The Exercise of Group Surrender to God

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May God overshadow our plans and programs and take full control of His gathered people? Spiritual awakening occurs when the Spirit of God is allowed to overshadow our religious programs and to take direct control of an assembly of His people. When we rely on and lean on our own understanding, opinions, and plans the Spirit is quenched. Jesus told the Pharisees: “You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”

We Christians can also lose our first love and become lukewarm. But when the God’s Spirit is surrendered to by a group of believers and those present begin to obey His inner promptings, the Son of God demonstrates His presence and reality in our midst! A sense of awe fills all present as individual people hear, obey, and speak a word from God that was spoken in their heart.

God’s overshadowing is marvelous! Jesus is knocking on the door and saying “Awake you sleeper” so that He can release more of His life in and through us. Awake to the awareness of “Christ in you.” Notice how He is nudging your heart. Surrender and obey! You’ll soon find yourself surrounded by marvels!

Then don’t just keep God’s inner marvels to yourself. Testify! Gather with other Christ-followers and let the risen Jesus overshadow you all, as you each one notice, obey, and share the Spirit’s inner nudgings. “For no word from God will ever fail.”

Biblical Christianity isn’t a Sunday spectator event. It isn’t a sport to watch in comfortable seats. It’s about full-contact, heart-to-heart interaction with the risen Jesus. Christianity is inherently interactive and participatory. “For those who are led by the Spirit are the children of God.” (See Romans 8:14.)

Fans aren’t team members. They watch and sometimes cheer but never get in the game. Be a spiritual athlete on Christ’s team. The body of Christ is called to be and to meet as a participatory culture.

If Christianity isn’t participatory with people being directly led by God’s Spirit, it has moved beyond the New Testament and become formalized. It’s not supposed to be about being a passive part of a religious audience. Christianity is the life-long participatory project of ceaselessly following and obeying the resurrected Jesus. If you aren’t daily following Jesus in a participatory way, you’re just being a religious audience member.

A Spirit-led participatory environment will shift church attendees from focusing on a pastor to community interaction that focuses on the risen Jesus. The more a church services allows and encourages spontaneous, Spirit-led participation the more Jesus is able to personally direct it.

It’s now time that
Christians gather
As Spirit-led
Participants
So Christ can be
The actual Head
Of His body.