CONTENTS
Song of Solomon
Preface
Principles From Song of Solomon
A. For the Single Person
B. For the Married Person
C. For Fruitfulness, Effectiveness and Longevity in Ministry
1. Exclusiveness
2. Spiritual Intimacy and Communion
3. God-Consciousness
The 1st Demand : Rise Up !
1. Rise Up to Achieve Our Full Potential in Him
2. Rise Up and Come Out of All Our Selfish Indulgences
3. Rise Up and Break Free from All Worldly Conformity
4. Rise Up and Be a Standard-Bearer
The 2nd Demand : Come Away !
A. Be Separate
B. Let Go of the Past
C. Be Willing to Lose It All
The 3rd Demand : Come With Me !
The 4th Demand : Look From The Top !
The 5th Demand : Open To Me !
The 6th Demand : Return, Return !
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Sample of a chapter: (Bold letters and italics were added in some cases by the watchman)
C. BE WILLING TO LOSE IT ALL
Jesus made it very clear in Mark 8:34, 35 that the criteria for
following Him is to deny self, take up the cross and be devoted to Him
with no private agenda for self. If we understand this divine summons to
deny all, we will have no problem fulfilling the divine demand that we
“come away.”
It is not difficult to realize that the accomplishments, the success,
honour and blessings of Abraham rested on the fact that he was willing
to lose it all, to give up all, including his one and only son in his
old age.
Gandhi was a man with a passion for the teachings of Jesus Christ but
unfortunately, he did not become a Christian. He could not because he
realized that the white people who came to India to preach Jesus did not
live like Him. He was himself so convicted by the teachings of Christ
that he decided to put them into practice.
He renounced everything and vowed that he would fight his enemies
with love and not violence. For years, he walked the streets of India
and begged for food. He turned his left cheek to his enemies when he was
slapped on the right. Most of the time, he looked tired and worn out.
He owned nothing but by the time he died, millions thronged his funeral.
The rich and the popular, the mighty and the renowned, dignitaries,
kings and queens came from all over the world.
What was the secret to Gandhi’s success and popularity? He was willing to lose it all.
Wasn’t this true of our Lord? He was willing to lose it all,
including His own life. He literally denied all, becoming poor so that
we might be rich.
For
ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich,
yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be
rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
In the end, He gained back everything, with interest.
He was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing (Revelation 5:12).
All these came only after He had been willing to be slain, willing to
lose even His right to live. Yes, our Lord’s supremacy and glory rest
on this basis: He was willing to lose it all.
Throughout the centuries, men and women have tried all ways and means
to obtain power and riches _ fighting, cheating, manipulating, etc. God
teaches us that the way to power and riches is through being willing to
lose.
Are you willing to lose it all? Whether you like it or not, able or
not able, the demand of the Bridegroom is sounding out loud and clear,
“Come away! Come away from it all!” If you do not yield to this demand,
you will never SOAR; you will never have the joy of feeding on the
heritage of Jacob in high places.
Jesus taught us that the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant
who, when he finally found a pearl of great worth, was willing to sell
all that he had so that he could purchase that one pearl.
Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly
pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold
all that he had, and bought it (Matthew 13:45-46).
We Christians have found that one pearl of great worth. Are we now
willing to sell all that we have, willing to lose it all, to give up
all, including marriage, career and children (if He so requires) in
order to gain this Pearl of great worth? It would have been utter
foolishness for the merchant to merely rejoice over that great pearl,
wanting to possess it yet not willing to sell all that he had in order
to raise the money to buy it. Many Christians are like this. They know
they have found it _ Jesus, our Pearl of great value _ yet they are not
willing to lose it all for Him. To be indecisive is the worst situation
to be in.
I remember spending the three years in Bible School pleading with God,
every morning at 5 am, to release me from full-time ministry. I had no
desire for full-time ministry as my ambition was to be a fashion
designer or an interior decorator. Every evening at 5 pm, I would plead
with God to change me if He would not release me from ministry so that I
could serve Him with a free heart and mind and not be indecisive.
I knew that if I were to serve Him, there would be no turning back. I also knew that what I do for Him must be done not only with my whole heart but also with my kidneys, liver, intestines, etc. If I were to serve Him, I wanted to do so with passion, intensity and the totality of my being.
I would not serve Him and keep one eye open for a husband or daydream
of a family of my own. No. No. To be divided in this way would not do
for me.
Many ladies in ministry today are divided. They are unproductive
because the ministries that they are in right now are just something to
hold them up temporarily while they wait for Mr Right to pop up. I have
raised up lady workers and I have had many different ladies working
under me all these years. I have come to one conclusion: it is easier to
raise up men than ladies!
The world trusts in its knowledge, scientific advancements,
doctorates and degrees in education. I am afraid that this has also
affected many in ministry. We go after degrees and doctorates
but do not know what faith and prayer are anymore. We have become
mentally swollen and spiritually shrunken. Today, instead of doing what
the apostle Paul did, willing to lose everything for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ, we can be tempted to do the exact opposite.
If a balance could be struck, it would be beautiful. It is not easy to
find someone who can pursue his studies and still find time to spend in
the presence of God (but thank God we do have such people).
I remember the kind gesture of Professor John Williams some years
ago. He told me that every year, his institute in New York confers an
honorary doctorate on people who are truly worthy recipients. One such
recipient had been Charles Doss who had composed the popular song, “He
is my everything.” The professor invited me to Kenya in September of
that year for the conferment of a doctorate in recognition of my works
and accomplishments. I remember praying about it and instantly hearing
an answer from the Lord.
“Everything that has happened in your life and ministry is
just a result of the demonstration of the power of My Spirit.” That was
all. I was not told to go or not to go _ I was told only the truth of
why I had succeeded _ it was a demonstration of His Spirit’s power. Now,
how could I go and be conferred with a doctorate if all that I had done
had nothing to do with me?
I couldn’t, I shouldn’t and I didn’t. The next morning, I thanked the
professor, told him that I was deeply honoured but I would not be going
to Kenya for the conferment. That should have settled the matter.
Unfortunately, a few weeks later, my carnal self played up and said,
“It was a fool’s decision to reject the doctorate. The blessing and
reward of the Lord came and you did not even know how to enjoy it.”
I decided to call up a friend and shared this with him. He told me,
“Walk far away from it, Susan. Be happy that you have been honoured but
lay down that doctorate. Come away from it _ be willing to lose it. You
don’t need it to prove anything. Jesus in you is all-sufficient. You
made the right choice in letting it go.”
A lady with her own doctorate told me, “You should have gone
for it. Times are changing. When you go overseas for ministry, people
will not listen to you if you do not have a doctorate.”
How sad. Not for me, but for them. If people will only come
and hear me because I have a doctorate, they are the wrong group of
people for me. I have no intention of ministering to such people. I want
to minister to those whose hearts are in the right place, wanting more
of God. I do not want to waste time speaking to anyone whose sense of
value lies not in the things of the Spirit but in a degree or a
doctorate.
More than one person has asked me whether I regret losing that
doctorate. Definitely not! I have not missed anything. My ministry is
just as fruitful and effective. The doctorate would never have made my
ministry effective but it would have affected me if I had taken it up _
it would have made me vain.
Please do not get me wrong. I am not against doctorates and degrees or
the conferment of titles. I am merely saying that we must know where and
how to draw the line. Study is good and every minister should be doing
his own on-going study of the Word. Only watch out that you do not study
until your head swells and your spirit shrinks, until you see a demon
in the face but call it a “complex” or a bad habit and do not know how
to deal with it.
“Look from the top,” says the Bridegroom to His bride. Yes,
look from the top and let us get God’s perspective on the whole picture.
What does He say?
Let
not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory
in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that
glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am
the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgement and righteousness, in
the earth: for these things I delight, saith the Lord (Jeremiah
9:23-24).
Yes, may God soon raise up a generation of men and women right across
this nation who will be willing to lose it all, whatever it may be. May
they be standard-bearers who will both understand and know the Lord:
that God is a God who relishes the exercising of lovingkindness,
judgement and righteousness.
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