TOTAL SURRENDER IS TOTAL TRUST- Right From the Heart Devotion

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you."

- John 15:4-7

In the eyes of the world, to surrender is humiliating. In the eyes of the world, to surrender is to lose. In battle, it is bad when the more powerful side causes the other side to wave the white flag. So, in the world’s eyes, surrender is often deeply resented. But here’s the irony and the paradox of the Christian faith. Surrender is the beginning of the victorious Christian life! When we realize how much God loves us and how He shows us that love by what Christ has done – literally dying in our place on the cross, paying the penalty for all our sins – past, present and future – and then rising from the dead…we are convicted of our sinfulness. And when we’re convicted of our sin, we can finally surrender our lives to our Lord and give Him all that we have. We give Him all of our desires, our goals, our dreams, our priorities, and our possessions. Then, and only then, do we begin the first and most important step in the victorious Christian life. It begins with surrender, and what we have that is not surrendered to Christ is worthless to the Kingdom of God. Worthless!

So, how do we surrender?

1. Spend time alone with Him and study God’s Word. We meditate on His teachings and in doing so, we learn more about God’s will in our lives. We pray to discover His will, not to tell God what we want!
2. We abide in Him daily. In other words, we stay close to God every day, trusting and obeying Him.
3. Commit to a local church to worship, serve and have fellowship with other believers.
4. Then we share our faith with others through words and deeds, which is fully Christ’s mission for the church. This type of surrender equals total trust, which leads to ultimate meaning and purpose of life.