Surrender

“If you make a compromise with surrender, you can remain interested in the abundant life, all the riches of freedom, love, and peace, but it is the same as looking at a display in a shop window. You look through the window but do not go in and buy. You will not pay the price – Surrender”

– E. Stanley Jones.

“I lift my hands just as I am, I’m letting go of false control
I lift my voice, I have no choice
My life is Yours, use me for Your fame.”

– Rush of Fools (Fame Lyrics)

I need to stop trying to hold on. Let go of this idea that is really ‘false control’. Stop thinking I actually have any power over what is happening. In those weak times, that is when I become dependent on him.

It is so important to remember to take time out and remember who God is. I’ve had some hectic assignments due in the last few days and I have felt so lost and helpless. All that kept me sane was my daily trip to the beach. I got some exercise to take the edge of unusual anxiety off, but most of all, I saw that the world kept spinning round. Life goes on and it is bigger than our tight-knit list of priorities. People were laughing and smiling. The sun was glowing glorious hues as it bid goodbye for the evening.

I had this thought that I needed to do the absolute best that I could at Uni to bring glory and honour to God. I was all wrapped up in doing well and scared of failing in case I let him down. When I took time out and saw the crescent-shaped beach, the waves brushing against the shore, the cumulus clouds radiating vibrant colour and the rays bursting forth from the heavens, I realised that God doesn’t need me to bring glory to himself. He has invited me to, but God’s image shall never be tainted and his glory will forever be shone.  I had to let go of the idea that God’s glory was all in my hands.  Only then, could I truly reflect the King of Peace.

I felt so much better for surrendering. I know it is only the beginning. I am very strong-willed, controlling and bossy, often causing me to get agitated and aggressive.  I know I need to exchange these things for the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) but I am aware that as long as I realise this and do nothing about it, I am merely window shopping.

I need to lay the cards down on the table.

Surrender.

. . .

“Be still, and know that I am God”

-Psalm 46:10

Becoming Who We’re Meant To Become.

Read this quote by C.S.Lewis and I’ll give you $50 if you do not get something out of it that specifically applies to your life right now and where you are at.

While I was hiking through the wilderness over Easter, I came to the realisation that I am a “glass-half-empty” kind of person. It really shook me. I couldn’t believe it. As the day progressed I found that I would find a negative angle on everything. My friend would say, “At least we’re going downhill” and I would say, “Yeah but now my feet are digging into my boots.” Seriously? This is me. I began freaking out. How am I going to change? I don’t want to be the person who sees the glass as half empty! Later that night, in my tent I read my Bible and prayed that God would change me and make me into a new creation that shines his light.

The next morning I woke up and this was what I read:

“Your real, new self (which is Christ’s and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange?

The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters. Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

The principle runs through all life from top to bottom, Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”

-C.S.Lewis 

Pure gold hey? I now have the courage to change because I have Christ!

^“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come!”- 2 Corinthians 5:17

 

Eyes On Him

Tonight at college we were learning about the Psalms and  Hebrew poetry. There is always so much more in the word of God than we could ever imagine. When you are studying the Bible it can be easy to fall into the trap of only looking at things from a distance but I liked what the guys said tonight. He said “if you just read the Bible for information, you’ll only become more religious”. When you read the Bible, you should be learning more about the nature of God and be drawn into a deeper intimacy with him.

I think a lot of us like the Psalms simply because we can relate to them. Psalm upon psalm of men crying out to God in the hard times and praising him in the good times. And it is also inspiring to read about someone who is struggling but nevertheless, managed to praise God all the more.

Sometimes we need to take our minds of ourselves. Away from our current circumstances. Apart from our own selfish desires. And just focus on the fullness and beauty of the awesome God that we have. Stop living in a daydream and focus on a reality.

I chose to share about the following Psalm because it stops looking at our past, present of future and instead looks up at God and helps us to put things into perspective. Check this out hey? It paints an incredible image. How about at ever comma, actually pause and imagine the phrase you just read. See how focusing on God like this can change your own perspective on life.

 “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
    their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars;
    he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
    let all the people of the world revere him.
 For he spoke, and it came to be;
    he commanded, and it stood firm.”

-Psalm 33:6-9