Believe Week 15 - Total Surrender Series

Believe 15 ~ Total Surrender

February 1, 2015

Our world is filled with quotes about the need to push through the pain, work hard, never give up. Never quit. That’s inconceivable. We have that drummed into us. To a certain extent, we shouldn’t give up, we shouldn’t quit. Maybe we need these quotes because we find it too easy to quit and give up. If things aren’t going the way we want, will we give up?

But these sayings and words from well meaning people are so ingrained in our hearts and brains that when we need to give up, it becomes a struggle.

The video we just watched from Christian artist, Plumb, speaks about trying to do life on her own. Doing life without God, running from God, doing life on her terms, being caught up being someone you are not. Do you find that true for yourself? Is God a 2nd or 3rd thought and resource.

Last week in week 14 of Believe we took a hard look at what it means to have a SINGLE MINDED FOCUS on Jesus. That’s not always easy to do, and this week we’re looking at the phrase TOTAL SURRENDER. What does it mean to surrender? Surrender is defined as ~

to relinquish to the control or possession of another under duress or on demand

to yield (something) to the possession or power of another; deliver up possession of on demand or under duress:

When we think about surrender, it’s normally not a good thing. These definitions remind us we only surrender under conditions of duress or on demand. We picture someone waving the the white flag — surrendering! We think of throwing in the towel. Or if you’re a MMA fan. Tapping out. Tapping the ground and saying you’re done. Surrendering is equated with giving up; we’re told never give up.

If you’ve ever played sports with me, you know I don’t like to lose or surrender. I don’t like to give up or quit. You play to the end. A couple of years ago I was playing in the church softball league. We were a player short, so I played 1st and 2nd base. I was doing great, then it happened. I pulled my calf muscle. I could barely walk, let alone run. Quit?! Give up? No way. I played the rest of the game. Ran the bases and even ran for a foul ball, well I hobbled to the foul ball. Quitting? Saying my leg got the best of me? NO WAY!!

How many people have you known who quit living while they were alive? What normally happens to them? They get bitter and they die. That’s not the life Christ has called us to live.

Yet, we don’t want to give up or surrender to anyone. We want to think our own thoughts, do our own thing, and live as we see fit. We want our freedom and independence. Surrender implies we’re living according to someone else’s rules. Who wants that?

Yet, the Apostle Paul said God wants us to surrender to Him. He calls it a “living sacrifice.” In Romans 12:1, our memory verse, Paul wrote ~

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

According to Paul, worship is not an event. It is a sacrificial life. It’s a way of living. It’s a life that surrenders itself to God’s purposes. Paul says our worship is found in presenting our bodies as living sacrifices. And when we do that, our sacrifice is holy and acceptable to God.

God accepts our sacrifice. It comes in the form of surrendering our lives to Christ. We give Christ ourselves. We are the sacrifice. Christ was sacrificed for us. He surrendered His life so we could have life; and ultimately we sacrifice ourselves so we can have this new life Jesus offers us.

Once we do this, we should no longer follow the ways of the world. Yet the world is continually pulling us away from God. Solve your own problems, if you’re not happy, move on. The world offers so many other avenues to find satisfaction, which ends up being a false satisfaction and ultimately leaves us empty. The problem with living sacrifices is the fact that they keep climbing down off the altar.

Another issue is the fact we confuse 2 words. And it gets in our way of really . . . fully . . . totally surrendering to God.