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opening As you contemplate your future, what would happen if you had to choose between two doors? Behind one door was the complete will of God for your life and behind the other door was how life could be according to your own preference.

Which door would you choose? The struggle for most people lies in the desire to follow God completely and the fear of what might be behind the door of full surrender.

Most of us desire to follow God, but few of us will do it at any cost. We do not really believe God loves us to the degree that we are willing to give Him complete permission to do as He wills in us. If we desire to fully walk with Christ, there is a cost! We may give intellectual assent and go along with His principles and do fine. If we are fully given over to Him and His will for our life, it will be a life that will have adversity.

Humans do not achieve greatness without having their sinful will broken. This process is designed to create a nature change in each of us, not just a habit change!

If God has plans to greatly use you in the lives of others, you can expect your trials to be even greater than those of others! Why? Because, like Joseph who went through greater trials than most patriarchs, your calling may have such responsibility that God cannot afford to entrust it to you without ensuring your complete faithfulness to the call. Job understood this, as he said, “But... when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10)

He has much invested in you on behalf of others! He may want to speak through your life to a greater degree than through another. Your life would become the frame for the message He wants to speak through you.

In 2 Corinthians 4:17, Paul tells us “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Do not fear the path that God may lead you on! Embrace it eagerly! God may bring you down a path in your life to ensure the reward of your inheritance.

Here is your copy of firstIMPRESSIONS, Volume 9.37. Live for God, on purpose, surrendering every area of your life to Him.

need-to-do What Do I Need To Do?

Why is it that so many Christians seemingly struggle through their life, not seeing breakthrough, working so hard, and ending up further back than they were when they started? For some, they appear to live out the old saying, “two steps forward, three steps back.” I have heard many people angrily ask, “What do I need to do?!”

Quite often, the answer can be summed up in just one word – surrender. Although they are believers in Jesus Christ, they have yet to discover and walk in a life that is fully surrendered to the Lord they profess as their savior.

The dictionary tells us that “surrender” means to yield something to the possession or power of another; to give oneself up; to give up, abandon, or relinquish; or to yield or resign in favor of another. As a believer in Christ, we are called to be a people of total surrender – to God. By surrendering to God, we admit that He is ultimately in control of everything, including our present circumstances. Surrendering to God helps us to let go of whatever has been holding us back from God’s best for our lives. By surrendering to God, we let go of whatever has kept us from wanting God’s ways first.

What do you need to do? Every one of us needs to make purposeful choices to surrender to God in every area of our life. This often goes against what seems logical to us. I’m sure it seemed completely illogical to Abraham, when God asked him to sacrifice his son, Isaac. But, Abraham’s decision to completely surrender to God was absolutely necessary.

How do we surrender everything to God? This Sunday we will look at five key areas in our life that we must surrender, in our message “Ingredients of a Surrendered Life.” You won’t want to miss this life-changing message!

freeze Freeze!

Nineteen-year-old Liu Shih-Kun was an amazing pianist in China until the 1966 Cultural Revolution banned all things of Western influence. Refusing to renounce his beloved music, Liu was branded an enemy of the state and thrown into a tiny jail cell with no friends, no books, and even worse; no piano.

Six years later, for political reasons, he was asked to play in Beijing with the Philadelphia Orchestra. After years without an instrument to practice on, he performed brilliantly. Eighteen months later when he was finally released, he again played flawlessly.

His secret? Stripped of everything musical, for seven and a half years Liu disciplined himself to shut out negative thoughts and practice hour after hour on an imaginary piano.

What if you were in that position; all alone, the things you love taken away, would you find a positive focus or would you freak out and think of the worst thing that could happen?

Police shout ‘Freeze!‘ when they want to stop a suspect and protect themselves. And you can freeze out harmful thinking by capturing every thought and making it “obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5) Paul says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against... the spiritual forces.” (Ephesians 6:12) Your thoughts have power. To win over them, you must totally surrender to Jesus and control what you allow your mind to dwell on.

His Understudies: Surrender

by David Jeremiah

“He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” – Matthew 26:42

It’s often been said of some great military leader or another: “He never asked us to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself.” By comparing Matthew 6 with Matthew 26, we see this is true of Christ. In the earlier passage, He taught us to pray, “Your will be done on earth.” In the latter passage, He Himself prayed, “May Your will be done in Me.”

Surrendering our “all” to Christ doesn’t mean we’re dispirited prisoners waving a white flag. It means we’ve come face to face with the King of Kings, and we are willing to defer every preference to Him. Knowing He is all-powerful, we submit as a servant to a king. Knowing He is all-loving, we yield as a child to a father. Knowing He is all-wise, we gladly choose His will over our own.

The Lord would rather have one person who is 100-percent committed than 100 people who are 90-percent yielded.

Lord, not my will, but Yours be done!

from Dr. David Jeremiah’s “Today’s Turning Point” daily devotional. www.TurningPointOnline.org

The Practice of Surrender

by Rick Warren

“If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing even to give up their lives to follow me.” – Matthew 16:24 (NCV)

Paul’s moment of surrender occurred on the Damascus road after he was knocked down by blinding light. For others, less drastic methods are needed to get our attention. Regardless, surrendering is never just a one-time event. Paul said, “I die daily” (1 Corinthians 15:31 NASB).

There is a moment of surrender and there is the practice of surrender, which is moment-by-moment and lifelong. The practice of surrender requires perseverance; you may have to re-surrender your life fifty times a day: “If people want to follow me, they must give up the things they want. They must be willing even to give up their lives [daily] to follow me” (Matthew 16:24 NCV).

Let me warn you: When you decide to live a totally surrendered life, that decision will be tested. Sometimes it will mean doing inconvenient, unpopular, costly, or seemingly impossible tasks. It will often mean doing the opposite of what you feel like doing.

“Those who are living by their natural inclinations have their minds on the things human nature desires; those who live in the Spirit have their minds on spiritual things” (Romans 8:5 NJB).

We are, by nature, self-centered. When hurt by someone, your natural inclination is to hurt back. It is natural to hoard money instead of generously sharing it, to defend yourself when criticized, to hide your mistakes instead of confessing them, and to try to impress others. You can usually figure out what will please God by doing the opposite of your natural inclination.

Bill Bright founded Campus Crusade for Christ. Through the worldwide Crusade staff, his tract “The Four Spiritual Laws,” and the “JESUS” film (seen by over one billion people), it’s estimated that over 150 million people have come to Christ and will spend eternity in heaven.

I once asked Bill, “Why did God use and bless your life so much?” He said, “When I was a young man I made a contract with God. I literally wrote it out and signed my name at the bottom. It said ‘From this day forward, I am a slave of Jesus Christ.’”

Have you signed a contract like that with God? Or, are you still arguing and struggling with God over his right to do with your life as he pleases?

It is time to surrender – to God’s grace, love, and wisdom.

as seen in the February 23, 2009 issue of Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Connection Daily Devotional newsletter

lump Just a Lump of Clay

by Jim Grams

“That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:10

Martin Luther once said, “God created the world out of nothing, and so long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us.” And yet, it is so very hard to be nothing. We like to think we’re somebody and when people tell us we’re wonderful, we want to believe every word. It is human nature to look at our successes and achievements.

I’m not saying we should dwell on our failures or live with constant self-criticism. I’m convinced that God doesn’t want that from us. But neither does He want us proud.

The very best way to be a servant of the Lord is to become a lump of clay in His hands. His design for our lives is perfect – Only He can take an ordinary lump of life and make it beautiful. I’m reminded of that wonderful chorus we used to sing. “Something beautiful, something good. All my confusion, He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful out of my life.”

God knows just what each of us needs to shape us perfectly. To become a lump of clay in God’s hands means total surrender on our part. The words He longs to hear from us are: “Here I am Lord, break me, mold me, and make me into whatever you want.”

We need to ask God to remind us that we are lumps of clay. Then we need to place our lives with their flaws and needs in His strong, creative hands. He will make us useful and we will bless others with a touch of His love.

as seen in “Today’s HomeWord,” a daily devotional with Jim Burns. Visit them online at www.homeword.com

letting Why is the Lord “Letting” This Happen?

by Pat Morely

A lot of us are wondering about our economy, “Why is the Lord letting this happen?”

Biblically, God is not just “letting” this happen; He is the “Arranger.”

Consider Jonah. God gave Jonah a mission—to preach repentance to Nineveh. But Jonah used his free will to run away from God.

He boarded a ship going in the opposite direction. But God arranged for “a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm...” (Jonah 1:4). Did that “circumstance” get Jonah’s attention? Yes, but instead of turning back to God, he continued to resist. So the sailors tossed him overboard.

Thus endeth the story of Jonah? Not at all. “Now the LORD had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah” (1:17). Finally, Jonah, of his own free will, agrees to the mission God gave him—to preach repentance to Nineveh. And Jonah was successful—they did repent. And Jonah was angry about it.

So Jonah sat down and waited to see what Nineveh would do. “And the LORD God arranged for a leafy plant” (4:6) to shade him while he watched. Jonah was grateful for the respite from the heat.

“But God also arranged for a worm” (4:7) during the night to eat through the plant—to help Jonah understand why he wanted to save Nineveh.

It’s too bad we have free will—at least when we resist God. When we resist Him, we force God to sovereignly arrange (or rearrange) our circumstances until we see the light and follow His will.

Have you been refusing God’s call on your life? Have you been running away from God? For many of us, God is using this recession to “arrange” our circumstances so that we will get back to the essentials: surrender, worship, prayer, reading God’s word, love, faith, reverence, obedience, glorifying God, reconciling relationships, doing good works, living humble lives, and working for the “peace and prosperity” of our nation (Jeremiah 29:7).

This recession is God’s grace. God is not the Great Observer; He is the Arranger of all things. He is sovereignly arranging your circumstances so that you will choose His way of your own free will. Rejoice and be glad—God has arranged your rescue.

as seen in the January 5, 2009 issue of Pat Morely’s “The Man In The Mirror” Weekly Briefing

towels The Last Impression

My pastor friend put sanitary hot air hand dryers in the rest rooms at his church and after two weeks took them out.

I asked him why and he confessed that they worked fine but when he went in there he saw a sign that read,

“For a sample of this week’s sermon, push the button.”

There are paper towels in the rest rooms at WFA. But, there is plenty of hot worship that takes place in the Sanctuary each and every Sunday! Looking forward to worshiping together with you this week at WFA! See you here!