Surrender to God

 Jame 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

The word surrender is not found in the Bible, it is a word normally used in battle when someone gives up their right to fight, and they become prisons of their captors. “Surrender to” is defined as a complete abandonment of oneself entirely to someone or something. Both definitions describe the word “Submit.” Much has been said about surrendering our heart, our lives to God. The term, “Sanctify yourself” used in the Bible also has implications of surrendering. To be set apart, to be used by God. We surrender all our hopes, ambitions, dreams, and wishes to God, and allow Him to use us in any way He pleases for His kingdom. We surrender our desires, and offer everything we have to God, “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God,”(Roman 6:13). When we consecrate ourselves to God, we have surrendered the life we have been living and have dedicated ourselves to serve God in whatever capacity He desires. We give up the old life of sin and present ourselves as a living sacrifice. Some would see this as giving up our freedom to do what we want to do. But the way of the transgressor is hard, and all that live in sin are in bondage to the flesh. As Christians, we are told to submit our lives daily to God, pick up our cross and follow Christ (Luke 9:23). Satan will tempt our flesh (members) to fulfill the lust of the flesh, but as we submit ourselves to God, and resist the temptation of Satan, he will flee. For the heart totally surrendered to Christ is empowered by the Holy Spirit to live unspotted by the world.

Sanctified Heart

1 Peter 3:15
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

The doctrine of sanctification was flush out in its current teaching by John Wesley and other circuit rider preachers in the 17th century. The teaching to live holy and blameless in Christ is a Pauline Epistle teaching given to us by the Apostle Paul in the first century, and in this scripture, Peter instructs us to be sanctified.  The idea that Christian should have a sanctified heart is not something that the earlier founders of Wesleyan conjectured from some new revelation given to them. It was a revival of God’s word, revealing to us the life that God desires all His children to live. The word sanctify shows up in scripture in many different contexts, but the root of the word is to make holy or to set apart. God desires that our heart be made holy and used for His glory. A sanctified heart does not mean that a person is perfect in their humanity, but their heart’s can be perfect before God in motives and intentions. The world will do everything to discount the life of a Christian who stands for truth and righteousness. As Christian we are to be ready to give an answer to the unbeliever, the hope of Christ that lives within us. Our witness for Christ should reflect the life of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer to live a life blameless before the world. A heart that is sanctified is not infallible to failure, but it will empower a Christian to overcome temptation and live right before God and those who are watching our walk with Christ.

The Will of God

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

 Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

What is the will of God? There are a lot of things in life we are not sure of God’s will. We make choices every day and those choices often lead us down a road that we regret or rejoice. Finding God’s will in every decision of life is not realistic. We often make our decision base on our state of mind, the information we have, or how we feel. We do know that a heart that desires God’s will follows the admonish of His word. It is His will to rejoice and praise Him for salvation, for the blood that He shed for our sins. It is also His will that we have a praying heart, keeping the communication channels always open to talk to Him. His will is done when in spite of what happens in life that we are to lift up our voices and give thanks, and lastly, it is the will of God that we be sanctified, set apart from the evil of this world, choosing good over evil. Made vessels unto holiness to be preserved blameless and holy at His coming. This is done, when we allow the Holy Spirit to have free access and control of our heart. “This is the will of God, even your sanctification”. We may not know what to do, but we can know to choose that which is good and acceptable to God.

Spotless and Blameless

1 Thess 5:23, 34 The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless… Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

It is God’s desire to keep us spotless and blameless from the contamination of the world and sin. Paul’s prayer was that God would sanctify believers, set them apart to be vessel of honor and live holy in this world. The enticement for pleasure, power, prestige, and popularity are strong pulls placed on the fleshly desires of man. It requires a full submission to the whole will of God, and indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to maintain our vessel clean and spotless. The promise of God is to sanctify us by sending the Holy Spirit to purge our hearts not only from the sins we have committed against Him, but to purify our hearts in faith. To do this, we must totally submit our will to surrender our lives into His hands. Be willing to pray without ceasing, give thanks in all things, do as the Spirit leads, follow the commands of God, and abstain from that which would cause us to be influence for evil. For this is the will of God, even our sanctification.