Devotional Song: ... Go to this link … Please take the time to take in a video of the group Hillsong leading in worship, singing … I Surrender, … reminding all Christians of the saving and sanctifying grace which comes when we surrender completely to God’s will and His way; … and THEN TO THIS LINK to hear CeCe Winans singing the classic old hymn, I Surrender All …
Highlight Passage John 4: 28-29 [NKJV] …
28 The woman then left her water-pots, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
… The Samaritan woman was willing to leave here water pots behind because she had surrendered to Christ and had found His living water.
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Highlight Context - John 4: 9-14, 27-29 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
… God reminds us of His everlasting and reviving truth - HIS WORD - which brings life to all who use it for God’s purposes
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Reference Passage #1 - Matthew 4: 18-22 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK -
… The fishermen, when called by Jesus, surrendered their way of life to come and follow Him.
Reference Passage #2 - Luke 18: 18-23 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK -
… The Rich Young Ruler was unable to surrender to Christ and went away doomed by his own selfishness.
Reference Passage #3 - Acts 1: 8 [NKJV] …
8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
… It was not until Christ rose into heaven that the Disciples discovered the power which was to come upon believers through their surrender to God’s Spirit
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Cindy Hess Kasper, takes her readers [me] to the story in John, Chapter 4 of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well; and we read of how this woman, saved by her surrender to the Stranger whom she believed to be the Messiah brought her salvation when she was willing to lay aside here water pots and receive Christ’s living waters.
In much the same way, earlier in time (see Matthew 4: 18-23, linked above), Christ had called out four of His 12 disciples by the sea, the fishermen; and they were willing to surrender all - even their livelihood as fishermen - to follow Jesus. But it was not until over three years later, when Jesus ascended into Heaven after the resurrection, that they were able to see the power which would come to them via God’s Spirit through their surrender to follow Christ [see Acts 1: 8].
And in contrast there is the tragic story (linked above in Luke 18: 18-23) of the so-called “Rich Young Ruler,” who came to Jesus, asking The Lord how he could be saved. And Jesus, recognizing the one part of this young man’s life which impeded his salvation, told him that he must surrender ALL his wealth and follow Jesus; but the young man was unwilling to do so and parted in tragic lostness.
All of this begs the question, have we been willing, in our hearts, to surrender our all to our Lord, as the group Hillsong or CeCe Winans sing above in the linked songs? Because if we are, and we’re willing to follow Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we will be witnesses to Him now and for eternity. Our surrender is our power from God’s Spirit; so I pray we all are surrendered and following our Lord today.
My Prayer for Today … O Lord, … I surrender all. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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