There Is Beauty In Surrender

"The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters." Psalm 23:1-2

Many of us believe the more we have control over our lives, the more secure we will be. But the truth is, the more we let go of our lives, the more God can hold it securely. 

Psalm 23:1 says the Lord is your shepherd. Just as the duty of a shepherd is to watch and protect its sheep, so is that God's duty to you. God desires to protect you, but you must let him do so. 

Surrender your life to God and know that your life will be in good hands.

God is the only cure for your worries, and to receive that cure comes in our surrender to him. 

 It's when we refuse to surrender our lives to God that we become filled with worry because we know there is no 100% guarantee that our ways will work. But God promises that he will always give us the best. God's ways will always give us 100% assurance that everything will be ok. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Have you truly given up your life to Christ? If you have, then why are you still worrying about your life? The day you accept Christ is the day you agree that your life is no longer yours but for God. God calls us to abandon the worries of our lives - to remove our ownership of our lives and let him take ownership of it. 

Because you no longer own your life, it is no longer your responsibility to take care of it. When you surrender your life to God and submit to his will, you are giving the responsibility for God to take care of you. Give your burdens to God and rely on him to take care of you. If an almighty God is offering to carry your burdens, why wouldn't you let him? 

If you are overwhelmed with worries and fears, then it's time to surrender your life to a God. He will replace your worries and fears with his peace and love. Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you.." God wants to be your shepherd - your protector and provider. It's in your surrender to God that you will find his beauty and power evident in your life. 

There is beauty in surrender. 

Healed At The Feet Of Jesus

Matthew 15:30 "Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them." 

Where do you turn to when you've faced a dead end in your situation? Has your solution given you true healing and restoration? There is only one place to find healing and hope and that is at the feet of Jesus. 

There is power when we submit our lives to Jesus. Matthew 15 talks about how many who were blind, lame, and sick with no hope all ended up healed at the feet of Jesus. I'm sure the sick all tried everything they could to be healed but found that their only real hope was Jesus. 

You may not be physically blind, but are you feeling lost to what you should be doing in life? Blind from seeing a solution in your situation? You may not be physically crippled, but do you have a weakness or limitation in your life that is stopping you from doing what God wants you to do? Feeling crippled and weak from the struggles of life?

We may not be physically sick like the people in Matthew 15, but we can still relate to them because we all have some kind of brokenness in our lives that need healing. The good news is, we have a healer and that is Jesus. 

The greatest power you will ever find in this world is at the feet of Jesus. 

Healing happens at the feet of Jesus. It is when you lay everything down that Jesus will then take it and turn it around for your good. Jesus wants to heal you, but it starts with you making the first step to lay it all down at his feet. Give all your hopelessness to Jesus and he will start bringing miracles into your life. 

Just as Jesus was able to heal the blind, lame, and sick, so can he heal any of your shortcomings. Being weak and broken isn't bad news because you have a healer who can heal you.

  Be healed at the feet of Jesus. 

Prayer: 

Dear Lord, may my brokenness lead me to to the feet of Jesus. I surrender it all to you. 

Suffering Can Lead To Hope

1 Peter 4:13 "But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed."

Suffering is not something we look forward too, but rather dread. However, God calls us to suffer and takes it a step further by asking us to rejoice in our sufferings. Why would God ask us to rejoice in our sufferings? Because our suffering can lead to hope. 

As much as suffering can seem like an unnecessary waste of time, it really is not. 

Your suffering has a purpose. God has a plan to use your suffering for His good. 

When we suffer in accordance with the will of God, the end result will always glorify God. Suffering for Christ is not like suffering from partaking in sin. The suffering that comes from partaking in sin leads to death, while the suffering that comes from partaking in Christ leads to life. 

Just as Jesus's suffering on the cross gave us salvation, so will our sufferings open the door of salvation for others' lives. If you are going through a hard time, persevere because your suffering will produce a testimony that will lead others to find the true life which is Jesus. 

Romans 5:3-4 says, "Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope." Our sufferings were meant to give hope to the world. 

Jesus suffered so that we could have hope, and now he passes the duty along to you - to suffer for His glory.

Your suffering can lead to hope. 

The Greatest Weapon

Feeling exhausted from fighting your own battles? Have you allowed stress to pile up and control your life? Hardships can easily take off our focus on what truly matters in our life. So what is the greatest weapon to fight our battles? 

Exodus 14:14 says, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

We have the greatest weapon against Satan and that is God.

Your wealth, family, spouse, and even yourself cannot save you. The only one who can fight for you and win is God. God does not need you to fight his battles; he only needs you to be still in him. 

Whether you are fighting sickness, sin, or any other troubles, know that this isn't your battlefield - it's God's battlefield and he knows it, and he is fighting for you. 

This is your Greatest Weapon.