Search and Surrender

This is the time when so many are evaluating their lives and declaring change.  You know the season.  When the new year rolls in, we start looking for a new person to emerge in the mirror.  This can be an effective motivation for some.  They begin the weight loss journey and soon begin to see results. That accomplishment becomes a drug that keeps them running back to the gym.  

I could possibly make some declarations of my own, but this year I am asking God to do a new thing in me. It would be nice to be slimmer, richer, and all of that, but it's more important for this child of God to be spiritually made new.  I'm not talking about a new shout or dance, but I want God to transform me from the inside out. 

This time of year is also a time of consecration.  We turn down our plates and lift up our hearts in prayer. We take our devotion to the next level by denying this flesh. I know you're saying that we should be doing that all of the time.  You're right.  In fact, you shouldn't wait until the beginning of the year to consecrate yourself. God should be your #1 priority 365 days a year.  So, what makes this time different for you?   Of course, I want more of God, but I desire to give him more.  When I give of myself to the LORD, his work is lasting in me.   

To get the best results in the gym, you must be consistent; when you are not, you must find out what is keeping your from doing everything necessary for lasting change.  I like to call it the search and surrender.   We know that nothing God does for us will fade because he work is pure and powerful. So why doesn't it last? Why are not we seeing the changes in the consecration last beyond January? This is where the inward search takes place.  I submit to you that your change may be fading because you have not made a commitment with real roots.  Let me explain.  We fast because the pastor said so. We stop eating without personal expectations. We attend prayer, but we don't engage in prayer. Yes, we listen in, but our hearts are not IN the prayer.  We watch our mouths carefully for 21 days, but old habits are waiting.  The old language readily returns. When you honestly evaluate yourself and find things that impend lasting change, you must be willing to surrender your attachment or connection to those things. 

While churches may enter into corporate consecration, you must remember that consecration is a personal matter.  What are you holding on to that is shortening your change?  You are the only who can accurately and honestly assess your relationship with God.  You are the only one who truly knows what you need to release into his hands. Sometimes, you may not know what to give God or what to ask for. I encourage you to partake in search and surrender. 

I am personally asking God for new depth and new revelations. I want to know him better than I ever have.  And I want it all to last. I pray that as you search your heart and surrender wholly unto God, he will restore your faith, revive your determination, and strengthen your roots!

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 KJV

And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him Colossians 3:10 KJV

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 2Corinthians 13:5 KLV

Reaching the lost at any cost, 

Pastor Dr. Odie Kennedy

Photo Credit  Bjearwicke www.freeimages.com