Radical Surrender
Let’s take a moment to think on some things. First there is God, and how huge, magnificent, and HOLY God is. He is the greatest of all Kings the most righteous being that exists, most worthy to be followed. He is high and lifted up, Majestic, Glorious, Infinite, more powerful that anything, WOW no words can truly express how great He is.
Then there is us; wretched, evil, sinners, perverted, liars, murderers thieves, with hatred in our hearts, I mean have you seen the news lately? Yet there is a glimpse of something somewhere within. The image of God, covered in mud and muck but we were made in His image and cherished by Him despite what we have made ourselves to be.
Then somewhere somehow we catch a glimpse of that Glorious God and in that instance the separation between Hum and us is so clear. The pain we have caused is so evident and yet… we can see in His eyes, by the scars in His hands and feet, the cuts on His brow, the gash in His side and His arms held wide that He loves us and would stop at nothing to win us back.
We now see in this moment that God has already breach the gap between us and Him, the one that we could not see the other side of and could not imagine how to cross. We see that because of this we no longer have to fear death because the Judge is our Father through Christ. So, we bow our knee to him and ask His forgiveness through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and suddenly life flows in us and tears fall as sin is washed away and we are cleansed within by His Spirit. Now we are new creations, the old has gone and the new has come! We now have everlasting life and God’s Spirit within us, the future looks so bright and beautiful and we are filled with the love of God.
Then we turn back toward the world and we see the despair, the pain, and the evil that once marked us and it seems like little us can’t do anything to change it. But what we just experienced stirs within us and we know we must do something. So we try, in our own strength, to make a difference; and we do impact a life or two and we do a little more but then we become worn out, discouraged, tired, and burned out.
Now suddenly we are faced with a choice and in our discouragement our old sins come back to tempt us once again. They say that was nice but they can give us fulfillment and to just give up this whole new life. We are faced with these things we used to do to try and “fill us up”. But a voice deep inside speaks life and we know these worldly things have no life in them and eventually we would just be like the world again and the light placed in us would be under a bowl (Matthew 5:15), hidden, and the dreams God placed in us would be all but lost. Of course this way would be an easier path..
But what if.. what if we took the other path? What if we remembered that it wasn’t us who gave us life, it wasn’t us who brought restoration. What if we looked back to God and how beautiful, majestic, and Powerful HE is. What if we dropped our knee to Him and said, “God, I Fully Surrender to You. Do through me the dream you’ve placed in me. I can’t do it on my own but ‘God search me and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).” What if we did life and chased our dreams with God rather than just for God.
What could happen if we radically surrendered to God, if we, personally bowed to him and chose to walk every day with Him? Could we see the God of all power and Love accomplish our dreams through us. Could we see our friends and family come to faith in God? Could we see our nation restored to a place of righteousness? Could we see this world transformed by God’s power?
So what about you? What if you gave you’re all to Him and made Psalm 139: 23-24 your every day prayer, and watched as God impacted the world through you? Let’s stop being afraid of what might happen if God’s promptings actually led us to action. What if you let God do His perfect will through you? What if you Radically surrendered your entire life to Him? I don’t know exactly what will happen, nor how hard it may be. But I know that Out God is so big and so good that no matter what, you won’t be disappointed in the end. Living life God’s way never leaves us with regrets, it may leave us with scars, but never regrets.
So take a moment with God and ask Him what He could do through you. Allow yourself to dream with God then give Him your all, walk with Him daily, and see what amazing and great things God can, and will, use your obedience and your life to do. Ask Him, “What, if?”.
Entering the Throne Room
Imagine with me, if you will, and as best you can, a King’s throne room. It is big and majestic with lots of light and the central focus is on the King seated on His throne. There is a sense of great honor and royalty as you look upon the king and everything in this room is done in splendor and with great purpose. Everyone is sure to honor the King as they move through the throne room, as the very presence of the King demands the greatest respect. No one would ever think to do anything disruptive, or loud, let alone run or play. Then as you see all this royalty and purpose, suddenly there is a break in the order and a break in the atmosphere of the throne room. Suddenly a small child comes running into the throne room with a wooden sword in hand yelling, “Quickly the enemy is here let’s get them!” and then swings his sword making sound effects as he fight his imaginary battle. You can feel the tension fill the room as everyone looks at this loud distraction then back up to the king to see what he will do. However, as everyone looks at the face of the king they do not see what they suspected to see, they do not see annoyance, they do not see dismay, the do not see anger, or even pity. What they see on the face of the king is a smile and look of deep love in his eyes, and what he does next is even more amazing, the king, in all his splendor reaches to the young child in love and says, “Ah, my son! Come, sit on my lap, and tell me of this great war you have just fought!”
I believe that, that imagery represents exactly how God sees us when we come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ. It says in Hebrews 4:16, “Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.” Now I have heard people use this verse many times yet I never felt right about the way it was said. I would hear people say, “Your sons, and daughters of God now (no problem with that part) and in Hebrews it tells us that through Christ we can come boldly to God’s throne, so go in there and straight to His throne and tell Him what you want and go get your healing from God.” Now that could be considered boldness but I see it more as rudeness. Who are we to go to God and tell Him what He is to give us? I always believed that it was not a demanding way that we came to Him.
We go to God in the boldness of our sonship in Him. When we come to God as we are He smiles at us and sees us as His beautiful children through the blood of Christ. This son in the imagery came boldly into the throne room as a son, even though it was not how things worked usually in the throne room, He knew it was His kind and loving father who was seated in the place of honor in the throne room and he could boldly go in through the identity of Him. But look at the reaction of the Father when we come into His throne room. We do not, ever have to be ashamed to come into the throne room of God. We can come in as ourselves with the personality He has given us and the hardships we have, and sit on our Great Father’s lap and just talk to Him. In that moment we feel the Love of the Father pouring out through the look in His eyes and the intent listening He gives us. Let’s stop using disconnect, or being ashamed, or anything else as an excuse not to pray. But let’s take this understanding that God Loves us and is our Good Father and we can come into His throne room and walk up to Him with child-like faith and innocence. Then He will scoop us up into His arms, set us on His lap and listen to every word that comes out of our tiny mouths. How amazing our God is that He Loves us, that He came after us, has given us new identity in Him and we can enter His throne room with boldness!!
Just take time today to talk with God, forget all the rituals that make you feel “righteous”, get rid of the pompous attitude and just be the little prince and princess you are and go talk to your Daddy. Tell Him your fears, your dreams, your hopes, your loves, your aches, your pains, your imaginations, your friends, your needs, your friends needs, your love for Him. Just talk with Him and listen for how He will respond to you in His Word and His Spirit. Look in His eyes and know He loves you so much that He would give up His only son to have this moment with you in His throne room. How Deep the Father’s Love for Us!!!!!!!