Beauty of Surrender

        I don't know how many of you knew it was just Pentecost Sunday, but it's definitely a thing to celebrate every day of the year! Do you realize how absolutely hopeless we are without the Holy Spirit dwelling within us??  I mean, Jesus modeled perfectly for us the life He demanded each of us to live--a life One with the Father. But it would be totally unfair to demand that life of us in our broken human state. And Jesus would never make unfair demands. So He gave us His very own Spirit so that we can meet His demands! ONLY through the Holy Spirit's work can we die to our old self and find oneness with the Father just like Jesus.  Please don't think for a moment that you're a good enough Christian, even if you probably aren't technically "One with the Father." If you think you're adequate, you haven't discovered the beauty of total surrender.

       But what is oneness? What exactly does surrender mean? Surrender: to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand. Oneness is not possible without surrender. Plain and simple. If we haven't surrendered our own power, control, or possession of ourselves to God, we cannot be one with Him. Essentially, we are saying that we would rather just be one with ourselves. And if we say that, then we're never going to come close to living the life that Jesus demands of His disciples. We might be "good enough" compared to others, but we're always, always going to come up short on His fair demands. 

I don't want to come up short.

I want to fulfill my fullest potential found in Christ. 

I want to be perfect as Christ is perfect. 

           A life of oneness with the Father demands surrender, but God will never, ever force it on you. He does not want His people to love Him because they were forced too. He wants them to love Him by choice. It is completely up to you to choose  to yield to the power, control, and possession of the Father. 

          If you hear a little voice telling you right now that you need to surrender, then talk with it! Tell God that you want to surrender completely, but maybe you don't know how. I know this sounds cheesy, but the first step to overcoming a problem is admitting you have one. That's not just for alcoholics, that's for anyone! If the Holy Spirit is telling you that you are not completely surrendered, own up to it!  

         Jesus would LOVE to work more of His Spirit into your life and teach you what surrender is all about! It's a continuous process, and it's not always going to be easy, but I can guarantee that the results are absolutely beautiful. 

         If you're really looking to take this step in your relationship with God, I want to encourage you to keep track of your journey. Record the day that you told Jesus you wanted to surrender more. Then record different things that He is teaching you. If you don't have a journal, get one! You won't regret it. And journaling is NOT just for girls. King David journaled all the time! Just read the Psalms. :) In a few months, read back over it and I guarantee you'll be amazed at what Jesus will do in you when you surrender (yield to His power, control, and possession). Again, I say, He would LOVE to work in your life, but He's not going to force Himself on you. He's a gentleman! Will you choose to let Him? 

       Going back to the definition of surrender, this is not surrender based on demand--it's based on compulsion. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit is compelling you to surrender right now. 

Listen to it--it's the best choice you could make! :)