I Give Myself Away

February 28, 2009 was a beautiful day. It was beautiful because God once again shared His heart with me. He expressed through one of my brothers that He enjoys quiet time with me, and not just me talking but me also listening to Him and being still before Him. A verse I read the week before came to mind; Psalm 37:7a "Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act." (NLT) Later that afternoon (2/28/09) I was reading through the book of Mark and I realized two things:

1) Not all of the healings that Jesus did for people were in public; he took them aside, away from the crowd. (Mark 7:31-37, 8:22-26)
2) He wanted time with His disciples, away from the crowd. (Mark 6:31-32, 9:31)

I realized that time with God alone is very precious. Fellowship, going to church ,bible studies are good but there is nothing like that one-on-one time where God can speak to you personally and reveal Himself and His heart to you.

That evening our church went to minister at a youth group and the message for the night was titled "Turnin' God On." The pastor told of two things that turn God on based upon Luke 18:18-23. The first thiing is to do what He says, obey His commandments. This principle may seem controlling to many but the reality is that we cannot see the bigger picture because we are limited by time. God is beyond space and time and knows our time from beginning to end and knows what is best for us. Jeremiah 7:23 says "This is what I told them, 'Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!" ALL will be well He says, so why not obey Him! the second thing that turns God on is making Him your focus. Not having anything before Him in your life; not having anything or anyone else as number 1 in your life EXCEPT God. Exdous 34:14 says "You must worship no other gods, for the Lord, whose very name is Jealous, is a God who is jealous about His relationship with you." That is so wonderful! That God WANTS to spend time with me and have a relationship with me.

Psalm 37:23 says "The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives." WOW! EVERY detail of my life God delights,takes pleasure in, gets extreme satisfaction from. Therefore the most sensible thing to do would be to be obedient to God and keep Him as my primary focus, my numero uno because ALL will be well and He DELIGHTS in EVERY detail of my life. I will heed the instruction in Psalm 37: 5 "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust Him, and He will help you."

As God showed me that He wants time with me and desires to use me for His glory I remembered that I do not belong to myself, for God bought me with a high price; my body is the temple of the Holy spirit and I must honor God with my body. (1 Cor 6:19-20) Romans 12:1 says "I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind he will find acceptable.This is truly the way to worship Him."

That same saturday evening when my youth praise team was leading worship they sang a beautiful and very powerful song that has been with me since that night. It is called "I Give Myself" and it became my prayer because my body is not my own, I want to present it as a living and holy sacrifice so that I can truly worship Him. Proverbs reiterates this principle of God's sovereignty and how small OUR plans really are. Prov 16:1, 9 "We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer." "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Jeremiah said it best in Jeremiah 10:23 "I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course." That is the song; giving yourself to God, placing all your own plans, dreams, desires in His hands, knowing that your life is not your own and allowing Him to use you for His glory. I pray that this song be your heart's cry to the Lord. The lyrics are below and the song is on the page, just press play!

Blessings til next time!


I Give Myself
by: William McDowell (As We Worship Live)

V1: Here I am
Here I stand
Lord my life is in Your hands
Lord I'm longing to see
Your desires revealed in me

Ch: I give myself away
I give myself away
So you can use me

V2: Take my heart
Take my life
As a living sacrifice
All my dreams
All my plans
Lord I place them in Your hands

Br: My life is not my own
To You I belong
I give myself, I give myself to You