- Wendy Magee
Voluntarily Surrender
REVELATION 3:20 AMP
“Behold, I stand at the door [of the church] and continually knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him (restore him), and he with Me.”
When you accept Jesus you have to let him in your heart.
You have now voluntarily submitted your life, your will, to God.
Voluntarily:
done or given because you want to and not because you are forced to have done or given by choice.
having power of free choice
As a single woman you are allowing Jesus into your heart. When you accept Christ you (acknowledge, confess, admit you are ready, ask Jesus into your heart).
When you start dating, do your inspection, your homework during the dating process. Put it to the test.
"You are free to choose, but you are not free from the consequences of your choice."
If you decide to marry someone ungodly, you have that freedom, but will have to accept the consequences of having an ungodly spouse for the sake of being married. Not saying you cannot eventually have a marriage that is an example of Christ relationship with the church, but it will take longer.
You can win them over without words...you can get the book on how to do that.
1 Corinthians 7:32-35 AMP
But I want you to be free from concern. The unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but the married man is concerned about worldly things, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided. The unmarried woman or the virgin is concerned about the matters of the Lord, how to be holy and set apart both in body and in spirit; but a married woman is concerned about worldly things, how she may please her husband. Now I say this for your own benefit; not to restrict you, but to promote what is appropriate and secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.”
As Christ stands and knock at the church, it's the same when you say "I do", now your husband is standing at the door knocking for you to voluntarily submit to him.
As a wife your are giving your husband authority over the house, and decisions. You have to respect their position.
Ephesians 5:22-24 AMP
“Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as [a service] to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ is head of the church, Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives should be subject to their husbands in everything [respecting both their position as protector and their responsibility to God as head of the house].”
Submission: root word sub to come under and mission (to come under his mission). You have to know his mission prior to marriage so you can know what you are submitting to.
Ephesians 5:25-28 AMP
“Husbands, love your wives [seek the highest good for her and surround her with a caring, unselfish love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word [of God], so that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy [set apart for God] and blameless. Even so husbands should and are morally obligated to love their own wives as [being in a sense] their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself.”
I asked my husband what does it mean to be rooted and grounded in love?
Ephesians 3:17-19 KJV
“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”
When I think about roots it's intertwined deep into the ground. The deeper the roots the stronger the tree, or plant. When you are grounded, you are not swayed even by the strongest tree (adversity).
In marriage, the enemy will attempt to test it, and if you have shallow roots, you will be uprooted by the first storm.
John 15:5 KJV
“I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
As the wife, your meekness will be your strength. God placed the husband in the position of leadership. He has to answer to God regarding how he lead his family. So when a husband and wife are at odds, your prayers will go unanswered.
1 Peter 3:7 KJV
“Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”
Just because it says dwell according to knowledge doesn't mean you disrespect him.
A man wants respect, and honor. Respect the position and God will honor you. If your husband is a godly man, he will recognize your efforts, but even if he don't, you don't change how you respond to him.
Ephesians 5:31-33 “FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED [and be faithfully devoted] TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. This mystery [of two becoming one] is great; but I am speaking with reference to [the relationship of] Christ and the church. However, each man among you [without exception] is to love his wife as his very own self [with behavior worthy of respect and esteem, always seeking the best for her with an attitude of loving kindness], and the wife [must see to it] that she respects and delights in her husband [that she notices him and prefers him and treats him with loving concern, treasuring him, honoring him, and holding him dear].”
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