Tag Archive | surrender

Serving Jesus

Apr21

If anyone serves (is serving) Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves (is serving) Me, the Father will honor him.
John 12:26 NASB

We cannot serve Jesus without following Him. Where He is working is where we will be. Following Jesus, which means surrendering our will to His will. His will is our priority. It is ALL about Him and obeying His will.

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Matthew 10:38 NASB

Jesus relinquished His will to the Father by surrendering His life to fulfill the Father’s plan. All the way to the cross. He gave up His throne. He humbled Himself. He suffered. He died.

Are you ready to pick up your cross and follow Jesus? Relinquish your life no matter what is asked of you, no matter where it takes you?

This relinquishing of life comes with a promise, “If anyone is serving Me, the Father will honor him” and “Where I Am, there will My servant be also.”

🌹 The promise of eternity with God. Wow!!!

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

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Church

Nov15

They come to you as people come, and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.
Ezekiel 33:31 NASB

Church. Where does church lie on our priority list? What draws us each week to attend?

Do we come as God’s people hungry for the Word of God to feast on and digest throughout the day, the week and follow in obedience? Are our hearts strengthened to be steadfast toward our God? Are we walking faithful in His word?
When we gather in the Sanctuary before our Lord, do we draw near with our words and honor God with our lip service, but remove our hearts far from God? Does our reverence toward God consist of tradition learned by repetition, habit, routine, becoming mechanical?
Psalms 78:36‭-‬37/Isaiah 29:13 NASB

🌹We are missing out on the awesome power and movement of the Holy Spirit during Church if we are not completely there in body, heart, soul seeking to draw near to God and be revived for a week of walking obediently with our Lord.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

At The Foot of The Cross

Apr13

So much to be learned at the foot of the cross.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Matthew 16:24 NASB

Is Christ asking anything from us that He did not already do?

1. Deny self.
– Jesus gave up His throne for a time:
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9 NASB

– Jesus surrendered His will.
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”
Matthew 26:39 NASB

2. Take up your cross
– Jesus took the cross for you and me. Should we not take the cross for the sake of the Gospel to the world?
And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Matthew 10:38 NASB

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:27 NASB

– Should we not be ready to die for the gospel just as Jesus did? Jesus is the gospel.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Matthew 16:25 NASB
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
Mark 8:34‭-‬35 NASB

3. Follow Jesus.
– Following Jesus takes sacrifice just as He sacrificed His life for us, we are to sacrifice our lives for the spread of the gospel.
“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
Matthew 10:37 NASB

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate (by comparison of his love for Me) his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:26 NASB

So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.
Luke 14:33 NASB

🌹Lord Jesus, thank You for the cross. The sacrificial denying of self for my sake, taking the cross to Your death, and showing me what it means to follow You.
God, I do not want to gain anything from this world and forfeit my soul. In this adulterous and sinful world I will stand for You without shame and proclaim Your word, the gospel. I want to stand unashamed when You come Lord Jesus in the glory of the Father with the holy angels. May I be faithful standing on the solid Rock to the very end. In Jesus name, amen.
(Mark 8:36‭-‬38 NASB)

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Speaking and Serving

Dec7

Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4:11 NASB

Do you belong to God?
Are the words of your mouth and the meditation of your heart acceptable in His sight? Are you serving in the strength of His might? Are you doing ALL to the glory of God?

🌹Have we truly surrendered our words and our service to God?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Surrendered?

Dec6

Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
1 Peter 4:1‭-‬2 NASB

Jesus suffered in the flesh for our sake. He showed us our purpose — to cease from the ways of the world. He is the way.
Have you ever really weighed the weight of your sin? Thought about how damaging sin is to your life? Have you surrendered your life, your flesh to God? Are you seeking God’s will in all you say and do? Or are you still living in and for your flesh – “me”?

Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  .  . Matthew 6:33

🌹 Have you surrendered your will, your way, your purpose, your life to God?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Reconnecting Day 7

Nov10

Today I finished reading the book of Jeremiah and read the first two chapters of Lamentations. Jerusalem (Israel) and Judah are now exiled to Babylon.
Jeremiah poured out the heart of God,  warning of this disaster if they continued in their evil ways, defying God in rebellion against His holiness. God sent warning after warning through His prophets in the Old Testament but not one of them could save themselves.

“Son of man, if a country sins against Me by committing unfaithfulness, and I stretch out My hand against it, destroy its supply of bread, send famine against it and cut off from it both man and beast, even though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, by their own righteousness they could only deliver themselves,” declares the Lord God. Or if I should send a plague against that country and pour out My wrath in blood on it to cut off man and beast from it, even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”
Ezekiel 14:13‭-‬14‭, ‬19‭-‬20 NASB

Thank God, the Father, for sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to save us. We are not able to save ourselves just as incident after incident in the Old Testament proved. We need a Savior who is able to cover our unrighteousness with His pure and holy righteousness.

Thank You, God, for Your holy word. It reveals my need for You and Your free gift of salvation. Through Your Holy Spirit in me I am able to live a life of holiness, pleasing to You.

🌹Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life. Will you surrender to God today?

On a side note, my sleep this particular night was very disturbed and restless. I was awakened many times throughout the night. When I was awake I prayed. At one point of being awakened a particular person came to mind and I earnestly prayed for this person. I would not understand the burden that was put upon my heart until later the next day. I’ll explain more on Reconnecting Day 8.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

The Battle Belongs to The Lord

Jun17

and he said, “Listen, all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and King Jehoshaphat: thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not fear or be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s. Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.
2 Chronicles 20:15‭, ‬18 NASB

🌹Surrender your fear to the Lord God today. Humbly bow before Him in worship and prayer for the battle truly belongs to the Lord!

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Our Treasure

Nov30

What does God need from us to fulfill His purpose, His will, His plan?

NOTHING. NOT A THING.

God desires a real and personal relationship with His people. He wants us to surrender our possessions,

So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Luke 14:33 NASB

Our very life, our will, our all.

Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.             Romans 12:1 NASB

Surrender of our will, our purpose, our way.

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Philippians 3:7 NASB

Self-centered versus God-centered. Worldly minded verses spiritually minded.

🌹 Where is the treasure of your heart buried? In the world or in heaven?

I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.  As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.     John 17:11‭, ‬18 NASB

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Greater Works

Nov2

Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. John 14:10 NASB

Jesus abides in the Father and the Father in Him. The Father abiding in the Son worked for the fulfillment of His plan through Jesus. Do you believe in Jesus? Then . . .

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.        John 14:12 NASB

Greater works you will do if you believe and abide in Christ who abides in the Father. How?

I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.       John 14:16‭-‬17 NASB

The Holy Spirit, abiding in you because of your belief in Jesus Christ, will enable you to fulfill God’s plan. The continuation of what Jesus started – sharing the truth, the good news.

Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”    John 18:37 NASB

This greater work that Jesus spoke of is the spreading of the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit in you. How many people in the world have the Holy Spirit residing within them? That is the greater work. The Holy Spirit in the believer spreading the gospel worldwide, everyday.

These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.         John 15:11 NASB

🌹 Are you surrendering to the abiding Holy Spirit within you? Are you trusting Him to use you to further the work Jesus started? Are you listening, ready to respond at any moment? Someone’s life could be dependent upon you.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Denial

Oct30

Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.      John 13:38 NASB1995

Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too. Matthew 26:35 NASB

Haven’t we all been there? We are gung-ho in His presence or when amongst other brothers and sisters. But what happens when we are alone, confronted with the truth? Whether through the conviction of the Holy Spirit through the word of God or out in the world amongst aggressive unbelievers.

Christian brothers and sisters, we have been silent too long. We have been passive when confronted with our faith. It is time to stand for Truth. Jesus is the Truth.

Will you deny Him when confronted with your faith? Now is the time to ask yourself and to prepare for persecution of your belief.

🌹 Is God deeply abiding in you? Are you experiencing Him daily? Without the Holy Spirit abiding in you there will be no standing strong. Surrender now to His will. No more denying.

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 10:32‭-‬33 NASB

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon