Category Archives: Surrender

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IT’S NOT COMPLICATED

1 THESSALONIANS 4:4 

“that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,”  

Don’t read too much into this verse. It’s pretty simple. Not too complicated. Paul is telling us to control our bodies. As Christians, the Thessalonians needed to be reminded that even their bodies were a reflection of Christ. The same goes for us today. So, what does that mean? 

It does NOT mean that we get obsessed with exercise. While that is good and necessary, this earthen vessel is just that – an earthen vessel. It is going to get old and broken. We can’t stop the aging process. But we can honor God by how we treat it. Our body is deserving of sanctification and honor because it is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Shouldn’t He live in a nice place? 

APPLICATION 

Take your children on a ride to the part of town where the houses are run down and in need of repair. Then take them to a newer neighborhood and show them some new homes. You are not trying to say anything about the people who live there. You are just looking at the structures. 

Ask them which house they would want to live in? I am sure they will pick the new house. Explain to them how their bodies, if they are believers, is like that. We must care for our bodies since it is where the Holy Spirit lives, and it’s the very thing that people see about us.  We all get sick and may get diseases. We are not referring to that. But we must do all we can to let our “vessels” honor the Lord.  

Okay! Here comes the hard question. How is your vessel looking? God loves you no matter what your body type. But He desires us to honor Him with what He has given us. Abusing our bodies dishonors the Lord. Abusing our vessels may make it unusable to the Lord. Keep yourself ready for the journey. You never know where He may ask you to go. 

Lord, I want to be used by You. Help me discipline my body to be prepared for whatever task You have for me. I thank You that You have given me the strength to serve. 

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BE SANCTIFIED

1 THESSALONIANS 4:3 

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality;” 

Just what does this mean? Be sanctified! How is that possible? How can we possibly be sanctified? In this verse Paul tells the Thessalonians to keep themselves pure, to protect their bodies and to flee from immorality. Remember they are in a pagan city surrounded by idol worship that usually involved sexual practices. Enough about that! You get the picture. 

But Paul is saying “Run from that stuff!” However, they need to run to God. He is the only One who sanctifies. We can’t sanctify ourselves. When we surrender to Him and to His Will, then He can begin the sanctification process. He can make us holy, just like Him, if we allow Him to work in and through us. 

APPLICATION 

Now, how do you explain sanctification to your children? Well, sanctification means you are looking more and more like Jesus. Have you ever seen a picture of a child whose face was aged to look older? The program projects what the child would look like in 10, 20 or 30 years. This would be a fun thing to do with your child. 

Then read this verse and explain that the Lord knows EXACTLY what they are going to look like. More importantly, He knows how close they can look like Him if they surrender to Him. Ask your child if they want to be like Jesus (they probably don’t want to look like Him with the beard and long hair, lol). I bet they will want to BE like Him. Your job starts right there. You can help them make good choices while they are young, so they will know how to do that as the age. 

How are you doing with your own sanctification? Are you fleeing from immorality? We may not have pagan temples around us, but we sure have the lures of this world that can rob us of being sanctified. Will you surrender to Him today and allow Him to work on you? 

Lord, sanctify me today. Take my life and make it Yours. I want to look just You. 

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THIS CAME FROM THE TOP

1 THESSALONIANS 4:2 

“For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.” 

In the years I have served in ministry, there have been multiple times I had to pass on a directive to my employees that had come from my boss. His instructions to me were meant to be passed on to all the employees, not just me. If I had kept that directive to myself and not passed it on, I would have caused my employees to be disobedient without even knowing it. 

Paul was simply a conduit of these commandments to the Thessalonians. He had an obligation to pass them on. They had to be informed of the Lord’s requirements for righteousness. And of course, because they came from the Lord, Paul had the authority to dispense them in His name. 

APPLICATION 

Do you remember when you were young when one of your siblings said, “Daddy said…”? If Daddy said it, you had better do it, right? It wasn’t because the message was delivered by a sibling. No! It had come from the top. What a great way to teach your children. 

The next time you need to deliver a message of instruction to one of your children, ask one of your other children to deliver it for you with those words “Daddy said” or “Mommy said.” Then follow up the message to explain this verse and apply it to our walk with Christ. Christ delivered the message from the Father. The message came from the top. 

Are you a message listener or a message denier? Do you only respond to the message if it comes from the person who initiated it? Sometimes the Lord will put others in your life to bring you a message from the Lord. Listen and check it with Scripture. God just may want you to listen to that command which came from the top. 

Father, I know You send commandments to me through Your Word. I know also You can use my Pastor, spouse or best friend to deliver Your truth to me. Help me to be observant and ready to comply 

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JUST WALK

1 THESSALONIANS 4:1 

“Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.  

My granddaughter just learned to walk. One week she’s crawling and pulling up to stuff and the next…she’s off to the races. She looked so funny trying to get her balance and take those steps. And she looked so different standing upright, rather than crawling. Her walking changed the way she looked and acted. 

Hmmmm! That might just apply to us. Think about it. How we walk with Christ affects how we appear to others. How balanced we are in our strides can either influence others to follow us or run from us. Our walk does affect others, whether we want to admit it or not. 

APPLICATION 

Do you remember the hours you spent teaching your little Elrod or Gertrude to walk? Holding their little hands as they took their first steps. Following close behind in case they stumbled. Picking them up and drying the tears when they fell. All of those are part of helping them learn to walk. You wouldn’t have dreamed of letting them do it all on their own. 

It’s the same way with their walk in Christ. We have to hold their hand, guard against stumbles and pick them up and dry the tears when they fail. The difference between learning to physically walk and spiritually walk is eternal. Their spiritual walk will determine where they spend eternity.  

How are you doing as a parent in guiding your child’s walk? How is your walk? Paul is imploring us to walk and please God, just as he was encouraging the Thessalonians. Does your walk please God? If not, change course or change strides. Just walk to please Him. 

Walking with You, Lord, is a pleasant thing. Sometimes You take me on paths I don’t want to go, but I trust You. I will surrender to You today and allow You to point out the way. 

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SUPER GLUED


1 THESSALONIANS 3:13

“so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.”

That may sound silly – super glued! But I love that stuff. When something needs to be held tight and not move, pull out the super glue. Just make sure you have it set in the right place, because once the glue is applied, it’s not moving.

That’s the meaning behind the word “establish” in today’s verse. God will super glue your heart “without blame in holiness.” Of course, everything God does is eternal. He doesn’t mess around with temporal stuff. So, if He establishes your heart, He intends it to last for eternity.

APPLICATION

How do you apply this verse to yourself and your family? God can only establish your heart if it is yielded to Him. He won’t force you. As bad as you want your children to follow Christ, it is only possible if they surrender to Him. 

Our job as parents is to prepare our children’s hearts to be established by the Lord. That means we are consistently teaching them God’s Word. We know it won’t come back void. We are consistently teaching them to pray, so when the Holy Spirit draws them to surrender, they will know His voice. 

Have you fully, and I mean fully, surrendered your heart to Him? Does He have it all? If you are holding back, He can’t establish you as blameless or in holiness. If we insist of handling part of our heart ourselves, it will not be secure. Allow the Lord today to have it all.  He can handle it. He can secure it.

You are the Maker of my heart, therefore, You are the only one who can establish it. Thank You, Lord, for super glueing my heart today.

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