I Surrender Stuff

I surrender stuff

James 4:7-10

Introduction-

This morning I want to talk to you about stuff.

A whole bunch of stuff.

God doesn’t care that we have stuff, but He does not want stuff to get in between our relationship with Him.

We have a bad day- it is because stuff happened.

We have a good day- good stuff happened.

We don’t get everything done that we should- stuff got in the way.

You get the point, stuff happens, stuff gets in the way and stuff stops us from enjoying our relationship with God.

So this morning, we need to surrender to God- our stuff!

James chapter 4:7-10

Submit yourself to God- Devil has to run and flee!

Come near to God- He will come near to you.

Wash your hands. Purify yourselves.

Don’t be double-minded.

Grieve over the things that grieve the heart of God.

Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Great! That is what it will take to have a relationship with God.

Then why don’t most people have that relationship?

Because stuff gets in the way! Some things we control and some things we do not.

James (1)

What causes fights and quarrels?

What about that battle that is within?

Wrong motives.

What causes us problems is that we do not know what it really means to submit to God.

We rebel against people that tell us what to do.

We rebel against God when He gets into our air space and bosses us around.

Since the fall of man- it is easier for us to friend the world then be at peace with God.

(5)”Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely. But He has given us more grace. That is why the scripture says: God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

As Christians we throw out a lot of church words that people that are not churched do not understand.

This morning I want to clear up a few of them.

We say to surrender to God certain things.

We say that we must obey God. (most people are rebellious)

We must trust God. (That is hard for someone that does not know God)

We must submit to God. (Turn our lives over to Him)

We must turn things over to Him.

We cannot do these things until we understand what it means- How can we surrender this stuff until we get a clear picture of what that means?

All these words are related-

Two of these words Webster uses to define submission.

Surrender and obedience.

Surrender defined is yielding to power, control, or procession of another upon compulsion or demand.

To give up completely

To relinquish your rights.

When we think of surrender, we think of weakness, loss, defeat, giving up because someone was stronger, more powerful.

We do not give up by choice, it is by circumstance.

Jesus tells us that surrendering to Him is the way that we may have peace, love, grace, guidance, wisdom, and eternal life in Him.

By surrendering to Him, we actually become free in the relationship with God.

Illustration-

Ever try to keep weeds out of your garden? If you are not constantly taking care of business, the weeds become overwhelming, impossible to do by yourself. We surrender to God the things in our lives that become weeds that will strangle our relationship with Him if He doesn’t help us pull the weeds of our lives.

Frustration comes to our lives-

Set alarm at 6pm instead of 6 am and you are late for work or school.

You watch a TV program for 2 hours and you get a phone call from a telmarketer that they want to sell you something that you do not need.

5 salesmen approach you when you are just looking, but no one can be found when you are ready to buy.

Illustration- SermonCentral

A story about a boy that asked his dad to explain the difference between irritation, aggravation, and frustration. Dad picked up the phone and dialed a number at random. When someone answered he asked, Can I speak to Bob please? You have the wrong number, no Bob lives her. That is irritation. The Dad hit redial and asked for Bob a second time. I told you before that no Bob lives here, so stop calling or I’ll call the police. That is aggravation. Then what is frustration? Dad hit redial again, when the man answered and said, this is Bob, did I get any messages? That is frustration.

Frustration keeps you from doing what you want.

Here are 3 things that we need to surrender to God.

I. Surrender stuff

II. Surrender sin

III. Surrender self

If we are to live a life of value, these things have to be surrendered.