To become one with Jesus Christ, a person must be willing not only to give up sin, but also to surrender his whole way of looking at things. Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. The first thing we must surrender is all of our pretense or deceit. What our Lord wants us to present to Him is not our goodness, honesty, or our efforts to do better, but real solid sin. Actually, that is all He can take from us. And what He gives us in exchange for our sin is real solid righteousness. But we must surrender all pretense that we are anything, and give up all our claims of even being worthy of God’s consideration.Once we have done that, the Spirit of God will show us what we need to surrender next. Along each step of this process, we will have to give up our claims to our rights to ourselves. Are we willing to surrender our grasp on all that we possess, our desires, and everything else in our lives? Are we ready to be identified with the death of Jesus Christ?We will suffer a sharp painful disillusionment before we fully surrender. When people really see themselves as the Lord sees them, it is not the terribly offensive sins of the flesh that shock them, but the awful nature of the pride of their own hearts opposing Jesus Christ. When they see themselves in the light of the Lord, the shame, horror, and desperate conviction hit home for them.If you are faced with the question of whether or not to surrender, make a determination to go on through the crisis, surrendering all that you have and all that you are to Him. And God will then equip you to do all that He requires of you.____________________________________________________

 

March 8, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

Lord, the notion of surrender is difficult for a man in our  culture. We revere soldiers in our history that chose to die rather than  surrender. We have told and retold the story of the Alamo with awe and wonder.  Our sportscasters remind us of great teams that did not quit; picked themselves up off the floor and rose to victory.  We  train young men and (now) young women in our culture to never give up or give  in; that if they never give up, they will persevere.  So Lord, it is not easy to consider the  notion of surrender to You, even though I understand (that is to say I have the  head knowledge) how essential surrender is for me to live a connected life.

And God says…”Your culture’s notion of surrender is not the same as surrendering to Me. In your culture, to surrender to something is to declare defeat. When you surrender to  me you can declare victory. In your culture when you “give up”, you quit trying because you believe you cannot win. When you surrender to the cross, you win,  and can claim victory. “

“This lesson is like most of life’s lessons that you have learned from Me and find in the scriptures. They are turned upside down. My ways are not your ways; they are
higher than your ways. The world says to get you must accumulate and save. I
say to receive you must give.  The world, your culture, says to “never give up” and you will find victory.  I say, give yourself up to Me, surrender to Me  and I will give you victory over everything…always and forever. “