The Overwhelming Importance of Christians COMPLETELY Surrendering Their Will to God’s Divine Will!

Luke 22:42.        Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.

One more Sunday morning amongst the many in our lives, my fellow believers, (smile) meaning that we should make the pilgrimage to the Lord’s sanctuary to worship, give praise and thanks and receive divine blessings to enable us to handle another week in this evil and ungodly world! Now, though  it’s a rather chilly Sunday, that should be offset by the bright rays of sunshine filtering through the cloud cover. 

And for today’s song of worship, we’ll sing an old favourite written around 1896 by the American Hymnwriter Judson W. Van De Venter (1855-1939), most aptly titled ‘All to Jesus I Surrender.’ And how did the song come about? According to Reynolds (Companion to the Baptist Hymnal), the author apparently stated it was written “in memory of the time when, after a long struggle, I had surrendered and dedicated my life to active Christian service.” And that’s what ALL believers are called to do! 

But more on that later. Right now, let’s raise our voices in sweet sacrifices of praise in a soulful, heartwarming, heartfelt, mid-tempo version of the song. Singing: ‘All to Jesus I surrender. All to Him I freely give; I will ever LOVE and trust Him, In His presence daily live. (Refrain: I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all.) All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken. Take me, Jesus, take me now. (Refrain: I surrender all..) All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Saviour, wholly Thine; Let me feel the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine. 

(Refrain: I surrender all…) All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee; Fill me with Thy LOVE and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me. (Refrain: I surrender all…) All to Jesus I surrender, Now I feel the sacred flame; Oh, the joy of full salvation! Glory, glory, to His name! (Refrain: I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all…I surrender all, I surrender all; All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all… All to Thee, my blessed Saviour, I surrender all…’ 

That was a great rendition friends! And isn’t surrendering our all to Jesus the most momentous moment of our lives? It most certainly is!  And I like what this commentary says about the hymn. ‘The song “I Surrender” is a beautiful reminder of the power of surrendering to God and trusting in Him. When we surrender to God, He will provide us with strength, courage, mercy, and grace. We can trust Him to take care of us and provide for us. May we all remember to surrender to God and trust in Him.’ And that’s exactly what the Christian faith and life are all about; surrendering ourselves to Jesus! 

Now, before we get into the heart of the matter, (smile) it might be best to define what it means to surrender in biblical terms. This commentary explains it thus: ‘Biblically, surrender means fully yielding your own will, plans, and desires to God’s will, submitting to His authority, and trusting His sovereignty, which is seen not as weakness but as a path to spiritual freedom, true purpose, and intimacy with Him, often involving obedience, humility, and letting go of self-centered control. It’s about putting a “white flag” up to God, trusting He can handle your anxieties and lead you better than you can yourself, aligning your life with His divine viewpoint.’ 

And that’s indeed a tough row to hoe in this turbulent and ungodly society, but it’s what our discipleship calls for. As Jesus so succinctly puts it: (smile) ‘If any man will (desires to) come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.’ (Luke 9:23) Now that’s what we are called to do daily, not when we feel like it. And it’s not the easiest thing to do, especially when Jesus breaks it down thus: ‘If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren (brothers), and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosever doth not bear his cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.’ (Luke 14:26-27) 

Oh, we know that Jesus doesn’t truly mean we should hate our families, but as the scholars point out: ‘In comparison to one’s devotion to Christ, one’s family ties must be secondary. This does not set aside Jesus’ other teachings to LOVE one’s enemies, to honour father and mother, and the like. It does highlight though that absolute loyalty to Christ is paramount, not the either-or that the verse sets up and so many societies adhere to.’ 

And the easiest way to begin living for Christ is by doing like Bruh Paul advocates to the Roman church: ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.’ (Rom. 12:2) The first thing we must do is change our way of thinking from that of the world to that of Jesus. And we know that’s not easy either, but with Jesus’ help we can certainly do it. 

And it won’t be right to close without a couple examples of biblical surrender. The first is when Jesus called the brothers Peter and Andrew, two fishermen in the process of casting their nets. He simply said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him’ (Matt. 4:18-20) Imagine that nuh! They left their livelihood just like that to follow an itinerant preacher. And it’s the same thing James and John did when He called them soon after. They were mending their nets with their father on their ship. The Bible tells us: ‘They immediately left the ship and their father and followed him’ (Matt. 4:21-22) 

Wow! Not many of us would do that on such short notice. But that’s exactly what discipleship calls for! And possibly the greatest surrender in human form might be Bruh Paul himself; an abuser and killer of the brethren when known as Saul, but after Jesus knocked him off his horse and blinded him on the way to Damascus to persecute more Christians, he became as docile as a lamb, and went quietly into Jesus’ service, with his name changed to Paul, to become one of the most hardworking and zealous apostles of them all. And you can find Bruh Paul’s story in Acts 9. 

And the best example of surrendering is obviously Jesus’ surrender to His Father’s will, to come to earth and die to save a bunch of ungrateful sinners. As He says in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before His crucifixion, when His soul was in much torment at the dreadful situation he faced: ‘Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.’ (Luke 22:42) 

Now that’s how we all ought to be when the Lord calls on us. So please, let’s ponder our individual responses to Jesus today, and see where we can make improvements in our attitude of surrender. Much LOVE!

…there’s such amazing rest and peace…with no fear or anxiety…when we surrender our all to God… 

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit   27 October 2022 James 5:13.

James 5:13.        Is any among you afflicted (suffering)? let him pray. Is any merry (cheerful)? let him sing psalms.

Well my Scrip-Bit friends and family, what’s up with you this Thursday autumn morn eh? I sincerely hope that my missive finds you all in good health, and if not, that you are getting good medical help as well as prayer from your fellow believers. For, as James, Jesus’ brother, writes in the Good Book: ‘Is any among you afflicted (suffering)? let him pray. Is any merry (cheerful)? let him sing psalms. Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 

And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual (effective) fervent prayer (supplication) of a righteous man availeth much.’ (James 5:13-16) And all of that to say, that prayer is also extremely important in the life of a believer when he or she is sick. We all run to the medical people, or the medicine cabinet as soon as we feel somewhat off kilter, but friends, the first place to run is always to Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. 

Now, He might send us to the medicine cabinet or the doctor, but it is ever so important to get Him involved in whatever sickness we are experiencing. For though we have come a long way in terms of medical technology, there are many times when man and man-made medicine can’t cure our illnesses, but Almighty God certainly can, if He so desires. It’s happening all the time around our world, where doctors sign off on patients, claiming they can’t do any more for them, but eventually through faith and prayer they get healed. 

So, it’s not like it doesn’t or can’t happen. Much of the time it’s because we don’t try, that’s ask for divine healing, or we don’t believe that we will get it. Remember Jesus’ admonition. ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.’ (Matt. 7:7) And James corroborates his brother’s words by stating: ‘…ye have not because ye ask not.’ (James 4:2) And even when we ask: ‘Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (pleasures) . (James 4:3) So my people, persistent asking, seeking and knocking isn’t always successful unless our motives are right, because God looks at our hearts before He contemplates our pleas. 

Anyway, getting back to our subject of healing through prayer. Here’s what the scholars say on those verses above: ‘One of the Old Testament names of God is Yahweh-Rapha, meaning “The Lord That Heals You” (Ex. 15:26). Illustration: The healing power of God is evidenced in a number of instances in Scripture. God heals by preserving health (Deut. 8:4), and advising good nutritional habits (Ex. 15:26; Lev. 11) and a healthful life-style (Lev. 12-14) and through the application of medical treatment (James 5:14), forgiveness of disease-causing sin (Num. 12:13), and the prayer of faith (James 5:15). 

Application: Although God does not always choose to heal, He sometimes does. When a Christian is sick, he should confess his known sins, and God may heal him if the sickness is caused by sin. He may also be led to ask his elders to anoint him with oil and pray for his healing. Some diseases experienced by Christians today could be prevented by trusting God as Yahweh-Rapha, and allowing Him to deal with those things in their lives causing stress, anger, and worry. (First Ref. Ex. 15:26; Primary Ref. James 5:14-16; cf. Matt. 19:14)’ 

Now, that should certainly give us much food for thought, especially with the way sickness is still paralyzing our world despite our high level of medical technology. And I think it’s imperative to quote this very meaningful verse of scripture that the scholars referenced above. It comes after Moses made bitter water sweet for the Israelites at Marah after all their complaining. He said to them: ‘If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.’ (Ex. 15:26) 

Now, that should give us even more food for thought. Remember all the plagues that the Lord sent down on Egypt because Pharaoh refused to set the Israelites free? Like the plague of blood, where all the water in Egypt was turned to blood, the plagues of frogs, of lice, of boils, of darkness, the death of the first born of every Egyptian family, which led to the Jewish Passover, still celebrated to this day, because Jehovah Rapha saved the sons of the Israelites by getting them to put the blood of an unblemished lamb on the lintels of their doors, and the angel of death ‘passed over’ those doors that had blood on them. 

Consequently, for argument’s sake my brethren, let’s look at the kind of life we are currently living; sinful, disobedient, idol worshipping, denying the authority, even the existence of Almighty God, then put that in context with what Moses said to the Israelites. Isn’t it highly likely, very logical, that a lot of our problems stem from our sinful, disobedient, ungodly behaviour? It surely is! But the only way to find out is if we turned back to Jehovah God, He of many, many wonderful attributes, especially those of grace, mercy and forgiveness. It’s high time we revert to godliness, because our current behaviour is getting us nowhere, but destruction. 

And I believe this verse of scripture should also be very instructive in our thoughts and ponderings. It comes after Cousin Sol built the first temple in Jerusalem dedicated to the God of his forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Lord said unto Cousin Sol in a night vision: ‘If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.’ (2 Chr. 7:14) 

There again my fellow believers, it’s clearly spelled out that God requires righteous and goldy behaviour from us, strong and true belief in Him and His glorious power, constant communication with Him, and obedience to His will and Word. And any society that’s lacking in those requirements will never truly prosper. We can deny it all we want in this new age of supposed human renaissance, but the truth still remains that if we don’t serve our Creator, Almighty God, the way He desires, we won’t have a joyful or prosperous society. 

And what’s so sad is that despite trying all our man-made solutions, which any fool can see aren’t working, we still refuse to try a return to God’s fold. But as they say, we reap what we sow. And that’s the gospel truth, as we are indeed reaping the strife, sickness, and economic problems of our ungodly behaviour. But for those of us who are still hanging in there, trying to fight the good fight, the Lord has bestowed many undeserved blessings on us, what we call our Thursday Blessings, tools to help us do His earthly work. However, they need to be declared so that they can be activated. 

So as one strong and sincere voice, let’s declare them right now. ‘I declare that I am blessed with God’s supernatural wisdom and receive clear direction for my life! I declare today that I am blessed with creativity, courage, talent and abundance! I am blessed with a strong will, self-control and self-discipline! I am blessed with a great family, good friends, good health, faith, favour and fulfillment! I am blessed with success, supernatural strength, promotion and divine protection! I am blessed with a compassionate heart and a positive outlook on life! I declare that any curse or negative word that’s ever been spoken over me is broken right now in the name of Jesus! I declare that everything I put my hands to, will prosper and succeed! I declare it today and every day! Amen!’ 

Now, it’s time for us to go out and use those divine blessings to bring others to Christ. Much LOVE!

…the wages of sin is death…so why the surprise at the dying of our sinful society… 

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ     

Today’s Scrip-Bit 29 May 2021 John 8:32.

John 8:32.     And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

And then the rain stopped on Saturday! Yes friends, yesterday was truly a rainy day in my area, and the earth was glad. But now it needs the rain to stop so that it can soak up all that heavenly blessing and put it to good use. That’s the same way we have to gather our many divine blessings and then to put them to work in Jesus’ name, each and every day that we draw breath in God’s great universe. For that’s what He desires of us, and why He so lavishly blesses us. So let’s remember today that our duty is to share God’s LOVE, His peace, joy and kindness with others, opening their eyes to the wonderful life that is to be found in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! 

Now let’s turn to our Saturday task, that of checking out the quotes our friend Anselm sent us this past week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. And the first one says: ‘We can’t be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea.’ And that’s quite true my brethren, if we don’t acquire a li’l get up and go, that comes with faith in Jesus, we will never really enjoy a lot of what our world has to offer. 

Oh, I know it’s real nice and comfortable to stay in our little world and not let it be disturbed, but Jesus said we should go far and wide and spread His word. (smile) And change is something that always comes in some form or the other, whether we want it to or not. So the sooner we get comfortable with change the better off we will be. And I can guarantee, that if you seriously intend to work for Jesus, you’d better get accustomed to change, because as He raises you from glory to glory, lots of changes will occur in your life. That’s one unchanging aspect of His ministry. (smile) 

And that’s why this next quote is important. ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ We see that in almost every revolution that’s ever taken place in our world. It often begins with one man, who gathers a small group around him, and eventually the explosion takes place. And what better example is there than the twelve disciples of Christ, who turned the world upside down with their exhortation and teaching on His behalf, and the example of godly living, that brought so many lost and downtrodden souls to Him. 

They set the stage, the standard, that has continued for over two thousand years, and is still going strong today. So never doubt that a small group can cause major changes to be made in our society. That brings us to this next quote: ‘A lie can travel around the world and back again while the truth is lacing up its boots.’ And is that ever true my people, especially in this time of awesome technology and the many systems of social media to be found in our current world. And it just so happens that a lie travels faster than the truth, even in normal situations. 

It seems that in our fallen nature we are more taken with lies than with the truth. Just look around at the many lies that are spreading like wildfire about so many things and how slowly the truth is moving. And you couldn’t find a better example than Donald Trump and his immense lie that the last election was stolen from him. Look at number of supposedly sensible people who believe it, and are spreading it, even without any proof to back it up. And the bad thing about lies is that the more often you hear them, the easier they become believable. That’s why the lie-mongers keep spreading their lies. 

But lying brings such baggage with it, that it’s never worth it in the end, and that same baggage always cause you to get caught in the lie. I’ve seen that happen more often than I can remember. However, as this next quote says: ‘If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.’ And I can testify to that, because in my youth I was a good liar, but eventually gave up lying when I discovered that you had so much to remember; remember who you told what and when, so you didn’t get caught in the lie. 

However, when you tell the truth, your spirit is free and easy, you don’t need to remember who you told what to and when, because you’ve said the same thing to everyone. The truth gives you freedom, even in this sinful and confused world, and when you are a believer in Jesus, you know a higher truth, which also gives a greater freedom. When people were questioning Jesus as to who He was, He kept telling them that He was the Messiah, but most of them refused to believe. The Good Book tells it thus: ‘Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue (abide) in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’ (John 8:31-32) 

Yes friends, that’s the highest form of truth and freedom we can ever receive in this life; that offered by Jesus. As He says a few verses later on in that same chapter: ‘If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.’ (John 8:36) That’s real freedom my brethren! And that brings us to our last quote, another gem of truth and wisdom. ‘It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.’ Oh, how often have we seen that happen eh, even to us? (smile) 

But mankind just likes to quickly open his mouth without thinking, and that’s why we so often get in trouble with our words. And there are numerous scriptures that warn us about the power and evils of the tongue. But Cousin Sol says it best in this context. ‘He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent (calm) spirit. Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace (keeps silent), is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.’ (Prov. 17:27-28) 

And that’s why we know that there are so many fools in our society today! Too many of us are opening our mouths to talk when we either have nothing to talk about, or we don’t know what we’re talking about. And we’ll close with some more wise words from Cousin Sol on the topic. ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that LOVE it shall eat the fruit thereof.’ (Prov. 18:21) Yes my people, our tongues are powerful weapons, and can be used for both good and evil, but please remember, you’ll have to pay a heavy price, if you use it for evil. Much LOVE!

…keep thy tongue from evil…and thy lips from speaking guile (deceit)…  (Ps. 34:13)                                                     

Hear our podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/3aVfqIC1CqwGybISs9dZJ8                 

Today’s Scrip-Bit 5 March 2014 Proverbs 21:17.

Proverbs 21:17.   He that LOVETH pleasure shall be a poor man: he that LOVETH wine and oil shall not be rich

                                                           ASH  WEDNESDAY !

Well Friends, the partying done now! Yes, it’s Ash Wednesday morning, the first day of Lent, so I hope that you exercised and exorcised all your pleasure demons over the last few days of serious partying. (smile) That’s because now is a time to settle down, a time for serious reflection on our relationships, especially between God and us.

Lent is the time to look deep into our souls and examine what we truly believe, and consequently how we live our lives, based on our grounding belief, our foundational faith, for all of us have faith in something, hopefully Jehovah God, and not man or some man-made idol.

Anyway, this season of Lent is a serious time, and we ought to seriously consider how we live our lives, giving the pleasure centres of our bodies and souls a well-deserved break. Hn, hn!

Now that doesn’t mean we ought to stop enjoying life, or eschew all pleasure, but rather not let the pleasures of life be all that important. Instead, let’s contemplate on how Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness and how Lucifer tempted Him, tried his very best to get Him to go against God’s will.

And in light of that, let’s see what temptations have been coming against us, and how we’ve been handling them, hopefully with graceful aplomb like Jesus, telling the deceitful fool Lucifer: ‘Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.’ (Matt.4:10)

And we all know my brethren, that that’s truth of the highest order! But that doesn’t stop the ole scoundrel from continually snapping at our heels, especially in one soft and weak area of our sinful nature, that of pleasure.

That’s why Cousin Sol declared so profoundly unto us, the words of our Bit. ‘He that LOVETH pleasure shall be a poor man: he that LOVETH wine and oil shall not be rich.’ 

And unfortunately, I know that Lucifer has a wide grin on his evil, devilish face this Ash Wednesday morning, because over the last few days, he’s managed to get many of us to compromise our godly beliefs in the pursuit of fleeting worldly pleasure.

But please remember that ALL of it can be forgiven, though only some forgotten, and a lot of it will haunt us for the remainder of our lives. There will always be some reminder of our less than stellar performance during that period.

The important thing though is not to beat up ourselves and continually bewail our misery over it, since that portion of our lives cannot be relived, and our mistake(s) be undone. And this wisdom comes from personal experience, not hearsay. We need to come to God in sincere repentance, ask for His merciful and generous forgiveness, then face the problem squarely; stand our bounce.

That’s one thing I’ve always tried to drive into my children’s head from they were young, and try to practice it myself. If you’ve done something wrong, be man or woman enough to take the responsibility for it.

And after all that ‘sermonizing’, (smile) let’s look at some scriptures that uphold the truth of our Bit. And we’ll begin with some instructive words of Bruh Paul to Timothy, re widows. ‘But she that liveth in pleasure (indulgence) is dead while she liveth.’ (1 Tim.5:6)

And the scholars’ note says: ‘5:6. This may be paraphrased, “But the widow who indulges in luxurious living, though physically alive, is spiritually dead.”

And I just want to point out here my people, that that statement also applies to widowers, in fact to all and sundry, because once we’ve allowed earthly indulgences to control our lives, we do become spiritually dead. 

Then in Hebrews 11, that great chapter on faith, in talking about Moses, the author proclaims: ‘By faith, Moses, when he was come to years (came of age), refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures (passing pleasures) of sin for a season;

Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasure in Egypt: for he had respect unto (looked at) the recompense of the reward.’ (Heb.11:24-26)

Yes my brethren, likewise, we are to shun the calling of the pleasures of sin, and esteem the reproach of Christ of greater sanctity and worth than that of the world.

And we’ll let James take us home with his very voluble and valuable warning to the rich. ‘Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted (have rotted), and your garments are moth-eaten.

Your gold and silver is cankered (corroded): and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for (in) the last days.

Behold, the hire (wages) of the labourers who have reaped (mowed) down your fields, which is of you (you kept back) by fraud, crieth (cry out): and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth (Hosts).

Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton (indulgent); ye have nourished (fattened) your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.’ (James 5:1-6)

Yeh Friends, that’s the way it goes! All our riches, garnered on the backs of those unfairly treated will eventually rot and be of no use to us. We who have lived to serve pleasure, will in the end reap displeasure!

So please, as true believers, let’s wake up and see unrestrained pleasure for what it really is nuh – an unwise and foolish means of moving away from Jehovah God to the sinful camp of Beelzebub.

Now is that what we really and truly want to do? I sincerely doubt it. So please, let’s pull up our ‘britches’ (breeches) nuh, and stop allowing the sinful pleasures of our sinful world to control our lives. Now that’s the ultimate in wisdom! Much LOVE!

…Cousin Sol had it all…wisdom, wealth and time…but found no satisfying, gratifying, or long lasting pleasure…in the worldly pleasures his divine blessings afforded him…