Give Him Everything

A number of months back I was at a couple of days church event in Belfair, WA, and there came a time when the church began to pray and minister to each other. God began to move in an amazing way; people were healed, set free from demons, filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues, many lives were greatly impacted and changed that day.  For this I am grateful to God! During that ministry time people were praying for me for healing/freedom from diabetes, and as I was being ministered to, the Lord showed me a picture. The picture was me willingly lying on an altar. I have to admit that when I first saw this picture I wasn’t sure what God was showing me, but over these last couple of months the Lord has been slowly unpacking that picture for me and I want to share a bit of it with you.

 

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice , acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”-Romans 12:1  

 

     This Romans passage says it best; God is asking for all that we are, and truly He is worthy of everything! God doesn’t just want you to invite Christ into your life; He wants you to let go of your life and fully give it to Him! I believe the Lord was showing me that as I truly surrender my body to Him, as I give Him everything, healing/freedom will come.  I’m asking for His life to fill my mortal body, but He only inhabits what is His.  

 

     Please don’t misunderstand me; I’m not talking about living in sin vs walking in righteousness. I believe that my sinful nature was buried in baptism (Romans 6:3-7). Honestly, my heart is to live for God in holiness and purity. What I’m talking about is something different than that, it’s more about the source of my life. Who is calling the shots? Do I speak when I want to speak? Do I eat what and when I want to eat? Do I buy what I want with my money? Do I spend my time how I choose to spend my time, even when spent doing good things?  

 

     What does a life truly surrendered to the Spirit of God look like?  What is the source of your life? Is it you? Is it your soul (mind, will, & emotions)? Or is it the Holy Spirit?  

 

     Kathryn Kuhlman, a general of the faith, has a quote which I believe frames this beautifully. She used to say: “God isn’t looking for gold vessels or silver vessels, He is looking for yielded vessels.”  Do you see how you can live a morally good life, in today’s day and age what is considered a solid Christian life, but in many areas still be unyielded to the Holy Spirit? What does it look like to let go of the wheel and let the Holy Spirit captain the ship?  

 

     I believe there are many Christians, born again, in covenant with God, but are yet to truly surrender all that they are to Him.  

 

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life (soul) will lose it; but whoever loses his life (soul) for My sake will find it.’”-Matthew 16:24-25

 

     May we be those who lay our lives down, who die to ourselves, no longer governed by our own soul, but rather, led by the Holy Spirit. May we be those who lose our lives that we might find life!

 

     I encourage you, this week read the story of Abraham and Isaac in Genesis 22:1-19 with this idea of complete surrender in mind. I think you will see a beautiful parallel between the Romans 12 and Genesis 22 passages.  

 

     Let’s be a people who truly present all we are to the Lord! May our bodies, really our very lives be living sacrifices to the Lord!

 

~Tim G
September 1, 2021