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Surrender

Words of Faith Final

Surrender
Words of Faith 12-23-21
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2021
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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For the next week, we will revisit some thoughts shared previously about Christmas and the coming of Jesus. As the New Year begins, we will start a study in the book of Genesis. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the entire WOF staff. (That would be myself and my Assistant, Sharon Miner. I am deeply grateful to her for uploading the devotions.)
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Luke 1:35-38
        The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. [36]  Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. [37]  For nothing is impossible with God." [38]  "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.

      In many ways, Christmas is always about surrender. We see it in the response of Mary. She made two declarations, one of identity and one of response.
       First, "I am the Lord's servant." The Greek word is doule (doo'-lay), literally a female slave, involuntary or voluntary. The handmaid of the Lord. This is who I am. This defines what follows.
       Second: "May it be to me as you have said." This response is one of total surrender to the will and work of God in her.
      We are so accustomed to the veneration of Mary that we fail to appreciate that she was probably only about 14 years old. She was a teenager who was pledged to be married. She had a whole life planned out ahead in her mind, and the Lord wanted to disrupt all this?
       Yet, there was no coaxing here. The Lord did not offer her a free iPad or a "gift set" if she would be a "partner" in His work. She did not respond with the ever-popular "let me pray about it and get back to you". We don't hear Mary asking about the conditions of her care or what she would be getting out of the deal. There was no "surrogate contract." We don't hear any of the more selfish demands that people often put before the Lord these days.
       Instead, Mary beautifully reveals to us the key to just about everything in the life of the spirit. Mary was above all else available. She was surrendered to God. Mary did not wake up one day finding herself to be pregnant and say "Gee thanks, God," on the Larry King show. She did not "make the best of it courageously." She consented to be a part of God's plan. She offered her body to be the instrument by which the Lord Jesus, Messiah of God, would enter the world. She surrendered to the grace announced by the angel.
        Decades later, the Apostle Paul would write to the church at Rome: "I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship" (12:1). He probably was not thinking of Mary when he wrote that. But how powerful it is that his exhortation describes the kind of surrender she had discovered before Jesus was born.
        Surrender to the Lord is central to our journey with Christ. The Apostle wrote: "Whatever was to my profit, I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ." (Philip. 3:7-8)  Surrendering everything we are is the path to discovering everything Christ is and intends to do in us.
      Where are you today in your journey of faith? God has announced his high favor toward you. He has offered His grace. That is what the Gospel is about. Your path will be different certainly than that of Mary, but no less important. Be forewarned that the high favor of God may at times look like disgrace in the eyes of the world. It did for Mary. But the announcement calls us to trust and surrender. Won't you surrender to the high favor of God announced in Jesus Christ? There is no greater joy.

         Lord, I don't know what You have ahead for me, but I surrender to You. Thank You for Your grace expressed toward me. Thank You for the gift of salvation in Jesus. Show me Your plan. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2021 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.