Tag: choose

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Surrender…The Heart of Worship

The Manna Chef

Worship is loving God for who He is, not just for what He does for us.  1 John 4:19 reminds us that “we love God because He first loved us.”  God loved us before we were even conceived!  He showed his love for us when He allowed Jesus to come to earth and experience life the way we do.  And then, God sacrificed His Son just for us!  Romans 5:8 says, “God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”  God loved us before we even accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior.  Jesus didn’t wait for us to “get life right.”  He loved us so much that He became the most perfect sacrifice. 

How many of you know that love is an action word?  Our worship to our Heavenly Father should actually demonstrate love, and it should be active; at the heart of that worship is surrender.  Surrendering to the Lord’s will should be our response to His amazing love and mercy.

But what does it mean to surrender?  First of all, surrendering means admitting our limitations.  Romans 7:18a says, “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.”  We have to realize that without God we cannot do anything.  We have to relinquish that desire to always be in control.  As a matter of fact, the desire to control is the oldest temptation.  When the serpent deceived Eve, he appealed to her desire to be in control.

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Lay It Aside

The Manna Chef

One morning, God gave me a deeper revelation about me.  I’m sure many of you can relate, so I thought I’d share with you.  In an attempt to get some exercise early in the morning, I sometimes take the stairs instead of the elevator before heading into my office.  (I park on the bottom floor of the garage, so I take several flights of stairs.)  For some reason, I had so much to carry that particular day: my purse; my work bag, which was heavier for some reason; my lunch bag; my large water bottle; and my large umbrella.  I immediately thought, “Why do I have so much to carry today?” 

I gathered my things and locked the car.  As I approached the stairwell, I was met with my first dilemma of the day: do I forego the stairs and take the elevator, or do I press through and take the stairs with all this stuff I’m carrying today?  Sister, you know what I chose, don’t you?  I took the stairs.

When I reached the half-way point, I began to get a little winded.  The thing is, ordinarily I would have moved up those stairs quickly, but not that day.  I was barely holding on to all my stuff.  Did you get that?  I was barely holding on to all my stuff.  By the time I finally reached the top floor, I was silently reciting a part Hebrews 12:1:

…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.  

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The First Pick

The Manna Chef

This morning, I had an opportunity to reminisce about my childhood days, when we played outside all day—literally.  We played all kinds of games, and we danced, sang, and giggled all day long, too.  Oh, those really were the days!  I thought about the team sports in which we competed, including baseball, kickball, and our world-famous relay races.  (Okay, they weren’t actually world famous, but at the time, we thought they were.) 

The team captains were usually the most athletic in the bunch.  There was such a feeling of respect when you were the team captain, but there was also a sense of pride in being the team captain’s first pick.  As opposing captains selected their teammates one after the other, the process sometimes became painful as the captains reached the last pick for each team.  Awkwardness grew when the first team captain (admittedly, sometimes me) would apologetically get to their last pick, and the other captain would, by default, receive the least athletic kid on their team.  Sometimes the process was brutal.

To anyone who endured that experience as the last choice, forgive me if I’ve brought up a painful memory.  I painted that particular picture because we often choose God that way—dead last.  We go to every option before it even occurs to us to seek Him.  I’m not sure if we even realize it throughout an ordinary day, but we choose Him last quite often.

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The Dinner Party

The Manna Chef

Picture it.  We’re all out to dinner at this amazing restaurant.  We take our seats and begin to fellowship.  Laughter fills the room as old friends connect, new friendships form, and everyone enjoys the evening.  All of a sudden, the host of the evening stands and announces, “Hello, everyone!  Tonight, order whatever you want because I am covering the bill today.”  Everyone cheers and begins to review the menu options.  And each person orders her favorite appetizer, entrée (with salad and sides), drink, and dessert. 

Can you picture that scene?  You are free to order whatever you want.  Now, the sister with the high cholesterol knows that she shouldn’t order anything too salty, but today she cannot resist.  The sister who is lactose intolerant knows she can’t have dairy, but that ice cream is calling her name.  The sister with high blood pressure knows that eating pork makes her sick, but hey, it’s a special occasion.  The sister watching her weight knows that she should not eat that huge slice of cheesecake, but that’s her kryptonite.  Another sister orders lots of cocktails because she’s not driving, so who cares that she’s had five of them?

You get the picture, right?

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Choose Your Words Carefully (Watch Your Mouth!)

The Manna Chef

You know what?  I don’t think we realize sometimes just how much we can influence those around us.  What we say is important and so are our actions.  Sister, you have the ability to change the environment around you, probably more than you think.  This thing is, that works both ways.  You can bring life and progress or you can bring death and chaos:  all from what comes from your mouth.  We know that “death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”  (Proverbs 18:21 NKJV)  But today, I want to share with you a moment when a woman’s very words changed the course of the exodus of the children of Israel.  (Her words affected everyone.)

In Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron began to criticize Moses because he married a Cushite (Ethiopian) woman.  (Have you made a choice that others didn’t approve?)  They began to grumble, asking “Does God only speak to Moses?  Hasn’t He spoken through us, too?”  In other words, “He’s not the only one God speaks to.  God speaks to us, too.  Moses isn’t so special.”  First of all, be careful when you even begin to have thoughts about criticizing God’s people!  (As my mother would say, “Keep your mouth off of them!”)   And don’t compare your ability/anointing/gifts to anyone else.  God will use whomever He chooses to use in the capacity in which He chooses to use them.  Who are we to complain or criticize?  And instead of just criticizing others’ choices, we should spend a little more time praying for God’s people, His protection, His wisdom, and ultimately, His will.

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