Daily Berry Patch Devotions in 2013 - Day 243
Devotional Song: Go to this link ...
PLEASE use this link and take in this touching old hymn, sung at a Vineyard Fellowship … I Surrender All, capturing the essence of true repentance … i.e., being in TOTAL surrender to our Savior and Lord.
Highlight meditation passage – 2nd Corinthians 7: 10 [NLT]: …
10 For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.
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Highlight reading study #1 of 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 7: Go to this link …
Reference Passage #1: Matthew 4: 17 [Jesus followed what John The Baptist had been preaching with The Messiah’s own message on repentance.] … [NLT] …
17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
Reference Passage #2: Romans 7: 14-15 [Paul recognized how difficult it can be to be in total surrender to His Lord.] … [NLT] …
14 So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. 15 I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it.
My Journal for Today: Before you read my journal entry, if you’re meditating with me here, please use the link above and take in the devotional song which touched my heart so deeply this morning, … especially the lyrics written by Judson Van DeVenter in 1896 which are found in almost every hymnal and sung even by contemporary worshipers and singers today.
All to Jesus, I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
Refrain:
I surrender all,
I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
Repentance, and I mean “real-deal” repentance, may be one of the toughest things for humans to do because it takes what my hymn today sings about … and that is total surrender of self to The Savior.
Before one can be saved by a merciful and loving Savior, one must be willing – in faith – to surrender one’s will to that of a loving God who so desires to pour out His saving grace into anyone who is willing to humbly receive His merciful and eternal gift. However, to be able to receive the gift Jesus came to earth as the God-man to offer, one has to recognize that he/she is a sinner, repent of that sinfulness, and confess their need of a Savior – THE One and only Savior (see Romans 10: 9-13 ... linked here).
Now, I’m assuming that anyone reading here has done that (but assumptions can be fool hardy; so, if you’re not sure of your eternal salvation, feel free to contact me via email – billb13@bellsouth.net – and we can discuss the matter). However, if you know you’re saved, do you, as do I as a born-again Christian, often find yourself being unwilling to repent of your own convicted sinfulness or rebellion against God?
The Apostle Paul even recognized this strong human tendency in himself… i.e., to hold on to our selfishness and our unwillingness to surrender to God’s law of love (see the Romans 7: 14-15 reference above).
But, … oh how God wants to pour out His enriching, enabling, and empowering grace in our lives, giving us the ability to reflect all of the fruitfulness God wrote about through Paul in Galatians 5: 22-23. However, we foolish and sin-bearing creatures, so often desire to hold on to the fruit of the flesh Paul also wrote about in Galatians 5: 19-21. Common; admit it!! This repentance deal is tough, isn't it?
Surrender all? … Ouch!!! … Are we going to be able to do that today? … If we do, Godly fruitfulness will be our reward. … And if we cannot fully repent and receive God’s grace of forgiveness, we will languish in the darkness of our own selfishness. I pray for the former and for us to be cleansed from the latter.
My Prayer for Today … Oh, Lord, help us to see our sinfulness clearly so that we can confess it and receive your cleansing grace. … Amen
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