This past Sunday (March 11) in church we were singing about God breaking every chain, and the previous Wednesday (March 7) we sang and declared for God to move mountains, and push back walls that hinder us... and this was great. It is great, because God is able and can literally do anything! But in the depth of my heart, I know that if I don't surrender my thinking, my will and my ways to God's Word, God's will and God's ways... I will be stuck.
And I will stay stuck if I don't surrender. Chains won't fall off if I'm still holding on to them in my hands; bad habits, bad relationships, bad thought patterns... until I let go from the deepest part of me and truly surrender, trusting God has full control, only then will I be freed in Him. Freed to live out and proclaim His Word, to do His will, and live joyfully in His ways.
~~~
I was reading a devotional by Dr. Charles Stanley called "Life Principles To Live By", and on day 17 the entry is entitled 'Standing Tall and Strong Through Prayer' and Dr. Stanley refers to Daniel.
Here's a quick snapshot of some of Daniel's experience:
Daniel lived in a time and place where he and the Israelites were under the authority of a pagan society. The Babylonians had stripped Daniel and the other captives of their identity as best they could, they were instructed in the ways of the Babylonians and were forced to worship their god (which they didn't)... but Daniel lived a life of surrender to the God of the Israelites, and he was devoted to prayer.
Now, there were some administrators and satraps who attempted to find grounds in which they could charge against Daniel from conducting government affairs, but they could find nothing. These people in politics realized the only way to entrap Daniel was to create a law that "has something to do with the law of his God" (Daniel 6:5). So they convinced King Darius to pass a law where no one could pray to any god (or God), except to King Darius, over the course of the following thirty days. King Darius agreed to it, and the law was passed.
Daniel's prayer life was consistent. And the law did not stop him from getting down on his knees to pray three times a day to his God... This makes me ponder; thirty days isn't a very long time, so why didn't Daniel just put prayer on the back burner, and live in a way to save his life, you know? But ultimately... because of Daniels devotion to God, he was caught praying and was arrested. The administrators and satraps then threw him into a lions den...
Being thrown into a lions den does not seem favourable at all! (If you don't know how the story ends I encourage you to check out more of the story in the book of Daniel chapter 6. But I won't leave you hanging...) Daniel was in the lions den for one whole night, the King was tremendously saddened that this happened to Daniel, and he was one of King Darius' trusted officials (see Daniel 6:3).
This is what stuck out to me from the devotional:
Always remember God is bigger than any problem you face. The distance between your success and failure (or your victory and defeat) is the distance between your knees and the floor as you kneel before the Savior in surrendered prayer. You’re never taller or stronger than when you’re on your knees in prayer! God knows the way before you, and He can guide you through any difficulty if you will only trust Him.
So, the next day the King came rushing to the lions den to see if Daniel survived the night. To his amazement, Daniel responded to King Darius' cry, "O king, live forever! My God send his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me..." (Daniel 6:21-22). The King was thrilled! Because Daniel trusted in his God he was spared (Daniel 6:23)... and the other guys, well... you should definitely check out Daniel 6.
~~~
Quotes
'One does not surrender a life in an instant;
that which is lifelong can only be surrendered in a lifetime.'
- Jim Elliot
Sometimes God asks us to let go of something and we don’t want to.
Don’t be a stubborn sheep.
Let go and remember even though it’ll be hard for you to lay down right now,
it’ll get harder and harder as time progresses..
and it will steal from you what God wants you to have.
- Joyce Meyer, quote
This one is heavy, especially for me... Our surrender to God should not be for our own personal gain, "we have become so self-centered that we go to God only for something from Him, and not for God Himself. It's like saying, "No, Lord, I don't want you; I want myself. But I do want you to clean me and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. I want to be on display in Your showcase so I can say, 'This is what God has done for me.' " Gaining heaven, being delivered from sin, and being made useful to God are things that should never even be a consideration in real surrender. Genuine total surrender is a personal sovereign preference for Jesus Christ Himself."
Scriptures
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
James 1:19-25 ESV (emphasis mine)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV
Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7 KJV
Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed.
Proverbs 16:3 NIV 1984
Thoughts: We are to surrender, "put away", all filthiness and rampant wickedness... when we DO what we've been instructed from the Word of God, and persevere in the perfect law, we will be blessed in what we're doing. So as we surrender the old man (our sinful nature) by submitting to God, our plans will succeed in Him.
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