IS OUR SURRENDER TO GOD TRUE OR SELFISH?

 

 

          Church, have we become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself?  Are we so caught up in this world and this life that even our prayers to God reflect only our wants and desires? Are our prayers saying, “Oh God, I need this or that to happen in-my-life now or I won’t be content or satisfied or happy with the results of this situation or circumstance.”or “I need this or that to happen in my life before I can continue following You,” or “If I pray with someone and it doesn’t happen, I will be embarrassed or humiliated so I won’t pray at all.”

 

            Have some of these things been going through your mind?  STOP! Your self centeredness is showing again.  By putting God in a “box” and trying to control our own circumstances we are taking our lives back out of God’s Hands and tying them so He can’t save us from the sins that He gave His life for. Only God knows our total future. And at becoming a Born Again Christian we “willingly” gave our lives over to Him. If our surrender was a true surrender, we don’t own our own lives anymore.

“True surrender will always go beyond natural devotion.” (Quote from Oswald Chambers)

 

            As a Child of God, I am His Totally!  My life and devotion to Him is Total.  I’m not saying that I don’t mess up sometimes and put “self” before God because everyone does when situations and circumstances become hard on our spirits, minds and bodies.  But the “quicker” we realize what we are doing (taking our lives out of God’s Hands), the quicker we can repent, ask for forgiveness and return again to His Loving Arms.  Now there also has to be a “turn around” included in that repentance.  (“Go and sin no more" John 8:11)  Our repentance has to be TRUE also.  That means we have to learn from the experience and not do it again over and over!  We have Christ, as God’s Word, as an example.

Our true surrender to God means just that – a union with Him.

 

            I like the way Oswald Chambers wrote about the verse EVERYONE uses as the salvation message:

John 3:16 (Jesus said)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him (Christ) should not perish but have everlasting life.”

 

Oswald wrote:

            “The salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from myself and being placed into perfect union with Him.  In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave Himself for us – totally, unconditionally, and without reservation.  The consequences and circumstances resulting from our surrender will never even enter our mind, because our life will be totally consumed with Him.”

 

            To me, Oswald’s statement seems to be very hard to realize here in our present situation.  But we’re looking at it in the natural.  If we do the “giving” to God in our spirits, and minds, the body will follow in the natural.  That makes the total unconditional, and without reservation “giving” of ourselves to God, a more attainable situation that can happen here on earth, not just in Heaven after we go Home to Him.

 

            My always used phrase, “think about it Church,” comes in here in a mighty way.  When we get our minds focused on God, the natural “following of God” comes next.  We take our “one-step” and God takes two or more steps for us.  But again we have to start with:

 

                                 Trusting and Believing God

 

                                                                          Oswald Chambers Daily Devotional Calendar 2013

                                                                          All scriptures are from:

                                                                          New King James Version of Prophecy Study Bible,

                                                                          General Editor – John C. Hagee

                                                                          Unless otherwise stated.