Daily Surrender

In our journey with Jesus we must recognise that surrender is required for us to live our new lives, and this surrender isn't us surrendering to defeat but instead it is surrendering to God's will direction and purpose for your life. 

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Happy Monday, everyone. Happy new week. Happy new day. Welcome to the I'm Saved Now What podcast. I am Jaavonne Taylor. If this is your first time, welcome, welcome, welcome. I am so happy to have you here. And if you have become a member of the I'm Saved Now What family, welcome back. Guys, I'm so excited to have you here with me on this journey. Last week's episode, we spoke about transition and we looked at the purpose of transition and the fact that transitions aren't meant to be permanent places of residence, but instead, they are meant to be places we pass through. Unfortunately, some of us don't get the memo and we get stuck in transition. Remember, we determine how long we stay in that transition. And sometimes because of resistance, because of rebellion, because of disobedience and doubt, guys, sometimes we get stuck. Like the Israelites, they got stuck for 40 years in a place that was supposed to be temporary. They got stuck. Some of the adults, like I said last week, some of the adults got stuck in a place that they were supposed to be passing through and missed their inheritance. Anyways, I'm not gonna stay much about this because we have a whole episode. So if you missed last week's episode on transitions, I encourage you to go and give it a listen. On today's episode, we are going to talk about daily surrender. That's our episode today. We're gonna explore what this means and what it actually looks like to walk it out in our lives. Our entire Christian faith represents surrender. I mean, you can't expect to be truly living for Christ if surrender has not now become embedded in your DNA. The same way we can't breathe without oxygen is the same way that we cannot be true Christians without surrender to Christ. This surrender I'm talking about in your life, it began the moment you became aware and then acknowledged that you were incomplete on your own and needed Christ to truly live. The moment when you first recognized that despite your best efforts, you can't do this on your own and you embarked on your salvation journey. You see, that moment when you realize you need Jesus, that was the first moment that you recognized that surrender was going to be a part of your story. But if you're still not clear, not to worry, I'm gonna jump right into the definition what surrender is. Vocabulary.com defines surrender as giving up control, possession, or resistance to someone or something else. Often accepted in culture as a sign of weakness. However, in the Bible and in your journey with Jesus, you will realize that surrender isn't weakness, but instead it is true strength. The act of relinquishing your own will, desires, and control to embrace God's perfect will and purpose for you. An act of surrender to God represents an act of trust and worship, marking the moment you stop relying on your own strength and instead submitting to God's ultimate authority as Lord of your life. Interestingly, the actual word surrender is not the word that is going to jump out at you when you read the Bible. Based on my research, the exact word surrender isn't actually present in most translations. But what I will tell you is that although you don't see the word surrender, you do see surrender as cousins. So, like the word submit, and we see that in James 4.7, where the Bible says, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee. In Galatians 2.20, we see no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In Matthew 16, 24, we see the the phrase deny yourself. In Romans 12:1, we say living sacrifice, not my will, but your will be done, we see in Luke 22, 42. And I could give you many other illustrations. But what I want you to recognize that even though the word surrender is absent, surrender is one of the central pillars in our journey with Jesus, and we will not make it in our journey without it. So, confession time. If I am being really honest, surrender and all of her cousins, like submit, let go, release control, deny yourself, living sacrifice, all of these words. They were like trigger words for me. Yeah, the very sound of them made me freeze. I would legit jump into defense mode and I'll be like, yo, hold up. What do you mean? I felt like every time I heard any of these words, I was under attack. Because I associated these words with culture, and how culture defined these words did not come from a good place. It was almost like you were yielding to defeat and captivity, and it was like giving up. And my mind at the time was wired to interpret surrender and all its synonyms and cousins in that way. So it was not until I embarked on this journey that I recognized that I had to start renewing my mindset regarding surrender. And in that renewal came the revelation that in submitting or in surrendering to God, I wasn't giving in to defeat or losing anything, but instead, I was gaining all I ever truly needed. You know what's funny? The world will try and convince you that living this Christian life stifles you and surrendering to God limits you and your freedom. But hear me clearly when I say this. True freedom is found in living your life surrendered to God. Nothing this world offers you compares to living a life surrendered to God. Because you know, sometimes we need to look at it from two different perspectives. So the KJV says, then Jesus said unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? The NLT, although similar, says it says it this way. Then Jesus said to his disciples, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way. Take up your cross and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? I'm gonna pause for a couple of seconds just for us to let that sink for a minute. Jesus says, Is anything worth more than your soul? And what I like about this scripture is that Jesus literally tells us that in order to follow me, like truly follow me, you must give up your own way. You see, we have to remember that before we came to Christ, the ways that we were accustomed to living, the ways we were accustomed to doing things, operating thinking were the ways of the world. We were operating under the world system. Some of us may even have lived, you know, been living under the laws of other religions. So we have come to Christ and Christ is giving us a fresh perspective. He's saying, let go of those ways. You must give up your own way. You must give up your own way to follow my way. Remember, salvation, receiving Jesus was not just a public spectacle, it is a transformation. Your entire life has to shift. Remember that scripture that says you're in the world but not off it? Yeah. That's what we're looking at today. Now, let me just be completely honest before our second, right? So the very, very, very first time I heard this scripture, like especially the first part, because I think the what does it profit a man part, I would have heard it before. Actually, the first time I heard that song was in a that that scripture was in an R. Kelly song, but anyways, let me not go down that road. But when I heard the first part, that if anyone, you know, wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me, I thought it sounded like complete madness. Of course, at the time I wasn't yet saved, so this entire line just sounded like craziness to me. Like, why on earth would I take up a cross? As far as I understand it, Jesus already did that. So what do you want of me? And why would I agree to go and take up a cross? I actually remember the conversation. I was sitting in my co-worker's office listening to them talk about it, and I was just looking at them in complete disbelief. They sounded happier talking about the scripture. Meanwhile, I'm here thinking they have lost it. But the truth was, they were believers, and I was in the world, so I could not comprehend what on earth they were saying. Essentially, they were trying to convince me that to lose is to gain, and that denying myself and taking up my cross was a necessity to living truly. But honestly, that was absolute nonsense, I thought, and it was contrary to everything that I had learned in life. But that was exactly the point. The language of the kingdom differs entirely from the language of the world, and so without the enlightenment of salvation, I was in complete darkness, and so for me, what they were saying, what the scripture sounded like to me, seemed like insanity. Why on earth would I deny myself? Why would I deprive myself of luxuries and the things I wanted, you know, to instead suffer when I deserve good things? And why would Jesus, who according to Christianity, is supposed to be good, why would Jesus ask me to do that? Why would Jesus ask me to suffer? That makes no sense, and for a long time that is what I believed. But oh my gosh, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus, for delivering me out of darkness into your eternal light. Because praise God, I don't think like that anymore. So after giving my life to Christ, I slowly started to understand what denying myself meant, and also slowly, like let me emphasize this slowly, right? Slowly started to surrender. But today's episode is important because we have to emphasize that surrender is not a one-time thing, and it most certainly isn't an easy thing, it is hard, but it is a daily requirement in the Christian walk. And you may ask, why is surrender required daily? I already said yes to Jesus. What more does he want from me? But can you really ask that when somebody died for you? When someone who didn't have to die took on your shame and your scars and your sins? Like, you may want to think twice before we ask that question. But one thing I love about God, God is not intimidated by your questions. So even if that is your question, go ahead and ask. But God, God requires us to surrender daily. And my view is simply this. I said, I mean, we bathe daily, we eat daily, and we live daily. In order to be sustained on a daily basis, there are things that we are required to do. I mean, if we don't bathe, oh Jesus. Well, we know, we we know what will happen. Because unfortunately, sometimes we may interact with persons who are not so hygienic, right? If we don't eat daily, we know what will happen. So if we're not surrendered daily, what is going to happen? We were in the world before. We live in the world. If we are not surrendering to God daily, then the very world that we were send here to illuminate the darkness will overtake us. And so we need to ensure that daily we are surrendering and submitting our lives to God. Surrender must be a daily endeavor. To deny self is to turn the other cheek, to deny self is to forgive someone, to deny self is to fast, to deny self is to pay tithes, to deny self is to love your enemy, to deny yourself is surrender. This list I just mentioned is in no way exhaustive. The greatest illustration of surrender lies in the life of Jesus, the most perfect human being to walk this planet, and yet he died in the most horrific manner to save us. Death, dying to oneself, is an essential ingredient in your journey with Jesus, and anyone who tells you otherwise is under the influence of Satan. Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise is lying to you. You cannot truly live for Christ if you have not died to yourself. So, what is the scripture saying? What is the scripture requiring you to do? Some people actually regard this passage as one of Jesus's clearest teachings about what it means to truly follow him. It's not primarily about physical suffering, although it alludes to it, but it's about surrender, priorities, and the eternal perspective. In verse 24, Jesus gives three requirements. It doesn't mean that you stop having a personality or you never enjoy life, but it means God's will becomes more important than your own. Especially if those desires that you have conflict with those of the Lord's. You move from asking, What do I want? to instead saying, What does God require of me? Take up your cross. Taking up your cross is a daily commitment to live faithfully, regardless of the cost. The cross is a symbol of execution and death. Taking up your cross means being willing to die to your old life, being willing to die to pride, your sinful desires, and even endure rejection and pain or suffering if it comes to it because you're following Christ. Being willing to lose it all for the glory of God, being willing to risk it all. And when I mean all, I mean all withholding nothing. That's the song that just popped up in my spirit a while ago. Withholding absolutely nothing. Right? We're taking up our cross. We are recognizing that, yeah, choosing this life, we're gonna gain some enemies. We're gonna be shining lights into dark crevices and corners, and people are gonna get upset. People are going to get uncomfortable about what you have to say. Instead of swallowing the truth, you're gonna speak it boldly, and it's gonna make a lot of people uncomfortable, yeah, dying to self-that's taking up your cross. Following him, he says, Don't just know facts about me, trust me, obey me, become more like me, enter into relationship with me, enter into fellowship and communion with me. That's what Jesus is saying in all of this, and at verse 25, we see him, we see Jesus explaining why what he said in verse 24 was important. You see, we might say that the scripture seems a bit paradoxical, but what Jesus is essentially telling you is that if your life's goal is self-preservation, comfort, wealth, status, or doing only what pleases you, you will ultimately lose what matters most. But if you are willing to surrender your life to Christ, even sacrificing your own ambitions for his kingdom, you gain eternal life and a life with deeper purpose, meaning, and value. You see, many of us are out of alignment with who God has truly called us to be because the world has dictated what success looks like. And so many of us are in jobs that we're not called to be in. Many of us are in places that God never told us to live in. Many of us are in relationships with people that the Lord has not sanctioned, and it's time for us to surrender. It's time for us to go on our knees and ask, God, God, I repent. God, save me, God. I want to surrender. It's time for us to ask, God, God, how do you want me to live? Yes, according to the world, this is what is supposed to be done, but according to you, am I in the right place? Am I in the right position? All of us in the kingdom have a purpose, and not everyone will be pastors, not everyone will be CEOs, not everyone will be singers or musicians or whatever. But the reality is that all of us in the kingdom serve a purpose, and if you are out of alignment, if you are out of position, it is causing a problem in the kingdom, and our part of surrender is going before the Lord and saying, God, put me where you want me to be. Help me not to be chasing the success of the world and instead losing my purpose and value in your hands. Verse 26, the one that many of us can quote, it comes in the form of a rhetorical question, and it really reveals to us the cost of our selfish desire. The cost of choosing you over choosing Christ. It says you will gain the whole world, but you will lose your soul. You will lose your soul, you will lose your inheritance in heaven, you will miss your purpose on earth, you will be consumed by your own desires that will only lead you to death and destruction. And for me, I think it ties it all together and it forces us to consider our priorities in life. So my question for you before I move on is this do you think chasing after your own desires is worth losing your soul? And in your daily walk, do an audit. Are you chasing after the desires of God or are you chasing your own desires? The answer to that will assist you in determining whether you are living a daily life of surrender. You see, it's easy to fall off track, you know. We live in a generation of overindulgence and instant gratification. Once you have the means and the access, it's like there is no limit or restraint. We do what we want, we eat what we want, drink what we want, say what we want, behave how we want, show up when we want, how we want. Many of us do this without the slightest regard for who will be affected by our decisions or what will be affected by our decisions. And we do it because, well, it makes us feel empowered, it makes us feel good, and we feel happy. And many of us, it is our happiness that counts. And if that is how you are thinking, it means that you're living a life for you and not a life for God. So we have to be very cautious. Be careful of how much we overindulge. As a matter of fact, I'll say be careful how much we indulge. Because indulgence is pleasure, it will kill you, it will punish you. I believe that we can agree that we are living in a generation where the focus is on self. Even us as Christians sometimes get caught up in this, we struggle with it because remember, we are in the world, and that's the culture of the world. So if we are not making deliberate effort to live the culture of the kingdom, we are going to get caught up in the culture of the world. Now, please don't misunderstand what I'm saying. There isn't anything wrong with taking care of yourself and loving yourself because the scripture actually tells us that we are to love ourselves, but at the same time, it shows us how we are supposed to do it. You are not supposed to love yourself above anybody else. You're certainly not supposed to love yourself above God. The scripture in Matthew 22, 37 to 40 says it this way. And I'm reading from the NKJV, the New King James Version. Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Now look at the equation. God is at the beginning. That is where love begins. And if you know scripture, you know there's a scripture that says, God is love. God is at the top and must remain there. Then the love flows from him to you and from you back to him. So we're maintaining that relationship. We're putting God above all, and we are exalting him there, and we are maintaining that relationship. And then from that, we then move on to loving ourselves. We are loving ourselves, and then the love that you have for yourself, you then extend that same love to your neighbor. It's not a lesser love than the one that you have for yourself. You extend the same love that you have for yourself to your neighbor. The problem is that many of us distort this equation. And for the purposes of this episode, I'm gonna just focus on when we sometimes put ourselves above God accordingly, and we have we make an idol out of ourselves, which is extremely dangerous, and that is why for some of us, self has become enthroned above God, and we have to repent from this, we have to repent from it and turn back to God. We have to repent from this and surrender to God. We have to return God to his rightful place as the top. Trust me, I get it. Sometimes it's not intentional, you don't do it deliberately, but God had to clock me on this, you know. God had to clock me on it because sometimes it comes very subtly for us. Sometimes we are caring more about how we are perceived by others instead of doing what God told us to do, and that's just one illustration. Sometimes God tells you to go to that person and tell them something, but in your mind the thing sounds so weird, so you're not going to say it. What did you just do? You put yourself above the instruction of God, you put your love for self. No, no, mm-mm. No, I nobody can look at me like that. Oh no, Lord, I'm sorry. It's like huh, but we do it. Look at even Judas. Now, this may be a little off track, but I want you to bear with me. I read a commentary once and it said that Judas thought that Jesus was not operating in the manner he ought to. I mean, Jesus is a king, right? But he wasn't starting wars or making the Romans pay or doing what wasn't doing what Judas believed he ought to have done as a king. So Judas decided that he knew more than Jesus, that he knew better than Jesus. And this is why he orchestrated the scheme of betrayal with the hopes of forces forcing Jesus' hand, so to speak. He was trying to get Jesus to operate in the way he thought was right. But we all know how that story ended up, right? But the reason I bring up this story is that I wanted to highlight something. If we don't surrender ourselves to God's lordship, we are likely to develop characteristics of Judas. Judas's issue wasn't that he did not know Jesus, he knew him, he was following him, he was with him. His issue was that he didn't fully surrender his mind to Christ. His mind was still submitted to logic and human understanding over the word of God. Now, I don't know who that is for, but I believe it is for someone on this episode. You remember that scripture in Proverbs 3, 5 to 6, it says, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, submit to him, and he shall direct your path. Don't allow your logical way of thinking prohibit you from your surrender. Don't allow how you think to keep you in bondage. You've agreed that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. You've believed that He is Lord in your heart. But there are things that He does that you're trying to understand, but you can't understand. And because of that, you're saying this doesn't make sense. Newsflash. God doesn't make sense. God is God. His thoughts are not our thoughts, his ways are not our ways. Our requirement, what he requires of us is to humbly surrender ourselves to his will, to recognize that he is Lord, he is king, he is sovereign, he is ruler. And so what he says, it doesn't matter if I don't get it, I'm going to obey it. I'm going to trust it. I am going to trust it when I can't see it. I'm going to trust it when it is completely illogical. The beauty of this journey for me most of the time is the fact that I can't even, I can't study God enough. Like in a sense that I can study his word, but I can't predict what he's going to do. And that's what I mean when I say I can't study God. I cannot predict his outcome. I cannot predict what he's going to do next. I know he's faithful. I know he's loving. I know he's gracious. I know he's merciful. I cannot predict how he is going to do something. Even when God tells you that you are going to be elevated or promoted or whatever, how he does it, you cannot, you cannot predict him. So don't allow logic to get in the way of your surrender. I will say it again. True freedom in this life is on the other side of your surrender to God. The thing about surrender too is that it's more than just going to church every Sunday, saying your prayers every morning and every night, and reading your word. These are fundamental parts of it, but it goes much deeper than that. Sometimes surrender looks like giving money to a stranger. It could be keeping silent instead of opening your mouth to defend yourself. It could be continuing in an uncomfortable situation because God told you to do so. Walking away from what seems like prosperity into a less than ideal situation. It may be coming to the aid of the very person who hurt you and has not told you sorry. Yeah. At the core of surrender is always obedience to God. And even if it makes you uncomfortable, just know it is about God's will being done. Our lives are a daily expression of God's grace and mercy and goodness. And I actually believe that we are to live our lives one day at a time. Many of us plan 5, 10, 15, 20 years in advance. I'm not telling you not to plan. Planning is good. But in essence, the day that we wake up is the day that we know we have. You know, we don't even know if we have the full day. But my thing is that we are to live every day. We are to fulfill God's purpose and mandate every day, right? Every day you should endeavor to live a life surrendered to God, releasing control and trusting that the God who woke you up this morning already has his plans for you for that day. And once you truly seek him, he will reveal it. What your surrender of today looks like may differ from your surrender of tomorrow. So I will say don't get tied to any particular act as evidence of your surrender, but instead know that living a life surrender to God is not just about the action, it is about your heart's posture, being in alignment, and your willingness to do God's will. So it's not about any specific action. No two days are the same. So God may ask you to do this today, and that is your surrender, and tomorrow He may ask you to do something completely different. So it's not about the action, it is about your heart. It is about the posture of your heart and your obedience to God. I mean, sometimes your surrender can be as simple as not buying that second cup of coffee. It could be something like, you know what? I'm not gonna I'm gonna stop paying for Netflix and Prime and instead I'm gonna donate that money to charity. Right? It could be something like the same time that I would spend watching Netflix and Prime, I instead go and read my word. You know, like there are little things. Surrender can be big, surrender can be small. Some people, when I listen to their stories, they say some seasons the Lord calls them to give up a particular food. You know, he calls them to leave cities and stuff. But yeah, surrender is a different thing. But what you do every day when you wake up is open your mouth and declare that God, I am living today, surrendered to you. You open your mouth and say the words, not my will, but your will be done. Lord, I commit this day into your hands. I commit my mind, my body, my spirit, my soul into your hands. And God, order my day, order my steps. Yeah. Daily surrender starts with you listening to and obeying the voice of God. And once you have accepted that, you are well on your way to living a life of daily surrender. So I hope today's episode assisted you in your journey. It really helped to open my eyes with certain things. Certainly did. You know, this life with Jesus is is beautiful, but a lot is required of us. A lot. But the lot the a lot that we look at pales into comparison to what the Lord has already done, is doing, and will continue to do. Obedience is what the Lord wants. Obedience. Obedience is that key ingredient in your life of surrender. Before we go, you know I am going to pray. Holy Spirit, most righteous and heavenly Father, Lord, thank you so much for this day. Thank you, Lord, for your sons and daughters who have faithfully showed up to listen to you speak on this topic of daily surrender. Lord, we thank you for every son and every daughter, regardless of where they are located in the world. We are grateful. I am grateful, Holy Spirit, that they are here listening. Lord, I decree and declare that they commit their days into your hands. God, that they surrender to you daily. They commit their minds, their bodies, their spirits, their soul, God, their language, their brain, every fiber and aspect of their lives. They commit it and submit it to you daily. God, that they walk with you daily, that they follow you daily, that they live, breathe, eat, sleep, walk, talk for Jesus. And God, it's not performative, but it's surrendered. God, it's a life surrendered unto you. It is a life surrendered unto you, Lord. God, I pray for them as they navigate their journeys, as they operate in their different spheres, in their different offices, in their different vocations, in their different geographical locations. God, I pray for the supernatural covering over their lives. God, I pray that you would, mighty God, just cover them in their going out and in their coming in. You protect them from harm, Lord God. And God, even when they're going through challenging times, even when their surrender lands them in really difficult places, difficult, challenging spaces, God, they will not give in, but they will know that this is a part of their surrender. The pain was a part of their surrender, God. That they are denying themselves, but in the denial of themselves, they are serving you and they are gaining eternal life. God, they're doing it for the kingdom. Help them to know, Lord, that kingdom culture is contrary to the way of the world. It is contrary to the way of the world. They cannot look to the world to assist them in living out this faith walk. They cannot look to the world. They have to look to Jesus. Lord, as we deny ourselves, because I am not exempt from this. As we deny ourselves, as we take up our crosses and follow you, Lord, God, we pray that you will continue to guide us and protect us. Lord, I pray for the peace that surpasseth all understanding to be on them. I pray for those who are struggling to release logic, to release logic now, in Jesus' name. That the ones who are holding on to logic, I pray that they realize that they're missing their miracles because they're trying to understand what it is. And it's just God loving you. It's just God being good to you. It's just God being gracious unto you. That's what it is. There's no other explanation. Father, I am grateful for what you have done in the lives of your sons and daughters. God, I am grateful that they are walking and surrendering to you daily. That they're committing to do your will, God, that they're letting go of self above you, and they are putting you back in your rightful position, Lord. That God, they are repenting for putting themselves above you, God. Thank you, Father, for all you have done, all you are doing, and all you are going to do. We give you thanks both now and forevermore. We have made it to the end of episode number nine. Yes, you heard me. Episode nine. Thank you so very much for joining us. And until next week, yes, the last episode, episode 10. I am Jaavonne Taylor, and this is I'm Saved Now What. Bye.