{"id":7855,"date":"2012-11-17T17:20:39","date_gmt":"2012-11-18T00:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/andre\/?p=7855"},"modified":"2019-06-19T20:37:14","modified_gmt":"2019-06-19T20:37:14","slug":"falling-fearlessly-into-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/andre\/significant-sustenance\/falling-fearlessly-into-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Falling Fearlessly into Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

For a great many of the folks that\u00a0I have had the privilege to work with, the smudge on the lens of Christian surrender has made genuine surrender very difficult. For many, when we speak about surrender we immediately think in the language of the world system which is often capitulation. Capitulation<\/strong> is the kind of surrender when we succumb to a force or threat of greater power that forces us to conform. Under threat, by way of external compulsion, we stop resisting and submit ourselves to the dominating force often for self-preservation. This external (often\u00a0self-imposed) use of power will often lead us to conform our behavior and on some level, we do so begrudgingly.<\/span><\/p>\n

This outside-in strategy drives us to work harder and utilize a number of sin-management techniques in an effort for self-induced submission. Despite our best effort and work to root out that which we deem as contrary, we are actually walking in the opposite direction of the blessing of what God is doing in us. In this form of violent surrender we are quite naturally performance oriented \u2013 we become sin-focused instead of God-focused as we attempt to do violently within ourselves that which only the Spirit of God can truly do from the inside.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps a more healthy understanding of surrender is the idea of letting go, the giving of oneself freely to God as a gift.<\/strong> This is not an act of compulsion but one of voluntary devotion wherein our entrusting our-self we are in fact offering ourselves to God as a gift in response to the gift of Himself that He gives to us. This response starts in the heart (not in our own strength), and our behaviors will naturally follow our heart.<\/span><\/p>\n

Love is self-giving, self-emptying by nature<\/h2>\n

The Greek word kenosis used in the New Testament means the voluntary self-emptying of oneself to be entirely open to Gods will. We see this word in action in Philippians 2:6-8:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Who, being in very nature God,<\/em>\u00a0 \u00a0 did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;\u00a0<\/em>rather, he made himself nothing (<\/em>Kenosis \u2013 emptied Himself)\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0by taking the very nature of a servant\u00a0<\/em>being made in human likeness.\u00a0<\/em>And being found in appearance as a man\u00a0<\/em>he humbled himself\u00a0<\/em>by becoming obedient to death<\/em>\u00a0even death on a cross!<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus was the perfect example of surrender. \u00a0He emptied Himself; He laid down His resume\u2019, His position, and privilege by taking on a human form and living as a human being. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t the domination of His will by the Fathers will, rather it was Jesus\u2019 voluntary acceptance of the Fathers will, even when that was very difficult. \u00a0Jesus\u2019 heart beat to the same rhythm as the Fathers and as such, His will was quite naturally to gift Himself inservice of the Father.<\/p>\n

So it is with us as we Become Love \u2013 becoming more and more of who we were created to be in Christ. \u00a0The transforming power of the divine affection syncs our hearts more in rhythm with the Fathers. \u00a0This relieves the heavy yoke of religious obligation and frees us into genuine humility \u2013 the laying down of our spiritual \/ ministry resume\u2019, self-righteousness, and all the things we think that earns us as an act of gift and trust.<\/span><\/p>\n

You will soon discover that as you become more focused on the Father and less focused on sin, on violently conforming your will and performance that the deep level transformation will happen quite naturally. \u00a0You will begin to notice that\u00a0kenosis<\/em>\u00a0in response to God\u2019s perfect love opens you up in new ways to experience the peace and rest in God (and His will) in all of life. \u00a0In short, to surrender to God simply means to accept the Father\u2019s unconditional love and simply respond to that love trusting that the good work the Father started in you, He is faithful to\u00a0see it on to completion<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion\u00a0until the day of Christ Jesus.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

- Philippians 1:6<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Jesus was the perfect example of surrender. He emptied Himself; He laid down His resume\u2019 ...<\/a><\/div>
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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For a great many of the folks that\u00a0I have had the privilege to work with, the smudge on the lens of Christian surrender has made genuine surrender very difficult. For many, when we speak about surrender we immediately think in the language of the world system which is often capitulation. Capitulation is the kind of surrender when we succumb to Continue Reading<\/a>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":14737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[32],"tags":[93,99,167,260,286,445],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n