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ARE YOU ABSOLUTELY SURRENDERED TO JESUS? Once we were enemies and our lives were at odds with God. We were not surrendered to Him. We were our own masters, doing our own will, asking God to bless us. Robbing God of not only everything he has given to us, but our souls as well. Then a miracle happens: We're born again, and everything turns around. We don't want to withhold anything from God anymore. We are eager to be totally at His disposal: to do anything he wants at any cost. Our desire is to hear Him, and obey Him, to please Him. We want to do it in the power that He supplies through Jesus, so that in everything He gets the glory. That's what it means to be saved from the old way. So, the reality of surrender is there. Another is born in us' The spirit of Jesus dwells in us, for evermore, once we surrender to Him, the spirit of Jesus is in us and leads us here and forever. Let the love of Jesus enter you, through your total surrender to Him. Here's some ways that the Bible talks about and what we would all, mean by -- total or full surrender to Christ. Luke 14:33: "Any one who does not renounce all that he has, cannot be my disciple." Matthew 22:37: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Philippians 3:7-8: "Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ." The greatest gift in this world, is to be asked by Jesus, to follow Him. These three remain: faith, hope, and love; and the greatest of these is love. Jesus was speaking about the cost of following Him. He said in the following verses that those who refuse to witness, and are ashamed of Him and His words would be rejected on the end of this life. Peter 2:21, "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps." John 2:3-4, "And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Peter 1:14-16, "As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy.'" Jesus said, "If you, who are called by name to follow, will humble yourself and pray and sincerely seek My face, then I will hear you from heaven, and I will forgive your sin, and give you a new life". 'Many Are Called, But Few Choose to follow" It is not a slight thing to refuse the summons of God through Jesus. God will hold those who refuse that summons responsible on Judgment Day. Second, Jesus wants us to realize there is a more subtle way to refuse the summons. One may pay lip service to the external call but never truly embrace Jesus as offered in that call. Even this refusal subjects us to God's judgment. The bad news is we have no power in ourselves to change our rebellious hearts. The good news is God is pleased to change rebellious hearts by the power of Jesus. If we have responded to the external call in repentance and faith, it is only because God has first been at work in us to turn us to Himself in Christ. Salvation is truly by grace alone. This truth is unsettling, but Jesus unsettles us for a reason. He wants us to find salvation and a life in Him alone, by grace alone. And only through Christ, will you find an Everlasting, Unshakeable, Righteousness that pleases God. Jesus freely gave His life, to give You a choice!
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