Surrender: A Sacrifice of Worth

Surrender: common examples may include "surrendering" one's time to help another or "surrendering" a day to devote to worshipping and serving the Lord God solely. But surrendering that which is important and most intimate to me is extremely difficult for me to do...Corrie Ten Boom once wrote,

"Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open."


That which is not surrendered is the very thing that God wants from me. Submitting to Him and offering that which we would hold most dear is a sacrifice that actually holds worth.
Submission is key: Someone submitted so that I could be saved. Humility and submission are always good, and they always bring blessing (though sometimes not immediate, and not always in the way we'd expect). God Himself became a Man (Who Himself was the royal One, majestic and holy) and was rediculed, mocked, and tortured by His own creations...all the while completely and wholly surrendered to the Father's will.

"The fair petals must fall, and for no viable reason. No one seems enriched by the stripping.
And the first step into the realm of giving is like surrender - not manward but Godward: an utter yielding of our best. So long as our idea of surrender is limited to the renouncing of unlawful things, we have never grasped its true meaning: THAT is not worthy of the name, for "no polluted thing" can be offered.
The life lost on the Cross was not a sinful one - the treasure poured forth there was a God-given, God-blessed treasure, lawful and right to be kept: only that there was the life of the world at stake." Lilas Trotter, "Parables of the Cross"


This was the most costly sacrifice, but surrender is a sacrifice of worth, a sweet aroma to the Lord.

Romans 8:32 says, "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

He gives all. He asks all.

I've noticed lately that a lot of conversations with my classmates have began with, "So, I decided..."
...and continue with such phrases as...
"...to just go ahead and try this..."
"...to wait and see..."
"...to stop allowing myself to be stressed..."
"...to stop caring what others think..."
And while there's nothing inherently wrong with any of those phrases, I always end up disappointed. Why? Because all of these phrases are centered around ME. "I this, I that". Truly nothing in my life is any longer about me.
Even my salvation is totally and completely of God, totally through Christ's finished work at the Cross, and not at all of myself. So rather than keeping all of these conversations so "me-centered", they need to be Christ-centered.
I have to give up this sense of self-sufficiency that somehow I'll make it work, when I won't. I'll never be good enough...and that's the point!
And so, I was thinking of this song that transfers the thought that "I'm doing" into actively following the One Who is doing, has done, and will do.
"I have decided to follow Jesus... no turning back...though none go with me, still I will follow...no turning back...the world behind me, the Cross before me...no turning back."
He Who has begun a good work in you WILL COMPLETE IT! Not of us, all of Him.

Sharing

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Joy...it's contagious! That's something I'm learning a lot lately. The young ladies I'm privileged to nanny have learned quickly that complaining and grumbling are not behaviors I tolerate, and yet I still haven't learned that lesson! Anyway, joy is contagious though--joy founded in Christ, that kind that supersedes our present circumstances and reminds us of the Morning...fresh, bright, new! Joy in Christ!
This is something I'm learning, and I'm loving seeing how God carries me through every single moment.
To "share" some of my joy with those reading, here are some pictures that I think speak a lot more than my words can. :-)
J-O-Y, J-O-Y, joy instead of sorrow,
Cling to J-E-S-U-S, joy will surely follow!

[im]perfect

Read an article by Andrew Peterson today (one of my favorite modern-day Christian singer/songwriters). Here's a little tidbit:

Jesus is making us into something. C. S. Lewis wrote that God is making us into “little Christs.” We all ache for the day when we’ll be free of our sins, our bad habits, our bitterness, the things about us that we think ugly or undesirable. But perhaps the road of sanctification will be an easier one when we recognize in ourselves the sin of self-consciousness, the sin of reputation management, the sin of lying to ourselves. To live our lives with a pretense of self-sufficiency, strength, and have-it-togetherness is to diminish the visible work of God’s grace. One of your greatest blessings to the community around you may be your utter brokenness, it may be something about yourself that you loathe, but which Christ will use for his glory. When Jesus is Lord of our brokenness we are free to rejoice in the mighty work he has yet to do in us. We are free to enter the stage in the face of the devil’s accusation, “You’re not good enough.”
The Christian’s answer: “Exactly!”
And we dance.

Scary

Do you ever scare yourself?
Allow me to put it this way, Do you ever shudder at realizing your own true motives, jealousy, pride, selfishness, etc.? Such is an accurate description of the conviction going on "in" and "around" me.
Isn't it amazing, though, that the Most High God already knew I would have these moments, of getting just a little glimpse of my sinfulness, and He still loves me anyway and determined before the foundation of the earth to pursue our hearts...to pursue MY heart?!
Questions/thoughts that swirl around and the answers get muddled when the world answers them with lies, I have to combat them with the TRUTH:
"Am I ever going to be enough?" Actually no, but Christ is enough! And I'll only be complete if I'm resting in Him.
"Others could do so much better...why would I be wanted?" God sees me as beautiful and went to the point of living for, dying for, and coming again for me! He has put every member of His Church where He wants.
"He/she is so much sweeter, Godly, pure, etc." God wants MY heart, affection, time, energy. This has nothing to do with how others look on the outside...it's not about your poetic lines, letters, stupid (pardon my language) pictures of reading your Bible on instagram, or anything else that makes you look "good". You're not. I AM is good. And if I can't find anything wrong with someone, then wonderful! Stop searching for flaws, but know that no one is perfect, and we all struggle in different ways.
All this is to say that...I'm glad God saves sinners like me! Redeemed!

He's coming back to take me home!

Thankful

...I notice that when I'm consistently in the Word and in prayer, I become much more thankful for... well...everything! Thankful for the trials, thankful for what I KNOW they will produce in me, thankful that God is patient and merciful when I choose to sin or wallow after falling, thankful for Him never giving up on me. So thankful for encouragement from saints, meeting new people who help you see different aspects about God (a brother I met recently commented during a conversation of ours, "Isn't it amazing, that our great High Priest is praying for us right NOW? That He loves us that much!"). And incredibly thankful for the blessing of family. 
I am so thankful for the new addition to our family in the way of a future brother-in-law. My dear sister will be well loved and protected in the arms of this quiet man of God. "Outgoing" or "loud" would probably be the last words with which I would describe him, but the Lord alone has brought him to the point of salvation and now, simply living his life for the glory of God. It's the little things...love is not some boisterous outburst of feelings, but everyday simple obedience, humility, and action. That is, after all, how the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated His love.
Melissa and Tim asked me to take some engagement pictures as they were running low on time. It was (IS!) a privilege to be a part of the preparation of their wedding. Plans for nuptuals are around May 18th...looking forward to a celebration of them and those close to them.

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"TRUST in the LORD with ALL thy heart, and LEAN NOT on YOUR OWN understanding. In ALL thy ways ACKNOWLEDGE HIM and HE WILL make your paths straight" -Proverbs 3:5-6.

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