Accepting the Salvation of Surrender

The Babylonian army was at the gates. It wouldn't be long until they were inside the city. King Zedekiah was terrified. 

He was king only because Nebuchadnezzar had captured and replaced the previous king. He knew his time was short. Toward the end of his sham-reign, he was so frightened that he called for Jeremiah, who was imprisoned. The king wanted a secret meeting to find out what the prophet of God recommended. 

Jeremiah had been beaten and imprisoned by the king's men, and was still in prison when the king called for him. I might not have been congenial toward the king, but Jeremiah spoke truth without hesitation. (Leanna paraphrase coming up.)

"What do I do, Jeremiah?"

"Surrender is the only option that will save you."

"I can't do that. I'm too afraid."

"You have two choices. If you surrender, you will live. The city will not be burned. You and your household will survive. If you don't surrender, they will get you anyway. The city will be burned and they will capture your wives and your sons. It won't be good, King Zedekiah. Accept the salvation of surrender."

Zedekiah was consumed by his fear and his pride. He stayed in the palace until the city walls were breached, then attempted to escape by night through his garden. 

Just as Jeremiah had said, the army captured him. They killed every one of his sons while Zedekiah watched, helpless. The last sight he ever saw was the death of his sons. The Chaldeans blinded his eyes afterward and carried him to captivity. On their way out, they burned the city.

Zedekiah must have spent the rest of his life wishing he'd obeyed Jeremiah's words. "Accept the salvation of surrender."

Those words are just as true for us today. The only salvation for this world and for eternity is found in surrender to Christ alone. 

Fear and pride still keep us from the hope that can save us. When we follow Christ, we must first give up our will to have His. We relinquish our right to sin in order to have his righteousness. 

This surrender can be terrifying, until we realize that we are surrendering to a holy, loving God who has plans for good and not evil. Plans for a future and a hope, not for calamity.

The only salvation, the only peace, the only hope are found in Christ alone. When we accept the surrender of salvation, we find the life Christ desires for us... abundant and joy-filled. 

Today, let's consider our relationship to God. Have we yielded to Him? Are there areas in our lives that need fresh surrender? Let's raise our "white flag" and give ourselves fully to the only One worthy of our dedication. 

Christ alone, our only hope.

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 niv

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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post:The Bad Influence and the Terrible Price

Here's the world-wide prayer guide: The Prayer List 
#Christalone #disciple #salvation

The Trappings of Religion

The essence of the Jewish faith and the law can be summed up in a few words. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as (in the same way) you love yourself.  Those words can summarize the Christian faith, too.

Embracing that essence is hard to do. It's more love than most of us want to give without condition. It's more submission than we desire. It's more goodness than we have.

Since the heart of our faith requires more of us than we want to give, it's easy to embrace the trappings of religion instead. 

That's what happened to Israel in the time of Samuel. Everyone knew he was a prophet confirmed by God. They knew his words were true, but they didn't want to follow them. 

So they didn't.

Israel went into battle against the Philistines and they were soundly defeated. 4,000 men died. Afterward, the elders did not go to Samuel for a word from God. They went to themselves. 

"Why has the Lord defeated us?" they asked. They did, at least, recognize that victory and defeat come from the hand of God.

Instead of saying, "He defeated us because of the sin in our lives," they decided to devise a plan of their own. 

Since they knew that God had allowed their defeat, they decided to take the Ark of the covenant (the covenant between them and God) into battle as a kind of good-luck charm. 

They believed the power of the Ark could save them since God (they thought) had not.

When I read these words, I am utterly astonished. Didn't they understand the connection between God and the Ark? Apparently not.

They carried the Ark into battle, just as they planned. The Philistines mistook the presence of the Ark for the power of God (just as Israel had done) and it terrified them. They fought harder than ever, captured the Ark, defeated Israel, and killed 30,000 of Israel's soldiers.

Even after that terrible defeat, Israel did not seek God's face. More than twenty years passed before the people came to Samuel for a word from God.

Samuel had a simple solution. Repent. Get rid of the idols. Turn your heart to God alone. 

At last, that's what the people did. They removed the idols from the land and from their hearts. They turned back to God, and He forgave them and blessed them with freedom.

Israel lived in defeat for decades when the peace and victory only God could give was one bent knee, one changed heart away.  

We are certainly no different from those early Israelites. We, too, sometimes prefer the trappings of religion to the totality of a heart utterly committed to God. 

Peace and freedom cannot be found in the props of religion. Peace and freedom can be found only when we are willing to submit our will to His and bind our hearts to His heart.

If we want the kind of victory God promises, we will have to do things His way. Confess our sin. Repent. Relinquish our sin. Cling to Him alone. 

We cannot have all the blessings of God without bending our will to His.

Which will we choose? Freedom or bondage? Peace or turmoil? Surrender or rebellion? The choice is ours, so let's choose well.

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In case you missed it, here's the link for yesterday's post: Taking the Nazirite Vow and Having a Nazarite Heart

If you're interested in the new Bible study starting May 1, let me know. It will be an online study of the book of Hosea designed to teach us how to go deeper in our understanding of Scripture and how to use available study aids. Message me or leave a comment if you're interested. We've had a great response so far.

#Christian #Jesus #surrender #linesfromleanna

What is the Point of Suffering? Extracting the precious from the worthless

I like Job. This man was righteous and good. Job was a superstar in the God-loving world, and he was one of God's favorites. 

Then, adversity came, as it does to us all, and he didn't feel like a favorite at all. Job got a whopping big dose of trouble, and it was far more trouble than most of us will ever see.

In the span of a few hours, Job lost his wealth and his family in one fell swoop. 

I can't imagine surviving that kind of adversity. I'm not sure I'd want to survive it.

Job had much loss to grieve, but, at the very beginning of his journey, he submitted his will to God's and worshipped Him. (We looked at this yesterday. The link is below, in case you missed it.)

Before he had a chance to recover from his personal losses, another disaster struck in the form of tormenting illness and chronic pain. To make matters worse, his wife was no help at all. "Curse God and die" is not the godly recommendation of a loving wife. 

Do you get the picture? 

Job lost almost everything he cared about. He was left with a disease-ridden body and a bitter wife.

This much stress has a marked physiologic effect and frequently causes depression. Was Job depressed? Probably. In his despair, however, he asked a very good question. It's one we would do well to consider.

What is the point of suffering?

That's not how he said it, of course, but I believe it was the question behind his question. "Why is life given to him who suffers?" (Job 3:20 nasb)  Jeremiah asked the same question, as have many over the years.

God's response to Jeremiah was an interesting one:

Extract the precious from the worthless... (Jer. 15:19)

Not every situation seems favorable, but there is something precious in every situation. Jeremiah said people looked at the adversity he faced and waited for his fall. They expected to overcome him when that fall finally came. That won't happen, Jeremiah predicted.

But the Lord is with me like a dread champion... (Jer.20:11)

Jeremiah was in the midst of a terrible situation, but he was not alone in his trial. God was with him and God was his champion. In a way, those who sought to overcome Jeremiah would have to go through God (his champion) to do it.

Jesus spoke about this very subject. "In this world, you will have tribulation, but take courage, for I have overcome the world," (John 16:33 nasb)

James, the half-brother of Jesus, wrote about the trials of life. 

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, and let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 

James 1:2-4 nasb

At last, we come to the "precious from the worthless". Much of our sin and our ungodliness are burned away in the fires of our trials. 

Suffering is never wasted, because it works in us to make us stronger and more mature. 

Suffering removes the chaff and leaves the good behind. In the midst of it all, God Himself walks through our suffering with us. 

I know this from experience. In my own trials, I have experienced both the presence and the cleansing of God. My suffering was not wasted. Unbelievably, I can look back now and say, "It was worth it." I don't want another refining fire, but what I gained through it was worth the heat, the sorrow, and the pain.

Suffering leaves us closer to our Lord and more like Him. 

No one loves having a trial, but being more like Jesus and knowing Him better is an outcome that makes our suffering worthwhile.

Have you faced a terrible time of testing? Are you there now? Take courage. You are not alone. God goes through it with you and, on the other side, you will emerge closer to Him and more like Him.

One fact make Jeremiah's journey easier, and it will ours, as well, so let's post this truth on the walls of our heart:

Our God is with us like a dread champion.

He is with us and He will see us through.

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My Amazon Author page is now live. Be sure to check it out and follow me.

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links: The Changing of Our Culture: Physician Assisted Suicide, The Opportunity in Trials,  The Monarch Migration Badge,  The Sermon Without Words,  A Matter of Perspective, Living in Goshen: God's Best, and Embracing Our Personal Gethsemane.

#suffering #darknightofthesoul #surrender #Christian #Job #ChronologicalBible

Embracing Our Personal Gethsemane

It was one of those sunny spring days with a cloudless blue sky and crisp, clean air. The azaleas were covered in a glorious riot of blooms. Dear friends were on their way to my house for dinner. God was on His throne, and all was well. 

I heard a car pull up and my heart brightened. Perfect timing. My preparations were complete and my friends had arrived. I hurried out the door to greet them. 

But it wasn't my friends. It was someone else, even more dear than the awaited friends. With terrible news that would change my life and that of my son forever. It would, ultimately, end my marriage. I listened, dumfounded, and knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

God was still on the throne, and all was still well, but for a brief time, I felt completely alone. 

Abandoned. Crushed. Devastated.

I was shocked, but I tried to put on my happy-girl face and pretend that I was still fine. Still alive and filled with joy. A few minutes later, my friends arrived. We ate our meal and laughed and talked. I smiled and faked it the best I could. 

After dinner, we went to my little country clinic. In the prayer room, my sweet friend said, "Tell me what's wrong." And I did.

Together, the three of us laid on the floor, face down, and wept. We begged God to intervene. Finally, hours later, I began to thank Him for what He would do through the painful situation he had allowed. Somewhere in the dark night of my soul, I found my place of Gethsemane. 

It was my "Thy will be done" moment, and the rest of my journey through the pain depended on that one pivotal time.

We had prayed until I could "do it". 

There were horrible times ahead. More pain than I could imagine. I asked God and everyone else around me "Why?" and "How will I make it?" and "When will God move?" In the midst of my grief, however, God surrounded me with His love and peace. The body of Christ surrounded me with support and loved me when I was pitiful and unlovely. Our Lord carried me through. 

I didn't know it at the time, but it was the same pivotal moment that Job experienced. Right at the beginning of his trial, when he received the news that his oxen, donkeys, sheep, camels, three sets of servants, and all ten of his children were gone, Job worshipped. He shaved his head and tore his robes and fell, face down, on the floor. He worshipped God there, and found his Gethsemane. (Job 1)

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord."

                      Job 1:21 nasb

That one "Thy will be done" moment made Job's survival through the rest of his trial, faith still intact, possible. 

It's the kind of Gethsemane we all must face eventually. The moment when life comes crashing down and we see no way to survive the trial God has allowed is the one moment of critical opportunity. It is the moment when we allow God to strip every pretense away and leave us bare before Him. 

It's the moment when we allow Him to touch the core of our hearts and purify us as with hyssop and fire. 

Our personal Gethsemane is the place where we abandon our will to His and arise a new creature. We are transformed by surrender and equipped to do battle, shaky and tearful though we may be.

Job had more than forty more chapters worth of story and suffering to go, but the battle was won at the very start, on his face, on the ground, in his surrender.

Our personal battle through the dark night of our soul can be won. It can be won, but not by arguments or begging or demands. It is won only by surrender to the One who is still on the throne of heaven. It is won when we allow God to strip away everything else to which we've clung, cleanse every sin, and cling to Him. 

It is won by the prayer of Gethsemane. Thy will be done.

We never want surrender. It seems like foolishness to embrace God's way of pain, but it's not. The foolishness is in clinging to the tatters of our own will. 

Peace can be found in the pain, in the cleansing, in the surrender. Peace can be found when we embrace Gethsemane and accept His difficult and terrifying will. 

Years later, I can look back and see that the prayers of my Gethsemane were answered in tremendous ways. God used my pain to transform me. He brought me through. 

Gethsemane is a precious place to our Lord, and time spent there is never wasted. Not mine. Not yours.

If you haven't faced your own dark night of the soul yet, you will. We all will. When that time comes, embrace your personal Gethsemane. Begin your journey as Job began, with worship and surrender.

"Not my will, but Thine be done."  It's the way of Gethsemane. It's the way of Christ. It's the way that changes everything.
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My Amazon Author page is now live. Be sure to check it out and follow me.

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In case you missed one of this week's posts, here are the links: The Changing of Our Culture: Physician Assisted Suicide, The Opportunity in Trials,  The Monarch Migration Badge,  The Sermon Without Words,  A Matter of Perspective, and Living in Goshen: God's Best.

#Gethsemane #darknightofthesoul #surrender #Christian #Job #ChronologicalBible

Finding Christmas: Hidden Paths

Today's topic is one that is seldom discussed, but is the part of discipleship that makes it exciting and fresh. Ever new. It's the topic of hidden (or unknown) paths.

When I was a youth, it seemed to me that the "exciting" part of discipleship was missing in the church. Where were the miracles? Where was the life of the apostles in modern-day believers? 

I was told those miracles were just "to get the church up and running". That seemed a ridiculous way for a god to do business. How much god-ness could there be if there was only enough of the good stuff for one century? 

It tooks years, and considerable wandering from my faith, before I found that the God of the first century is also the God of this century. His power is in no way diminished. He has saved miracles for me. For our generation.

Isaiah speaks of one of these delights of discipleship in Isaiah 42:16 nasb. 

"And I will lead the blind by a way they do not know,

In paths they do not know I will guide them. 

I will make darkness into light before them

And rugged places into plains.

These are the things I will do,

And I will not leave them undone."

Disciples are supposed  to follow God into places we don't know and trust Him to lead us and help us. It's where the best fruit is hidden. 

Unknown paths are where the most fun happens.

It sounds frightening to be led about like a blind man, but this business of being led on an unknown path is not like that at all. By hidden or unknown, I mean a path I'm not expecting. 

For example, buying a farm and cattle when I'd never even touched a cow. I spent a quarter of a century raising cattle and I did it because God leveled the plains and shed light in my darkness. He helped me. 

When a cow reached up to grab some leaves off a tree and got her neck stuck in the vee of the tree, I didn't know what to do. I asked God and He helped me. We got her head free and she lived to raise more calves. 

 Leaving medicine to write and make pottery was another of those paths I did not know.

I didn't know how to make pottery or sell pottery, but God helped me. I wasn't a great success (by the world's standards) at being a potter, but I kept food on my table, a roof over our heads, and I was accepted into juried shows because of my designs.

During that time, I reared my son. He learned to care for livestock, take responsibility, help others, live frugally, be a good steward. Many of the good things I see in him now were deeply planted during that time. I cared for Sam, my neighbor, who had brain surgery and a difficult recovery. I cared for my mother, who faced loss of sight and moving from the town in which she'd lived for more than a half-century. None of those things would have been done as well (or at all) if I had not followed the path I did not know.

God made rugged places into plains and I traversed them because He helped me find my way.

Writing fiction has been the same kind of adventure. I was definitely the blind being led in a way I did not know when I began. But God. God has made darkness into light and rugged places into plains. The best part is this journey is only just beginning. Who knows where this will lead? Only God.

At sixty years old, I'm still having adventures with God on a daily basis. When I'm ninety, I expect He will still be leading me through paths I do not know. He will still be making darkness into light and rugged places into plains. 

Why can I be sure of that? Because I am not content to walk only paths I know. Where's the fun in that? Where's the God-adventure in that?

There's one key element in this unknown path journey. Surrender. (You might want to read these two blog posts again: Importance of Surrender and Ongoing Surrender to prepare for the next step.)

This Christmas, do something incredibly daring. Surrender to His ways. Ask God to lead you in a way you do not know. 

He may not call you to raise cattle or care for the sick or write a book, but He will lead and it will be worth it. 

The most fun and the sweetest times are waiting on the path He has chosen. They can be yours.

If you follow.

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In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links: Finding Christmas: Making Choices that Count, Finding Christmas: Truth, Tradition, and Choice,  Finding Christmas: The Joy of Relationship, Finding Christmas: The Word of God, Finding Christmas: The Importance of Surrender,  Finding Christmas: Separating Truth and Fiction, and Finding Christmas: Ongoing Surrender.

The most read post of the last week: Finding Christmas: When Life is Less than Perfect

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 #Advent #keepChristinChristmas #MerryChristmas #JesusChrist #disciple #surrender #hiddenpaths #follow

photo courtesy of freeimages.com

Finding Christmas: Ongoing Surrender

It would be much easier if surrender to the will of God was a one-time, done-and-it's-over event, but it's not. Surrender to the will of God, for me at least, is an every day, multiple-times-a-day, fluid event. I must repeatedly place myself in His capable hands and try hard to leave myself there.

Surrender to the will of God is a choice I am constantly making.

When I said, "I'm going home to write," I assumed I would be through by Christmas and practicing medicine again by the first of the year. I thought I would be writing something completely different. Not fiction. I've written non-fiction for nearly twenty years. Why change now? 

Surrender to the will of God, that's why.

There's been a problem with this particular will of God. I didn't have the skill to do it. 

After years of successfully practicing medicine, it's been hard to be the "new kid on the block", to be the novice, the one who needs to learn. It's been exhausting. I've read a mountain of books on writing technique. I've taken online courses. I've attended conferences and meetings. I've studied point of view until I was sick to death of it. I've written chapters and asked for critiques. I've made changes to the manuscripts based on the critiques over and over again.

Surrendering to the will of God once was not enough. Every morning for the last year, I have risen before dawn and surrendered to the will of God again.

I must surrender to this journey of fiction every morning, because this path is hard and I fantasize that it is easier on a different path. Some days, I surrender to this journey with every paragraph. Every sentence. Every word. 

After two months of writing fiction, working twelve and fourteen hours a day, I was desperate. "It would be much easier to go back to medicine, Lord."I explained all the reasons I should return to my profession, not the least of which was more money. Certain success.  I wouldn't be the new kid any more. 

I needed a Word, something I could hang on to through the hard days of uncertainty and tight budgets. I found it in an unexpected place. On January 4, 2015, just hours before I submitted my novel to an agent for the first time (which went far better than it should have and gave me a much-needed dose of encouragement) I found this verse and it spoke straight to my heart.

"For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you." Isaiah 41:14 nasb

Those words are posted on my refrigerator and I've read them every day. 

God promised help and He has given it. 

I now have a supportive group of fellow writers to whom I am accountable. We report word counts daily and pray for each other as we struggle to put stories on the page. He's given me a mentor who believes in me and a teaching editor who is helping transform my rough beginnings into something wonderful. God has given me encouragement and early indicators of success. He's given me more kind words than I would have expected, and probably more than I deserve.

Perhaps more important, God has taken my fear. 

I've seen His hand of provision, of orchestration so many times over the last year that all I can do is stand in awe of His kindness and the amazing grace with which He fills my days.

Even with a heart full of awe and gratitude, I still have to surrender every day. 

I still have to sit down at the computer and write. I still have to research terrorists and criminals, try to think like a villain, write events in a coherent and engaging manner, edit, correct, and edit some more. Novels don't magically flow out of my fingers. This is hard work. 

This struggle of ongoing surrender shouldn't surprise us, but it often does. Jesus had the same problem. He surrendered to the will of His Father when He wrapped Himself in flesh and nestled in the feed trough beside His unlikely parents. He surrendered to the will of His Father when He allowed His cousin, John, to baptize Him. He was still surrendering to His Father when, hours before His crucifixion, He prayed and wrestled in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

"Not My will, but Thine be done."

Surrendering to God once, in one area, is not enough. He wants us to surrender every area of our lives to His will, His leading, His loving plan. 

Over the next couple of weeks, we will have the opportunity to surrender our worldly view of Christmas to God's Holy view. Once will not be enough. Daily surrender of our bent toward "tradition". Daily surrender of our longing for worldly glitter. Daily surrender of our desire for "easy" faith. 

If we are willing to trade fiction for truth, temporary glitter for the eternal treasures of God, and worldly traditions for worship of a Sacrificing, Surrendering Savior, our Christmas will be transformed into more than we could have imagined. It will be worth it.

Today, let's offer our gift of surrender to God and prepare to offer that gift over and over again until the day when He calls us home.

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In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links: Finding Christmas: Clear Vision, Finding Christmas: Making Choices that Count, Finding Christmas: Truth, Tradition, and Choice,  Finding Christmas: The Joy of Relationship, Finding Christmas: The Word of God, Finding Christmas: The Importance of Surrender, and Finding Christmas: Separating Truth and Fiction.

The most read post of the last week: Finding Christmas: When Life is Less than Perfect

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 #Advent #keepChristinChristmas #MerryChristmas #JesusChrist #disciple #surrender #truthorfiction

Finding Christmas: The Importance of Surrender

It was one of those silent arguments I couldn't win. You've probably had those, too. God wanted a certain thing done a certain way with a certain attitude. I didn't think it was possible. Had I believed it could be done, and with a good outcome, I'd have tried at the start. I didn't just doubt Him. I didn't believe Him at all. I expected a catastrophic outcome when I tried and failed.

Trust Me, God would say.

But God, I would say.

The preacher began to speak about the issue from the pulpit. Conviction came at me from every angle. Inescapable conviction.

Finally, I surrendered. "Okay. I'll do it Your way, but don't blame me when things don't work out." I didn't say those words aloud to God, but my heart felt them. 

When I finally obeyed, it quickly became obvious that God was right, and had been all along. 

What still surprises me is how God blessed my reluctant obedience. 

Looking back, I can see that, even more than obedience, He wanted my absolute surrender to His will. 

Even when it didn't make sense to me. Even when I didn't understand.

God's ways are inscrutable. (Isaiah 40:28) The word used there indicates that, no matter how carefully nor how long we search, we can never understand nor completely know His ways. Just when I think I have God figured out, I find  there is more to know. That is never more true than in the times when I arrogantly think I have a better way. I don't.

Absolute surrender is a struggle for me. 

When the outcome is clear and the action makes sense, those surrenders, of course, are easily done. I'm talking about the surrenders that no one understands. The "leave medicine and write a novel" kind of surrender. The "forgive your worst enemy" kind of surrender. The "turn the other cheek when you're being humiliated in public" kind of surrender.

The teenager, Mary, soon to suffer humiliation and scorn for a sin she didn't commit, understood surrender in a way I only wish I did. (Luke 1:30-38)

Mary had ear-nailed-to-the-wall, no turning back, total surrender from the first.

The angel Gabriel told her, "God has taken note of you, and He is pleased. He sent me to tell you that you are about to have a baby and He will be the Messiah you've been expecting." (Leanna paraphrase) Mary knew she was a virgin, but she didn't argue the impossibility of a pregnancy. She simply asked, "How?" 

"Nothing is impossible with God, so He will father the baby." (LP) 

I read those words and wonder how Mary responded as she did. She simply said, "Okay. Whatever God wants is fine with me. I'll do it." She didn't argue. She didn't say, "I'll lose my good reputation over this." or "That is a bad idea because I'm going to be stoned to death." She simply surrendered to the will of God and left Him in charge of her consequences.

Surrendering when the world does things a different way is not easy. It's also not optional. 

Christmas is one of those issues where the world has a very commercial way. The world's celebration is full of tinsel and garland and spending and bright packages. It's a months-long gear up for a few moments of unwrapping followed by an all-too-often sense of emptiness.

What if the body of Christ stopped surrendering to the world and surrendered to God instead? 

What if we admitted that Christmas has nothing to do with all this glitter? 

What if we surrendered to the truth that Christmas is about surrender?

Mary surrendered to the will of God. Jesus the Son of God surrendered to the will of His Father and wrapped Himself in flesh. Jesus the man surrendered to the will of God and took the long and painful journey from the manger to the cross. 

Christmas is about one surrender after another that, ultimately, bought redemption for sinful man. It's time we acknowledged it.

Christmas has nothing at all to do with Grinches (although it's a cute story) or trees (except the one to which Jesus was nailed). It is not about Santa Claus, no matter how many touching stories we tell to make it seem so. 

Christmas is about Jesus, and the theme of Christmas is surrender. 

To experience Christmas in the deepest way possible, we must celebrate through surrender. Search for the will of God in our lives and obey it. Whatever He asks. Nothing held back. 

The gift God most wants us to give this Christmas is the gift of ourselves, given to Him. Our will poured out before Him. It is the gift of surrender we must give our Lord, and it's the best gift of all.

"And Mary said, 'Behold, the bondslave of the Lord, be it done to me according to your word.'" Luke 1:38 nasb
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In case you missed any of the past week's posts, here are the links: Finding Christmas: Setting a Goal, Finding Christmas: When Life is Less than Perfect, Finding Christmas: Clear Vision, Finding Christmas: Making Choices that Count, Finding Christmas: Truth, Tradition, and Choice,  Finding Christmas: The Joy of Relationship and Finding Christmas: The Word of God.

The most read post of the last week: Finding Christmas: When Life is Less than Perfect

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 #Advent #keepChristinChristmas #MerryChristmas #JesusChrist #disciple #Surrender 

photo courtesy of freeimages.com

The Journey, part 21: the surrender of resources

Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place." But He said to them, "You give them something to eat!" And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people." (Luke 9:12-13 NASB)

The apostles had returned from their Journey of Obedience and been debriefed. Jesus and the twelve were back together and the crowds were huge. It seemed that the Journey of Obedience was over, but it soon became apparent that the apostles' training was just getting started. 

It had been a long day. Jesus had been teaching and healing for hours and there was an enormous crowd. The apostles were hungry and tired and ready to be through with this long day. If they were tired and hungry, surely the crowd was, too. They knew that Jesus wasn't leaving as long as there was a crowd, which meant they weren't either. "Let's send the crowd to get supper and lodging for the night and start back in the morning," they suggested hopefully. Jesus just smiled. "You give them something to eat!" He said. They just stood there for a long moment. More than 5,000 people were milling about and they were going to feed them all? Right. 

"Well, Jesus," someone in the twelve said, "We can do one of two things. We have five loaves and two fish. We can do something with that, or we can try to go into town and buy something to feed them." That doesn't sound like a bold statement of faith, does it? Maybe not, but it is likely bolder than you think. 

What Jesus told them to do was feed the people. The disciples assessed the situation, surveyed their resources, and came up with a brilliant solution. The twelve offered their resources to Jesus, and let Him decide. It was a kind of "Thy will be done" submission. These twelve men had seen Jesus turn water into fine wine. They knew He could do something with five loaves and two fishes. They also knew they could not. 

This is a critical juncture in their faith. Perhaps for the first time, they looked at the little bit in their hand (the loaves and fishes), and thought, "I wonder what Jesus could do with this."  Their wondering became an invitation for the miraculous and Jesus did not disappoint. 

This juncture of faith was a vital point in the journey of obedience for the twelve, and it is vital for us, as well. When we realize that Our Lord can do something miraculous with whatever He has given us, we begin to see that the possibilities are endless. There is no telling what God will do with the tiny bit in our hand when we offer it to Him with a "Thy will be done" invitation. 

Has God called you to a task that seems impossible?  Offer whatever resources He has given you to Him and invite Him to do whatever He desires with them. You may be surprised by what He will do, but you certainly will not be disappointed. 

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Thanks to all who prayed for us yesterday. It was an amazing day filled with dreams come true. We would love for you to visit the park and enjoy our blessings with us!