Surrendering

Last night I watched this movie about a man trying to control his life and finally realizing that surrender was the word of the day. Of course this produced many tears for this man and his family and for me.  I went to sleep with this word Surrender on my mind.  Which is rapidly becoming my one word for 2016.

The definition of surrender according to wikipedia means to capitulate; to give up control or possession to another specifically to yield to an enemy or to a higher power.  To give one self up to the power of another or to submit or give in.

Strong's Dictionary of Hebrew words states the definition of surrender means : to deliver, present, to give-up .

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance states: to shield, to rescue, to hand over safely, to deliver. 

What does it mean to surrender? We surrender to a lot of different things or people in our lives.  Some of us can not deal very well with life's challenges and therefore surrender to drug or alcohol.  Maybe we surrender to someone who seems to be stronger than we are because we are looking for that secure place.   As someone who has lived a life that was completely surrendered to what I thought was a good, decent life.  Notice I said what I thought was good.  Never in my life would I have said that my life was lacking.  When you grow up in a dysfunctional home (of which most of us grow up in) you believe that your dysfunction is good.  Then about 14 Years ago I had a encounter with Jesus and my thought of what my life was like didn't look so good.  I think there are times when you come face to face with who you are and it is at that moment you will make a decision to either change or stay the same.  I chose to change and believe me it was a decision I second guessed everyday.  I surrendered my heart and life to God simply because I had made such a mess of things and found myself asking if this is really the way it is supposed to be, God really had his hands full with trying to sort out the real me and the facade I had in place.  It would be a year later when I came to understand what it means to absolutely surrender to God and His will for my life.  

I have often heard that if you are not being changed by God's Word then God's Word is not saving you.  Which is probably true, because if I had stayed the same I would not be a very happy camper. Many of us can say that we are not the same people that we were before Salvation as we are after.  Not saying that we are perfect because God's Word says "He is the one who will perfect and complete the work in you."  Like the man in the movie I believe we all have the moment when we are faced with the persona of who we really are. When I had to take a good hard look in the mirror and see who was looking back at me it was whoa!!!!!!.  I capitulated and gave up possession of my life and heart.  I can tell you that when I made that decision I could literarily hear the chains that I was bound up in break!  That is a sound I will never forget.

Many people think that when you surrender it is not a good thing. After all countries surrendering to bigger countries are usually swallowed up and never heard from again.  But we don't know or realize what they gained or what we gain when we surrender.  

  "Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?  Luke 9:23 msg."

  

I know that when you get everything you want you will still never be satisfied.  But God put a piece of himself in all of us and because of that we are always going to wonder: is this all there is?  I know that life with God is not a bed of roses because life always has thorns in it.  God never promised that following Him would be easy He just has said it would be worth it ( I think that is a cross stitch somewhere). 

I could so relate to this movie because it one part this guys friend said it all.  He said it isn't so much about surrendering as it is letting go and letting God have the control.  Letting go is hard for those of us who are control freaks.  But honestly since I have given God permission to control my life (a decision I have to make daily, sometimes minute by minute) I am much freer because I am not trying to figure out what is going to happen here and there or who is going to mistreat me and how will I react to that.  I am still human and I make mistakes just like everyone else the only thing I have over becoming a control freak again is that I have learned that God goes before me and He has a better way. He makes my paths straight, sometimes he puts big rocks in the road to see if I will let Him push them or if I will try and push them.  Many times I push and push and push some more before I give up and let God do what He does best.  

When I fall on my knees and lift my hands towards heaven and say to God, here I am again Lord I surrender to your plan for my life, to your holding me and loving me as no one else can.  This is where I gain my strength and my joy and my peace.  A life surrendered does not mean defeat.  It means I am protected, I am loved, I have someone who cares about the paths I take, and most of all it means I have someone who walks beside me holding my hand saying. " This is the way walk in it and I will always be here." 

Border Talk

    Well many of my friends have stated that I should write about my travels.  So today I decided that I would do just that.  Because I travel a lot I run into several different characters at different times.  

    Today I was approached (as I often am) by a older gentleman (I say older but really he was only 6 older than me) who asked me if I was a driver. When I said yes, he promptly asked me if I could help another driver out.  Now I get approached a lot by different people some I help and some I don't.  This gentleman was very clean cut and even showed me his driver's license so that I would know that he truly was a driver. Now I don't mind helping someone out, but when you get approached as many as three or four times (remember I travel over 600 miles a day) a day it gets to be a little much. I gave this gentleman some money so he could have a meal he said; and he promptly asked me what I thought about the border problems. ( I was in Arizona).  I said that it has been an on going problem for a very long time, it is only now becoming more apparent.  He went into a speech about how the government isn't doing anything to close the borders and therefore the border guards should all go home.  I agreed with him to a point that yes, the government wasn't doing anything but playing golf,  but border guards are needed. To which he replied, why they aren't doing anything. I asked if he had ever been to Texas and through the ICS check station by Sierra Blanca. Sure, he said lots of times.  Well did you ever take a look at the board they have that states how much drug tonnage and money has been confiscated at that check point? To which he didn't have a reply.  I then asked if he was a veteran, thinking we could change the subject but that was the wrong question.  He was a draft dodger.  Was very proud that he had dodged the draft and didn't go to Vietnam.  Shoot I couldn't win for losing in a conversation with him.  I said well that tells me you are not very patriotic. He looked at me and said why would I go over there and get myself blown up for nothing. To which I just shrugged.  He promptly started to tell me about some of his friends that had gone to war and how messed up they are now. I said yes, I agree that many of vet's are messed up and many have a lot of medical problems from being over there. But I haven't heard any of my friends that went to Vietnam state that they were sorry they went.  Most of them have looked upon their time in the military as their duty to their country.  But I said to him, For one I am very proud of my grandsons who are both Marines, one just got out after a being in Afghanistan, the other is still on active duty, because they sure fought for your right to express your opinion.  He looked at me with a look of amazement on his face as I said "You have an awesome life" as I started for my truck.  

    Now I have meant all kinds of people from all kinds of countries but I can honestly say I had not meant someone who was so proud of being a draft dodger and so worried about keeping the borders safe.  I have to wonder how long he had been a truck driver to not see some of the billboards they put at checkpoint stations, and do think that they have nothing to do.  Oh well, it does take all kinds.  

Prayer notes

Let me ask a question, Exactly what is prayer and what does it consist of?  Yes, prayer is communication with God but do we understand what it is and how it works.  In Ezekiel 22:29-31 states: "The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger.  So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.   Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads," says the Lord GOD. "  God wants us to stand in the gap for not only our family but for those who we come in contact with every day and those who God puts on our hearts.  Prayer is not just an activity or an application. It should be a way of life for us.  We have all been given different gifts and different callings yet prayer is something that should permeate our lives, there is no greater duty a believer can perform than to pray.

God wants us to pray and intercede  with great power and effectiveness, not to foolishly strike blindly at the air like a poorly trainer boxer.  Have you felt like that?  That when you take the time to pray that your prayers are not rising any higher then the ceiling?  That it is a real effort to pray?   Perhaps it is because we have not learned what God's word says about prayer.  The Bible states that " We should come boldly to the throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Heb 4:16"  Instead of just spending five minutes praying and asking God for the needs we have, we need to step into God's throne room with boldness know who we are in Jesus and  "to put God in remembrance of His Word. To state our case  Isaiah  43:26."  This is where spending time in God's Word and listening to the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth and teaches even the deep things of God would come in handy.


How can you enter the throne room of God boldly if you don't know anything about Him.  We need to store the Logos (written) Word in our hearts and minds so that when we speak it out that's when the Logos (written) Word becomes the Rhema (spoken) Word.  One other thing I have learned is to begin to see people as God sees them; else how can we pray for them.  If you have someone who you are dealing with whether it be a grocery store clerk, or someone one the other end of the phone, even if they anger us we need to remember that they are lost and undone.  Compassion is the key.  Have compassion for everyone you come in contact with.  Does that mean you let people take advantage of you? No, but we are now Kings and Priests with Jesus and therefore it requires us to act in a very different way.


I want to encourage you to start a daily Bible reading plan, preferably one that asks questions that provoke thought about what you have read.  And PRAY for God to give you the understanding and how it pertains to you.  Just praying the Lord's prayer is powerful.  Just begin to spend time in God's presence and learn how to communicate with Him, I guarantee that it will change your life and how you look at others.  Have a blessed week.

 

Gideon's Travels

  Today I was reading Judges 6-8, which was a required passage for my role in the church that I attend, and discovered something interesting (which really has nothing to do with why I was supposed to read these chapters, funny huh).  Here are the Israelites doing everything they are not supposed to do, while being harassed on every side by the Midianites.  It is only when things get so bad that they have to hid in caves that  they finally begin to cry out to God, who then sends a prophet to remind them of what He had done for them in the past. Isn't it just like us to cry and moan to God about our circumstances when things are never going our way.
  It was then that God sent an angel to Gideon who said  " hail Gideon, mighty man of valor, The Lord is with you (sorry Marilyn's translation)." I can just picture the look on his (Gideons) face thinking who me (while looking around to see who else is there).are you talking to me. Me, a mighty man of valor, I don't think so.  I am just a lowly wheat thresher.  Then Gideon begins to remember stories from his childhood and asks the angel " if the Lord is with us then why are we suffering like we are.. Whats the deal.."  Can't you just hear it now.  "Why is this happening to me.. oh whoa'se me (big sigh).." However, the Angel of the Lord says to Gideon " you know what, go in this might of yours and you will save Israel from the Midianites."  So here's what Gideon does.. instead of saying yes Lord we will do it, he questions whether or not this is really God talking..   Sound familiar...He puts a fleece out there and asks that if this is really God speaking make the fleece wet and the ground dry.  That happens the next morning. However, instead of being satisfied with that he still needs further assurance.  So now he wants the fleece dry and the ground wet.  How many times to do this.  We say okay Lord I'll do it however I am not quite sure I heard you right so if you would just give me a sign, then I will know.  God gives a sign, "Out of the mouth of two or thee witnesses let it be established (Matt 18:16).   Then God gives you what you asked for and our insecurity creeps in and we say "well I am still not sure, how about another sign." We chalk it up to coincidence and forget that we are suppose to walk by faith and not by sight.  We never stop to think that when we hear from God, and then ask for a sign  He gives that sign and we don't believe it so we ask for another sign.  Wonder if we know that we question His integrity when we don't step out.. Where is our faith...
   Gideon goes on to win a great victory with a very small army.  Like David and Goliath, he went in response to what the Lord had told him to do and won.  Gideon had to give God the glory because he knew that there was no way he could have won any battle with so few men.  So when God asks us to do something that is so huge we don't see how it will get done, we need to have faith that Our God can handle it.
  As we look to our Lord and Savior to give us what we need to fulfill the tasks that HE has asked us to do, we need not second guess Him.  We need to step out in faith and  know that God has promised to never leave us or forsake us.  So we can stand knowing that what we heard Him ask us to do He will equip us with whatever we need to get the job done.
  So I march on and on and on...........


By the way I did ask several questions however, my question mark button on this computer is stuck :(  oh well. Gotta fix that