Total submission

Last night before I fell asleep, I was pleading with the Lord to give me enough time to spend with Him in the first parts of my day. Me and David's plans to run at night are failing on us too, so I needed to just get exercise over with in the morning. But it has been awesome to spend unhurried time with the Lord in the mornings, just to be with Him and enjoy Him in the quietness. I didn't want exercise to cut into that. I asked God to wake me up whenever He wanted to in the morning, to give me just enough time to hang out with Him.

Well guess what! He woke me up at 3 am, and I couldn't fall back asleep. At first I was like, "Oh WHAT! I'm going back to sleep." But I couldn't. God was already waiting. So I got up, made coffee and had the best morning evaaaar! He didn't let me doze off or get distracted. He has given me enough energy throughout today. There is nothing like hanging out with Jesus - to recognize you're in the presence of a Holy God, to contemplate on his qualities, to have Him open His Word to you, to be filled and refreshed by His Holy Spirit. Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you! (James 4:8)

Today we got the email about Kathy's roommate Venus who asked to come to our next fellowship meeting. How awesome is that! Kathy made the point that God does all the work, and all we have to do is ask. It's so true! There is nothing to small to ask God, even if it has to do with waking you up to hang out with Him. We just gotta trust Him and give Him credit where credit is due! Which is everything!

Please please please make it a priority, schedule it in if necessary, to hang out with Jesus. I liked how during our past retreat, Pastor Brian made so many analogies to his relationship with His wife, as the way we treat Jesus. There is never an excuse of having no time or being too tired. What if your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend said "I can only talk to you for a little because I have to leave for work in 10 minutes. And only I get to talk to you. When I get home from work later, I will be too tired to hang out with you, and I need to relax which doesn't have anything to do with you." Whaaaat??? We were created BY Him and FOR Him. How can we let our lives have nothing to do with Him? All we have to do is ASK. See what happens!

Our King is so awesome. He is above all and existed before time and space. He created all things, including all thrones, powers, rulers, and authorities which makes Him the highest of the highest authority. All things were created FOR Him, and He holds all things together. If He took His hand away or turned his face away, we'd be in complete chaos. But our King who is the highest of highs made himself the lowest of lows. He submitted to His Father's plans and willingly received suffering, isolation, and death. He didn't use His infinite power to stop God's plans, to fight against the soldiers arresting Him, to break the chains they bound Him in, to escape and hide from them, to stop your disciples from leaving Him, to stop the soldiers from mocking and beating Him. He could've stopped all this with one word. No, Christ as our King submitted to His Father, and even as everyone thought they were finally in control, God was still in control, fulfilling all his promises and prophecies. Christ was obedient to death - even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:8) And through all this, we, God's enemies, became God's righteousness, and Christ took our place as the criminal to be punished.

Since Christ as the highest of highs became the lowest of lows, letting the Father do whatever He wanted to Him, will we allow Christ to do whatever He wants with us? Or do we still feel entitled to our lives? As if our lives belong to us and are for us? "No servant is greater than His master" (John 15:20). Jesus is our KING. We have a King to bow down to and report to. Let's treat Him as such. Let's give Him every little decision. Let nothing be out of impulse.  "Lord I have free time right now, how do you want me to spend it? Lord I've had such a long week, can I hang out with you to relax? Lord who do you want to bless through me today? Lord feel free to interrupt my day to do your thang." God has everything to do with every little thing - your drives to and from work, your emails, your down time, your laundry, your cleaning, your time catching up with friends, your TV watching, your homework, your exercising, your texts, your teeth brushing, and getting ready for bed at night. How can we allow God to have His way, to be available for His use, in even the most menial ordinary things? Then it will be so natural to let God have His way when the trials come!

submit submit submit submit submit submit submit submit. JESUS IS OUR KING!