DYING TO LIVE

Surrendering and allowing the CROSS to become your starting point...

Surrender. What comes to mind when you hear that word? It may be something along the lines of defeat or giving up. The idea of surrendering may not often sound appealing. It may seem like the opposite of victory…but that would depend on who or what you are surrendering to. When I think of surrender, I think of living, thriving, healing, gaining, possessing, authority and VICTORY!!!

Rewinding time to seven years ago, I was faced with some big decisions…do I stay in my marriage? Do I get on medicine? Do I press forward in my own strength and live according to what seems right to man? We all have defining moments, freewill, and choices only we can make. We also all have mindsets and opinions that we build our life on. The Bible refers to this as “the way that seems right to man” in Proverbs 14. The Bible tells us that this way leads to destruction, and that’s exactly where Joey and I found ourselves.

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“If you can’t find it in scripture, don’t let it become your truth.”

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So, what do you do when you find yourself in a pit of despair? You surrender. But you have a choice in what you surrender to. In our case, with guidance from a couple who disciples us, we surrendered to the Lord…to His truth despite the circumstances saying that our life as we knew it was over. But it was and I’ll explain. You may be wondering what that process of surrender looked like for us. To put it simply, it looked like letting go of most of what we thought we knew and had figured out in life. A willingness to unknow and lay down facts, mindsets, and knowledge we previously felt so confident in and replace them with the Word. It’s this place of humility that says I’m willing to accept “I know nothing” to gain everything. That type of surrender can only come by renewing your mind to the Word of God. Taking His Word as truth and being willing to let go of anything that doesn’t line up with it…if you can’t find it in scripture, don’t let it become your truth. We submerged ourselves in the word daily (and still do). I would take in the Word like it was my medicine…little did I know it was. We began to truly let go of the worldly cares and things we once held so dear…especially the opinions of man. I’ll tell you, its humbling. You find out just how wrong you are about a lot of things, but it’s ok. If you just yield to the conviction and correction that the Word is bringing, it ends up feeling good. Why? Because it’s what we were created for. Matthew 10:19 says "if you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it". It’s in surrendering to Him that we find and gain true life. The life we were made for. During this process you will lose yourself only to be introduced to the REAL you. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things have passed away and a new life has begun". What does this new creature refer to? It refers to us being restored back to who we were originally created to be before the fall of man in the garden. The Bible says God made man in His likeness. That’s who we were always intended to be, someone made in His likeness...that’s the REAL you. This process of surrendering allows us to shed off the old and become who He always intended us to be and gain all He has provided. Yes, it requires some letting go, but ultimately you are letting go of lies to gain a truth that will completely set you free.

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“The cross was our starting point.”

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1 Corinthians 1:20 refers to God exposing the foolishness of this world’s wisdom…the way that seems right to man that I mentioned earlier. When you start to yield and surrender to His truth, everything you once considered as wisdom looks foolish in comparison. Joey and I realized everything we had previously built our lives on was sinking sand. We had to start from the ground up and the cross was our starting point…there was no looking back! The Word says in Luke 9:62 that “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdon of God”. It requires total dedication and commitment! We started right there at His feet. Willing to lose it all only to quickly realize we had everything to gain. Luke 14:10 talks about taking the lowest seat at the foot of the table. By doing this, it says that the guest of honor (Jesus) will then honor you with a better seat. This is a perfect illustration of how the Lord wants to work in our lives. All we do is humbly surrender, taking the lowest seat at the foot. The Lord in turn honors us and relocates us to the best seat in the house…which was reserved for the NEW you all along. It’s incredible! You honor Him through surrender, and He honors you in return. He truly does!

We gained our marriage healed and restored. I gained my health and truth about healing. We gained a LIFE. So, our life as we knew it was in fact over, because we began a new one. One built on the solid foundation of His word. By doing so we have received what He has already provided for us through Christ. We didn’t have to earn it or perform either…and neither do you. We simply surrendered to Him by believing what the Word says. This was and is a daily decision. Surrender isn’t a one and done situation. It’s something you choose daily. We let our old selves die so that we could truly live. I promise you that surrendering can look the same for you. Whatever you may be lacking, He has already provided it for you. It’s reserved and waiting for you. Surrender and GAIN your victory!!!!!