Saturday, January 17, 2009

Day 10 - The Heart of Worship

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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" Romans 6:13b (TEV)

Question to Consider: What area of my life am I holding back from God?
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2 comments:

  1. My pride blocks my attitude of surrender. My pride can complicate my mind and my emotions.

    Area of my life I am holding back from God? The area of servitude. I want to help people, I want to invest more time in people- but I say to myself, "When will I find the time?" My job is demanding, my children are very demanding(at times). I came to realize that I need to surrender TIME to God and see how He can use me for His purposes.

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  2. I feel like this is a chapter that I should read every day of my life. I yearn to feel that total freedom in Christ. I want so badly to be at a point of total surrender every single day.

    A friend of ours saw Valkyrie, and Jeff and I were watching the historical footage on the history channel. Today we were all talking about it and then watched Defiance, which is a movie also based on WWII events. I thought of Hitler when I was reading about trying to be God" and it is then that we end up most like Satan, who desired the same thing." I thought of how the desire to control and dominate and be on God's level can lead to such mass chaos and destruction, every time.

    I always need and love the reminder that "stubborn temptations and overwhelming problems can be defeated by Christ when given to him." There are so many temptations in everyday life- gossip, laziness, anger, eating too much... and overwhelming problems that just seem hopeless and unconquerable. But Christ can move mountains, and he would do it for me, and I love to read it and take it in. Christ will defeat my problems and my hurts.

    Another part of the chapter that struck a personal note with me was "surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him. Instead of trying harder, you trust more. You also know you're surrendered when you don't react to criticism and rush to defend yourself." Wow! Waiting patiently is not my strong suit! How often I wonder why I go through trials and pray and pray and things seem to stay the same- or get worse! But God is in control and he knows what he is doing. And reacting to criticism and rushing to defend myself- that is exactly what I was doing for so long with attacks from family. I really needed to read that. I feel that this study is coming at a time when I truly needed it- God is good!

    The area of my life that I am most holding back from God would probably be complete reliance. I need to get rid of the what ifs and buts and just jump in and let it all go.

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