An answer to DJ's question...

A while ago DJ posted this...
I want the Lord to take control, I want to find contentment in His Word and His Love. But there are so many distractions that I can't remember Him occasionally. How do you give your heart fully to the Lord? How do you say to God, "Lord, here's my heart and my soul. Do with it what You will. You can have me."

Well I've been thinking about this question for the past few days. How do we really give it all to God? How do we completely surrender our lives to Him and His will? When I started to think about this question, the song "From the Inside Out" by Hillsong United came to mind. If you haven't heard it, here it is. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-afZJ9_TIM...it's so good! Anyway, part of the song says, "My heart and my soul, I give you control, to love you from the inside out." But HOW do we give our whole heart and soul to God, putting Him completely in control? We have to...

1) Offer up our sins to Him, knowing that He will forgive us no matter what. We have to confess everything to Him (even though He already knows everything) and admit to our failures and sinfulness. Doing that will help us realize that He is the only One who is sinless and perfect. Micah 7:19 ~ "You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and toss all our sins into the depths of the sea."

2) Trust Him, knowing that He knows what He's doing. When we face good times and when we face bad times, we have to trust that He is doing what is ultimately best for us, what will only make us stronger. Romans 8:28 ~ "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

3) Live WITH and FOR Him. This last step to surrendering your life to God can only happen if you do the first two steps. If we don't consistently ask for forgiveness for our sins or trust Him with absolutely everything, then there is no way we can live with or for Him at all.

These are just my thoughts on how we can surrender our lives to God. If anyone else has anything to add, leave some comments! :)

And I don't know how I remember this, but DJ, I remember you said this at the Quest reunion: "God can't be a part of our lives. He has to BE our life." I think that's really cool and has a lot to do with the whole surrendering your life to God thing.

-Haley