Submitting did not come as easy to me as I thought. I did not know what it truly meant to surrender to God until I searched the bible. God spoke clear to me one night when I was in Atlanta. I had a few restless nights prior to waking up that night at 4am. After talking to some friends about this experience, they recommended that I pray during this time because God is trying to get my attention. I told myself if it happened again, I would pray and listen for God to speak. So, as I was praying, I heard God say submit. I was surprised at his response, but I knew it was necessary in my walk with Christ. So, in the next few weeks I started thinking about ways to submit to God. And what I realized is that submitting means surrendering your will for God’s will. It is not circumstantial, you must submit everything – mind, body, soul, heart, thoughts, habits, words, actions, anything, and all of what you do. In 1 Peter 5:6-7 NKJV, Peter tells us, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” There were a few things that I did not want to submit because I was so used to controlling them. However, I had to let go of these things because I trusted God to work them out for my good according to his purpose. Among these were my personal relationships with family members, my job, and my habits. The more I started submitting all these things to God, the easier it was for me to accept His will as my own and give him control over my life. Let us face it, we all want to control the things and people in our life to a certain extent. I think this is our human nature, but until we know how to fully accept the will of God, we will keep falling short of His glory. Many things will happen out of our control, but you must believe that God will work it out, so do not work yourself up!
Commit and Submit Part I
Committing to a relationship with Jesus is a key component of your salvation. If you want to truly become his disciple, you must die to your flesh each day and be led by the Holy Spirit. Whether you are at this stage or not, it is going to come with a lot of sacrifice. You can no longer say and do the same things your use to. These are your fleshly desires, the things that cause you to sin. And sin separates us from God. Making this commitment will require you to change. Not many people like change, especially if it makes us uncomfortable but this kind of change is good and pleasing to the soul. Change is required for transformation. In Romans 12:2 NKJV, Paul reminds us, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” We must renew our minds daily because we are living in a world that tries its best to get us to conform to manmade rules and compromise our faith. We must spread truth and be a light to those around us who are living in the dark. God left it to us to choose eternal life or eternal damnation. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 NKJV). So I urge you to choose God’s wonderful gift, I am certain that nothing else will compare. Not money, not fame, not possessions, not people, not titles and not idols. Submitting your life to God means that you are exchanging your will for his. This means that you give up your way for His way. And this is harder than it sounds because we like to be in control but we must realize that God is in control and he is sovereign. He knows all things and he does not change his mind. He will deliver on his promises. I encourage you to believe in the plans He has for your life, continue to seek his kingdom and will walk in righteousness.
Relationship Vs Religion
I want to start by asking you to think. What comes to mind when you hear the word “relationship”? What about “religion”. Now, what’s the difference? How are they similar? Here’s what I think when I hear Relationship: love, family, friend, marriage, quality time, unite, faithful, connection, and foundation. Religion: beliefs, rules, law, Christianity, God, power, faith, church, religious groups, organized, principles, and system. I want to focus on what a real relationship with Jesus truly means and compare it to modern day Christianity. We know that Jesus made a huge sacrifice for us when he died for our sins. He paid the price so we could have an opportunity at eternal life with our Heavenly father. Jesus desires a relationship with each of us because he is the bridge to God. A relationship with Jesus is not only going to church every Sunday. It’s beyond that. Think of a relationship you’ve been in. Did you only encounter this person one to two days a week? Did you talk on the phone every day? Did you spend quality time with this person? Did you tell them that you loved them? Now think about your relationship with Jesus. How often do you pray? How much time during the week do you spend reading the word of God? What are you doing with your spiritual gifts, talents and abilities? Are you doing good works that glorify God? A relationship is a personal connection you have with someone and that connection is special and familiar. It’s not strange or confusing. It should feel safe and secure. It should always be growing and strengthen over time. The modern day “Christian” probably spends more time on social media than in their bible. Now I don’t have anything against social media. I appreciate it because it is a platform where you can reach multitudes, and allows you to connect with family and friends without having to see them face to face. But social media can also be a monster. It can hurt and ruin relationships, if we let it. The point I am trying to make is that some Christians today are missing the relationship aspect of their faith because they are so pre-occupied with life. You don’t have to fall into that category if you prioritize your relationship with Christ. Many of us will feel anxious or fall into depression because our spiritual life is lacking and we are in need of a special kind of love that can only be felt and given by the Holy Spirit. The word Christian means Christ-like. In the book of Acts, the disciples were going around teaching people about the Kingdom of God and baptizing them in the name of Jesus Christ. The first time the term Christian was used is also in the book of Acts, Chapter 11 specifically. The disciples were called Christians because they followed the teachings of Christ. Christianity is our religion and what we do as Christians is so much bigger than the religion itself. I encourage all my readers to keep perfecting their relationship with Jesus and continue to mature spiritually. God will always remain faithful even when we are not.
Jesus the True Vine:
John 15: 1-8 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you[b] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” NKJV.
Prayer
Philippians 4:6-7
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Prayer is powerful. It is our main source of communication with God. The best thing about prayer is that we can do it anytime and anywhere because God is omnipresent. He is with us wherever we go. When you pray you can use the model prayer that Jesus gave us in Matthew 6: 9-13, which is below if you want to read it. Each time I pray I make sure to give thanks to God and glorify his name and ask for forgiveness of my sins. What you pray for is completely up to you. I encourage you to be sincere in your prayers and to ask according to Gods will. And trust that he will answer in his own time. Whether his answer is yes, no, not now, or that he has something better, we have to accept what his will is for our lives. We cannot control how soon something will happen or how long it will happen but we can rest in God’s faithfulness. In 1 John 5: 14-15 NKJV he tells us, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask , we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him”. So do not give up! Keep on praying so that Gods will can be done. Believe it. Amen.
Matthew 6: 9-13 “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
Do you need someone to pray for you? Do you have prayer requests? Feel free to email me at iasetapart@gmail.com or message me on our Facebook page and we can pray together!
Welcome!
Dear Reader, God chose you !
My name is Bianca and it is such a pleasure to meet you! I pray that after you’ve spent some time here, I plant a seed or water those that already exist.