I was asked recently on Facebook the question; “How do you surrender everything to God?”
I thought about it for awhile and gave this reply. I’m not sure how you can answer a question like this honestly, for when you think you have surrendered everything to the Lord, you soon realise that you haven’t. It seems like its a lifetime process.
We can’t take everything the Lord wants to show us in the ‘surrendering department’ all at once. Its line upon line, precept upon precept. Jesus said to His disciples that He had many things to show to them, but they weren’t ready for them yet.
I think the big thing you need if you want to surrender everything to God is VISION, for without it people perish.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18
God told Habakkuk to write the vision and make it plain so they may run that read it.
“Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.” Habakkuk 2:2
God gives us promises about our life’s ministry. If we haven’t got any then we need to get into His presence and ask Him for a Rhema word. Promises are given to us so that we might partake of the divine nature.
“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature,” 2 Peter 1:4
As we meditate on these promises they feed our souls and cause us to grow. They are also like a carrot that entices us to go further, and further in God, bringing us into our Canaan Land. The promises encourage us to keep going no matter how long it takes.
“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrew 10:35-36
Elisha wanted the reward of a double portion so badly that he was willing to forsake all and be a servant to Elijah. When he was told to stop chasing after Elijah and go home, he said no. He kept close to Elijah after each apparent denial. Look at the whole story in 2 Kings 2:1-15
I think a big problem in the area of surrender is not being sure what of God wants of us. The Devil tries to keep us compromising and this weakens our resolve. David prayed;
“Teach me Thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies.” Psalm 27:11
How do we know what the will of the Lord is? It’s something you need to seek God about for every servant of God has a different path to walk and one size doesn’t fit all. The Bible says that sorrows are multiplied to those who worship idols. Psalm 16:4. Even we Christians can have an idol in our lives. You may not have the same problem I was having, but the idol you have can cause you to have more problems than you should, by allowing Satan to get in.
This is what I battled over for years. I wanted God to do something for me but was compromising in an area that was crucial to my growth and future ministry. I was watching stuff on TV and in movies that were capturing my heart. It wasn’t pornographic and most of my friends were watching it too but it contained material that was offensive to the Lord. Swearing, violence and fantasy were some of the things that were weakening my resolve. Would I be watching this if Jesus was sitting next to me?
I had a dream of standing in a queue for the movies in Zimbabwe when things were tough there financially. When I got to the ticket office the attendant said I had to pay in British Pound, which was very expensive. I then heard the Lord say that I was paying a very high price for my actions. Since that warning I have been careful what I watch in the media.
This change has made a profound impact on my life. The word says that we should not love the world, nor the things of the world. He that loves the world the love of the Father is not in Him. This compromise was deadening my sense of the Father’s love. I have repented, and now sense the Father’s pleasure deep inside of me. He loved me before but I was dead to his love through worldliness. I would not have wanted to change if I didn’t have vision. Do you want this reward badly enough?
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.” 1 John 2:15
My vision is so great now that it gets me up at night to walk the floor. Some nights I get up again and again. Its no burden for I love it. The vision is growing in my heart for God’s End Time Church. The Lord has a plan for a Victorious Church before His Return, but needs His children to ask Him for it. The trouble is most Christians are believing for a weak Church that only gets into heaven by the skin of their teeth. They are looking more for a people overcome by the Antichrist than a People who are Overcomers in the Lord.
I think this generation is distracted by the media. We are not trusting in the Lord with all our hearts, but leaning more on our own understanding and the understanding of man. We need to be asking. ‘What does the Lord say about the matter?’ This isn’t the question we are asking. This ignorance is making us weak and double minded. It’s also making us sick. I now know that Jesus is my healer.
Fasting helps to tell our minds and flesh to shut up and seek the Lord for His word on the matter. Something I found very powerful was to go on a ‘Media Fast’ for a month. No news, no internet feeds, no newspapers, nothing of the world, just Christian material. Just the word, Christian movies and Christian music. Its hard to do but in the end you find its worth it. You will find that you are so much stronger to do what He wants. I still collected emails and used my phone to contact people.
I wish I had known these things earlier as it would have saved so much time and tears. I do believe that the calling of God is without repentance. No matter how far you have gone off track, the calling is still on your life and the Spirit will not rest until you fulfill it. It may have to be adjusted as you get older but it is still there. In fact it will bring more glory to God, for you will need more grace from Him to fulfill it.
Going back to the story of Elisha. He was told told that if he wanted the double portion he had to see Elijah even when he was taken from him. This is very important. Our Elijah, Mentor, Teacher is Jesus and we need to keep our eyes on Him even though He has been taken from us. We need to ‘see’ Him who is invisible. Its in our adoration of Him by faith that a ‘seeing’ takes place and we are changed from one level of glory to another. We are changed into the image we reflect. 2 Corinthians 3:18. I realise now why it was so important to be careful what I watched.
“But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
The whole area of our words is also very important, for ‘our words are forerunners of a future event.’ We need to change what comes out of our mouths. I’m still being dealt with on this one but I am improving.
See my series on Words in the resources section of my website: www.stonesoffire.online
For more material by Graeme Hotter go to sleekbio.com/ghotter