To Win, Raise The White Flag!
Hey Friends,
As you probably know by now, following Christ is a game of opposites. If you really want to win then you must raise the white flag of surrender! That is opposite to the world but not to God’s.
I know we would all agree that the Apostle Paul was a winner for the Lord. He saw his life as a living sacrifice – a drink offering – and not his own. As he surrendered to the Savior he won and won big. “For me, living is Christ, and dying is gain.”
We must deny self and let the Spirit of the living God take over and have His way. Lately in my quiet time I have been asking the Lord how to surrender more. How can we submit totally to the control of the Spirit in our lives? Is it possible?
Andrew Murry said: “What has God promised you, and what can God do to fill a vessel absolutely surrendered to Him? God wants to bless you in a way beyond what you expect. From the beginning, ear hath not heard, neither hath the eye seen what God hath prepared for them that wait for Him. God has prepared unheard of things you never can think of: blessings much more wonderful than you can imagine, more mighty than you can conceive. They are divine blessings.”
Part of our pursuit and passion in and for Him is learning how to raise the white flag and let Him have His way without hesitation and without reservation. Giving up to Him means going up with Him. Do you trust Him? Do you want Him? Is His plan the best?
Then raise the white flag, surrender to the Spirit of God and let Him take you wherever He wants. He can do it!
Yours to count on,
Pastor Chris
6 Comments
I have trouble knowing the difference between what I want to do for God and what God wants me to do. Committing to the cause of the “God club” isn’t the same as seeking God and committing to what he wants you to do. I go through waves of forgetting, but a statement that I have posted for me to see is “Do the work God calls me to do.” When I focus on that, I begin to realize areas where I’m doing activities “for God” that are actually sucking away from what God has asked me to do. Surrender is hard to stay focused on.
Andy Kercher.
This is where we have to spend less time planning and more time praying!
“There is a way that seems right to a person, but eventually it ends in death.” – Proverbs 14:12
“My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways,” declares the LORD. “Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8 – 9
“If any of you needs wisdom to know what you should do, you should ask God, and he will give it to you. God is generous to everyone and doesn’t find fault with them.” – James 1:5
We usually fail to please God when we think we have everything figured out.
Ron,
Thank you. I needed to hear that… and the scripture backing it up too.
My wife and I have a new ministry opening up next week, and last night we encountered some spiritual warfare targetted against the students and families that we will be serving. It’s easy for us to start panicking and planning… We need to pray and focus on God’s plan, and not panic and prepare back-up plans.
Thanks. I really needed that encouragement.
Andy Kercher.
Andy,
I pray that God will bless you as you seek His will and serve His people.
In the Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis writes:
“Of course I [Screwtape] know that the Enemy [God] also wants to detach men from themselves, but in a different way…When He talks of their losing their selves, He only means abandoning the clamour of self-will; once they have done that, He really gives them back all their personality, and boasts (I am afraid, sincerely) that when they are wholly His they will be more themselves than ever.”
Surrendering is hard, but we get so much more when we really give our wills over to Gods. c:
Amanda you are so right I wish everyone got this