By: John Mitchell
GIVE UP, trying to always have everything our way. We thought our way was the best way for us, but our life is much less than it could be, because we have been the one in control of it.
ADMIT, that the devil has used our pride, and ego, and greed, and fear, to defeat us.
QUIT, refusing to submit to God being in control of our life.
STOP, believing the devil’s lie, that we know what is best for us.
START, believing the truth of God, that He knows what is best for us. There are no better plans for our lives, than God’s plan for our lives. Submitting to God’s will for our life, means that we give up ALL of our control over our life, and we submit to ALL of God’s will for us, so that He will be totally in control of ALL of our life, ALL of the time. This is not a situation where we tell God, that He can be the Lord over of parts of our life, IF we can continue to control of a few, certain parts of our life. God is supposed to be the Lord of our life. We are supposed to be God’s servants, who, love, obey, serve, honor, and worship Him. God is not our servant. We are not God’s puppets, without any will of our own. God has given each of us a free will. WE can choose, whatever kind of life we want for ourselves. Our will for our life, or God’s will for our life. For God to be the Lord of our life, we have to choose to completely give up our will for ourselves, and completely submit to God’s will for us. In Matthew 22:37 Jesus is telling us that His first, and great commandment to us is:
“You shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart, with ALL your soul, and with ALL your mind.”
Jesus is telling us to not hold anything back from Him, to love Him with ALL that we are. Proverbs 3:5-7, also tells us to not hold anything back from God’s will being done in our life. “Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart, and LEAN NOT on your own understanding, In ALL your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. DO NOT be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.” Is there any area in your life that you haven’t been able to release to God’s will being done over it? “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24) Think about this example. You are paying for your groceries and the cashier, by mistake, gives you back 25 cents too much in your change. You can say, her loss my gain. Or, this big store won’t go broke from me having their quarter. It’s not a matter of how big or small something is. If we take what is not ours, we are stealing it. Nothing of any amount is worth damaging our relationship with God. If we “pocket”, which is steal, 25 cents, how can we then pray to God, while having a guilty conscience, that convicts us of our sin? We need to ask God to forgive us for having sinned, repent of our sin, and return what we stole to its rightful owner. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). You might be thinking to yourself, that keeping a dollar or two, that’s not yours to keep, or telling a lie or two, instead of the truth, is such a small thing, that it really couldn’t matter to God. Then you think, I wish I could sit at my kitchen table, with Jesus, and ask Him some questions, so I would know what Jesus’ answers would be to my questions. We can do that now! When we sit at our kitchen table, we can ask God, in Jesus’ name, to answer the questions we have for Him. Then we can open our Bibles, and search the scriptures to find what Jesus would say to us, just as if He was sitting at our table with us. The following three scriptures will help us in our search, to find Bible answers to our questions. We will also be blessed by God, and helped by God, through His inspired scriptures, as we daily, faithfully and diligently, read and study God’s Bible scriptures. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17). “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6,7) “If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God, Who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For not let that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5-8) The following are examples of questions that God answers, through the inspired words of His scriptures. I remember a psychologist making this statement in a T V interview. “Fantasizing is good, and healthy for us to do.” What would Jesus say about this? In Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Should we attend worship services, or can we just pray at home? “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manor of some, but exhorting one another…” (Hebrews 10:24-25) Why do we have The Lord’s Table, and why on Sunday? We have The Lord’s Table, because in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Jesus tells us to do it in remembrance of Him. Acts 20:7 tells us that the disciples had the Lord’s Table on the first day of the week. One of the many things that the Bible is to us, is God’s answer book to us, of all of the questions of our life. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7)