Season 1- episode 10

Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes

Part 2: The Role of Surrendering.

Chapter 9- Eyes To See And Ears To Hear

"When we are positioned in Christ, we are placing ourselves in a posture of hearing from Him clearly. I will talk more about hearing from God in the book's section called results of surrendering. For now, I really want to stay in this stream of practicality of the actions that follow with the act of surrendering. Posturing ourselves rightly before God is something that is impossible without Jesus. Through Jesus Christ and what He fulfilled and accomplished through His life we now are able to have a right position and posture with God our Father. The very act of surrendering is the act of posturing yourself before God in such a way where you are able and willing to align yourself fully with His will for your life. Surrendering is enacted by a physical posture and a spiritual one, willingness before our Father for His will to be done regardless of ours. Jesus asked the crowd many times if they had eyes to see and ears to hear that which was being revealed to them. Being positioned and postured before God is being in a state of readiness with eyes to see and ears to hear. The question that follows in my mind is, are there practical ways to be both position and postured before God in surrendering? I believe there is. One example is the one I discussed in the previous chapter with finances through tithing/generosity. I would like to highlight four practical examples of ways we, as followers of Jesus can be positioned and postured in Christ: prayer, singing praises, fasting and being connected to a community of followers of Jesus. This chapter is not highlighting these acts in any particular order of significance."

Thanks for listening!

Season 1- episode 9

Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes

Part 2: The Role of Surrender.

Chapter 8- This Makes No Sense

"If you are following Jesus then any resource or relationship that you have is not your own. We as followers of Jesus are called to be good stewards with the relationships and resources that God has entrusted us with. Being a steward has very little about how much you receive and is way more about how you give or steward that which you have been given for others. There is a moment in the early church where there seemed to be some theological differences with the Early Church leaders. What I love about this disagreement is even though there were differences in theology, both sides agreed they were called to take care of the poor.[2] God’s provision is always meant to first serve the poor. Reading this you might think it is a great idea, but you don’t believe you have the ability nor resources to give. You may conclude that you will give once you are out of the financial hole that you are in. To be completely blunt and not politically correct at all, this is a straight up lie that is trying to withhold you from receiving the very thing you are trying to gain. If you are not generous with little, you’ll never be generous with much. This is a heart issue more than anything else. This isn’t about giving a specific amount. The amazing thing about this truth is it is open to anyone. Whether you are rich or poor, all are invited to live generous lives that reflect the Father’s heart for humanity.

I both affirm and practice with my wife the principle of giving your first fruits to God within the form of giving 10 percent of your income towards advancing the gospel, and or to the poor. I believe it is very clear in scripture both in the Old and New Testament. If this is something you really struggle in believing, please read the following passages: Genesis 14:19–20; 28:20-22, Leviticus 27:30–34, Numbers 18:21-26, Deuteronomy 12:5-6; 14:22-29, 2 Chronicles 31:4-5, Nehemiah 10:35-37, Proverbs 3:9-10, Amos 4:4-5, and Malachi 3. I know some of you may think that teaching is all from the Old Testament and does not apply. If this is you, I encourage you to read the following New Testament passages that all refer to giving to God through an act of a tithe to advancing the gospel, and or giving to the poor: Mark 12:41-44, Luke 11:42 (similar to Matthew 23:23), Acts 2:45; 4:32- 37,1 Corinthian 9, 2 Corinthian 8; 9, Philippians 4:14-20, 1 Timothy 6:17-19, 1 Peter 4:10. I am sure there may be more passages than these, but these are the ones I have not only read but have studied for myself.

Tithing is about putting God first in your finances. It is one of the most practical ways in both surrendering and showing God that you trust Him with your finances. Honestly, for me personally I have always been stressed out about finances. I can tell you that since I started tithing, I have been able to put those fears in their place. When you tithe you are positioning yourself to rely fully on God with your finances. When fear comes you can literally dismiss it because you have not only put your trust in God by your words but have followed with your actions. This area of tithing is one of the most practical ways of understanding faith and works that James talks about in the New Testament. You cannot say you trust God with your finances without giving God your money in some way. Simultaneously, you cannot give your money to God without attaching the trust in Him for providing. There are more examples of the relationship between faith and works, but I have always found this one the simplest to understand.

I don’t believe you can say you are fully surrendered to God without it somehow reflecting in the way you spend your money."

Thanks for listening!

Season 1- episode 8

Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes

Part 2: The Role of Surrender.

Chapter 7- This Makes No sense

"I love that in order for the man to have the treasure in the story, he has to buy the field. I think it is the same for us. When we truly long to go deeper with Jesus (the hidden treasure), the way in which we are able to do that not only comes with a cost, (selling everything we have) but often comes with us having to own or buy something we had previously never desired or even thought of buying (the field). The field can represent a city, neighborhood or even a church that God is calling you to live in. The field could represent the workplace God is calling you to be a part of. It could even be the people in whom God has called you to serve. The buying of the field is not a burden but a privilege because of the treasure you know it contains. You could look at it like Jesus heading to the cross. The cross was the field that Jesus had to buy in order for Him to have the relationship restored with you and me (His treasure). Humanity was the joy set before Him on the road to the cross.[1] When we consider bearing our cross or buying a field, the joy set before us is not the fruit that inevitably will come through our abiding, but is the joy that comes from knowing Jesus. Knowing Jesus more is the joy set before us (treasure) when we choose to surrender all we have (selling all we have) and going in the direction (buying the field) in which He has called us to own.

So what is the action (buying the field) that surrendering to Jesus requires in our walk with Him?  We surrender through trusting God, which leads us to experience freedom and the joy of knowing Him, which overflows in us, bringing peace and the power of God in the lives in whom God has called us to."

Thanks for listening!

Season 1- episode 7

Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes

Part 2: The Role of Surrender.

Chapter 6- He Has My Yes

"surrendering everything includes the way in which we participate in God’s divine plan. Peter was called to be an Apostle over the early church. This was a great responsibility. And with great responsibility comes great power. Yet the power Peter ultimately had did not rest in his own ability but completely rested upon the weight of his Yes towards Jesus. Despite Peter’s strong yes, he still struggled with the ultimate destination of where his yes would lead him. Jesus doesn’t disregard what he says, instead he redirects it toward himself.

I don’t know what will happen or what has happened in your life when you surrendered everything over to Jesus. I don’t know the places you’ll go, the people you’ll meet or even the perceived “results” of things you find yourself participating in. What I do know is regardless of if you are in the beginning stages of your surrender or what seems to be the aftermath, Jesus is still asking you for one thing. Your yes."

Thanks for Listening!

Season 1- episode 6

Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes

Part 1: The Call of Surrender.

Chapter 5- This Makes No sense

This episode looks at one of my favourite stories in the Old testament. We see in this story a women of faith who has great courage despite everything she and her people are facing!

"The call to surrender your life to Jesus is the call to give Jesus everything. Every dream, doubt, fear, insecurity, past moments or future plans, relationships, money and time. He asks that absolutely everything be completely surrendered and submitted to God’s hands. This is a crossroad that every follower of Jesus must walk through as they grow closer to Him. Sometimes in the church we focus so much on talking about God’s love and Jesus on the cross that we neglect to talk about the Holy Spirit. The problem with neglecting the Spirit is that the Spirit plays a key role in our own ability to surrender. I have never been to a church where the leaders don’t want their congregation to grow deeper in their relationship with Jesus. The only way we grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus is through the Holy Spirit. If we neglect talking about the Spirit, we are quenching the Spirit from being able to transform our lives. The Spirit has many names attributed to itself: helper, comforter, guide, assurance. On our own we cannot surrender to Jesus. The Spirit is the way we are able to surrender. As the Spirit gives us strength, He will also reveal the things in our hearts and minds that we have yet to give fully over to Him. I challenge you as you finish this chapter and section of the book to take a moment to ask the Father if there is anything you haven’t surrendered to His will. Ask the Spirit to give you strength to surrender and to guide and help you through this process.

The call to surrender is the call to trust God over everything else. It is the act of saying to God that you want to follow the path He has for you, not the path you desire to have for yourself. Surrendering to God’s will won’t always make logical sense and will often take a great step of faith. Surrendering to God is also directly tied to taking part in God’s divine plan for humanity. I believe that there are many great acts in history that certain men and woman were called to be a part of, but because of their inability to surrender to God’s will, someone else said yes, providing them the opportunity to participate in God’s divine plan.

What if your surrender was directly designed to occur at such a time as this? For your family, for your neighborhood, for your city, for this generation."

Thanks for listening!

Season 1- episode 5

Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes

Part 1: The Call of Surrender.

Chapter 4- This Makes No sense

This episode is looking at the story of Gideon from the Old Testament. 

"Gideon’s story is a story of surrendering all of your mind to God. Every aspect of God’s word over Gideon made no sense to him. Each time God gave direction, Gideon challenged it but then ultimately surrendered his mind and actions towards what God was saying. God is faithful to fulfill his promises, but often the way he fulfills goes against any plan or strategy we could ever come up with. It often goes against all reason. God wants us to know that anything he calls us to that is of significance in our life—parenting, marriage, job, ministry etc—is only possible through Him."

Thanks for listening!

Season 1- episode 4

Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes

Part 1: The Call of Surrender.

Chapter 2- What Must I Do?

This episode looks at the story of a rich young ruler who conversation with Jesus left him feeling disappointed and Jesus' disciples confused. 

"This story saddens me. This young man who had everything in the world you could want: riches, status, and even a belief in something greater than himself, still felt something was missing. He knew it, and that is why he ran to find Jesus, the man who he heard had all the answers. I think there are some of us in our churches and maybe even reading this book who like this man say we want to surrender everything over to Jesus. We have tried to find pleasure in the things of life, but have not found it to be fulfilling or long lasting. We have been told that true fulfilment can only be found by walking with Jesus and therefore we now approach Him hoping to find answers. The rich young man who had it all thought he wanted an answer from Jesus for his question, but the truth was he didn’t. I think some of us don’t either. Jesus knows our hearts, and he knows the areas in our lives where we have the most fear and therefore the most control over. The young man was rich because of his deep fear of having a lack, and through this fear he did everything he could to control his financial security. Jesus knew this and still had compassion on him. When we approach Jesus and say we surrender, Jesus will often expose these areas in our lives and allow us to make the choice whether we will surrender it. Often surrender to Jesus leads us to action. Whether it be selling our favourite technology gadget, or letting go of an unhealthy intimate relationship. In my experience walking alongside those who desire to go deeper with Jesus it is often attached to surrender and the need to let go of a dream, relationship, career, or even sometimes what part of town you live in. There always is an action attached to our surrender. Some of us say we want to surrender everything over to Jesus but once we approach Jesus and He shows us what that will mean, we also walk away from him with our face to ground."

Thanks for listening!

Season 1- episode 3

Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes

Part 1: The Call of Surrender.

Chapter 2- A Shallow Hallelujah 

This episode looks at the story of the crowd who welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem and then days later were the ones who yelled "crucify them". 

"To this day, Jesus will receive our shallow hallelujah knowing that tomorrow we may betray Him, because His love for us isn’t conditional upon our actions. His love is constant. When we look at this idea of surrendering, we need to understand that surrendering isn’t about having it all figured out. It is not about us having the most in depth understanding of what it means to walk with Jesus. Jesus isn’t looking at your resume or measuring your intentions. He is simply just looking for your yes. Whether you realize it or not you are already saying yes to something, why not just say yes to Him?

The call to surrender is the call to say yes."

Thanks for listening.

*warning* this episode discuss a true story involving suicide. If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support there is help. Contact your local Suicide Hotline (Canada-416-408-4357,  USA-1-800-273-8255).

Season 1- episode 2 

Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes 

Part 1: The Call of Surrender.

Chapter 1 The Loss of My Friend

Losing a friend to suicide sucks. There no easy way to get through it. 

"I will never forget shutting the door to the room and locking it. As I approached the end of the bed, I knew what I had to do. I dropped to my knees. I had no words, thoughts or even feelings. I simply dropped to my knees for five minutes. As I picked myself up from the end of the bed, I remember saying to God, “I surrender, I have no idea how I am going to get through this with you but I know I can never get through this without you.” For the first time in my life I literally fell asleep weeping and woke up crying immediately. It was far from over, my journey with how to go through such a thing. There were many prayers of frustration and to be really honest, moments of straight up rage, but I knew then that ultimately God had my heart and even though I never really got an answer to my questions, I knew I could still trust Him. To be clear this took a long time. I saw a counselor for a while. I tried to not get too close to anyone for about a year after this happened."

Thanks for listening.  

This is the very first episode of JMPCAST. Each episode of Season 1 of this podcast is an Audio chapter from the book Beautiful Surrender: He Has My Yes. 

This episode is the Introduction to the book called Both Hands.

If you enjoyed this episode be sure to subscribe to this podcast. 

If there was an award for the most important aspect of a Christian’s life, what do you think would be nominated? I suspect the most popular would be prayer, worship, reading the bible, being part of church and loving your neighbor. Although all of these things are essential, I believe there is something missing in this list. Surrender. Surrendering is a term familiar to most followers of Jesus, defined by few and lived out by some. 

Beautiful Surrender invites listeners into a journey from understanding the importance of surrender, to what a lifestyle surrendered to Jesus could look like. Through personal and scriptural stories this audio book will encourage, challenge and provide practical steps for you to take in your walk with Jesus. If you are feeling dissatisfied or desiring to grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus, then this audio book is for you

Thanks for listening.