Submitting To God

Acts 3:19
“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.”

In my last blog entry, I laid out a path to follow when you find yourself going in the wrong direction and have begun to wake up from the seduction of sin to see that you are no longer following the Lord. I plan to take the next 4 weeks to explore each of the milestones along this journey to health and wholeness. Our first stop is quite possibly one of the most difficult—submitting our problems to God. I am not speaking of only a desperate prayer as you are sitting there in the waves of guilt. Many of us have run to God and asked forgiveness only to find ourselves returning to the sin as if it is a drug that controls us. This submission I am referring to has to more to do with allowing Him to begin leading your desires and decisions, than the emotions of anger and guilt that arrive after a sin is committed. If you are not ready to submit your life to God, then, I am sorry to say, you are not ready for change. Scripture is very clear regarding the idea of us being a slave to sin or to the Lord:

Romans 6:16-18
Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Here are a few very practical steps to take to submit your life to the Lord.
1. Give Him Your Daily Schedule
This may sound like a strange way to begin, but most of us are ruled by what others believe we should be doing, or by all of the commitments we have that should not have been piled on top of each other in the first place. If Satan, the enemy of your soul, can keep you so busy that your life is spinning faster than you can run, then he has access to wreak havoc in any area of your life that suits him.

2. Give Him Your Words
Focus on what you are saying to others. Listen to the jokes that are shared, the tone of your voice, your attitude, and all of those moments of complaining. Our mouths become poison for the rest of our being once it has been corrupted.

3. Find a Daily Devotional
The one mistake that many people make is in deciding to submit their lives to God, but never feeding that desire with the Word of God. Don’t feel like you have to go and join a Bible study that requires hours of study to keep up with it. Simply find a daily devotional that you can easily read on a daily basis and make it a priority.

4. Be Careful What You Are Feeding Your Sinful Nature
This is probably one of the most difficult things for each of us to know where to draw a line in the sand. We can not hide ourselves away in a cave and avoid everything that might tempt us in the wrong direction; yet we must separate ourselves from the ongoing ideas of sin. You will need to run to the Lord and ask Him for daily guidance on what areas of temptation should be avoided.

This week we discussed the importance of submitting to the Lord. Next week we will discuss the importance of making a personal decision to change. My encouragement to you is to not get frustrated and give up. It is too easy to feel overwhelmed by the chasm of where you are and where you know you need to be. In those times of desperation, instead of running to the vices that have created your dilemma, I pray that you will run to the Lord and His truth.