July 6 — Absolute Self-Surrender. John 15:11 “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
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Oswald Chambers once said, “It is an insult to use the word happiness in connection with Jesus Christ. The joy of Jesus was the absolute self-surrender and self-sacrifice of Himself to His Father, the joy of doing that which the Father sent Him to do.”
His insight prompts us to wonder what the great plan of happiness means for the Mormon people. In light of what their apostle stated, where is the happiness in believing the savior you’re relying on is just the clean up guy?
In the reference below, there’s no such thing as total surrender to the Lord. This in turn, negates the true meaning of Savior. He’s like the overdraft for a checking account. The comment by Adrian Rogers said it best – ‘I wouldn’t trust the best 15 minutes of my life to get me to heaven’. In my 25+ years of Christianity, my life has never been more fulfilling than when I’ve learned something new about Him who gave everything for me.
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Ensign, The Great Plan of Happiness, November 1993 “When we have done all that we are able, we can rely on God’s promised mercy. We have a Savior, who has taken upon him not just the sins, but also “the pains and the sicknesses of his people … that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:11–12). He is our Savior, and when we have done all that we can, he will make up the difference, in his own way and in his own time.” — Dallin Oaks
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