The secret of
living a fulfilled life is surrender. Surrendering every thought, goal,
ambition and desire to Jesus Christ brings total peace and joy regardless of
our circumstances. The only way to successfully and sanely survive at work, or
with an unloving spouse, with rebellious children, with handicaps and with the
grief of loss is to live in submission to God’s will. He gives us the grace and
mercy to endure the hardships accompanying these negative issues of life. Then,
once He uses them to bring about His purpose in us and in the world around us,
He resolves these issues for us.
As we live in
daily submission to the will of God and to the leading of His Spirit, we tread
the troubled waters surrounding us without drowning in them (Luke
9:23). The price of
contentment is a daily surrender of our dreams and aspirations, as well as
acceptance of God’s will and purpose for our life (1
Corinthians 15:31). We
live in the realization that our humanity is already dead and our life is
hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). Our old sinful nature died and Christ
raised us to walk in a completely new life (Romans 6:4).
As we change
our self-centered focus in life to a Christ-centered focus, the present
circumstances lose their power over us. Our spirit is reborn and our soul – our
mind, choices and emotions – is transformed through the work of God’s Holy
Spirit within us (Romans 12:2). We lay our selfish needs for self-gratification,
self-pity, self-absorption and self-centeredness on the altar of God. Trials
are no longer a burdensome cross to bear. The lure of sin grows dimmer by the
day. The battle with temptation in this world dissipates until it is
non-existent.
Most of
humanity still lives in a narrow minded reality. They cannot see the fullness
of life in Christ, because their eyes are blinded (John
12:40). They seek
immediate pleasure regardless of the consequences. They consider the brevity of
life and decide this is all they get (James 4:14). They seek the most satisfaction by living
in the extremes of degrading sin. Conversely, authentic Believers live in
submission to the Spirit of God moment by moment throughout the day. When we
accept Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, we embark on the journey of the
Christian life with our faith and hope centered in Jesus.
God
transforms every aspect of our life for us. He gives us new eyes to see the
world with multifaceted vision now, rather than in one-dimension. Trials no
longer devastate us, because we view them as new adventures in Christ. We stand
back and watch for the salvation of our God in them, as we walk through them
with His complete peace and joy (James 1:2-4). Nothing can separate us from the love
of God (Romans 8:35-37). We live by the leading of God’s Holy
Spirit and have constant victory through Christ (Galatians
5:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 2:14).
Prayer:
Father God, remind
us that the overwhelming issues of life, which we see, are temporary and they will
pass away. The reality of life is in the unseen aspects of life, which we
cannot see, but which we can experience once our spirit is Born Again (2
Corinthians 4:18). Help
us to progress through life’s trials sustained by Your joy (Nehemiah
8:10). Give us Your
peace, which transcends all human reasoning (Philippians 4:7). Allow us to focus on the victory,
which You already gave us, rather than on the battle at hand. Give us true
triumphs as we follow the leading of Your Spirit moment by moment throughout
the day. Thought for the Day:
We not only have hope in Christ for this life, but also for eternity as well. - 1 Corinthians 15:19
