Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
Reflections of Grace 145: Easter and Surrender

Reflections of Grace 145: Easter and Surrender

Last updated on: April 21, 2017 at 3:33 pm by Christian Podcast Central

Reflections of Grace 145: Easter and Surrender 2017-04-21T15:33:28-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.”

Reflections of Grace 145: Easter and Surrender Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Do you sing that song and truthfully think of its meaning and embrace all that it suggests?

What are you surrendering?

A few years ago through a season when God was teaching me to “let go” of those things I could not control; for some odd reason I felt that my obsessing would somehow change the circumstance in another person’s life or even my own. After much agony and defeat, I finally began to get it.

To truly surrender all to Jesus is to really let go.

But, what am I letting go of?

I Surrender All

Image: Arianne Mockabee

With Easter being the celebration of the sacrifice of His life and His subsequent and miraculous and wonderful resurrection so that I could have eternal life, then surrendering to Him must mean to freely give Him my life, and my control over it, and be free to live as accepted and loved…..by Him.

It is about my spiritual journey.

But what about the other things in my life that I need to let go of?

“I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.”

The cross is just the beginning of Kingdom living here on earth. It is the beginning of a redeemed eternity for us. We were never meant to just stop at surrendering our life for an entrance into Heaven, as great as that is. We were meant to walk in His presence in the here and now.

He wants all of us, all the time!!

We don’t have to work at loving and trusting Him, we just do. We just invite Him into our daily presence and “let go”.

“All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow
Worldly pleasures all forsaken take me, Jesus, take me now.”

We bow at His feet in the spirit and surrender. We forsake our trust in the world and its ways and our own limited understanding. He will take us to higher places with Him.

It is not a religious thing. It is a relationship thing.

In my worry and fretting I had to learn to use my imagination, (that he gave to us by the way).

How to let go?

I envisioned myself holding in my cupped hands the object of my anxiety and worry. There in my hands would be my child, my husband, my book, my ministry. I could see it there (miniature because it was resting in my palms)… in my spirit. Then, Jesus would come up behind me and put His arms around me. He would cup His hands under mine. I would then open my hands and let it drop into His hands. He would then close His hands over my concern and hold it close to His heart as He would walk away with my burden. At that point I experienced the most profound thing. A weight lifted off my heart and I could take a deep breath again, with NO anxiety. He had it! I didn’t have to give it another thought.

Just trust Him!!

And this is what I realized at that moment:

He could now change the situation, in my surrender, because I was no longer in charge and thus, in the way.

I was trying to do the work of the Holy Spirit because of my fear and so I continued to get in the way.

He would do a much better job because He works from the heart and knows the whole story and, again, I wasn’t in the way.

I can only see the outward appearances; therefore, whatever I wanted to see changed could not be approached from the heart with my own devices.

“All to Jesus I surrender, Make me Savior wholly thine. May Thy Holy Spirit fill me and May I know Thy power divine.”

So, how can we celebrate the joyous occasion of His resurrection power this Easter without surrendering the whole of our lives to Him in every sense of the word?

I think of Mary of Magdala that morning she went to the tomb and it was empty. Can you put yourself there? She had been traveling with Him; saw the miracles, got to know Jesus, the Man, God personified. She thought He was to become King the night He was killed. Can you imagine her shock upon hearing that the Sanhedrin had taken Him and were going to crucify Him, and the profound confusion and heartache?

But He appeared to her, at first disguising Himself. I can see His playfulness in that. He was enjoying the surprise and joy at the reunion after His death and resurrection. She loved Him with her whole heart. It was at that point, at the moment, that she understood and He fully became her Lord and her God. How could she not surrender all that she knew and understood to Him?

“All to Him my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

Judson W. Van DeVenter (1855-1939) wrote I Surrender All and it was put to music by Winfield S. Weeden (1847-1908), who published it and many other hymns in several volumes. Weeden so loved this song that the words I Surrender All were put on his tombstone. The words and melody of I Surrender All have appeared in virtually every English hymnal, and are just as readily sung in churches that prefer contemporary music.

Previous Post

April 21, 2017

Jesus in HD 198: Dramatic Words of a Dying Man

Next Post

April 24, 2017 The Briefing: World News and Religion - Christianity, Buddhism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormonism

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz