Give God Your Everything

Give God Your Everything

Let go & let God. Give God your everything.

Do you think you know better than God what’s good for you? Yeah, I hear you. Very often we do think so. But as you know God does know better than humans what’s good for us. Yet it is hard to let go of control. It is hard to let God do what he wants in our lives.

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. (Gal. 5:25, MSG)

But, yes. If we have been touched by the Holy Spirit and have chosen to follow Christ, we need to let go and let God. We need to give God every detail of our lives. No holding back!

Mary DeMuth writes in her new book Everything: “He [Jesus] wants all of us, all the time, our minds and hearts deeply engaged with His so we will joyfully follow Him toward every single adventure He plans for us. This is not me vowing to be a good girl or me planning to be holy. This is me (and you) daring to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit of God.”

Mary makes a crucial point here. This is not about us forcing this letting go happen. This is not about us making this happen. This is about us letting God’s grace do his work in us. This is about us daring to trust God and only God.

Like Mary DeMuth writes “when we think of other people as our center and fulfillment, we live frustrated lives.” This also happens when we think of any other thing as our center and fulfillment. Only when Jesus is our everything we will live fulfilled lives.

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
   don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
   he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
   Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
   your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
   give him the first and the best.
(Proverbs 3:5-9, MSG)

God wants our everything. Not just good things in our lives. But also ugly and bad things. God loves as we are but he does not leave us there. God’s transforming power will change us if we let him. Because God does not just want everything. He will also give us everything. In him we find everything we’ve ever been looking for. Pick yours: forgiveness, love, peace, joy…

 

Gracious God,
We want you to be our everything.
We want to let go and let you.
Enable us to do so.
Pour out grace upon grace.
Bless each of us
according to our needs.
Become our everything.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

P.S.  I’ve been selected to be part of Mary DeMuth’s launch team for Everything and I will be blogging  through the book before the release date in October, using the book as a spring-board for blog posts. If you are interested in reading yourself the first two chapters before the book is available in the stores, you can get them through this link.

Q4U: Is it easy for you to let go and let God?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you dare to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit!

Image courtesy of Daniel Sauceda. Linking up today with Thought-Provoking Thursdays and Faith Filled Friday.

12 thoughts on “Give God Your Everything

  1. Great thoughts, Mari-Anna. I’m hearing so many great things about Everything!

    As far as letting go, I have to confess that certain things are easier than others. But He proves faithful every single time, and I’m so grateful for His gracious patience with me.

    Linking up from Thought Provoking Thurs,
    Susan

  2. Definitely! I have given Him my life with everything in it, I am not quite perfect yet but working on not taking anything back. Thanks for sharing!

  3. I struggle with the conflict between “letting God” and still being active. Obviously if I just sit on my rump and do nothing, that’s not following God either. So I sometimes think letting go is deceptive.

    1. You make an excellent point, Mary Beth! Letting go and being active are not mutually exclusive. I think we are called to surrender, to let go of control how things need to go. But we are also called to prayerfully work for God’s glory. Finding the right balance can be tricky. But by God’s grace it can be done. Thanks, Mary Beth, for sharing your thoughts. Much appreciated! May God guide you clearly as you walk with Him!

  4. Well, I see the “nudge” i got right before I came here was from His Holy Spirit! I haven’t read any of your posts for a long time, and today during my early morning devotional time your name kept coming to mind. I googled it, ended up here, and how this meshes with all the whole theme God seemed to be orchestrating for today’s worship, study, and meditation!

    I surely “get it” about letting go! And it comes from having lived the opposite way so long that finally God had to rip everything away and bring me to the total end of *self* — which is the *main* thing we need to let go of!

    I still go ahead too precipitously, maybe even presumptuously, sometimes, and all that results is earthly flesh efforts. But when I let Him lead, and submissively cooperate with Him, allowing Him to work instead of *me* being “everything,” that’s when I see “myself” (supposedly) doing and experiencing the really remarkable things.

    Thank you for being God’s vessel, producing this post!

    PS What I need to “let go of” right now is my blogging! And no, it isn’t easy. In fact, I’m going to have to take a break from it entirely for a few weeks just to get my mitts off the things I need to let go of!

    1. Amen, amen, amen, sister! Letting go is something I am learning again and again. It seems there is always something new to let go. But God is patient!
      Thanks so much for sharing that the Holy Spirit sent you here. It was a confirmation for me, too. I hope my today’s post (https://www.flowingfaith.com/2012/08/grace-for-perfectionists.html ) was not late, though. There’s ore grace for self-reliant people.
      I will pray for you, Sylvia. May God pour our grace upon grace on you as you let go, let God!

  5. This is such a good post! It’s so important to trust Him with everything, let Him be in control, yet so hard at the same time! Thank you for this beautiful reminder.

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