Unclenching

Earlier today I saw this video clip and as I watched the man at the chalk board, the person I actually saw was me. What about you, who do you see?

What are you clenching so tight in your fist today?

Is it worthy of your sweaty grip? Really?

Are you ready to uncurl every single thing that squeezes your heart?

Are you willing to let go so that you can let God in?

Sometimes the sin and shame and guilt and unforgivenss become so much a part of us that we no longer recognize them as not belonging. Did you get that? Not belonging. I carried my sin and shame and guilt in not only clenched hands, but in a clenched heart. It is true, the more I clenched my heart, the less I let out.

But the contrary is also true. My unyielding grip to my unsurrendered secrets also prevented God's healing and renewing from coming in.

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us...

~ Acts 17:24-27 (NKJV)

Sin and shame and guilt and unforgiveness do not belong to you. Friends, it is time to open your fist and join hands with someone in prayer. Friends, it is time to open your heart and mind so Christ's redeeming blood can freely pump through your entire body, cleansing you from the inside out.

...the very points on which you refuse to surrender will become "enemies" that rule over you...

For those of us who are followers of Christ, any resistance to the will of God will keep us from enjoying and abundant life and will create barriers in our fellowship with God.

Christian surrender means that a person lifts his or her hands and says to God, "Here I am; You take over; I belong to You!"

~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss; Surrender,

book included in A Revive Our Hearts Trilogy

entitled Brokenness, Surrender, Holiness;

Moody Publishers, 2008

What about you, did you see your reflection in that video clip? I pray it was in the part of unclenching.

Let us humbly pray:

Father God, we come before you this day with obedience to Your will for each of our lives. And in doing so we ask that You help us open our hands and hearts and minds so we can trade our burdens for Your freedom and Truth and forgiveness and love. We want to live surrendered lives that bring glory to Your name. Lord, I ask that you give each of us the strength to do so. In Jesus' name, amen.

* Please, check out these posts by Jennifer, one of our Healing Hearts, Renewing Minds sisters.

- week 1

- week 2

Also, stop by here with Lelia for more insight on Jennifer & Lelia's current book study, Surrendering the Secret.

* For my story and to see how God placed this ministry on my heart, please go here.