<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My\ngoal is to experience the maximum life. There\u2019s one requirement: surrender.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing\nup, I never heard teaching on surrender. I knew what the word meant in warfare:\nto give up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At age\nseven I invited Jesus into my heart to be my Savior, but I struggled with doubt\nfor years until settling my eternity with Romans 10:13. \u201cFor whosoever shall\ncall upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.\u201d I did what he asked; I had to\nbelieve he did what he promised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Something\nwas still missing. Where was all that joy and peace I thought came automatically\nwith the Christian-life package?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I began searching with all my heart, and the Lord kept his Word. \u201cAnd ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart\u201d (Jeremiah 29:13).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several\nterms had eluded my understanding. Abundant life. Spirit-filled life. Lordship\nof Christ. Surrender. My search led me to a conclusion. These terms all mean\nthe same thing\u2014giving up control of my life and acknowledging Christ as Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s\nwhat Paul was talking about. \u201cI beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies\nof God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice<\/em>, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable\nservice\u201d (Romans 12:1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Author\nElizabeth Rice Handford said, \u201cWhat is a sacrifice<\/em>?\nAn animal put on the altar, slain, the blood drained out, without will or\ndesire, to be consumed by the fires of the altar. What is a living sacrifice<\/em>? A life put on the\naltar, with no more will or desire than a dead animal, to be consumed in the\nservice of God, a heart attitude of absolute, unqualified surrender\u2014to desire\nnothing the Lord does not desire, to feel no lack, defend no rights, expect no\nrewards except the joy of serving the One who gave His life for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pastor\nCharles Stanley defined surrender this way. \u201cSurrender is the definite\ndeliberate voluntary transfer of the undivided possession, control and use of\nmy total being\u2014spirit, soul, and body\u2014to Jesus Christ, to whom I rightfully belong\nby creation and redemption.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hannah\nWhitall Smith, who wrote The Christian\u2019s\nSecret of a Happy Life<\/em>, said, \u201cWhatever there is of you, let Him have it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem with staying surrendered: living sacrifices keep sliding off the altar. Keys to staying surrendered:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd\nbe not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your\nmind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of\nGod\u201d (Romans 12:2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our\ntwo options:<\/p>\n\n\n\n How\nwe can know which option is working for us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering\nwhat Christ did for us\u2014giving his life to cleanse us from sin so we could have\na personal relationship with him and spend eternity with him\u2014don\u2019t you think\nsurrender is reasonable?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\nKnow ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,\nwhich ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price:\ntherefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God\u2019s\u201d (1\nCorinthians 6:19-20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Surrender\u2026.gateway to the maximum life and key to joy and peace. When we give up, putting everything on the altar, we discover the altar is the only safe place for precious things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tell\nme what you\u2019ve learned about surrender. And please share this article with your\nfriend list!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9\nDianne Barker 2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My goal is to experience the maximum life. There\u2019s one requirement: surrender. Growing up, I never heard teaching on surrender. I knew what the word meant in warfare: to give up. At age seven I invited Jesus into my heart to be my Savior, but I struggled with doubt for years until settling my eternity […]<\/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":[13,281,9,77,79,282,280],"class_list":["post-861","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","tag-abundant-life","tag-altar","tag-dianne-barker","tag-joy","tag-lordship-of-christ","tag-spirit-filled-life","tag-surrender-pathway-to-the-maximum-life"],"yoast_head":"\n