Prayer: As we come before Your throne today, oh God, we recognize that You are the one who has created everything. You are the maker and judge of all people. We want to surrender our lives to You this day that You, God, would transform us. Use us everywhere. Amen.
Main Scripture:
Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. I am pressured by both. I have the desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that, because of me, your confidence may grow in Christ Jesus when I come to you again (Philippians 1:22-26).
Associated Scriptures:
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you (John 15:9-12).
He must become greater; I must become less (John 3:30).
Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (Romans 8:26).
Correlative Quotes:
Being born again by the Spirit of God means that we must first be willing to let go before we can grasp something else. [1] – Oswald Chambers
Our heavenly Father has given all of us this same right: the privilege to choose a surrendered life. No one is forced to yield his life to God.[2] – David Wilkerson
Study:
INTRODUCTION
Experiencing the joy of surrender begins with our salvation. I had just finished my junior year in high school. Carol and I had been able to get back together again during the last year. Her parents still weren’t happy with us dating, but they agreed to let me take her to school events and to church. I loved her so much that I would have agreed to do anything to see her.
I was in the high Episcopal Church which, at that time was almost identical to the Catholic Church. Episcopal services however, were in English instead of in Latin. My father taught a Sunday school class so we never missed a service unless we were so sick we couldn’t get out of bed.
I was tall from an early age and therefore was chosen as an acolyte at about age ten instead of the normal twelve. An acolyte attends to the needs of the priest before, during, and after the service. In addition to preparation of the elements for communion, I carried the cross during the processional and recessional.
The repetitive nature of the mass allowed me to memorize many verses. The messages from the priest helped me to understand the life of Jesus and the apostles. The Sunday school classes gave me cursory knowledge of the characters of the Bible.
As an Episcopalian, I believed that there was a God. I understood that Jesus was the son of God and that He was born of a virgin mother. I knew that he was forced to die a cruel death on a cross for our sin and that was called atonement. Atonement meant that He died for our sin so that we could have eternal life. My knowledge of the Holy Spirit may have been a little fuzzy, but I knew that He was God and that He was part of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
The Episcopal Church in Boardman Ohio was a beautiful little white wood framed building that was hauled, stain glass windows and all, as a precut structure from Connecticut and assembled on Market Street in 1807.
Carol’s church was in Struthers Ohio. Struthers was an older community than Boardman. The first time I took Carol to church she directed my down a few city streets and when we turned off 5th Street onto Elm Street there it was. The Struthers Baptist Tabernacle was a small rectangular cement block building that had a large red neon sign on top announcing “JESUS SAVES.” I was taken aback. What had I agreed to do?
Over the next year, we were at church a lot. I was falling deeper in love with Carol but her parents would still only allow me to take her to church and school events. The Baptists had church Wednesday night (prayer and Bible study), Thursday night (prayer and evangelism), Friday or Saturday night (youth), and Sunday morning and evening church services. We had lot of dates.
During that time, the teens were continually witnessing to me. They would say, “You must believe that there is a God who created everything, you need to believe that Jesus is God, you must believe that Jesus died from your sins to be saved, and on and on.” I did. I believed it all. They were confused. I was confused. My parents wondered why I was spending so much time in church. However, they figured at least I was staying out of trouble.
That summer, while mowing a field on a tractor God spoke to me and said, “You know all about me, but you don’t have a personal relationship with me.” That was it. That was the missing link to my salvation. The piece of the puzzle of eternal life that I had not seen before. I shut off the tractor, got down by one of the big wheels, knelt, and asked Jesus to be my personal Lord and Savior. I was transformed immediately.
Salvation is not what or how much you know about God; it is a personal relationship with the one who died for us. It is a father-son relationship based on a new life, a new birth, a spiritual birth. “You must be born again. No one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and of the Spirit” (John 3:3 and 5).
Joy in surrender also comes through our call to ministry. God gives each of us a gift(s) that is to be used within the body or community and in our daily walk outside the body of Christ.
Summary Statement:
To find joy in our lives we must understand that we are subservient to God. We are his servants here on earth by our choice not his command. In order to function as servants, we must surrender our egos and wants to him and follow his lead in our lives.
We are rescued from eternal punishment by believing in Jesus alone for our salvation, prayer, reading and understanding God’s word the Bible, and taking action as we are led. Know the joy that comes from surrender.
Lesson within the Lesson:
What does it mean to surrender to God?
What happens to us when we surrender our lives to God?
What is the first step in surrendering to God and how is it accomplished?
What does it mean to be called of God and how does he help us fulfill that calling?
[1] Oswald Chambers, The Surrendered Life, My Utmost for His Highest, copyright March 8, 2015, http://utmost.org/the-surrendered-life/.
[2] David Wilkerson, The Surrendered Life, © 2015 World Challenge. All rights reserved. PO box 260, Lindale, TX 75771-0260, (903) 963-8626 January 23, 2002, http://sermons.worldchallenge.org/en/newsletter/surrendered_life.
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