WoW 125: On transformation through surrender

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Words of Wisdom 125 On Transformation Through Surrender

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Seek to continually be in a

state of surrender to God.

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Being surrendered to God means you

are present, willing, and accepting.

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When you are in a state of

surrender, you are present in

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the moment, connected to God.

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You are willing to receive God's

love and welcome His presence.

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You are His, surrendered fully to Him.

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You are not too hurried

to notice God's direction.

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You're seeking Him each

morning and opening your heart

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to Him throughout the day.

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When you are in a state of

surrender, you are willing to

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do whatever God wants of you.

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You are openly seeking God's

will and direction for your life.

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You are not taking control of your life.

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You are entrusting that

control over to God.

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Instead of being driven by fear

and the unknown, when you are

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surrendered to God, you live in

a trusting relationship with Him.

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The state of surrender is optimistic.

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And open to God, who you trust is at

work, regardless of what you can see.

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When you are in a state of surrender,

you are accepting of suffering.

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You can accept comfort in His

loving presence, as well as

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suffering, loss, and the desolation

of not feeling God's presence.

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You can accept the bitter and the sweet.

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Come what may, you are His.

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Whether you understand why you are

suffering does not ultimately matter.

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What you decide to do in the midst

of suffering is what matters.

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You can open your heart to God.

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You can welcome the highs

and lows of life with a quiet

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acceptance and a courageous faith.

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When you are surrendered, you

don't need things to go your way.

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You can lose yourself to God

and desire only what He desires.

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The furnace of suffering reveals

the treasures of transformation,

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so do not spurn its refining fire.

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Make your highest aim in life

this one simple intention: to be

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in a state of surrender to God.

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Quotes

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The deepest things that I have learned

in my own life have come from the deepest

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suffering, and out of the deepest waters

and the hottest fires have come the

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deepest things that I know about God.

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And I imagine that most of you

would say exactly the same.

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And I would add this, that the

greatest gifts of my life have also

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entailed the greatest suffering.

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The greatest gifts of my

life, for example, have been

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marriage and motherhood.

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And let's not forget that if we don't

ever want to suffer, we must be very

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careful never to love anything or anybody.

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The gifts of love have been

the gifts of suffering.

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Those two things are inseparable."

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By Elizabeth Elliot, in her book

Suffering is Never for Nothing

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" These four practices, silence and

solitude, Sabbath, simplicity, and

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slowing, have helped me tremendously

to move toward abiding as my baseline.

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But to say it yet again, all four

of them are a means to an end.

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The end isn't silence and solitude.

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It's to come back to

God in our true selves.

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It isn't Sabbath.

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It's a restful, grateful life of ease,

appreciation, wonder, and worship.

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It isn't simplicity.

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It's freedom and focus

on what matters most.

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It isn't even slowing.

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It's to be present, to God,

to people, to the moment.

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And the goal is practice, not perfection.

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Multiple times a day I

slip back into hurry.

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The gravitational pull

is overwhelming at times.

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Lately, when that happens, I

have this little mantra I repeat.

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Slow down, breathe, come back to the

moment, receive the good as gift,

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accept the hard as a pathway to peace.

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Abide.

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By John Mark Comer.

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In his book, The Ruthless

Elimination of Hurry.

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Questions.

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What do you need to let go of?

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Will you surrender your greatest

fear and your greatest pain to God?

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What is God asking you to do or to feel?

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Use these questions as a journal prompt

and to guide your prayers this week.

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End note.

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Seek today to be fully surrendered to God.

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It's the only way to true flourishing.

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Live wisely.

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Josh