Surrender to God...How?

1. Surrender toGod…How? – 21st
February 2017
“
For I know the plansI have foryou,” declares the LORD, “plansto prosperyou and not to harmyou,
plansto give you hopeand a future.”(Jeremiah29:11).
Onewayorthe otherthisworldisa battleground. Problems,finances,anxieties,worry, war,turmoil,
danger,nature and climate conditionsare justa few amonga multitude. Sincethe fall of maninthe
Gardenof Eden,the worldGod createdhas beeninconflictwithHim.We can learnthisfrom Romans
8:20-22, “Forthe creationwas subjected to frustration,notby its own choice,but by the will of the one
who subjectedit, in hope 21
thatthe creation itselfwill be liberatedfrom its bondageto decay and
broughtinto the freedom andglory of the childrenof God.22
Weknowthat the whole creationhas
been groaningas inthe painsofchildbirthrightup to the present time.” So muchso that Satan iscalled
the "god of thisworld" We can learnthis from2 Corinthians4:4, “The godof thisage has blindedthe
mindsof unbelievers,so thatthey cannotsee the lightof the gospel that displaysthe gloryof Christ,
who isthe imageof God.” We can alsoknow that due to Adam andEve's sin,we are born on Satan’s
teamas we can understandfrom Romans5:12, “Therefore, justas sin entered the worldthroughone
man,and death throughsin,and inthis way death came to all people, becauseall sinned—.”
Whenwe reach the age whenwe can make moral choices,we mustchoose whethertofollow ourown
sinful inclinations andfall inthe bandwagonwithSatan orto seek the splendorof aneternitywith God.
God promisesthatwhenwe seekHimwithall ourhearts,we will findHim:“Youwill seekme andfind
me when you seek me with all your heart.”(Jeremiah29:13). But whenwe findHim, we have achoice
to make:do we continue followingourowninclinations,ordowe surrendertoHiswill? Dependence on
our inclinationsistemporarybecause outthoughtsare suchthateven our goodthoughtscan fail as our
referencescanbe vague withtime. Butsettingourstandardon Godsteachingsandchangingour livesin
keepingtoHiswill,willenable ustobeginninganew life…the creationof anew entityinyou.
Surrenderisa battle term.It impliesgivingupall rightstothe conqueror. Inthe Second WorldWar
Germany,Japanand Italy surrendered unconditionally.Thismeans when anopposingarmysurrenders,
theylaydowntheirarms, andthe winnerstake control fromthenon.SurrenderingtoGod worksthe
same way. The omnipresentGodthatwe believe in hasaplanfor our lives,andsurrenderingtoHim
meanswe setaside our ownplansandeagerlyseekHis.The goodnewsisthat God’splanfor us is
alwaysinour bestinterest aswe can learnfrom Jeremiah 29:11, “ForI know the plansI have foryou,”
declares the LORD, “planstoprosper you andnot to harm you, plansto giveyou hope anda
future.”Unlike inthe case of Gods plansforus sometimes ourownplansoftenleadtodestruction
where we can learnfrom Proverbs 14:12, “There is a waythat appears to be right, but inthe end it
leadsto death.” Therefore asChristians whenwe steadfastlyseekGod’splanforusas our priority,we
can be certainthatour Lord is the beneficentvictorandthe benefitwill be withusandourfamilies!
There are differentlevelsof surrender,all of whichaffectourrelationshipwithGod. The Initial
surrenderisthe drawingof the HolySpiritthat leadstosalvation:Jesussaid: “Noonecan come to me
unlessthe Father whosent me drawsthem, and I will raise them up at the last day.”(John6:44).
Because itis said inActs 2:21, “Andeveryone who callson the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Therefore,we needtoletgoof our ownattemptsand steadfastly relyuponthe finishedworkof Jesus
Christwhodiedforus on our behalf:“Godmadehimwhohad nosin to be sin forus, so that inhim we
mightbecome the righteousnessofGod.”(2Corinthians5:21).OurfaithinJesusChristas one’ssaviour,
repentforsins,seeksalvationandcommence tolive anew life isable to become achildof God: “Yetto

2. all who didreceive him,to those who believed inhis name,he gave the rightto become childrenof
God”(John1:12).
Our surrendertoGod in a Christian's life bringsdeeperintimacywithGod whichinturnavailsus greater
powerinservice. Itgoeswithoutsayingthatthe more areasof our liveswe surrendertoHim, the more
room there isforthe fillingof the HolySpirit,andthe strongerwe become inourChristianslives. We can
geta greatadvice from Ephesians5:18, “Donot get drunkon wine, whichleadsto debauchery.
Instead,be filledwiththe Spirit.” Insteadof fillingourheartswithsinandsinful thoughts,we needto
pray and seekforthe provisionof the HolySpirittodwell withinus. Because whenwe are filledwiththe
HolySpirit,we exhibittraitsof the Spiritwhichwe canidentifyfromreading Galatians5:22-23, “Butthe
fruit ofthe Spiritis love,joy, peace, forbearance,kindness,goodness,faithfulness, 23
gentlenessand
self-control.Againstsuchthingsthere is no law.” The more we surrendertoGod,the more our old
sinful nature isreplacedwithone thatresemblesChrist aswe learnfrom 2 Corinthians5:17, “Therefore,
if anyoneis inChrist,the new creation hascome: The oldhas gone,the new is here!
We can learnwhen JesussaidthatHisfollowersmustdenythemselves—whichis anothercall to
surrender. We can learnfrom Mark 8:34,“ Then he called the crowd to himalongwith hisdisciplesand
said:“Whoeverwants to be my disciplemust denythemselves and take up their cross andfollowme.”
As Christianswe needtoknow thatGod demandsthatwe surrenderthe totalityof ourselves;He wants
the whole,not justa “big“part butin TOTALITY! We can clearlyunderstandthisfrom Romans6:13, “Do
not offer anypart of yourselfto sin as aninstrument ofwickedness, butrather offer yourselvesto God
as those whohave been broughtfromdeath to life; andoffer every part of yourselfto himas an
instrumentof righteousness.”
The goal of the Christianlife canbe summedupby Galatians2:20: "I have been crucifiedwith Christ.It
is nolonger I who live,but Christ wholives inme. Andthe lifeI now live inthe fleshI live by faithin
the Son of God,wholoved me and gave himselfforme." Such a life of surrenderasstatedbythe
apostle Paul ispleasingtoGod,resultsinthe greatesthumanfulfillment,andwill reapultimate rewards
inheaven.We needtoknow that one cannot serve twomasters. One will fail!Butasgood Christianswe
desire tosurrendertoGod. But Hiswaysare NOT whatthe worldwouldpreferforusto be.Therefore
theywouldlaughat us,evenhate usand eveninsultus.
Therefore as Christians,we needtoabsolutelysurrender toGod’swill,steadfastlystayfocusedand
strongwithoutwavering atwhateversinandsinful deeds the worldmaythrow atyou…We needto
learnto rejoice inthatday andleapfor joy,because greatisyourreward inheaven...andthatisnot just
for a day butfor an eternity! “Blessedareyou when peoplehate you, when they exclude youand insult
you andreject your name as evil,because ofthe Sonof Man. 23
“Rejoiceinthat day and leapfor joy,
because great is your reward in heaven.For that is how their ancestorstreated the prophets.” (Luke
6:22-23).