Comfort Vs. Surrender

Pin It Originally: How To Add a Pinterest (Pin it) Button to your Blog/Website http://cs-doon.blogspot.com/#ixzz1ryXJUBEC

Many battles had been won; it was time for Israel to take full possession of their homeland. It was parceled off to each of the 12 tribes. God had done what He said He would do--He brought them to a secure land and equipped them to take it. He was utterly faithful, but Israel was not. They did not take it all, leaving God's land polluted. What is polluting your heart? Does He have full possession of it?

The consequences of not taking all of the land would be disastrous for Israel.  Because they chose to "relax" once they received their land, instead of driving out the Canaanites, they would fall prey to the spirit of the land.  They did not conquer it all, so their victory would be short lived.  Though God had given them everything they needed to reach this summit, they sat down in the easy chair and were quite content to dwell with the pagan people in the land.  They shared with the Canaanites what had been promised to them alone.

Don't we do the same thing?  We have been given entrance into the Kingdom of God, and the moment we come through the Door, we sit down in our comfortable salvation.  We enter into comfortable and enjoyable ministry, and we take on an attitude that is comfortable saying, "I am so grateful that I have Jesus in my heart."  

In the life of every believer there will be a moment of true heart reckoning.  Our attitude and mindset must come to the place where we ask, "Is the Holy Spirit 'comfortable' dwelling in my sinful heart?"  If you are like me, you have become comfortable hiding your sin within the walls of your heart, the very walls that contain the Holy Spirit.  This is the battle between our flesh and the Spirit.  We walk more often in our flesh, completely ignoring the Spirit's counsel.  Just like Israel was given the tools to overcome every sinful group of people in their land, we too have been given "everything we need for life and godliness."  We can dispossess the sin in us by daily putting our flesh to death.  How?  By that "everything" we have been given!  Our "everything" is the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.  They are enough to overcome every sin in our life.  But in order for them to be operative in us, there is one thing that God will require of us.  He requires our surrender to Him.  Without our surrender we will continue to walk in our flesh, not overcoming and dispossessing sin from our lives.  We truly are like the Israelites when we walk in this manner.

God's ways are not our ways.  In order for us to gain victory in our spiritual lives, cleaning out what God does not want in our hearts and lives, we must surrender.  Are you ready to surrender to Him ALL of your heart?  Leaving sin inside your heart reveals complacency with your sin.  Make today a day of booting out something that God says must go!