I Surrender All …
It has to become more than words. Words are meaningless, if all we are trying to do is impress those around us. It is easy to impress those around us, yet it is the Lord who sees the motives, of our hearts. We can fool ourselves, fool others, but we cannot fool the Lord.
Read what 1 Samuel 16:7 says;
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 NLT)
The enemy has done a great job in getting our eyes off of the revelation of God, where it has been replaced with information. When we look back as far as we can, it has always been the same attack. We were created to be in fellowship with the Lord. We have been given the revelation of who God is through His word, and who we are once we get saved.
Information is everywhere yet it is the revelation of God that counts
It is in this place that our true nature and identity, was originally created to be in continual communion with the LORD. In perfect fellowship, where we were one. It was God’s design that were brought forth. It was His design that we would be His children.
Where we miss it is when we allow the devil to provide us with information, instead of the revelation that we have been given. If the knowledge that we have been given does not give us the revelation of God, then what we have been given, is a substitute that will derail the revelation that has already been established.
A surrendered heart is a heart that follows hard after God. It is a heart that has come to terms with the path forward, and refuses to stop until it has attained what it sought out to find. It is seen as a willingness to relinquish, to give up the control, allowing God’s word to become the true source of our lives.
True peace follows a surrendered heart
It is the refusal to rely upon our own strength, where we accomplish everything on our own. His plan for our lives, becomes our greatest desire. Only God’s word has the transformation power, that when we allow His word to access our hearts, its power is released, where it transforms and changes us.
Read what Psalms 27:8 says;
When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You, “Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].” (Psalms 27:8 AMP)
His word when taken seriously, will overtake the words of darkness that is hidden beneath the surface. It will deal head on with our personal ambitions, and desires. When we fear man more than we fear God, it is in direct conflict to His perfect will.
His word will work against the plots and schemes of the devil
Man will always be a stumbling block, that we will need to overcome. God’s life that He desires for us to live is the exact opposite to man and his carnal ways. Only when we are able to please God, are we able to recognize just how strong the tug of war man has been, in how we have conducted our lives.
We all want to be love and accepted, yet when we compromise and allow the world, and man to dictate what that looks like, we will always come up short, feeling empty. Only when we place a priority on living our lives the way we were designed to live, are we able to live in a tranquil state with God, and with man.
It is here where we receive the favor of God with the both
Read what Proverbs 3:4 says;
If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself. (Proverbs 3:4 TLB)
It requires love and faithfulness towards God and His ways. When this is in place, you will receive the favor of God. A life that has built itself on being filled with integrity, is seen by those around it, as a life that operates different, and contrary to the world.
We are encouraged to write these virtues upon our heart. They are pillars, that are unmovable. Love and faithfulness go together. They are not able to be separated. They need to become part of our day-to-day lives.
Line upon line … Precept upon precept
So again, if you want to walk in a blessed life you have to follow and trust His word as your ultimate guide. It has to be seen as foundational. When we walk in love towards others, and faithfulness towards God and His ways, we will received God’s favor, with both God and with man.
Instead of trusting in ourselves, or in others we trust in the Lord. It is a relinquishing of how we in the past have been in control. It is placing our lives in the hands of the Lord, and being confident He only has our best interests at heart.
Read what Proverbs 3:5-6 says;
Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 AMPC)
What we are instructed to do, is to surrender our very need to be in control. It is here where we acknowledge God’s wisdom and guidance in every aspect of our lives. We lay down our rights to live as we want, and embrace the life that He has designed for us to live.
We need to have a complete and un-wavered reliance upon who God is, and what He has done. Only when we have been able to take our lives, and place them completely in His hands, has the transition of power been transferred.
Our lives placed upon His altar … resurrection power breaks forth
Our own ability will always come up short. Our understanding in comparison to God’s, is not even on the same page. The knowledge that we walk in, is full of limitations. God has no limitations. He is eternal and His perspective is always right.
Yet it requires for us to embrace humility, acknowledging that he is the LORD. With Him comes wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, that is so great that we are not able to comprehend the vastness of it. When we acknowledge and honor God in every aspect of our lives, it brings glory and honor unto His name.
When we seek, we will find. This is a truth. It involves seeking His guidance, and being willing to submit to His will, even when it is contrary to how we feel. We cannot allow how we feel it should be, to stand in the way of how He says, it needs to be.
We will never be disappointed when He has been given full authority
It is here where we encounter our paths that were crocked, made straight. We are guided down a path, that in the end will bring us to the end of ourselves, and filled to over-flowing with who we were created to be.
You cannot reach this point unless you have determined in your heart, that no matter what it takes, you will search for God with all of your heart. Our hearts when intertwined with His, are transformed into a strength, that we have not had to this point, or had understanding too.
When we trust God, we will only then be able to humble ourselves in true submission to Him. Out of it comes the guidance that we require to live a successful life, that is glorifying and honoring unto the LORD.
Faith is based on trust … not on what we see
This is a trust that is built over-time. It is a trust that requires daily involvement. When we come to the LORD with passivity in our hearts, the stability that we seek will never come.
It requires a sold-out surrendered heart that’s main purpose is to build their lives according to His purpose and plan, and will not stop until they have attained the encounter they are after. This is the victorious life. This is the life that has found its way to the altar, where the carnal ways, and the nature of the world has been crucified.
You were created to be different from the world
This is probably the most important part. The world calls it a weakness, yet the exact opposite is true. In our weakness we are made strong. In His ability we can do all thing. Nothing can hold us back. The very things that we have fought, once we have come to terms with it, becomes our biggest blessing.
When we lay down our will, and put a priority on God’s will, we come to terms with truth that we were not expecting. It is a lie that says, that we can have control of our own lives. Hear this point. It is deception that has us to believe it, yet the exact opposite is true. It is a counterfeit to the truth.
When we set our lives to the standards of the world, we are who we are, and we can do all that we want, we have set ourselves up for the greatest fall ever. It is here that the enemy has purposed to destroy our lives, yet we are unaware of it.
True success cannot be found outside of a surrendered life unto the LORD. Our ambitions will amount to nothing, and hold no significance, or eternal value. What we have stored up in our lives, when met with the truth, will be burned up with nothing to show for our lives.
We all need to discern the truth, for it is there to set us free
We are not able to achieve success apart from the vine. When we think that we have control over our destinies, we again are deceived. The truth is, we never did have control over our lives, but the enemy sure did. We were created to bear fruit, and when we do not accomplish this very thing, we are cut off from the vine and cast into the fire.
Read what Matthew 3:10 says;
Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. (Matthew 3:10 NLT)
It is a day that we will all face and, on that day, it will be determined what our trees produced. It is a sobering thought to believe a lie, and wind up with eternal destruction, all because we never took seriously, what had always been before us.
Think this through. It is not an option; it is what qualifies us to being pruned instead of cut off. There is a huge difference. One that needs to be examined very carefully. If what you do here in this lifetime does not bear fruit it will not finish well for you.
The true picture of a surrendered life will always have these characteristics
Dear God, I give up all my plans and purposes. All my own desires and hopes. I accept Your will for my life. I give myself, my life, my all to be yours forever. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, use me as you will. Send me where You will, work out Your whole will in my life at any cost, both now and forever.
Anything short of this is an un-surrendered heart … you determine your destiny by the choices that you make.
