Submitting and Surrendering It All!

Thanks to gsiano for sending this one!!!

James 4:7-8 “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

By not submitting all of ourselves to Christ each day, we run the risk of allowing the enemy to enter into areas of our lives, and cause us to stumble in our intimacy with God. By not humbly submitting ourselves each morning, we are opening the door to allow the enemy, who will always be prepared to rush in and cause us pain.

We run the risk of doing and saying things that look good on the surface to others, but they are actually things we want to do, and not necessarily what God wants us to be doing to glorify Him. As in Peter’s case, The Lord was telling the disciples what was about to happen to Him and how He would have to suffer. Peter pulled Jesus aside in verse 22 and said what many of us may have said, in and attempt to show our love and defend Christ, “Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"

I am sure that Peter was shocked when Jesus turned to him and replied with, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men” Matthew 16:22-24.

Then in the next few verses Jesus went on to use this example of Peter’s disobedience and lack of humbly surrendering it all, to teach the disciples and us, one of the keys to following Him, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it” Matthew 16:23-25.

The surrendering, humbling and denying of one’s self goes against this world’s better business principles, but in God’s kingdom, it usually does. In an ego driven world where self aggrandizement and self promotion seem to get many ahead, this verse does not make a good topic that will put the author on the Barnes and Noble top 10 best seller lists of good business practices. Believe me, I know from personal experience, which is certainly nothing to boast about.

But what the world does not understand outside of Christ, that this is the only way to true and everlasting success!

26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done” Matthew 16:25-27. When God gives the rewards you can trust that they will be better than anything this world may offer to us!

Submitting is certainly not easy, as we like to be in charge. This has been man's problem since the beginning. Adam and Eve, the first human beings, decided to ignore God's warning and charted their own course, which ended in disaster. Like them, we often overlook the limitations of our understanding and ignore God's wisdom and knowledge.

Fear is also a reason we do not humble, submit and surrender ourselves. We won't like what the Lord chooses for us--He might ask us to give up a favorite activity or take on additional responsibility. If we surrender all, as the song we sing says, God may ask us to go to Afghanistan , Pakistan or Africa ! Fear is a spirit that cam minister to us, especially when we are doing it our own way, and not denying ourselves daily and saying to God, “Not my will but Yours!”

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (Fear KJV), but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” 2 Timothy 1:7.

Our pride can also be our downfall to humility and surrendering, as we begin to worry more how we are perceived by others, than we do about pleasing God. This heavily factors into our decision about submission, as we don't appreciate criticism for being "too religious." In addition, selfishness and pride can make us reluctant to let God take charge: we cling to our ideas and dreams and prefer to be independent.” When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” Proverbs 11:2.

It is also good for us to always be reminded what comes after pride! “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling” Proverbs 16:18.

The truth is the opposite of what we think. By yielding control to the Lord, we position ourselves to live the abundant spiritual life. We'll experience His deep love, which satisfies more fully than any other. Our usefulness in His service will be maximized as we operate in the Spirit's power. And obedience will also bring glory to Him as well as blessings to us.

Surrender is truly the only way to true abundance!

Lord, please help us all to become fully engrafted and remain in You. Cause us to desire to surrender everything to You, the Author and Finisher of our faith. In Jesus name we pray, Amen