Respond

I was listening to Travis Greene’s song Respond and it speaks my heart so well (check it out if you haven’t yet it is SO Beautiful). It also ministers and helps me process through some growing pains of going higher in GOD, what He has for us and becoming more like Him.

We are called and chosen and when we are chosen we CANT stay the same. We have to continue to be refined by the fire! We have to allow ourselves to be purified and continually surrender. Not just daily but constantly, in and from everything that would hinder us! We have to be vulnerable with GOD! If we say Yes to GOD and truly want to follow HIM and be like HIM and be who HE created us to be and be obedient to the very calling and destiny HE has for us then we CANNOT stay stuck in ungodly character and unfruitfulness! We have to allow GOD to purify our hearts and ways. If you do not, you will not enter into all GOD has for you, its that simple!

When GOD is calling you what is your RESPONSE? Are you even listening? Can you even hear HIM? Are you led by HIS spirit or your flesh and stubbornness and pride? Are you so stuck in your comfort and in your ungodly ways and led by it so much that you are blind to the freedom HE has offered you and is always available to you? Are you content on only going 40% with GOD or 60% or whatever it is? Or do you want to go 100% with GOD because to do that it takes complete SURRENDER! Even when it brings up vulnerabilities, even when it may seem scary to get that real and raw with the Truth. It takes exposing ugly sides of our heart and character to GOD. He already knows that stuff is there but you may not and if you aren’t open to accept the fact that you aren’t perfect and have flaws that our perfector needs to purge from us then you have some surrendering to do but to surrender means to die to yourself and to be open to the Truth and also to Rebuke!

Following GOD and Surrender go hand in hand, there is no way around that!

If your pride means more to you, if your comfort means more to you, if your fears and ungodliness mean more to you then you don’t truly want to follow God and be who HE created you to be. You just want a version of GOD that fits your agenda and allows you to be stuck and be in Sin because you are missing the mark with this mindset! That is double mindedness, that is lukewarm christianity that GOD spits out of HIS mouth!

So what is your Response when GOD is calling you (because HE is calling you)?

Is it just a “Yes” GOD in lip service that doesn’t come from you heart with spiritual eyes? I ask because a true “Yes” to GOD means to Surrender! If you aren’t open to Surrender then your real answer is “No God”. This may seem blunt and harsh but sometimes people need someone to speak Truth and be real with them even if it doesn’t feel good. Its coming from a place of love whether you receive it that way or not. As a sister in Christ it is my duty to speak Truth. There is a time for exhortation but there is also times for rebuke. Both are for our good and growth! However, it takes a certain maturity to accept it without offense!

Bottom line is GOD is calling you! What is your Response? Your true, real, raw Response?

My Response is “Yes GOD”! Send me GOD, I will go, I will speak, I will sing, I will dance, I will praise, I will create, I will teach, I will preach, I will exhort, I will help, I will heal, I will pray, I will rebuke, I will die daily, I will Surrender All! Yes God, as I walk closer to you I choose to walk closer to you and in doing so I accept the refining process, I allow things to fall off me that need to! I will allow you to break off wrong mindsets and hindrances. I am open to change and growth. I am open to your ways even if I don’t understand them. I am open to deliverance and healing and becoming more like you and less like who I think I am supposed to be in the flesh no matter how used to it I am! I am open to your will and plans for me not my own!

The truth is to go higher in GOD means constant growth and sometimes that means outgrowing people as well! Sometimes people may have been helpful in one season but can be hindrances in the next because they themselves are only willing to go so far with GOD and refuse to completely surrender to GOD. They want to stay in some fleshly ways and don’t want to be fully refined or continually refined! Sometimes we have to be comfortable and ok with the fact that some people can’t go with us to next levels in GOD!

This doesn’t mean that we don’t still love them and pray for them or be who GOD called us to be to all people. But it does mean we can’t allow them certain access to our lives! They may have to get put out of the room and not allowed access! Read Mark 5:40

This is also part of surrender! Iron sharpens Iron. Not everyone is Iron! Or they may have been in one season but they are no longer.

It’s okay to keep walking closer to God even if some people stop walking closer to Him and stay back! You CANNOT allow that to stop you or hinder your walk with GOD! The moment you stop walking because they stopped means you are choosing them over GOD and my friend that is not the right choice!

Prayerfully and hopefully they will start walking closer to GOD again and get unstuck but you cant stop walking because they did! You cant be shamed or feel bad about your progress! They aren’t your savior and you aren’t theirs! Don’t allow the company change to make you miss the mark! Sometimes we have to be comfortable in walking by ourselves in areas (although we are never really alone, we are with God).

Keep your eyes on the prize our Lord Jesus Christ, don’t look back! Don’t turn into a pillar of salt or fall into the Sea of Galilee! Keep your eyes on HIM!

Just know thing’s wont always be ideal or comfortable or easy but they may be necessary! Also know that with GOD even the worst circumstance can be easy because of HIS grace, peace, mercy, comfort, Joy and presence is with us! The worst circumstances can be gone through with GOD or without GOD, but they will always be better WITH GOD!

HE is calling you what is your RESPONSE? Hopefully “YES GOD, I SURRENDER”!