The Pursuit of Commitment: Principles of Commitment for a Functional Life in Christ

THE PURSUIT OF COMMITMENT

Principles of Commitment for a Functional Life in Christ

Daniel O. Ogweno

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Smashwords Edition

Published by Daniel O. Ogweno at Smashwords

Copyright © 2010 by Daniel O. Ogweno

This book is also available in print at Amazon

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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to my daughter:

Baraka-Norine Awuor Ogweno.

You are a miracle child. Your birth was a sign that hope and blessings of God transcends all known limitations.

That is why we named you Baraka—a Kiswahili word for Blessing.

You were hardly one week old when I saw a constant beaming face. You were able to inject that into my heart.

My heart glows with life when I behold your beaming face.

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Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

Principles of Commitment

The Measure of Commitment

Elements of Commitment

The Goal of Commitment

Tribute to Commitment

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 2: TOTAL SURRENDER

Principle Number 1: If You Are Going To Give It, Give It All!

Either Commit Fully or Don’t Bother

Expose False Repose

Perfect Commitment Produces Joy

Forsaken for Our Sake

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 3: FAITH: THE FOUNDATION OF A LIFE OF COMMITMENT

Principle Number 2: If It Is God Who Has Spoken, You Don’t Have To Understand Everything Beforehand As A Condition For Taking The First Step.

How Do I Know that it’s God Speaking?

The Call of Abraham

Questions Abraham Didn’t Ask and Reasoning He Didn’t Engage

Mary’s Encounter With the Angel of God

Concerns Mary Didn’t Seek Insurance over

The Call of the First Disciples

Questions the Disciples Didn’t Ask

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 4: PRUDENT PRIORITISING, A TOP PRIORITY FOR A LIFE OF COMMITMENT

Principle Number 3: Set The Right Priorities—And It Is Only Right If Your Relationship With Christ Ranks Top.

In All You Do, Let God Be Glorified

Not a One-time Venture

Time Management

Priorities and Weekly Time Allocations

Allocate Time for Spiritual Matters

Will You Hear When God Whispers?

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 5: THE PRICE AND PRIZE OF COMMITMENT

Principle Number 4: You Must Be Willing And Ready To Pay A Price—Any Price!

The Test of Your Commitment

Covenanted With God

Face the Cost, Pay the Price

Motivate Yourself in Your Commitment

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 6: GOD OR GOLD?

Principle Number 5: Know Your Master—God or Money!

It Takes Only an L to Make the Difference

A Sneaking Master

The Boundary is Thin

No Work, No Eating, But…!

When Gold Took God’s Place

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 7: TEMPTATION RESISTED IS PROMOTION REGISTERED

Principle Number 6: Pass The Test

You Can Pass the Test If You Will

Commitment Must Be Tested

Temptation of Jesus: A Story of Winning Despite Vulnerability

Why the Temptation of Jesus Was Tempting

Why Jesus Won over the Temptations

The Secret of Winning over Temptations

Balaam: A Story of Love for the Wages of Wickedness

Empty Acts of Worship

Temptation in Three P’s: Place, Person and Period

The Triune Assault

Esther: A Story of Beauty for Intercession

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 8: THE SEEN IS TERMINAL, THE UNSEEN ETERNAL

Principle Number 7: Know The True Essence Of Reality.

A Costly Temporary Glory

Superiority of Spiritual Reality

If My Father Has it, Then it Is Mine!

Insurance Point of View

More Than Conquerors

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 9: DON’T BE DUPED BY THE SIZE

Principle Number 8: Use Effectively What God Has Given You

The Profit Margin Is Limitless

A Lesson from a Laptop

Insignificant Talents that Did Wonders

Be There, and Please Take Your ‘Tool’ With You!

Don’t Take Small Deals for Granted

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 10: STAND TALL EVEN WHEN OTHERS LIE LOW

Principle Number 9: Determine To Be A Distinct Christian

Confessions Without Conviction

Confessions of Revelation Bring Conviction

The Question We Must Answer Every Time, Everywhere

Standing Tall Among the Crowd

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 11: WHO ARE YOU, LORD?

Principle Number 10: Know That There Is Always More To Know About The One You Know.

He Is Infinite

The Two Fundamental Questions Defining Commitment

Know Christ Through His Works

Know Christ by Coming

Come and See, Then Go Quickly and Tell

Know Christ by Going

Know Christ Through Suffering

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 12: STAY EVEN WHEN OTHERS STRAY

Principle Number 11: Know That You Are Responsible And Accountable For Every Choice You Make.

A Friend Strayed, I Chose To Stay

Know What You Are Talking About

Don’t Envy the Thrills of Ungodliness

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 13: WITHOUT OBEDIENCE, FAITH RELAPSES AS COMMITMENT COLLAPSES

Principle Number 12: Pay More Careful Attention To What God Commands, Then Promptly Do It Accordingly.

You Are a Christian Only If You Obey Christ

Religious But Not Obedient

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 14: DESPERATE FOR MINISTRATION PASSIONATE IN APPRECIATION

Principle Number 13: Seek To Find; After Finding, Speak To Express Appreciation

Desperate for Christ

Staying in Touch

Telling Others What He Has Done

Doing to Others What He Has Done for Us

An Encounter With Christ Is for Publicity

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Chapter 15: WATCHING AGAINST SPIRITUAL SLUMBER

Principle Number 14: Examine Your Life Keenly—Daily

Are You Asleep or Awake?

Spiritual Slumber, Strictly Forbidden

Renewing of the Mind

Examine Yourselves

Reflections and Questions to Ponder

Notes

Epilogue

Other Books By the Same Author

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I am grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is usually said that when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. But for me, the Lord has been my strength. When I was weakened and counted out, He counted me in—He has kept me going. I cannot thank Him enough—I am eternally indebted.

I thank my family for the support and understanding while I was writing this book. I am blessed to be part of your life. May I make the following specific observation about you people.

I am indebted to my wife, Laura Caroline Ogweno. You are a woman with tremendous potentialities. I can’t wait to see them explode for the glory of God. You are a gifted mother. Your strength during the storms has been a great inspiration:

My son Victor Owino Ogweno: In you I see the sharpness of mental power and a unique gift of acumen. I am looking forward to a time when you will be of age to translate these gifts into assets for the advancement of the kingdom of God. May a stranger glorify God for having come into contact with you.

My son Jim-Jif Okinyi Ogweno: You are a free spirit, a little boy that is growing up into a man of pure heart. Your acuteness in speech and formulation is combining well to make you a man of pensive parlance in-the-making. Your generosity is an asset to the kingdom of God. May you live to build a house for a widow.

My daughter, Baraka-Norine Awuor Ogweno: When you were born, I saw hope never disappoints personified (Romans 5:5). Even before you consciously decided to do so, the Lord had already designed your face in a smiling fashion. May you live to be a source of inspiration and a servant, propagating the hope and the joy of the Lord; may you live to put hope in the heart and a smile on the face of an orphan. Just as your name is Blessing, may you be a blessing to mankind.

Simen Rasmussen thanks for helping proof-read the manuscript. I have always benefited from your sharpness in dealing with a manuscript.

I am grateful to Kristent Fellesskap in Skien for giving me an office and a computer to enable me write this book. Special gratitude to the leadership for the platform you provided—the writing of this book was inspired as a result:

Arve Helland: You are a good man. Inger Helland, you are a woman of God.

Torfinn and Unn Karin Myhre, you people have a permanent place in my heart. Torfinn, those pizzas you used to bring to me in the afternoons as I was writing, did the trick.

Åge Pettersen, your practical approach to the teaching of the Word of God is an asset to the body of Christ. Astrid Pettersen, you are a pure-hearted woman of God.

Tom and Kari Islann, I thank God for the heart that you have. I am privileged to serve with you in God’s vineyard.

Fredrick and Tonje Makosir, your house has been a refuge for me and my family. Fred, thanks for the back up you provided to have this book published in time. I am so thankful.

Last but not least, Judi Njoki (mama Kamau) thanks for the support you gave me to help publish this book. It is a wonderful thing doing the work of God amongst people who hear the Holy Spirit speak and yield to His leading.

(NB: BttC => Back to Table of Content)

Preface

This is one of the books that I wrote without a long term plan. I couldn’t help but let it jump the queue. When it was prompted, the passion was compulsive and the insights excessively successive. I was literally struggling and in a hurry to capture everything considering the pace at which the insights came. Putting aside what I was already doing was a real struggle. This book has therefore jumped the queue with leaps and bounds. This to me expresses the importance of the subject of commitment. Paradoxically though, this book has been one of the tests of patience for me. When the Spirit prompted me to set aside other manuscripts I was working on in order to concentrate on the Pursuit of Commitment, I equally thought that it would also go through publication as fast as it went through the writing process. I finished writing this book in May 2005. This book, therefore, is published three years after the manuscript was ready for publication. The delay, however, does not lessen the importance of commitment.

Whether it was published immediately after the manuscript was ready or so many years later, commitment remains a classic issue in the Body of Christ. It is the quality of commitment that will be the basis for the verdict Jesus will pronounce over the people as indicated in Matthew 7:23 and 25:12.

The writing of this book all began when I was asked to share something about commitment in our local church. It was a big challenge for me to outline what to talk about since, to me, the topic of commitment is such a wide one. In fact, all that I had been writing and talking about could be summarised as commitment.

I knew it was not going to be easy talking about commitment if I didn’t attempt some structured outline. I asked God to help me. He did. What I didn’t anticipate in the least was that God was at the verge of giving me a new title for a book.

As I sat down to prepare the sermon, I realised that God had made me prepare in advance. The outline of most of the things I would talk about were already scattered in different files. I was just to identify and collect them together into a sermon.

At the end of the sermon, one of the dear members of our local church came and told me that the message was timely and necessary.

The Spirit of God testified to me that commitment is classic—it will always be a timely issue among believers. We always face the challenges of staking in the things of God against our other daily involvements. There are always things that compete for our attention and loyalty. Some of these things may be genuine necessities while others may be masquerading agents of Satan, meant to distract us and quench our devotion. But even for the genuine necessities, we need wisdom so that we are not overtaken by our concern over them (Matt. 6:19-34).

Commitment is therefore a constant call; it is the real measure of regeneration and the evidence of conversion. We can’t outgrow commitment and we definitely can’t break its record. And, however seasoned Christians we may become, we must always make an obligation to stay on course and to be alert. The principles and insights shared in this book will help us gauge our spiritual vigilance and relevance.

As you read, it is my prayer that you will prayerfully evaluate your commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. This book has approached commitment in practical ways that will leave you in a position to assess where you stand with God.

I also pray that the convictions you read in this book will prompt you to strive more and more to endear your heart and your whole being to seeking a meaningful relationship with Christ. Remember that a proper commitment will prosper your relationship with God through Christ.

Do something about what you read. Influence your environment with what the Holy Spirit testifies to you to be true.

Daniel O. Ogweno

Skien, Norway

29th April, 2008.

(BttC)

—Chapter 1—

INTRODUCTION

Did you know that for many—and quite many indeed—the issue is not whether to follow Christ or not? The issue, rather, is the level of commitment that the Lord Jesus Christ demands.

"When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, ‘Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.’"

(Mark 8:34).

Principles of Commitment

What you are about to read is written from convictions that lead to an experience sure to leave you enjoying your relationship with God. When I talk about enjoying a relationship with God, many people quickly think about a Joy-ride Christianity. That is not the point, in fact, naturally and more often, when you begin to live a life of commitment and make it a point to seek the pleasure of God, you may have to contend with difficulties (2 Tim. 3:12).

But there is an irony, as we shall see in details in chapter 2. The irony is that avoiding the Cross of Christ in favour of any other comfort doesn’t bring true and lasting joy. True joy comes when one is at peace with his Creator and living for the purpose for which he was created. The case of the apostle Paul comes to mind as one of the examples of lives that were committed to serving Christ and whose joy was from the inside. His life and teachings shows that a loss in the earthly things (for the sake of Christ) is a gain in the spiritual realm.

Consider what the apostle Paul says:

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; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

—Philippians 3:7-11.

The things that were initially gains to him, he willingly released in favour of serving Christ. True commitment demands that we must lose something—something that was initially a gain for us. Many of us complain about the losses that have replaced our former gains. We look back and instead of counting the former gains as rubbish compared to the surpassing gaining of Christ, we bemoan our losses as we belittle our gains. Commitment must be based on willingness and cheerfulness. Those who follow Christ but grumble along the way can easily put the grace of God on a gamble.

A believer who has resolutely chosen to serve God in total commitment will realise that he has an inner joy that springs up from the fact that he has peace with the Creator. I would rather have problem with everyone on the planet but have peace with God. Real joy comes as a result of having our sins forgiven and our names written in the Book of Life. The joy increases with leaps and bounds as we seek and address ourselves to the perfect will of God. It doesn’t matter how peaceful our surrounding is, if we lack an inner peace, the peace in our environment may not mean much.

When you begin to enjoy your relationship with God in the sincerity of commitment, your peace will not be robbed by difficulties in this life. This is part of what the Lord Jesus Christ emphasised in the sermon on the mount (Lk. 6:17-26).

Commitment is a covenant the ingredients of which are sacrifices, conditions, promises, benefits, rewards, allegiances and fulfilments.

The Measure of Commitment

Try this: Where would you place yourself if an angel comes to you and announces that in the whole world, there is only one person that was committed enough to satisfy the requirements set by God for a life devoted to Him? Can you shout with joy that you are the person or will you make a list of possible candidates and fail to put your name down even after writing ten people on your list—for example? This is not an attempt to start comparing yourself with others and begin gauging your performance against what you can observe in the life of others. Nevertheless, I use the picture to emphasise the fact that striving to live a life of commitment can be compared to a person who is racing against all humanity and his goal is gold. If you have that attitude, you will then operate under the awareness of the demanding circumstances standing between you and the prize.

I also don’t use the picture to suggest that it is your performance that will earn you the ultimate salvation. Salvation is by grace—freely given—but we have to commit ourselves to take good care of what the grace has availed to us. This is what the apostle Paul refers to when he says:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

—Philippians 2:12.

Salvation is so precious that we must be absolutely committed to it to the extent that we would tremble in fear if anyone or anything threatens to take it away.

Paul (not his real name) was going to check his results after taking an A-Level National Examination (in Kenya). The education system was very competitive. He would only be able to proceed to the university if he passed—and passed well. On the way, he met Brian (not his real name), his former classmate who had been to their former school to check the results.

Instead of counting the former gains as rubbish compared to the surpassing gaining of Christ, we bemoan our losses as we belittle our gains. Those who follow Christ but grumble along the way can easily put the grace of God on a gamble.

Paul asked him how the results were. Brian responded that things were not good—everybody had failed. The examination had been impossible.

Although it looked to Brian like everybody had failed, Paul didn’t believe him. He told Brian, If everybody has failed, that is too bad, I feel sorry for them. For me, however, I am not everybody—I know I have passed! He told his former classmate that he did his best to prepare for the exams and when the exams came, he did his best to answer the questions. He was persuaded that his best was good enough to take him places.

Indeed, Paul had passed and did so with distinctions. It may sound like Paul was arrogant but he wasn’t. He sincerely expressed the confidence he had after having made good use of his time, teachers and the books. He was not the kind of student who always learnt but never came to appreciate the facts (see 2 Tim. 3:7).

Someone may ask: how could he be so sure, was his