we are and have to You. You are the most precious One, and we are one with You for the fulfilment of Your purpose. Lord, we consecrate ourselves to You. We give You the ground in our being and we enthrone You in the center of our being. Save us from storing up treasures for ourselves here on earth; may our treasure be in the heavens with You, and may our love for You increase! We say Amen to Your word. We say Amen to what You are doing in us. Amen, Lord, we are here for You and Your purpose!
Christ and the Church are our Focus: we need to Offer ourselves Fully to the Lord for His Purpose
Many Christians think that the “doctrines” and “teachings” in the Bible are all in the spiritual realm, and many times the divine revelation in God’s word is disassociated from their daily living.
In the matter of being renewed, transformed, and saved in life, they apply this in the spiritual realm as a doctrine, but it may not affect them.
Even more, when it comes to money and the matter of giving ourselves to the Lord and being beside ourselves to God, many Christians think that we need to be balanced and sober, not to be too much for the Lord.
The Lord does want us to be balanced and not too much on the extreme, but at the same time, He wants us to be beside ourselves to God, giving our all to Him, because we love Him!
Our focus as believers in Christ is Christ and the church; our main business, our enterprise, is Christ and the church – the enjoyment and experience of Christ for the building up of the church as the corporate expression of Christ.
When we are recalibrated in our thinking and doing by taking Christ and the church as our focus, we will realize that we’re not here on earth for the same reason everyone else is here.
Others may live for their career, wealth, sports, entertainment, games, etc but we are here for the Lord.
To be for the Lord is to give our whole time, energy, life, and all we have to Him for His purpose.
When the Lord touches us with what He is and has when we see His supreme preciousness and are captivated by His beauty, we will hold nothing back: we will be beside ourselves to God.
There is a story of an elderly sister who once came to George Muller and told him that she has been saving for this particular new coat for twenty-eight years, for she really wanted it; however, the Lord touched her and she gave the fifteen pounds she saved up for this new coat to the Lord.
Mr Muller did not dare accept that money, for he thought she might have regretted it later, but she was resolute and determined to offer it up.
We may think that it’s difficult for poor people to love the Lord, but the Lord died for all, and when people are touched by the Lord, they offer themselves fully to Him for His purpose.
As we live in the church life in the Lord’s recovery today and realize the need for the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the whole inhabited earth, as we see God’s need to end this age by gaining the overcomers to be His bride, we just offer ourselves up to Him for His purpose.
Our spontaneous reaction to seeing the Lord’s need and purpose is that we consecrate ourselves fully to Him, and everything is for Christ and the church.
No one has to tell us to offer up all we have and are to Him – we simply see what is in God’s heart, we are touched by Him in the matter of our giving, and we are beside ourselves to God.
All the saints need to rise up and be beside themselves toward the Lord, offering up their time, their energy, their being, and all they have and are to the Lord for His purpose.
It is only those who are fully consecrated ones that can be useful in God’s hand, and especially at the end of this age, He is looking for those who are beside themselves to God, those who offer everything they are and have to Him for His purpose.
Lord Jesus, unveil us to see Your purpose, Your heart’s desire. Give us a vision of Christ and the church. Amen, Lord, we offer our time to You. We offer up all we are and have for Your purpose. May all the saints rise up and be beside themselves to God, being the fully consecrated ones for His purpose in this age. Amen, Lord, we are one with You in Your desire to end this age. Produce us as Your overcomers, those who are fully consecrated ones to You for Your purpose. We look to You, dear Lord, and we focus on Christ and the church; we give all we have and are to You for the fulfilment of Your purpose!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, and portions from, The Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 41, ch. 26, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Material offerings and the Lord’s Move Today, week 3, entitled, Material Offerings and Full-time Service.
- Hymns on this topic:
– How oft believers through the years / Have sought the will of Jesus, / And would have offered everything / To walk as Him it pleases. / If you should seek the will of God, / Don’t waste another minute; / The church life is His glorious will, / And you too must get in it. (Hymns #1249)
– What caused Mary to give her all? / What moved Peter to answer Your call? / Many lives were wasted for Your testimony; / Oh Lord, why do these people care so much for Thee? / See the vision of Christ and the church; / Count the cost; reckon all things as loss; / Pay the price. The prize to gain Christ, / Burn the bridges; leave the world behind; / On God’s economy your heart be set / To live a life of no regrets. (Song on, A Life of No Regrets)
– Fully surrendered—life, time, and all, / All Thou hast given me held at Thy call. / Speak but the word to me, / Gladly I’ll follow Thee, / Now and eternally / Obey my Lord. / Fully surrendered—silver and gold, / His, who hath given me riches untold. / All, all belong to Thee, / For Thou didst purchase me, / Thine evermore to be, / Jesus, my Lord. (Hymns #442)
About aGodMan
