Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Surrender continued...

Here's day two of the devotion I posted up yesterday. So good. The bolded part is the part that really spoke to me.
Surrender (2)
“Because you say so, I will.” Lk 5:5 NIV

When you start to do things God’s way instead of your own, you experience three great benefits: First, you have peace. “Submit to God, and you will have peace; then things will go well for you” (Job 22:21 NLT). Second, you have freedom. “Offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits” (Ro 6:17 TM). Third, you have power. “Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (Jas 4:7 NKJV). Stubborn temptations and overwhelming problems are defeated by Christ the moment you surrender. As Joshua approached the walls of Jericho he encountered God, fell down and worshipped, surrendered his plans and said, “What does my Lord say to His servant?” (Jos 5:14 NKJV). Joshua’s surrender led to a spectacular victory. Here’s a paradox: victory comes through surrender! Surrender doesn’t weaken you, it strengthens you. Surrendered to God, you don’t have to fear surrendering to anything else. William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, said, “The greatness of a man’s power is in the measure of his surrender.” Eventually everybody surrenders to something. If not to God, you’ll surrender to the opinions and expectations of others, to money, to resentment, to fear, to your own lusts or ego. You’re free to choose whatever you surrender to, but you’re not free from the consequences of that choice. E. Stanley Jones said, “If you don’t surrender to Christ, you surrender to chaos.” The supreme example is Jesus. The night before His crucifixion He surrendered to God’s plan, saying, “I want your will, not mine.” And He is your example!

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