Song of the Day
“I Surrender” by Hillsong Worship
Devotional thought
Intimacy and connection are a big deal in any significant relationship, right? We want to know our spouse deeply, our parents, what pleases our boss, what blesses our besties, etc. Well, what about our God, don’t we desire and seek a deep and intimate connection with Him?
I find it amazing that our God desires that sort of connection with us. Psalm 139 records some very powerful language that describes the level of intimate knowledge the Lord has of us.
He knows when we sit, when we stand, our motives, when we travel, when we rest, when a thought is on our mind, when a word is on our tongue, etc. He knows everything about us (Ps 139:3)! Why? Because He sees us and studies us!
In today’s song there is a line that says, “I surrender, I surrender. I want to know You more.”. I find this to be significant because there is a strong correlation between surrender and gaining insight about someone or something. If I am not willing to be teachable, for example, then I am going to have a hard time learning anything, right?
By way of analogy, when I do marriage counseling I discuss conflict a lot with couples. When we talk about conflict, I can usually tell which party is being stubborn and unwilling to compromise because of a hard heart. Well, the result of that is always a lack of intimacy! Stubbornness and surrender cannot live together, and intimacy dies in the ice cold atmosphere created by the hard hearted person.
Is your heart stubborn and hard toward God right now? Or are you looking for ways to surrender to His will, embrace His design for you, and to grow in your intimate connection with Him?
The first step to a life of connection with the Lord is to surrender to His ways and to embrace His plan for your life! Jesus says in John 10:27 that His sheep listen to His voice, He knows them, and they follow Him! That is intimacy and connection with the Lord.
Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, I praise You for being the God who desires connection with me! I praise You that I have a choice to surrender to You, to grow in my knowledge and understanding of You, and to follow You! I ask that You lead me into those encounters with You that will deepen our connection, Lord. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scripture to reflect upon
(Please hover, or click onto, the Scriptures to read the specified text!)
- John 10:27,
- Ps 139:1-6,
- Phil 1:9-11,
- Ps 73:25,
- Hosea 6:3,