ROADBLOCKS

Over the past two Sundays we have been discussing some Roadblocks that keep us from growing to maturity in Christ. The first week we discussed the roadblock of bitterness, or the roadblock of the past. This past Sunday we discussed the roadblock of fear, or the roadblock of the future. We saw that the "cure" for these roadblocks, or spiritual inhibitors, were the responses of forgiveness and faith, respectively.

I was reading this past week in John Ortberg's book The Me I Want to Be. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it. He states, "Jesus does not come to rearrange the outside of our life the way we want. He comes to rearrange the inside of our life the way God wants." What a powerful statement!

For such a transformation to occur (and at the heart of discipleship is the concept of transformation) something intentional has to happen. I mentioned a few weeks ago a quote by Pastor Pete Wilson from his book Empty Promises. Pete states, "Jesus did not come to edit our behavior. He came to transform our hearts." At the core of the transformational process is the concept of surrender.

Psalm 51:16-17 (ESV) states, "For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;  you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."


Ortberg states, "There is no way for a human being to come to God that does not involve surrender." 


Surrender is a multi-faceted concept. It involves faith, trust, humility, and obedience. Though multi-faceted, surrender is not complicated. Ortberg says, "Surrender is the glad and voluntary acknowledgement that there is a God and it is not me...His purposes are often wiser and better than our desires. In surrender, I let go of my life...I take myself out of the center of the universe and place God there. I yield to Him. I offer obedience. I do what He says. I am not driving anymore." 


As we yield our lives to the goodness and grace of God, we will experience peace, victory, power, and purpose, all the things we have been striving for in our own power and by our own will, yet have fallen woefully short in achieving. Once we surrender to the Lordship of Christ in our lives, our purposes and will find themselves transformed in desiring His purposes and will accomplished in, through, and around us. 


As a result, we are no longer held captive to the memories of past mistakes, the pain of a current circumstance, or the uncertainty of the future. Ortberg states, "When I surrender, I don't just let go of my will, I also give up the idea that I am in charge of the outcomes."When we surrender, we can live out the truth of what it means to "humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,  casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV). 


What is keeping you from surrendering an area of your life to Christ today? Will you surrender it to God  asking Him to transform you more into the image of His Son? He is waiting. Will you surrender? 


Also... check out the song "White Flag" from the new Passsion CD by the same name. You can download it from itunes as well as the first two messages from the Roadblocks series. Just search "Passion" and "Fayetteville First Baptist" in itunes.