2019-03-17
Romans 12:1 NIV
Paul writes, “Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice…pleasing to God.” During a Jewish sacrifice, an animal would be killed and then its body placed on the altar to be consumed by fire. So what happens if you put a live creature on the altar and say, “Stay there until you’re consumed,” then light the fire? The creature will jump off! But Paul encourages us to crawl back onto the altar, to surrender day by day, moment by moment. In the moment it feels like death, but it is really the only way to live. For example, suppose somebody does something that angers you. The situation is complicated, so you are not even sure of the right way to respond. Without even trying, your mind fills with all kinds of bad thoughts. In that moment you do not know what you should do. But God knows, and if you surrender to Him, He will show you how to respond with grace. The options that look attractive to you – avoiding, evading, gossiping, blasting – you relinquish to God. If your hurt runs deep, it will be about five minutes before the revenge fantasies start raging back. You will have to surrender all over again. But you can recognize those fantasies a little quicker now, and yield a little longer. As you learn to surrender to God in each given situation, you no longer have to surrender to your own impulses. You lose a life, but you gain a life – a life much better than the one you lost. In the end, it turns out that nothing you lost was really worth keeping anyway.
Soul food: Est 4:13-5:3; Matt 6:16-18; Mark 2:18-22
2019-03-16
Psalm 143:10 NIV
You receive power through the act of surrender that you cannot receive any other way. You receive freedom through submission that you will otherwise never know. The 12-Step Program for recovery offers a path to freedom for addicts. But at the core of the twelve steps lies a great paradox: In which of the twelve steps does it say, “Now try really hard not to drink”? In which of the twelve steps does it even say, “Now decide not to drink”? Amazingly, this powerful tool against our most powerful addictions never asks people to decide to stop doing what is destroying their lives. Instead of mobilizing the will, its followers surrender their will to God. If you try to overcome the problem by your will, it will beat you. But if you surrender your will to God, deliverance becomes possible. Surrender, which we think means defeat, actually turns out to be the only way to victory. This is not just the case with alcohol and drugs, but with sin in general. Why does our will fail? The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous says that when it comes to drinking, we say and feel “never again.” But we do it again. Why? “We are unable, at certain times, to bring into our consciousness with sufficient force the memory of the suffering and humiliation of even a week ago…the certain consequences that follow taking a drink do not crowd into the mind to deter us. If these thoughts occur, they are hazy and readily replaced by the old threadbare idea that this time we can handle it ourselves.” So the word for you today is: Surrender to God.
Soul food: Job 18-20; Luke 18:1-17; Ps 116:1-11; Prov 8:8-9
2019-03-15
Matthew 16:24 CEV
Surrender is not the same thing as passivity. God’s will for your life involves exercising creativity, making choices, and taking initiative. Surrender does not mean being a doormat; it does not mean you accept circumstances fatalistically. Often it means you will have to fight to challenge the status quo. It doesn’t mean that you stop using your mind, stop asking questions, or stop thinking critically. Surrender is not a crutch for weak people who cannot handle life. Instead, surrender is the glad and voluntary acknowledgment that there is a God, and He is not you. His purposes are wiser and better than your desires. Jesus doesn’t come to rearrange the outside of your life the way you want; He comes to rearrange the inside of your life the way God wants. In surrender, you let go of your life. You recognize that you are no longer the center of the universe, and you put God there. You yield to Him. You offer obedience. You do what He says. Jesus was very clear on this point: “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies [to self] it produces many seeds” (John 12:24 NIV). How do you live a productive and fruitful life? By dying to yourself daily. D. L. Moody said the world has yet to see what God can do with one person who is totally surrendered to Him. Today, kneel and pray, “Lord, take me, shake me, break me, and make me what You want me to be.” That’s a prayer He will answer.
Soul food: Job 15-17; Luke 17:20-37; Ps 19; Prov 8:6-7
2019-03-14
Galatians 2:20 NIV
John Calvin defined surrender in these words: “To have no other will, no other wisdom, and to follow the Lord wherever He leads.” To do this, you will have to face your greatest fear: Who will drive your life? It’s pretty handy to have Jesus in the passenger seat when we require His service. “Lord, I have a health problem, and I need Your help. Something hard is going on at work, and I’d like it to be different. I’m feeling anxious, and I want You to give me peace of mind. I’m feeling sad, and I’d like a little hope. I’m facing death, and I want to make sure I’m going to heaven.” But when it comes to sliding out from behind the wheel and letting Jesus drive, we’re not so sure about that because it means we are no longer in control. For example, if He’s driving, you are not in charge of your wallet anymore. You can’t say, “I’ll give sometimes when I feel generous, but I reserve the right to keep what I want.” Now it’s Jesus’ money. When you let Jesus drive you’re no longer in charge of your ego. You no longer have the right to satisfy every self-centered ambition. Now it’s His life. You are not in charge of your mouth anymore. You don’t get to gossip, flatter, cajole, condemn, lie, curse, rage, cheat, intimidate, manipulate, exaggerate, and prevaricate anymore. Now it’s not your mouth – it’s His mouth. So here’s the question: Have you invited Jesus along for the ride, or is He driving? The word for you today is: Surrender to God.
Soul food: Job 11-14; Luke 17:11-19; Ps 11; Prov 8:4-5
2019-03-13
Mark 10:14 NIV
Can you imagine how these children felt when Jesus rebuked His own disciples for pushing them away, and said, “Come unto me”? How many destinies were changed that day because He loved these little ones and took time for them? He gave them something every child needs and deserves – self-worth and the dignity of their own thoughts and opinions. When you listen to me, it means that what I say matters. And more importantly, I matter to you. After years spent hearing words like, “Don’t bother me…Shut up!…I don’t have time,” something important in a child begins to die – creativity and confidence. Can you imagine facing life without those qualities? You say, “But I’m so busy.” That may be so, but you’re certainly not busier than Jesus, and He made time for children. Parent, are you listening? The pressure is on. Today our prisons are full of children who committed adult crimes. And, generally speaking, when we study them we find that because they never learned to express their emotions in constructive ways, they ended up exploding! As a child he took a hammer and pounded his toy to pieces; now as a man he drives his fist through walls or batters his wife. His shirt size has changed, but the messages inside his head are still the same – nobody listens, nobody understands, nobody cares. This is serious business. If you think we’re making too much out of too little – think again. Rearrange the priorities in your home. Do it right and you’ll live with wonderful memories. Do it wrong and you’ll live with regrets.
Soul food: Job 8-10; Luke 17:1-10; Ps 115; Prov 8:1-3
2019-03-12
Jonah 1:12 NIV
When Jonah boarded a ship going in the opposite direction to God’s will, the crew discovered there’s a high price to pay for allowing the wrong person into your life. So what’s the point? It’s this: God hasn’t authorized you to be somebody else’s life support system. Especially if they’re running from Him, and using you to do it! With Jesus on board you’ll make it through any storm. But when you allow Jonah on board he’ll turn your life upside down, and before it’s over you’ll risk losing everything. Do you seriously think you can fix your Jonah? No. “The Lord…prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah” (v. 17). Sometimes the best thing you can do for someone is to wake them and throw them overboard. As long as you keep rescuing them, you get in God’s way. It’s pride that makes us think we can do what only God can do! Look at Jonah – while the crew was desperately throwing stuff overboard, he was sleeping! He didn’t want to be corrected, he wanted to be comfortable! Do you know someone like that? The reason they haven’t changed is because they’re not ready to! Jonah was so stubborn that he stayed in the belly of the huge fish for three days before he prayed. If that had been you, the moment you spotted “Jaws” you’d have been on your knees calling on God, right? This may be hard to hear, but sometimes the best thing you can do for your Jonah – and yourself – is to throw them overboard and let God rescue them.
Soul food: Job 5-7; Luke 16:19-31; Ps 26; Prov 7:26-27
