Day 10
Point to ponder: The heart of worship is surrender.


Verse to remember: Surrender your whole being to Him to be used for righteous purposes." Rom. 6:13b(TEV)Rick says(p77)" But surrendering to God is the heart of worship. I t is the natural response to Gods amazing love and mercy. We give of ourselves to Him, not out of fear, or duty, but in love,'because he first loved us.'... (p78) True worship - bringing God pleasure - happens when you give yourself completely to God." So true unless I surrender , God's hands are tied so to speak. He will not / can not impose His will upon us. It goes against his very nature of "others centered love". The very moment love is forced it ceases to be love.Rick goes on to say that there are " three behaviors that block our total surrender to God: Fear, Pride, and confusion. I don't know about you but I've struggled with all three of these during the coarse of my life. I'm so glad though for the blessings of Surrender. The peace, the freedom, and God's power in my life. These are the things we desire in the deepest crevices of our being.( God built us that way you know). I can not tell you how much I cherish the peace that God sends my way. The peace and contentment of knowing that it doesn't matter what happens to me , or who accepts / rejects me, God will never leave me nor forsake me. It's so awesome. He will always love me, care for me, provide for my needs( and quite often my wants).It's just so soothing and comforting, like a big warm fuzzy hug.I can't help but be filled with joy and gratitude because I'm so unworthy of it. I never will be either. Thank God I don't have to be I just have to accept Jesus gift and let His blood cover me.


Question to consider: What area of my life am I holding back from God?I think this quote from Rick will help focus on this question. " If God is going to do his deepest work in you , it will begin with this. So give it all to God: your past regrets, your present problems, your future ambitions, your fears, dreams, weaknesses, habits, hurts, and hang-ups. Put Jesus Christ in the driver's seat of your life and take your hands off the steering wheel. Don't be afraid; nothing under His control can ever be out of control. Mastered by Christ you can handle anything."(This reminds me of a song "Jesus Take The Wheel". It's the music lover in me. I wonder if the writer of the song read this book? Or vice versa. I think the book was written first but I could be wrong.)