Friday, July 17th

This week Pastor Ali Kalkandelen from Turkey will be guest-blogging on 10 Minutes with God. There will be no audio this week, but we please enjoy Pastor Kalkandelen's posts!

Friday

REPENTANCE MEANS SUBMITTING GOD FULLY
Repentance is also a journey of transformation that requires complete surrounding, submission to God. Submission is “act of referring to a third party for judgment or decision” says a dictionary. It is act or fact of obeying.”

The Satan’s biggest and the most important plan was to convince Adam and Eve that they can have their own Kingdom. They can become their own gods. They can know, and they do not need God. Therefore, they don’t need to submit to God. However, when they believed Satan and acted on what he told them they destroyed their lives.

Submission can be very sensitive act for many. People submit others and they get hurt. Authorities over us, like our parents and teachers can hurt us because they carry an EGO or a self in them that seeks for satisfaction by power, achievement, control. And It results becoming a rebel against higher authorities, even rebelling against God. However God does not have an EGO that seeks for power, or achievement or control. He doesn’t need those because He already has a power that greater than any other power, He achieved things that nothing can achieve; and He has control over everything no one can take over. His ultimate reason is not His EGO but His love, his care. And his love is pure and divine yet humble, His discipline is powerful yet delicate, His control is mighty yet sensitive; His orders are ultimate yet caring.

Submission is complete surrounding of the self to God; living under his rulers and standards. Submission to Him is not 10%, 50% or even not 90%, but 100%. It’s 7/24 thing. Paul talks about himself and says “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”

Submitting God is not bad, not bad at all. He is not like our parents or other people that abused our trust, our weaknesses, and our vulnerability. Nahum 1:7 “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust Him.”

Fully submitting to God is not easy. People will make fun of you. They will say you are narrow minded. They will reject you, won’t become a friend with you. Jesus says “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.” Mat 5:11

So, therefore brothers and sisters let us not look at the world and compromise but trust in Him. Let us be obedient to His word.

“Have you not know? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary; His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint; and to him who has no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but those who wait for God shall renew their strength; they shall month up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31).

Pastor Ali Kalkandelen