How to Start a Housefireಮಾದರಿ

# Only Jesus My posture for life is a song of surrender Living in fullness starts with surrender. So many grapple with finding purpose, meaning and value, and those things can only be found in Jesus. He is the author, giver and sustainer of life. When we decide to live for Jesus, we resolve within ourselves to “burn the ship” - anything and everything that would take us back to our former way of living or hinder our walk forward. He is the only One worthy of pursuing, the only One worthy of following, and the only One worthy of all that we are and all that we have. There is no greater treasure than Jesus. There is no sweeter name than Jesus. Jesus surrendered His own will to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. He pleaded in agony-filled prayer, asking that if it was possible that the cup be taken from Him, while simultaneously releasing His own will and accepting His fate to become the eternal sacrifice for sin at the cross. He understood the power and outcome of surrender. What tune does the song of your life sing? Are your hands wide open and surrendered? Does He have your full and complete yes? Because your yes to God doesn’t only affect you; it affects everyone that you will connect with throughout the entire course of your life. The cross before me, the world behind Our yes to Him is our no to the world. As followers of Jesus, we cannot conform to or love the world. That doesn’t mean that we don’t love people; it means that we don’t live the same way the world does. The Gospel books (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) show us how Jesus turned the world upside down with His radical, counter-cultural ways. He set the standard for us to live our lives by, and proved how God’s thoughts and ways are so much higher than our own. Giving Him everything is the heartbeat of surrender. There should be no area of our life restricted from His Word, power and presence. Our thoughts, decisions, actions and every part of our lives must be completely laid down before Him. Will it be costly? Yes. Will it be worth it? Also yes. All that He wants is all that you have to give - your heart fully surrendered. One that loves Him with every fiber of your being - all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. If He has your heart, He has everything. ### DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. As a believer, how do you say “no” to the world? 2. What are some areas you have surrendered to the Lord? 3. Does your life look more like the world or more like Jesus? 4. What are some ways Jesus modeled radical surrender? 5. What ways has your yes to God affected the lives of others?