EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!
THURSDAY JANUARY 06, 2022.
SUBJECT: SURRENDER TOTALLY TO GOD IN FAITH!
Memory verse: "My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him." (Psalm 62 vs 5.)
READ: Genesis 22 vs 1 - 10:
22:1: Now it came to pass after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”
22:2: Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall tell you.”
22:3: So Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose and went to the place of which God had told him.
22:4: Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
22:5: And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”
22:6: So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it on His Son Isaac; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and the two of them together.
22:7: But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father, and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
22:8: And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.
22:9: Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.
22:10: And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
INTIMATION:
Surrendering totally to God in faith means to yield completely to Him in faith. Surrendering to God is not passive resignation, fatalism, or an excuse to relax, or laziness. It is not accepting the status quo. It means the exact opposite: sacrificing faithfully your life to God. It can occasion suffering in order to change what needs to be changed. Surrendering totally to God in faith makes an overcomer in all aspects of life because your life is lived by the Owner and Sustainer of that life.
God often calls surrendered people to do battle on His behalf. Surrendering is for soldiers of Christ, not for cowards. Likewise it does not mean giving up rational thinking. God would not waste the mind He gave you! God does not want robots to serve Him. It is not repressing your personality. Rather than its being diminished, surrendering enhances it.
The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become because He made us. He invented all the different people you and I intended to be. It is when we turn to Christ, when we give up ourselves to His personality, that we first begin to have a real personality of our own.
Surrendering is best demonstrated in obedience. You say, "yes, Lord" to whatever He asks of you. Surrendered people obey God's Word, even if it doesn't make sense. For instance Peter demonstrated the act of surrender in faith when he obeyed the instruction of Jesus, after a whole night of toiling without success: "Master, we have toiled and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net." (Luke 5 vs 5.)
Another aspect of a fully surrendered life is faith or trust. Abraham followed God's leading without knowing where it would take him. In the passage we read today, there was no debate with God from Abraham. There was no sleepless night, for he rose up early in order to carry out the introductions of the command. Sarah, the wife, was not informed of the matter, for Abraham told no one what transpired. He simply prepared for the journey and for the sacrifice, and then headed for the God-appointed location.
When Abraham looked up after three days journey and saw, at a distance, Moriah, the appointed place of the sacrifice, he told the servants to stay back while he continued with his son Isaac, and said to them, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” Take note of the “We.” Though Abraham had no previous experience of a bodily resurrection, he trusted that God would resurrect the body he would put to death hence his use of the word “we.”: In Hebrews 11 vs 19, the Scripture says of Abraham, “He concluded that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also figuratively received him back.”
Again when Isaac wondered concerning what animal they would use for the sacrifice, Abraham’s response was, “God will provide.” Abraham’s faith, therefore, went to the limit of trusting that God in the final minute would provide the sacrifice. And so He did. In his obedience, he demonstrated raw faith and total surrendering to God and His Will.
The supreme example of self-surrendered life is in Jesus. The night before His crucifixion Jesus surrendered Himself to God's plan. He prayed, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14 vs 36.) Jesus didn't pray, "God, if you are able to take away this pain, please do so." He had already affirmed that God can do anything! Instead he prayed, "God, if it is in your best interest to remove this suffering, please do so. But if it fulfills your purpose, that's what I want, too."
The most difficult area to surrender for many people is their money. Many have thought, "I want to live for God but I also want to earn enough money to live comfortably and retire someday." Retirement is not the goal of a surrendered life, because it competes with God for the primary attention of our lives. Jesus said, "You cannot serve both God and money" (Matthew 6 vs 24), and "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6 vs 21).
We live in a materialistic society where many people serve money. They spend all their lives chasing after money, collecting, and storing it, only to die and leave it behind. Their desire for money far outweighs their commitment to God and spiritual matters. Whatever you store up you will spend much of your time and energy thinking about. I advice that you do not fall into the materialistic trap, because "the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (First Timothy 6 vs 10). Can you honestly say that God, not money, is your master? One test is to ask which one takes more of your thoughts, time, and efforts.
Genuine surrender in faith says, "Father, if this problem, pain, sickness, or circumstance is needed to fulfill your purpose and glory in my life or in another's, please don't take it away.” This level of maturity does not come easy. In Jesus' case, He agonized so much over God's plan that He sweat drops of blood. Surrender is hard work. In our case, it is intense warfare against our self-centered nature.
Prayer: Abba Father, I surrender totally to You. Yours I am, and Yours I want to be, do with me as it is pleasing to You, and give me the grace to follow with raw obedience of faith, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen
PRAISE THE LORD!
