Repudiation

Getting the fullness of God requires repudiating everything that matters to you. This is the secret that is still hidden to many believers. The word of God says,

and everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.” 

– Matt 19:29

One of the hardest truths I have discovered in life is that you cannot receive God’s fullness until you become dead to everything in this world in your heart. The bible says, “most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” (John 12:24) This is the kingdom secret of multiplication. It is not about “dying physically” or “losing them physically” but surrendering them to God and claiming no authority over them.

God does not want anything to take his place in our hearts. He wants to dwell and reign in our hearts. The bible says, “for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14) He wants to be the alpha and omega of our lives. 

It will be impossible to run the Christian race without repudiating the things of this world. If a runner is distracted, he cannot win the race. Paul said, “therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.” (1 Cor 9:26) Most of the things in this world are distractions that need to be repudiated. Repudiation could be difficult, but every purposeful runner must abide by this principle to finish strong. If getting a car will distract you, reject it. You must get to a point in your life that nothing in this world matters to you just like what Apostle Paul Said:

But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ, Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”

– Philippians 3:7-9

To please God and run the race He set before us, we cannot be under the control of the things of this world. We can have all the good things in this world, but our confidence must not be in them, and we must not be distracted. Paul was able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7) because He counted those things that were gain to be a loss for Christ. He did not allow fame, money, and other things he gained to distract him. 

It is easier for the devil to get hold of you when your heart is set on material things. All kinds of evil are taking place in the body of Christ because we fail to repudiate the things of this world completely. People deny God in the process of acquiring material things; they compromise their relationship with God to gain perishable things; they struggle with God and step out of His will, striving to protect themselves and their properties rather than defending the gospel. 

If you can prioritize God, you will experience His wonders. When you put God before anything in your life, He will put everything in front of you. To do this, you cannot love the things of this world. Meaning, you cannot cherish anything more than God. The bible says, “do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” (1 John 2:15) Sadly, for a lot of us, our craving for the things of the world has swept the love of Christ out of our hearts.

The devil is afflicting, terrorizing, and oppressing believers because we have set our hearts on material things. He is taking advantage of the idols in our hearts to drag us far from Christ. We have shifted our focus from God while pursuing the gifts in the hand of the devil. Our desires have become an instrument of temptation in the hand of the devil.

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.”

James 1:13-14

We must go back and seek God wholeheartedly. From the depth of our hearts, let’s surrender all to God and let Him have His way. A songwriter says:  

I surrender all to you
Everything I give to you
Withholding nothing
Withholding nothing (William McDowell)