Message topic: As Christians, are we surrendered to God?
Scripture text: Romans 12: 1-7
What does it mean to be surrender to God? Surrender is a generic term that refers to loosing or giving up in a battle: when we surrender to God, we choose to end the conflict between selfish, sinful man and God. When we submit our will to God, it shows that we accept His love and forgiveness which He extends to all mankind everywhere.
God loves us so much that He made an elaborate plan to save us from the condemnation of our sins. It is important to pause a moment here and remember that due to the first sin by Adam and Eve, we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God.
We only deserve eternal damnation, but God is a just and righteous God and planned to pay forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith (romans 3: 27)
Jesus came to earth to teach us to surrender? Paul explained to the Philippians that the Son of God came down to earth though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, and emptied himself to be born as a human, with all the implied suffering and trials.
He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death on a the cross, Jesus was the perfect example of how we should surrender to God and his will. As the son of God, he could still submit himself to the will of his father. Paul further encourages the Philippians to emulate this relationship with each other.
The term surrender means to yield, give up, relinquish or submit. All religions emphasize on the importance of surrendering to God. It seems to be the way to find liberation and live a purposeful, meaningful life in every religion.
Practice letting go of the need to control, become more comfortable with the unknown, and let go of your idea that you always know best. Whether through a prayer of surrender to God, meditation, yoga, or other practice, we can all learn how to surrender and follow God’s will.
Giving up your own plans to follow God’s will requires strength, faith and trust in a higher power. But by following the scripture and surrendering to God, we allow ourselves to go with the flow of life and find deeper meaning by fulfilling our life purpose.
Bible verses where God ask us to surrender includes Proverbs 3:6, James 4; 7, Luke 9; 23, Proverbs 23: 26 and Romans 12: 1. When you surrender to God, you give up control and yield to Him, easy enough…no, not at all.
Learning how to surrender to God is one of the hardest but most important things in your faith journey. Surrendering to anyone or anything feels counter intuitive and unnatural. Many see surrender as week, a sign of defeat, and just not an option.
In sports, wars, and arguments surrender is a sign that we have lost the battle, and in daily life, you lose, you lose battles, surrender and wave the white flag many times.
There are times when we listen to someone giving lectures on a certain topic, but how much do we really understand and can demonstrate what was said?
Listen to this person giving their experience and understanding of surrender: I pulled into a parking lot, and found a choice space to park, all I had to do is to wait until the person who was backing out to of the spot, complete his backing up, then out of nowhere another car came and turn into the spot that I was waiting for.
I was frustrated, but had no choice but to surrender the spot that I was waiting for. Surrendering to God does not mean defeat, it means we humble ourselves and are led by God instead of our own desires.
What does it mean to surrender to God? When you surrender to God, you are trusting Him with your soul, the most significant part of your being. From that place of deep surrender, new freedom erupts.
What if we reframe what surrender to God looks like? Instead of focusing on letting go of something we focus on grabbing something better and more secure than control.
The disciples surrendered to God when they left everything and followed Jesus. They had to relinquish control of their plans, their dreams, and their families to follow the Son of God.
They transformed their identity to become aligned with Jesus’s call and new purpose. Why would Jesus’s followers make such an amazing sacrifice? They knew how much Jesus love and cared for them and believed in His mission.
Most of us are not required to surrender to this level but we do have to surrender our will which can feel just as difficult. When we learn how to surrender to God, we abandon what we think is right and trust that God knows what is best.
This is what Jesus said to His disciples which includes you and me, if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me, if you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it.
But if you benefit or gain the whole world but lose your own soul: Is anything worth more than your soul?
Jesus had these words for us in (Matthew 16:24-26) if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. for whoso ever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Solomon the wisest man who has ever lived informed us in (Proverbs 4: 5-8) with these words: get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth: forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee.
Wisdom is the principal thing: therefore, get wisdom: and with all your getting get understanding; exalt her and she shall promote thee, she shall bring you to honor, when you dost embrace her.
The second thing Jesus calls us to do is to deny ourselves, which means that we are to surrender self-will and embrace His perfect will. It is a daunting task, to be sure and know that we are under-powered to do on our own (2nd. Timothy 1:7) says: for God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
Think for a moment of your life, Are you living it on your terms? Or are you living it on His terms? when you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior, you said in essence, I surrender all to you, Lord: can you honestly say that you have done this in all areas of your live?
If you are like me, the answer is no. but I really want to. Take a moment now and pray to the Lord to reveal those areas in your life that you have failed to surrender to Him
Let us all turn to Jesus in prayer and say to Him, King of my life I crown Thee now, Thine shall the glory be: lest I forget Thy thorn crowned brow, lead me to Calvary.
Lest I forget Gethsemane, Lest I forget Thine agony, lest I forget thy love for me, lead me to Calvary.