No Reserves, No Retreats and No Regrets!

I feel so blown away when I receive a word from God that I know is just for me..... That my Savior is taking time to directly communicate to me.... WOW! I have had just that experience this week as I have worked on my years goals and plans. I am very aware that this year may hold much change for us...or it may continue on the same path we are now. What I am certain of is that I have NO idea what 2009 has in store for our family. We have many big decisions to make.....and as I sought the Lord for direction on my goals and for Him to speak HIS will to me He clearly communicated this message to me..... I am to live this year with NO RESERVES (holding NOTHING back from GOD!), No Retreats....(I am to follow Him at ANY cost!) and NO Regrets (if I were to stand face to face with Jesus at the end of the year that I would have NO regrets over how I lived for Him)....
So I have determined to say YES to Jesus right now to anything and everything He has in store for my life.... whatever sacrifice, whatever hardship, I have decided and it is done.... Jesus is in charge of my days, my 2009, my life. I trust Him completely and so I am excited to repeat every morning, "Yes Lord!" Yes to what? I don't know yet...but I know that Jesus is good and that He plans to prosper me and not to harm me and so before He even asks anything of me I am confident that I can say "YES"!
These are not my original ideas... the Lord convicted me of them as I listed to a podcast by Nancy Lee DeMoss.... Here is the transcript of a part of the broadcast. I hope that Lord will use it to speak to you as well!
Many of you have heard the story of William Borden--Borden of Yale, he's often called. William Borden grew up in an affluent socially prominent home in Chicago. He was the heir of the Borden dairy estate, the Borden milk company. The opportunities and options before him were practically limitless.
When he graduated from high school at the age of 16 back in 1904, his parents gave him, as a graduation gift, a cruise around the world. Young William Borden, Bill Borden as he was known then, had accepted Christ as his Savior when he was young boy. Now as he was sailing from one continent to another, he saw the spiritual needs of the people all around the world.
His heart was broken, and he was drawn. He sensed that God was calling him to serve Jesus as a missionary so he said, "Yes, Lord. That's what I'm willing to do." Humanly speaking, he had a lot to lose in this decision. He'd never been less than comfortable. He had a wonderful future ahead of him in the business world, but he felt that God was calling him to serve as a missionary.
During his college years at Yale, he made a journal entry that defined what he saw as heart of the issue. He said in his journal, "Say no to self and yes to Jesus every time." He went on to say, "In every man's heart there is a throne and a cross. If Christ is on the throne, self is on the cross; and if self, even a little bit is on the throne, then Jesus is on the cross in that man's heart."
So he prayed and this was also recorded in his journal. He said, "Lord Jesus, I take my hands off as far as my life is concerned, and I put Thee on the throne of my heart. Change me, cleanse me, and use me as You will choose."
After Bill Borden graduated from Yale, the time finally came for him to leave for the mission field. He was headed ultimately, he thought, to China where he hoped to reach Muslims with the Gospel; but his travels took him first to Egypt, where he planned to study Arabic.
While he was in Egypt, young William Borden contracted spinal meningitis; and less than a month later, he died at the age of 25.
When his will was probated, it was discovered that he had left his entire fortune of roughly $1 million, which is a lot today; it was a lot more back in 1904--he had left that entire estate to be invested in the cause of Jesus Christ. And that didn't include the tens of thousands of dollars he had given away during his short lifetime while he was a student there at Yale.
Bill Borden had said no to self and yes to Jesus. He surrendered everything the world considers important. From earth's vantage point, Bill Borden was a big fat loser. But from heaven's perspective, what did he do? He gave up those things which were only temporary anyway in exchange for the eternal riches of the kingdom of God.
That's what God is calling us to do every day in every circumstance and situation of life--to relinquish control, to say yes to God, to bow the knee. We need to say yes to the Word of God in every area where it speaks to our lives, the wisdom of God, the warnings of God as we find them in His Word.
Is it worth it? Well, if we could ask William Borden, "Would you do it again?" what would he say? I think he would respond with three phrases that were discovered written in the back of his Bible after his death. Here were the three phrases: "No reserves. No retreats. And no regrets."
You say, "But he lost his life at the age of 25. What a loss!" Do you think he had a moment of regret as he stood in the presence of the Lord? Not a chance!
What are you living for? And is it worth dying for? When you stand before the Lord Jesus--shortly, as we all will--will you be able to look back on this earthly life and say, "That's how I lived it. No reserves. No holding back--and no regrets because I just trusted and obeyed"?