Satan is our enemy, and he will try to get us so wrapped up in the "doing" of Christian life that we will miss out on the purpose of Christ's sacrifice. Christ died so that we could get back our RELATIONSHIP with God. It was torn apart in the garden and was restored on the cross. It is by faith we believe this to be true and it is by obedience we become like Christ.
There is such peace in surrender. You can sit peacefully before the throne. Open to correction without any hint of arrogance or offense. To be fully surrendered and at peace with God is the most indescribable experience. Nothing comes near it. When we hear a message that may pierce our heart and convict us, I have watched over the years as believers get so offended by the message that they begin to even despise the messenger. Well I say, we need to search our hearts before the Lord to see if the message is for us and is biblical. If we find that it applies to us, then we must submit to it, confess it and repent. (Submit- accept somebody else's authority, Confess- agree with God on what He says about the behavior, repent- simply stop doing it) Why do we get so offended? Could it be pride? If what they are saying is however, incorrect, we do not have to take it personally. My experience has been that when I am offended, the message touched an area of "weakness" in me. When the message touched a nerve, I should take note. That should be where I quickly go before the Lord to determine what is up with me. Usually, the message touched on my sin areas or it touched on areas where I have been trying to do it myself.
I enjoyed attending church yesterday. To me, it is so satisfying to participate in true worship of the one true and living King. I love songs that get my focus squarely on God. I enjoy singing songs that get me to really realize (for that moment) how insignificant I am in what I do, yet how valuable I am to my Savior. I was just basking in that fact yesterday and the tears began to trickle down my face. One of the songs spoke of the fact that He loves me. The song reminded me that I love Him becasue He first loved me. Then the message proceeded to validate that point.
I began to think on the value a painter places on a blank canvas and a lump of clay to a potter. Just average people cannot see the potential in a blank canvas or lump of clay. We would never think of it as priceless. However, how many sculptures and paintings are now priceless. They are so valuable the price cannot be met. That is us to our Father. It is only when we are fully surrendered to Him are we going to become the priceless work of art that He intends. How do we do this you may ask, simple -- OBEY His commands.
It is for His glory and our good that we surrender to the hands of the potter. Allow Him to do the doing in you today. ALLOW Him to do the work. That way He gets the glory and you get the peace and satisfaction that comes from submitting to something much greater than you. We get to participate and cooperate in the work of the Creator of the Universe. Yet it is not by what we do for Him but what He does thru us in our obedience and surrender. This is where we begin to really develop our relationship with Him. Praise God we don't even have to conjure up love for the unloveable. God gives it to us. He loves the unloveable thru us in our surrendered obedient state. I can tell you the love that will flow out of us will feel better than any earthly love we can come up with to shower on others. Test it and see if this is true.
I am overwhelmed by this fact even as I type. Be blessed today. May God bless you thru your obedient surrender today!!
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