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Have you ever taken the time to meditate on Genesis 1:26? It tells us that we are made in the image of God. We’ve taught about this quite a bit in previous teachings and publications, so of course you know and understand that the Godhead is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Created in His image, you and I are spirit, soul, and body. All three parts of us must be submitted to God fully and faithfully, because Romans 12:1 tells us that the least we can do for all that God has done for us is to present our total beings to Him as a living sacrifice. God wants all of us. His desire is that His love is expressed in everything that we do and all that we are. So, we have to ask ourselves, what happens when we don’t do this? What happens when we keep part of ourselves from God?
First of all, it is important to know that many people do this. Even though they’ve become born again, they still withhold a part of themselves from God. A person that may not know the nature of Heavenly Father might think to themselves that since He is all powerful, He should just take from us all that He wants. This person’s thought process might be that the ends will justify the means. It is true that God knows our desire to live with prosperity, good health, and good relationships. He knows we all want wonderful blessings. He also knows that the surest way to have these blessings, and to carve out for ourselves a high-quality existence, is to do it through His love. So, someone might ask why wouldn’t He just come inside the sanctum of our inner beings and make us live by His love, so that we don’t have to worry about making costly mistakes?
The thought of never making mistakes sounds great! We’d never have to worry about problems like lack, broken relationships, or short lifespans. We’d have it made, but we know from our own personal experiences and from God’s Word that human beings make plenty mistakes and some of them are doozies. So, God has made one thing overwhelmingly clear, and it is that He has made this thing called free-will choice integral to the foundation of our being. We get to choose for ourselves, and with each choice and decision you and I make every day, we are affirming or denying our Christ identity.
Again, in Romans 12:1, God tells us to present ourselves before Him. WE are the ones to do the presenting. God has charged each of us with this responsibility and privilege. It’s up to us whether we will do it fully. It isn’t difficult to understand why He then tells us in the same chapter, in Romans 12:2(NKJV) “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.”
It’s no coincidence that immediately after He tells us to present ourselves to Him, that He warns us not to be conformed to this world. It’s a challenge for us. How often do we try and straddle the fence because the enemy convinces us that it is okay to do so? We want one foot in the world and one in the Kingdom, but a successful life in Christ is one where we are willing to give up everything for our Lord and Savior. We must be convinced that God deserves no less than all we can give.
Each of us has the distinct pleasure of proving “that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” The proving that you and I are responsible for doing comes by way of our actions. If God’s Word was not activated through our allegiance to it, we would miss the blessing it brings altogether. God confirms this in Romans 8:28(KJV) when He tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” The result of our aligning our will with God’s Word is the manifestation of wonderful blessings in our lives. We will not see the fullness of this unfold if we hold out on Heavenly Father.
What are some of the reasons why we would do this? One of them is that we get stuck in self-condemnation. There are many of us that have been dealing with the same sin-issues for many years. We know that God doesn’t want us to do those things, but the compulsion and pressure to do them feels like something we can’t get over. We have to remember that God tells us to make a presentation before Him. However we are, whatever we’re dealing with, He wants it all. Hebrews 11:6 affirms that faith is the key that opens the door, because when we come to Him, we must simply believe that HE IS, and that He is a Rewarder of those that diligently and earnestly seek Him.
God is looking for hearts that are humble enough to understand that He’s Jehovah Rapha, the Great Healer. 2Chronicles 16:9 (NLT), tells us “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” God will do the work that needs to be done within us. He’ll strengthen where we’re weak and build us up where we’re torn down, but we are not without a part to play. Our wills come centerstage in this presentation, and this tells us that God is looking for a heart that is willing to allow Him full access.
This is the question that we must ask ourselves daily, are we giving ourselves totally to God? Because love requires total donation, He showed us this through the sacrifice of His Son. The power of God’s love is the greatest power of all eternity. There is nothing like it; nothing that compares. God doesn’t do things halfway. He’s perfect in every way, and His love is perfect in every way. Our privilege is to have reverence and respect for His love and power. We do this by understanding that it is no small thing, and if we give ourselves to Him, we are not going to be the same person. He’s going to do a work within us that will transform us as we keep renewing our minds to His Word.
This means that we can’t keep telling ourselves the same negative, self-sabotaging things. We can’t tear ourselves down over and over again for not always getting it right. To renew is to make new. The mind will keep going back to old habit patterns of defeatist and dark thoughts if we do not stimulate it to do otherwise. We have to put on the mind of Christ—think the way he thought, which is to think the Word!
We’re not going to always feel like pressing ourselves to renew our minds. We are bombarded with all kinds of negative messages from the media, other people, the enemy, and defeating self-talk. It’s very easy to stop resisting the stuff and just let our minds go, but God has commanded that we should never do this. Heavenly Father tells us in 2Corinthians 10:5 that we are to demolish every argument that puffs itself up against the knowledge of His Word, and we are to hold every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ. So, if we have a thought that Jesus Christ would not think, then we need to squash it and introduce light in our minds by thinking the Word.
God demonstrated His unyielding love for every human being. He proved His love for us by coming to earth as a man, living as a man perfectly, and then dying on the cross for our sins. Jesus left the throne of excellence and glory to come into this sinful world, and he did it because God loves us so much. When we are truly convinced of God’s love, and if we trust in His strength and power, we wouldn’t want to keep anything from Him. Everything that we are should bow to Him, so everyday make the conscious choice to give God all of you, and you’ll be so blessed by what you receive in return. ■
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Give Him All of You” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
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