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Wednesday, March 4, 2009

I Surrender All

All to Jesus, I surrender.
All to Him I freely give.
I will ever love and trust Him.
In His presence daily live.

I surrender all.
I surrender all.
All to thee my blessed Savior.
I surrender all.

How many times have we sung this hymn at church and not really focused on the words we are saying? So many times, we are just singing words from our mouth and not letting those words penetrate our hearts.

Do we even know the definition of the word surrender?

1. To declare yourself defeated.
2. To give up possession of something.
3. To relinquish control

When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we should be totally surrendered to Him. Most of us will SAY this is true of our lives, but when we get right down to it, we are far from surrendered. I think that it is something that we have to do on a day to day basis. Surrender doesn’t come easy. It’s a battle that we have to keep fighting.

When we lift our hands toward Jesus as we sing praises - we are in the posture of surrender. Hands held high. Humble. But it’s more than just an outward expression that creates a surrendered heart. It’s that inward attitude that truly denotes the humility associated with surrender.

* We have to declare ourselves defeated. We have to admit that without Christ, we are defeated by sin.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus" Romans 6:23

* We have to give up possession of our own lives. We belong to Jesus. We are His.

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His Name” John 1:12

* We have to relinquish control. God is in control.

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” Proverbs 19:21

If we want to live productive and fruitful lives, we have to come to that place of total surrender in Christ. He is our creator. He is the author and perfector of our faith. He is the one who determines our steps. We are at His mercy - under His authority - dependant upon His provision.

I confess that I need to take “me” out of the equation. I desire total surrender to Christ. Without Him, I would be nothing. Everything I am is because of His mercy and grace upon my life. I want to approach Him with hands held high - head bowed low - heart overflowing with gratitude and praise.

Beth

6 comments:

Yolanda said...

Christ must increase, and I must decrease.

Love,
Yolanda

Terri Tiffany said...

Great post! How often am I really surrendered? A lot less than I think I am. A good gentle reminder to each of us:)

TRUTH SHARER said...

Loved this post! Surrender has come up in several conversations this week especially with my dear Celina from France. She and I were discussing when and how our total surrender to Christ came - for the purpose of ministry - for Christ alone!

We determined that it came when we realized that this world is all about HIM and not us!

I love your 3 definistions especiallly the first one: to declare yourself defeated! Wow! None of us wants to do that but it's the very place where VICTORY BEGINS!!!

Loved the song - a simple song with simple words of great truth!

Choosing JOY,
Stephanie
[Time to FLY]

the voice of melody said...

Often times, we ought to sing "I surrender some" or "I surrender most" if we're being truthful. I'm guilty as charged. Thank you for the eloquent reminder.

valerie said...

Thank you for commenting on my blog. I totally agree with what you said.

I love this post and I needed it today. There are a couple of areas where I just need to surrender. I was just talking to someone yesterday and I told this person...."I'm releasing this...I'm letting God handle it."
So, thank you for explaining "surrender" so well and for the wonderful Scripture.
God bless you today!
Valerie

Laurie said...

Hey there sister! I love hearing and learning about surrender and enjoyed your post. I think it is one of the most important things to learn (and do) as a Christian! May God help me to surrender daily to Him! Also, thank you for your email about your family. Sounds like a lot going on. I know your children and grandchildren and husband are blessed to have you.