TIME TO SURRENDER

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

He must become greater; I must become less. – John 3:30 (NIV)

I had the blessing last night of sharing a little of what GOD has done in my life with a Celebrate Recovery group.  One of the great things that I believe Celebrate Recovery does is just that.  They celebrate.  I even had the wonderful experience of seeing one of my friends receive his 1 year “chip” marking a year of constant and consistent sobriety. 

That is worth celebrating!

The leaders of this particular group CELEBRATE 64 years of combined and continuous sobriety.  That is worth a little rejoicing don't you think?

The tenor of the time together was celebratory, something that we really should be doing in and with GOD each day every day!

Philippians 4:4 (MSG)

Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him!

So I truly appreciated the heart of this group.  There was hope and a genuine spirit of joy and possibility in the room. 

And as with sessions like this there was lots of time for fellowship following.  And one of my dearest friends, a member and leader of the hosting church, was one who paused to chat before heading home.  He was sharing that he was into a book by David Platt that presses the point of that passage I opened today’s thought with; John 3:30.

In order for GOD to INCREASE in our lives WE must DECREASE.  In other words we need to surrender our agendas today in favor of His.  In other words His objectives, His directives, His mandates and motivations need to supersede ours, period. 

He commented he is learning again that he (and we) must “surrender all”.

My buddy shared what a tall order that was for him.  It is a tall order for me and I am going to go out on a limb and say it is for you too.  Daily surrendering our “wants, needs and plans” for GOD’S sovereign will is as my friend said “a challenge”. 

And yet, this same author provides the motivation that even though challenging, dying to “self”; becoming less, or decreasing comes with wonderful rewards.

“There is indescribable joy to be found, deep satisfaction to be felt, and an eternal purpose to be fulfilled in dying to ourselves and living for him.”  ― David Platt

So the challenge or the encouragement for today is fairly obvious. 

Will we put down our plans, agendas and most notably “ourselves” in favor of GOD?

Will we lessen our influence over today’s activities and mindsets in favor of those inspired by our FATHER?

Remember we are called to:

…present our bodies as a living sacrifice – Romans 12:1

Can we?

Will we?

“The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We're still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us. ” ― A.W. Tozer

Time to surrender!

I love you all!

Be blessed!

Opportunities for Hope (Champions Charge)