COMPLETE SURRENDER!
1 Kings 20:1-4
INTRODUCTION: Ben-Hadad asked complete surrender of Ahab, the King of Israel and what Ahab agreed to was indeed complete surrender: 1 Kings 20:4. These are words of complete surrender and every child of God ought to yield himself in exactly that way to their heavenly Father. Remember, the condition of God’s deepest blessings are for those who will completely surrender all of what we are and all of what we have to Him. Psalm 84:11-12.
- GOD EXPECTS OUR COMPLETE SURRENDER!
Because God is the source of our life and because God is the sustainer of our lives God cannot do less than ask us to completely surrender to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:9. Our God demands complete surrender in order to fill us with Himself. Solomon’s temple was completely surrendered to the worship of the one true God and if our bodies are to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit there must also be a complete surrender of ourselves to Him: 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. God claims you as His own. God is worthy of complete surrender and if we do not God cannot and will not do His blessed work of conforming us to the image of His Son: John 10:10-11.
2. GOD WORKS IN US TO ACCOMPLISH OUR COMPLETE SURRENDER!
Many would say that complete surrender to God is asking too much. God tells us in His Word that He is working in each of His children to lead each of us to total surrender to Him: Philippians 2:13. Our God wants each of us to embrace His work of changing us from within to be exactly like His Son. God said to Pharaoh: Exodus 9:16. And if God said that to an unbelieving ruler how much more should we expect Him to work out His plans for all of His children: Philippians 1:6. Today I plead with you, move toward God in this area of complete surrender to His will and His plan for your life. Are you willing at least to move to the point you will tell God “I am willing for you to make me willing to surrender completely to your will for my life?” Jesus invites each of us to a life of total surrender and total blessing: Matthew 11:28-30; Hebrews 4:1-3.
3. GOD ACCEPTS OUR COMPLETE SURRENDER!
When we choose to completely surrender to our God, we may have misgivings about how perfect our surrender is and we may wonder is it truly complete? Mark 9:24; Mark 9:25. That father’s faith triumphed over the Devil and his son’s evil spirit was cast out! And if we come to our heavenly Father and make our best effort at true surrender God will complete the work! We must trust our God to do His mighty work in our hearts as we feebly try to follow Him: Hebrews 9:14. Our Lord Jesus is our example of weakness made strong through total surrender to His heavenly Father: Mark 14:32-41. It is not a work of ourselves, it is all God’s work, we just surrender to Him. Romans 12:1-2; 1 John 1:9.
- GOD BLESSIS US WHEN WE COMPLETELY SURRENDER TO HIM!
When we chose to completely surrender to our God it causes our God to wonderfully bless our lives. How can we tell if we are totally yielded to our heavenly Father? Ephesians 5:18; Galatians 5:22-25; John 15:8; 2 Timothy 1:7. So many Christians love being in Christ but sadly so few long to be like Jesus Christ. We must let death to ourselves and life unto God be our most cherished thought: Matthew 6:24-26. Galatians 2:20-21; Ephesians 3:14-21. This will happen when we give ourselves up to the God who gave Himself up for us.