Living in Total Surrender

 

We cannot save or sanctify our self, and neither can we walk in the Spirit by performing works of the flesh (Galatians 3:1-3; Ephesians 2:8-9). Therefore, God causes us to come to the point of helpless hopelessness in our life, so that we will totally surrender to Him.

Then, He does it all, a complete perfecting work in us and through us (Colossians 2:10). Our role is to desire more intimacy with Him and His glory, and He responds by answering our prayers in amazing ways.

We live a life singing continual praises, submitted to His Word, listening to His Spirit's direction for each moment of our day, and rejoicing in Him, even in negative circumstances. Then, He does the rest (Proverbs 3:5-6; Philippians 3:1, 4:4).

We read and meditate on scripture as we work and worship Him all day long; and His joy fills every fiber of our body, soul and spirit; bringing health in every way (Psalm 147:1).

A melancholy personality like me has to work a bit harder at overcoming the negative impulses in our soul; but gradually, the Holy Spirit replaces our negative personality traits with God's character and divine nature (2 Peter 4:1; John 15:11).

God transforms us into the likeness of Christ and brings us to the point of total surrender, until we are in such union with Him that He actually lives His life in and through us (Romans 8:29; Galatians 2:20).

Like the woman at the well, we are tired of looking for fulfillment in the things of this world; and we are longing for living water, which quenches our otherwise insatiable thirst (John 4:14, 7:38).

Prayer:

Father God, draw us by Your love and remind us to respond to it, rather than learning through discipline and suffering. Help us to come to the point where we passionately call out to You in complete surrender. We know without a doubt that You will never, ever let us go (Hebrews 13:5).

Help us to communicate to others the necessity of total surrender to You, so that they too may come to a place of rest. Do not allow them to continue to strive or to fill their life with empty pursuits and vain attempts to amass this world's goods; but to seek You with all of their heart until they find You.

Thought for the Day:

The joy of the Lord is our greatest strength. - Nehemiah 8:10

Yoke Fellows

In our former unsaved life, this world’s system drove us into a frantic pace. We lived for the week-end and filled our free time as full as our work day. Nothing really satisfied us, and we tried many avenues of adventure and recreation in order to find that activity, which would bring us contentment. We even tried God, but were turned off by some church members or the tragedy in this world.

Then, one day someone presented to us the gospel of Jesus Christ in such a way that it pierced like an arrow right into our heart. We knew without a doubt that the vacuum in our life could only be satisfied with a personal, intimate relationship with the God of the universe who created us in the first place. We see that complete surrender is the only key to a God-honoring, productive and fulfilling life.

We seek out the fellowship of other Believers. We no longer demand our own way, but we submit to God’s will and consult His plans for each moment of our day (Proverbs 3:5-6). This would be impossible, except for the fact that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. We are grafted onto the Vine of Christ and God is the vine dresser.

Jesus tells us to take His yoke upon us, because it is easy and light (Matthew 11:30). When we hook up with Christ in His yoke and move in tandem with Him, our day is more successful and we are more fulfilled. If we get out from under His yoke, or if we pull Him in our direction, we only end up frustrating our self and getting out of God’s will for us. As a yoke fellow with Jesus we have His peace and joy.

Prayer:

Father God, Your love for humanity knows no bounds; and yet, people fail to see Your heart. They read Your Word and see only Your justice and interpret that as malevolence. They think you are supposed to act according to human standards of love, permissiveness would be a better word. However, Your love is righteous and always just. Open the eyes of the unbelievers to see their need for Your love and protection.

Thought for the Day:

Freedom comes with surrender to the love of Christ resident within us.

Putting Our Faith in the Right Place

 

Human pride demands that we maintain our individuality and look out for our self first. We depend upon self-effort to make a place for us in society. We often trust our bank balance, our talents and our job security rather than God. When we misplace our faith in earthly, temporary aspects instead of in Jehovah Jireh, our Provider, God has to design trials to teach us the truth about their unreliability. When we totally trust in the Lord for all of our needs, we have our faith in the right place. If we keep an eternal perspective, rather than to allow the cares of this world to burden us, we allow the Holy Spirit and the divinity of Christ to fill us through all of our being with all of His fullness (Ephesians 3:16-19, Amplified).

Even after coming to Christ, we often attempt to please Him through our human effort and accomplishments (Galatians 3:1-3). The idea of surrendering our life to an unseen force is terrifying and unnerving.  However, once we repent of our sins, the next step is total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ over our life. As His Spirit leads us, we realize that our humanity is dead and we are now hidden with Christ in God’s divine nature (Colossians 3:3; 2 Peter 1:4). We learn to keep in step with His Spirit as we live by the Spirit each moment of the day (Galatians 5:25). We obey God one moment at a time and walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Even if God calls us to a secular job, He does so because He has a Kingdom purpose for us in it.

We run into conflict when our humanity resists the Spirit (Galatians 5:17). Negative emotions signal an area that remains an idol in our life. The flesh cannot control the flesh (Romans 8:4, 12-13; Galatians 5:19-21). Our best recourse then is to call on the divinity of Christ in us to show us His truth about the situation (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23). Jesus is the way, truth and life; and His law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus sets us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2; John 8:28,32; John 14:6). Once we submit to God, He reveals to us the areas of our life that remain as idols. Once we repent, we resist the devil and he has to flee from us (James 4:7). The divine nature of the triune God in us conforms our carnal character into the mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18; Romans 8:29).

We often get the cart before the horse. We go about life the hard way! We try to perfect our self, rather than realizing that God has His perfect timing for everything. For instance, if we clothe our self with the Lord Jesus Christ and walk in the Spirit, we will easily crucify the deeds of our flesh (Romans 13:14; Galatians 5:16,22). If we humble our self, He will exalt us (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6). If we take the last place, God will place us first (Matthew 20:16). If we are filled with the Spirit, we will have no desire to fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Ephesians 5:18). We must first walk in the Spirit before we can resist the flesh and the devil (Galatians 5:16-17). Since the Holy Spirit dwells in us, we may now walk in the Spirit moment by moment throughout the day.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You sanctified us through your death (1 Corinthians 1:30). You restore our soul and manifest Yourself through Your life in us (Psalm 23:3). Our behavior reflects Your character. God conforms us into Your image (Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:15; 2 Corinthians 3:18, 4:4). We accomplish God’s will for our life because You live in, through and instead of us. Help us to quit striving in the flesh to live a holy life by taking up Your cross and allowing You to crucify our idols until we have Your mind in us (Philippians 2:5).

Thought for the Day:

Christ’s love and life within us conquers our sin, dispels our fears, surmounts our self-centeredness and overcomes our flesh, because Christ in us is greater than the god of this world. – 1 John 4:4

United With Christ

As Born Again Believers, we are filled throughout our entire body, soul and spirit with all of God’s fullness. We possess the richest measure of His divine presence within us and we are wholly filled and flooded to overflowing with God Himself (Ephesians 3:19, Amplified Bible). We are united with Christ in the very marrow of our spirit (Hebrews 4:12). He provides us with everything we need to live a healthy, Spirit-filled life. Then, His Spirit infiltrates the joints of our soul – our thoughts, choices and emotions - to realistically perform His perfect will in and through us (Hebrews 4:12).

We are liberated from living in this earthly realm, even though we physically continue to dwell here. Paul counted all of his worldly possession and gain as lost when compared to the joy of his salvation and the riches he received from intimately knowing Christ (Philippians 3:7-11). In this same way, we detach from our connection to this world, even the good parts of life which hinder our walk with God, such as family, houses and lands – in order to obtain the better blessings provided for us by Christ (Luke 14:23-33; Philippians 3:10).

We realize that even the worst of adversity in our life comes from God to perfect and to provide for us (Hebrews 11:32-34; Job 1:8, 2:3). What Satan plans to harm us, such as the death of Christ on Calvary’s cross, God means for our good, such as bringing His resurrection life to lost sinners (John 19:10-11). Satan has no authority of his own. He can only do the bidding of our Father God. The Lamb, who is opening the seal, bowl and trumpet judgments, even directs the plans and purposes of the anti-Christ during the Great Tribulation (Revelation 5:2-10).

All of Satan’s wiles against us are orchestrated by God to work out His purpose in us, through us and for our eventual good (1 John 4:4; Romans 8:28). So stop spending so much time fighting Satan. Submit to God instead, then resist the devil and he has to flee from you (James 4:7). This does not mean our trials in life will end, however. Our Heavenly Father loves us and makes us more than conquerors through them all (Romans 8:37). He even makes all of our paths straight because of our enemies (Psalm 27:11; Zechariah 4:7). Jesus is exalted in us as we overcome as His joint heirs by His power within us (1 John 3:2; Ephesians 3:6).

We find our true self, hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). He called us out of sin into His glorious life. God elected us as His holy and stately priests. We are God’s special possession created to declare His praises to a lost and dying world around us (1 Peter 2:9). We actually become the love of Christ to the world (John 2:12-14; Exodus 33:13). Jesus went to the cross with joy in His heart as He focused on the glory awaiting Him in Heaven (Hebrews 12:2). We live life with this same joy in our own hearts, looking forward to sitting together with Christ for eternity (1 Corinthians 4:9-13; 2 Corinthians 6:8 10; Ephesians 1:21, 2:4-6).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You take pre-eminence in our heart over all other aspects of life (1 Corinthians 9:22). We knock on doors and invite our neighbors to church. We pray for them and for everyone You bring to our mind. We shed Your light within us for all the world around us to see, so they may live with us in eternity as the redeemed of the Lord (Psalm 107:2). You bore our sins in Your body on the cross; so that we too can die to sin and live righteously and victoriously, just as You did (1 Peter 2:24). We give You all the praise and glory and honor due Your name (Psalm 96:8).

Thought for the Day:

Problems are simply opportunities for God to prove Himself strong on our behalf. We find out what He is doing in every situation and then join Him.






Thank you, Naturally North, for sharing your beautiful photo.