Surrender is the plan Jesus laid out for following him.<\/p>\n
Before we talk about that, I want to welcome new friends. Thanks so much for signing up via BookSweeps non-fiction promotion. I\u2019m honored to meet you! Feel free to browse my website and learn more about my writing\/speaking. Hope you\u2019ll read previous blog posts when you have time. Our theme is \u201cLiving the Maximum Life.\u201d I\u2019ll tell you everything I know about this quality of life called abundant <\/em>and offer encouragement to help navigate hard places.<\/p>\n Recently I shared my story in this post, \u201cDo You Struggle Living the Christian Life?\u201d (https:\/\/diannebarker.com\/?p=534<\/a>). I admitted much of my walk with the Lord has been a struggle. I wasn\u2019t sure a decision I made at age seven really worked\u2014I\u2019d asked Christ to come into my life and be my Savior.<\/p>\n How could I be certain my eternity was secure? Over the next twenty years, I fought doubt and prayed many times so I\u2019d know I belonged to the Lord. Claiming Romans 10:13 finally settled the issue forever. \u201cFor whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.\u201d I\u2019d called. I had to believe he\u2019d kept his promise to accept me into his family. But something was still missing.<\/p>\n Along with studying the Bible, I read books by well-known Christian authors, seeking the answer. I kept coming across terms that I now know mean the same thing: absolute surrender, Christ-controlled personality, Spirit-controlled life, Lordship of Christ, abundant life.<\/p>\n Jesus said, \u201c\u2026I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly\u201d (John 10:10).<\/p>\n But how does a believer access that life? In prayer, I said the words. \u201cI want you to be Lord of my life.\u201d But I didn\u2019t know how to walk it out day by day.<\/p>\n The Lord led me to a book by Tim LaHaye, Understanding the Male Temperament<\/em>, and I found the answer to my questions. Where\u2019s all that joy and peace? How does a believer access that life?<\/p>\n He said most Christians never give God 100 per cent. Ninety-six or ninety-seven per cent is the best they can do.<\/p>\n I was a ninety-seven percenter. During my search I\u2019d heard sermons on surrender and tried to surrender everything, but I withheld a few precious things. When it came to my husband and two children, I attached strings. I\u2019d pray, \u201cLord, I give them to you, but you must not let anything happen to them.\u201d<\/p>\n You know what surrender means\u2014giving up. In war (and old cowboy movies), the enemy lifts his hands to give up, to surrender. In the Christian life, we lift our hands saying, \u201cLord, I give up. Here\u2019s my life. Whatever you do is okay.\u201d I couldn\u2019t make that surrender because taking my precious ones was not okay.<\/p>\n Dr. LaHaye explained the only way to have joy and peace was to give God everything. The Lord opened my eyes to see withholding my precious ones didn\u2019t guarantee I could keep them. He\u2019s sovereign. He does as he pleases. If he chose to take my sweet family, he could do it\u2014without my permission.<\/p>\n He gave me peace that if I surrendered them, whatever happened, I could trust him for grace.<\/p>\n On a spring morning sunlight flooded the living room where I met with God and with a flow of tears handed over my life, no strings attached\u2014my husband, my kids, my past, present, and future, my career, all my hopes and dreams.<\/p>\n Immediately joy and peace flooded me!<\/p>\n That happened forty years ago. Although I\u2019d still struggle learning how to abide in Christ and walk by faith, his power in me through the Holy Spirit began an amazing work of transformation, producing a cluster of fruit\u2014love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).<\/p>\n That\u2019s the abundant life Jesus promised, and we access it through surrender\u2014the sixth key to dispensing the sweet fragrance of Christ.<\/p>\n The Christian life is a process of being conformed to the image of Jesus. He said, \u201cI am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing\u201d (John 15:5).<\/p>\n Much fruit! Much Galatians 5:22-23!<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a simple prayer that will help you access that life of abundance.<\/p>\n Lord, I surrender my life completely to you\u2014husband, children, marriage, career, home, possessions, finances, talent, time, treasures, ambitions, past, present, future. I want to follow you wholeheartedly. Take the throne of my life, and reign in my heart as Lord of all. Fill me with your Spirit so my life overflows with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Use me for your glory. In Jesus\u2019 name, amen.<\/em><\/p>\n Next week we\u2019ll review highlights of this six-part series. Maybe it\u2019s answered some of your questions. I’d love to know if you prayed to surrender. Please leave a comment\u2014and share this post with friends who need encouragement.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Dianne Barker 2018<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Surrender is the plan Jesus laid out for following him. Before we talk about that, I want to welcome new friends. Thanks so much for signing up via BookSweeps non-fiction promotion. I\u2019m honored to meet you! Feel free to browse my website and learn more about my writing\/speaking. Hope you\u2019ll read previous blog posts when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[13,9,78,77,79,58,80,76],"class_list":["post-609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-abundant-life","tag-dianne-barker","tag-fruit-of-the-spirit","tag-joy","tag-lordship-of-christ","tag-peace","tag-sovereignty","tag-surrender-my-best-decision-ever"],"yoast_head":"\nWhere was all that joy and peace I\u2019d heard so much about?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The altar is the only safe place for precious things.<\/strong><\/h3>\nThe altar is the only safe place for precious things. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n
Surrender is the best decision I ever made.<\/strong><\/h3>\nSurrender is the best decision I ever made. <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n