Category: Surrendering Your Life to God

Bible Verse of The Day – 5-30-18

Matthew 10:39 (NKJV) 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

Our lives are not our own. Yes, we can make decisions and choices as to what we want to do each day. We can go here or go there. We can make plans and pursue certain things. But those are just “surface” things.

If we really look at our lives, they were given to us by the One who created us. Our lives are God-given, not the making of any human being.

God has given them to us. And in return, He wants us to give them back, so to speak. No, He’s not asking us to sacrifice our lives literally, dying for Him as a way of thanking Him.

Yes, there may be times when our faith could possibly literally cost us our life, but that’s not what Jesus is referring to here. He is talking about surrendering ourselves to Him on a daily basis, letting Him have eminence over our lives in a way that benefits the kingdom of God.

Repentance, loving others, forgiving those who hurt us, sowing our finances into God’s kingdom, helping those in need of help, showing mercy to those around us and so many other things are all part of laying our lives down and surrendering to Him.

Jesus also mentioned “taking up our cross”.

Luke 9:23 (NKJV) 23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

We “take up our cross” by surrendering to Him. Our cross isn’t a specific thing, like an ailment or affliction, like some might say. An affliction is just that, an affliction. Afflictions are not God’s way of compelling us into surrendering to Him.

Taking up our cross involves all of the things mentioned above regarding serving others and serving God, by making ourselves available to Him, to be used in whatever way He needs us to be used.

Children of God, it’s time for us to lay our lives down, to surrender them to Him in a way that we have never done before.

And as we do this, as we lose our lives for Him, only then will we truly find them.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-8-15

Philippians 3:7(NKJV) 7 But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

We may think at times, when things are being stripped away from us, that we have failed; we have taken a loss.

But we can reassure you that the loss we may be experiencing, might very well be for our gain!

Surrendering our lives to Christ, will cause us to have to let go of some things that may get in the way of our journey with Him. Some of those things, we may have worked long and hard for. It’s not necessarily that we are losing them because of anything we have done. It’s just that God knows what is right for us.

Although these things may feel like a loss, believe God when He tells us that as we follow Him, He will make us the HEAD and not the TAIL. That we are above only and not beneath!

Deuteronomy 28:13(NKJV) 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.

Don’t be afraid, disappointed or sad, when we see things being stripped away. Nothing in this life is more fulfilling than walking close to God. It is in Him we will find happiness, JOY and everlasting LIFE!

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 9-12-14

Deuteronomy 6:5 (NKJV) 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Pastor Ellie and I were talking today. I was sharing with her about some things that I had seen had been done by some Christians that were really not godly at all, but rather hateful.

This particular group of believers had made some very derogatory statements about a nation and its people.

She asked me “how can they be Christians and still think like that?”. I pondered on it for a moment and I heard God say “because there is still a part of them that they have not surrendered to Me yet”.

And so it is with so many of us. We follow Christ and we live our lives as believers… Christians. But there are still little pieces of our lives that we haven’t given over to God and allowed Him to touch or change.

Think about some of the things that we see some Christians continue to do for years after they become followers of Christ and are washed in His blood.

Racism, sexual immorality, drunkenness, thievery, dishonesty and the list can go on. You see, if we are still engaging in these things habitually, on a regular basis, it’s only because we have refused to let God change that part of us.

So we challenge you today to let God check you. Let Him peek into the deepest, darkest recesses of your heart and show you what’s there.

And then let Him touch you there and begin to root that evil thing out of you once and for all.

There’s not a single one of us who doesn’t have something that we have held onto, and today’s a good day to let it go, in the name of Jesus.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

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Bible Verse of The Day – 11-14-13

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV) But as it is written:”eye has not seen, nor ear heard,nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

There are times when I get so frustrated with the things of this world.

Whether it’s corrupt government, ridiculous taxes, human ignorance, human wickedness, corruption and idolatry in the church or anything else that we could all think of. Some days just seem like the bad outweighs the good by such a huge margin. It makes it truly hard to keep our attitude right and keep our eyes on the good things.

But I always have a knowing deep down inside that none of what we do for God while we’re on this earth is in vain. And this is one of those verses that just drives that point home.

No matter what we have to battle here and no matter how hard it can sometimes seem or how frustrating it can get dealing with human bureaucracy, know-it-all spirits or outright miserable people, nobody can ever take away the promises of God.

And he has promised us that no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and no human mind has ever even imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.

And for me, that’s enough.

Press into Him, people of God. And never stop looking upward or moving forward in His name.

Amen

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 10-7-13

2 Samuel 12 (NKJV) Then the Lord sent Nathan to David…

The verse shown above is just the beginning of an exchange that took place between Nathan, the prophet of God, and King David. God had sent Nathan to David to chasten David and expose the evil that he had done.

God chose to have Nathan confront David in a way that wasn’t confrontational at all, but used wisdom, instead, to help David see his error.

God will sometimes use people to help us see where we’ve gone wrong because there are many times when we want to hide our sins and try our hardest to pretend that they don’t exist.

In one other instance, God actually caused a donkey to speak, to rebuke a man (Numbers 22:21-31). So we never know who God might choose to use to speak to us and give us direction in our lives.

But the worst thing we can do is either ignore the instruction or correction, or argue with the person bringing it to us. Sometimes it can be hard to see our own faults and our own sin. And other times we just plain don’t want to admit when we’ve done wrong.

But we can be sure that if we’re following God, He will do whatever is needed to correct us and bring our feet back onto the right path.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-15-13

James 4:7 (NKJV) Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

In everything about our lives, God has given us the freedom to choose.

We have the privilege of choosing right or wrong. We have the privilege of choosing to follow God’s leading for our lives or not.

We have the freedom to choose how we spend our time. We have the freedom to choose how we spend our money.

So the question today is this: Are we honoring God with our decisions and our choices?

Some things are so basic and pretty easy to figure out. But some choices are a little tougher. Sometimes we have to seriously stop and ask God “which choice will please you?”.

Much of what we decide is related directly to where we’re at in our walk with God. The depth of our relationship with Him will greatly effect the choices we make.

Sometimes what might seem like the most straight forward decision to make can be much more intricate when we seriously consider how God would want us to carry something out. Despite the fact that common sense plays a huge part in a lot of our decisions, sometimes God’s “logic” will fly in the face of human logic.

This might seem to be confusing at first, but as we press into God and submit ourselves to Him, and learn His ways and what He wants for our lives, it will begin to become more clear. And as each decision or choice comes along, it will become easier and easier for us to make “God” decisions versus “good” decisions.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 12-17-12

(John 15:5 NKJV) “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Without Him, I am nothing. This is not symbolic. It is not deeply spiritual. It is not hyperbole. It is plain, simple truth.

Without Christ I am nothing more than a mere human being with mere human traits, strengths and weaknesses.

I am a sinner, a frail human with tendencies to fail… not just once, but many times. This is not to say that I don’t try to do my best or try my hardest. I do try. But in my own strength I am not capable of overcoming much of anything.

But it doesn’t end there. You see, I have Christ in me! And in Him I can do all things!

(Phil 4:13 NKJV) I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Despite my desperate, miserable self, God saw fit to take my place on the cross, in the form of Jesus Christ, to pay the price for my sins, my failures and my shortcomings.

Because I have accepted what He did for me and taken on a personal relationship with Him, I am no longer just that frail human I described above. I am a new creation, with God dwelling in me through the Holy Spirit.

So I am no longer on my own or operating solely on my own strength or understanding. With God in me I can do all things and overcome all things. And what’s better… you can do all things if you have Christ in you too!

Take heart today, that He has not left us to fight our battles all alone.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

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Bible Verse of The Day – 10-1-12

(Mat 26:39-40 NKJV)  He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

I often think about this verse and wonder exactly what Jesus was feeling inside, knowing that this was the very thing He was destined for, to face death on the cross at the hands of the Roman soldiers.

Despite being God in the flesh, He was also here on earth in human form, where He experienced everything that we experience; joy, sorrow, hope, and disappointment… all of the emotions we experience on a daily basis.

But through this terrible ordeal, He chose to do what was right. He chose to die the cruelest of deaths on the cross and to redeem mankind, you and me, from our sins.

I am thankful for His sacrifice. I am thankful that He took my place. I am thankful that my soul and my salvation have been bought and paid for by His blood.

If you have grown lukewarm in your walk, stop and consider what was given for you… the price that was paid to redeem you. Let it sink in and penetrate your spirit.

If we can truly start to understand this, we will see so many things in a different light.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-1-12

(1 Cor 6:20 NKJV)  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins. He bought us with His very own blood and His life.

As I was out for a walk in the evening, God impressed upon my heart to share a message with you today about casual Christianity. There are hundreds of thousands… possibly even millions of “casual Christians” across the globe.

These would be the people who have made a confession of faith at some point in their life, accepting Christ as their savior. But for one reason or another, they have never gone beyond a casual relationship with Him, keeping Him at arm’s length.

I want to speak to you today if you are a casual Christian. This is not to condemn anyone in any way whatsoever. But it is to urge you to move beyond where you are at right now and give Jesus your WHOLE being. He is worthy of our entire life. After all, He bought it with His own life!

If there is something stopping you from surrendering, give it to God and let Him have it. Try to understand how much God paid for you and that He wants 100% of you. He deserves to have 100% of you.

Give yourself over to Him. Let Him sit on the throne of your heart. There is nothing in your life that’s too big for Him to handle.

You will never know true peace until He is your everything.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

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Bible Verse of The Day – 7-19-12

(Mat 15:18 KJV)  But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

What comes out of the heart is what defiles a man. That is where it all starts… in the heart.

You see, by the time it comes out of the mouth the damage was already done. It was the heart that passed it through. We shouldn’t just repent for the words we have spoken, but for our heart’s condition. That is the root of it.

Have you ever heard someone say, “we need to get right to the root of the problem”? The root is where something starts growing and grows deeper if it remains in place. No matter what changes you make, if those changes aren’t at the root, it will keep coming back.

This year I planted a garden and when I go out to weed it, the weeds look so little compared to the plants themselves. However, when I pull them up they are strong and they like to break off right at the ground. But, the root of them is beneath the ground and if I don’t rip it out, that same weed will come back.

Our heart is the root of a lot of our problems. It’s a hard thing to admit to some of the things that are in there. But once we see them, they’ve been exposed to us and there is no hiding it any longer.

The first thing we need to do is ask God to help us get it out of there. It won’t go away on its own. It takes work and, like anything else, it takes sacrifice. It takes giving some things up that mean a lot to us; letting go of things that make us feel comfortable and making adjustments.

It might not be comfortable or pleasant at first, but it’s a necessity if we want to grow as a believer.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

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Bible Verse of The Day – 6-22-12

(Mat 6:19-21 NKJV)  “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; {20} “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. {21} “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Where are our hearts? What do we treasure?

The answers to these two questions can tell us a lot about ourselves and where we are at in our walk with God.

What makes us happy and puts a smile on our faces will be dictated by what we value the most. Is it a shiny new car, a big house with lots of extra rooms, a new wardrobe, a new job or a raise on our current job?

Or is it seeing someone receive a breakthrough in their life, helping someone through a tough time, giving someone money when they’re in a tough financial situation or helping someone to have strength when they feel like they just can’t take another thing happening to them?

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not terrible to enjoy stuff. Believe me… I enjoy stuff too. But we need to make sure that God and His desires for us come before that stuff. We need to take pleasure in the things that give God pleasure.

When we press into God and begin to get His heart, then we will start to see the things that make us happy begin to change.

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-377-5400

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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