It Really Is Good NewsSample

A Surrendered Heart

Worship flows from a heart of humility. When you acknowledge your need for the cross of Christ, love for Jesus is awakened in your heart, and worship is the natural response!

What joy is found in setting our hearts on Jesus and entrusting our lives to him.

This is foundational to our discipleship because our hearts were created to worship God! When we begin each day coming before God and giving Him everything, we are propelled into worship and postured to praise Him. The Holy Spirit shines the light of Jesus in our hearts and leads us to acknowledge the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)

We’ve been sitting with the G O O D news of Jesus Christ- that we have the forgiveness of sins, new life in Jesus’ name, freedom, fullness of joy, and His presence in and with us forever!

So now what?

How do we wake up everyday and live like it really is good news?

By fixing our eyes on Jesus, our Savior and being formed into a humble servant that reflects his image to the world.

Jesus laid down his life to save us and to be with us. He made himself nothing, by taking the form of a servant - to give us everything. (Philippians 2) He is our humble Savior. The good news of Jesus should compel us to worship our God as we acknowledge how far off we were and remember that we can now rejoice in the good news.

Humility is the way of Jesus. And when you are a child of God, the Spirit is forming you into the image of Jesus.

So if humility is the way of Jesus, it also has to be the way of those who follow Jesus.

Last time I ended with “Repent & Release, Receive, Rise,” a tool to help us daily remember the good news of Jesus and to live in light of our identity as disciples of Christ.

Today we’re going to focus on the first step: “Repent & Release.” A humble heart is where we must all begin.

We get to daily humble ourselves before the Lord - surrendering our life to Him. Our pain, brokenness, anger, anxiety, control, and fear. All of our sin and struggle Jesus nailed it to the cross. And now we can turn to Him and be healed. What good news that through surrender and letting go, we receive the floodwaters of freedom as we trust in Jesus Christ.

Repent - In Jesus Christ we have been given redemption - the forgiveness of our sins, so cultivating a heart of humility is coming to God daily and asking for his forgiveness and knowing we have received grace upon grace. We are turning away from our sin and turning towards God - desiring His way over our own sinful ways. Laying down our pride and control and remembering that it is by his grace alone that we live.

Release - In Jesus we have everything, which means that as disciples of Jesus we get to delight in surrendering our lives to him every single day. I once heard someone say “He is in charge and we 10000% don’t want to be”. Trusting God means giving him all of our desires and plans and dreams and trusting that He is good and faithful. We are cultivating a heart of humility when we acknowledge that Jesus is King and Lord over our lives and we are not. It is freedom from idolizing and worshiping anything and anyone other than God. True deep abiding joy is found in Him.

All glory is God’s and everything we do in this life is to glorify him! Cultivating a heart of humility is laying down your life to give all the glory and honor and praise where it is deserved.

Let’s be daughters and sons of humility. Delighting in dependence and walking in step with the Spirit of God. It truly is the very best place to be.

Prayer:

Father, thank you for loving me and for sacrificing your Son Jesus so that I could be in relationship with you. I come before you with all that I carry, casting my anxieties on you knowing that you care for me. I worship you Lord because in you is healing. You are steadfast in love and you delight in showing mercy to me. Thank you for delivering me from my sin and setting me free. Open my eyes to see your love for me through the cross of Christ, and help me walk in the fullness of joy in your presence reflecting the humility of Jesus to the world around me.