All to Jesus, I surrender

Most of us grew up singing, I Surrender All. It’s more than a song though. It s a declaration of our heart. To freely give all that we are and all that we have is an expression of our love and trust for our Lord. He created us for fellowship with Him ... to live in His presence daily.

As we were singing this song in church one Sunday morning, I couldn’t help but think what "I surrender all" encompasses. ALL means everything. It doesn’t leave out anything. So, "I surrender ALL" means that I am making a declaration from the depth of my heart that I relinquish everything, every part of my being, to my Lord. And so my list of ALL began to grow. It included the good ... and the bad.

ALL includes ... Hopes, Dreams, Aspirations, Gifts, Talents, Abilities, Achievements, Failures, Memories, Opportunities, Education, Possessions, Money, Relationships, Responsibilities, Fears, Hurts, Disappointments, Weaknesses, Strengths, Quirks, Likes, Dislikes, Preferences, Personality, Body, Mind, and Spirit.

ALL — To be given to Him. To receive His touch. To be changed. To be healed. To be made whole. To be restored. To be empowered. To be utilized to its full potential.

Oftentimes, we think about the best that we can give the Lord. However, He wants our ALL ... including what we think to be our worst. Remember the man with the withered hand in the temple whom Jesus asked to stretch out his hand? The man stretched out his weakness. Consequently, He received a blessing in that he was healed and made whole. He went forth a changed man ... knowing who Jesus was and what His heart was for humanity. I’ve wondered what would have happened had the man hidden his weakness and stretched out his strong hand. Would he have experienced the fullness of the Lord?

Jesus wants us to stretch out our ALL. He wants us to surrender to Him what we perceive to be our best and also our worst. He wants us to experience Him, His fullness, and His heart for us.

This is a season to give our ALL to Him ... to daily give our ALL to Him, knowing that He will take it, good and bad, breathe life into it, and work all of it together for His good.

YES!!!AMEN!!!!

Excerpt from Paul Keith Davis' book: Thrones of our Soul, p. 98-99:

From a Vision Paul had:

>>The operating room... The attendants in the room immediatly began to "strip" layer after layer of flesh, removing the issues of carnality and worldly conformity. I watched as my own identities, agendas, ambitions and desires were extracted and discarded. I was permitted to understand that there is no place for mixture in the coming battle. We cannot allow the leaven of our own thoughts and ideas to be injected into the purity of His truth. It must be untouched by the hands of man.

This prozess continued untill I finally peered over shoulder of one of the angels and asked the question, "Where am I, for I no longer see myself?" A voice spoke, pointing to a small yet vibrant seed of life that remained on the table. All that was allowed to exist after their deliberate work was the impartation of life given to me from God.

This stripping process had, in essence, carried us back to the very origin of life, removing all fleshly attributes born in the Garden of Eden with the fall of man. This was done to enable us to "put on Christ" and become spiritually qualified to stand victorious in the battle with the armies of darkness.

Flesh of His flesh. The attendants began the assignement of putting us back together, now using divinely powerful attributes that were mighty to God and adequate for the awesome battle. The angels undertook the reconstruction procedure with the same vigor and determination as the stripping process. Except now, the materials were "bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh." Any preparation other than the one described here would result in certain defeat.

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strenght of His might. Put on the full armor of God, that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6,10-11

When the restoration process was complete, we were returned to the battlefield. Now, in lieu of having a sword in our hands, we were the sword or weapon in the Lord's hand. Instead of having a "promise", we became the promise.

The sword in Scripture is indicative of the Word of promise. Presently, we are attempting to battle the enemy with our promises. It is the Lord's intent to make us the promise. We are to become the Living Word.

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. Romans 13,14<<

Monika