Total Surrender

Joh 13:13  Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

Joh 13:14  If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.

Joh 13:15  For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

Joh 13:16  Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

Joh 13:17  If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

Jesus said HAPPY are we when we SERVE OTHERS, NOT SELF.

Rom_14:22  Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth.

FAITH before GOD. Being able to NOT condemn ourselves before GOD in the things we do- these are those who are HAPPY.

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Jas 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

Enduring suffering, enduring affliction as all who are God's will do, WE count them as happy because they DID endure to the end, keeping their faith in God so that when the resurrection comes they will rise to meet their Christ in the air! Yes, we say they are happy because they ENDURED this life and all it's hardships. They did NOT go about their own business concerned primarily with their own happiness, they desired God's will above their own.

1Pe_3:14  But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled

SUFFERING for righteousness sake-- this is HAPPINESS!  Not giving into self serving sin!

1Pe_4:14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

REPROACHED for Christ- this is HAPPINESS. SERVING our SAVIOR!

Php_4:11  Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

Being content in CHRIST no matter what STATE we find ourselves in! 

1Ti_6:8  And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

Food and raiment- NOT RICHES- NOT personal pleasure- these things should make us content.

Heb_13:5  Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Content with what we have NOT coveting what we don't, this is what we should be.

Do you see the BIG picture here? We are to be happy in CHRIST our SAVIOR, NOT the things of this world. Yet we SCREAM that we deserve to be happy in so many things that aren't of Christ at all. We want happiness anyway we can find it and we'll do all sorts of things in search of that happiness. We'll live in the sins that give us happiness until we are so fully entrenched in self, that we never look to Christ.  Or, we'll tell ourselves Christ WANTS us to be happy. CHRIST wants us to do things that make us happy, He doesn't want us sad and we justify our self-serving desires.  I've done it! I know what I'm talking about! We convince ourselves that we must do the things we are tempted to do simply because they are our temptations and we are weak and can't help ourselves.  It's true, we can't save ourselves, but we sure shouldn't tell ourselves that we have to give into our temptations. We need to fight against our temptations and by fighting we must SURRENDER to Christ! We must surrender SELF to Christ!

We can't ask Christ to take all of us but this little piece that we want to cling to because we get pleasure from it no matter how fleeting that pleasure may be.

We must ask Christ to take ALL of us! To help us surrender ALL every last bit of who we are to Christ.

We must REPENT!

We must CONFESS!

We must SEEK FORGIVENESS!

And our desire has to be a total surrender to God's will.

We must desire our will be what God wills- ALWAYS in ALL things!

We must COME out of BABYLON- who holds all the temptations we could ever face.

Rev 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. 

Rev 18:2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. 

Rev 18:3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 

Rev 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. 

Rev 18:5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities

PLEASE FATHER we do NOT WANT to be partakers of the sins of Babylon! We do not want to receive the plagues of Babylon!  PLEASE save us from ourselves!

In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.