Stages of Surrender

Introduction - 90 sec

I am Jacob Murphy, and I plant churches. I have helped plant churches in Toronto, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Greensboro. All told I have been on the team, or been the lead Pastor of 8 church plants in 14 years, and of those eight 4 are still going strong. In Church Planting world, that is a great number. One of those is this church.

Born again in Toronto when a friend brought me to Catch the Fire Toronto on New Year’s eve in 1997/98. -funny details

I saw God’s glory on display and it changed my life forever. I was 19, and I am 39 now, so that’s more than half a life ago. I came to learn that our church was a “river” church, that we were “in the river” and I have learned over the years that that’s exactly where I want to be.

Being in the river is incredibly fun, and can also have times that are challenging.

Sometimes the river will lead us to places where we have to trust Him in ways we didn’t expect. But God is with us through the whole thing. Growing in the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord is after all the school you never graduate from.

Freebies-

-pressing in vs pressing out, Stretching vs Growing

I have a few stories to tell you about some of the fun we’ve have had along the journey and then we will talk about the stages of Surrender in the River of God. Our main scripture that illuminates what this looks like is , for those of you who like to skip ahead.

Stories

Hamish - First time I got truly sloppy in the Holy Spirit, New year’s eve One year on.

The Syracuse Story -

Harold was not happy, he went through two nights of a three day immersion with a sour look on his face. He informed me that God could forgive anyone, and Harold could forgive anyone, but he would “never” forgive himself for the ways his life had gone, causing pain to his loved ones, especially his kids.

Harold carried a lot of shame, and guilt, and agreed with the accuser that he was beyond forgiving.

On the last and greatest day of the Immersion retreat I grabbed another member of the team and we approached Harold.

Let us pray for you. If you can’t forgive on your own, maybe Jesus can help you?

We laid hands on Harold and he crumpled on the floor like he had died.

He was down there a while. We didn’t pray a single word out loud, but Holy Spirit hit him hard.

When we finally noticed him stirring, I went to check on him. A completely different person got up off that floor. Harold had encountered the presence of God and the river had washed him clean. He was grinning, with tears in his eyes.

“I didn’t know! I didn’t know” was all he could say for the first minute.

“I didn’t know how much He really loves me.” In the presence of Love, Harold let go of his stuff, and accepted God’s forgiveness. It changed his life.

Harold brought his kids to church the next sunday morning to meet us, and he still had that smile.

The Money stories

We got to Raleigh with $10 dollars

We got to Greensboro with $1 dollar.

The England/Germany story

-Jake I screwed up. I accidentally agreed to speak for a whole week at a German Youth Conference.

-I was slated to go to Niger with Duncan, but my friend needed me, so I cancelled. We booked two events in England, which I would lead, so then when we got to Germany my friend could take the lead role, having had a few cracks at it.

In England the first church informed us that we would not be able to advertise, because no-one would be interested in Holy Spirit stuff.

By the end of the two days we spent with them, their Youth were weeping, shaking, and shouting Revival out into the streets of their city.

The second church hosted four OTHER churches’ youth groups so more people could get in the river. We ended up losing control of the last meeting. A girl’s shattered knee was snap-crackle popped back into complete healing right in front of all these kids. Then we gave a few kids permission to try out praying for each other. When they saw with their own eyes that THEY could give away the anointing, we couldn’t stop them.

Louis tried to dismiss the meeting and no-one paid attention. Parents started peeking in.

In Germany my friend led more than half the sessions, and by the end of the week the very stoic germans were laughing, rolling in the river, and getting set free.

The Healed heart story

Not just the healed heart, but the scars too.

When I met God in Toronto I never dreamed of English Youth getting blasted, or of hearts being literally healed in Greensboro. But after 20 years of God’s river, I am ruined for anything else.

I never dreamed when I was standing in the back of the church in Toronto that God would have

Ezekiel 47:1–12 NASB95

Then he brought me back to the door of the house; and behold, water was flowing from under the threshold of the house toward the east, for the house faced east. And the water was flowing down from under, from the right side of the house, from south of the altar. He brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate by way of the gate that faces east. And behold, water was trickling from the south side. When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees. Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins. Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded. He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me back to the bank of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, on the bank of the river there were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then he said to me, “These waters go out toward the eastern region and go down into the Arabah; then they go toward the sea, being made to flow into the sea, and the waters of the sea become fresh. “It will come about that every living creature which swarms in every place where the river goes, will live. And there will be very many fish, for these waters go there and the others become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. “And it will come about that fishermen will stand beside it; from Engedi to Eneglaim there will be a place for the spreading of nets. Their fish will be according to their kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea, very many. “But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. “By the river on its bank, on one side and on the other, will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear every month because their water flows from the sanctuary, and their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing.”

Ezekial 47:1-12

Surrender

Stages of Surrender:

The more we lay down our own lives, our worldly agendas, our fleshly attempts to justify ourselves, the more we can experience His life pumping through our veins.

Encounter - The Altar.

Surrender - The too deep to cross.

Calling - Fishing.

Abiding - The roots.

Encounter - The Altar is the place of encounter. Encounter leads to surrender. When you come face to face with Love Himself at the altar, what kinds of prayers do you feel welling up in your heart?

“AAAAAHHHHH My life is yours! Do whatever you want with me! Change my heart Lord”

We make our offerings, we lay down our stuff. Then Jesus leads us through a life where we can begin to manifest and grow what we sowed at that altar.

So our offerings and sacrifices are no longer about pleasing or appeasing God. Really they never were. They are about UNBURDENING

Jesus said “Abide in me, and I in You.” He promises that the Father and the Son will come and make their home is us. There is a caveat, this is a promise for those who hear His words and OBEY His commands.

The Father hears our prayers and utterly believes every word, every time.

Have you noticed that

The Altar is also the place that starts a flow, a river that Jesus lets us know actually wells up from the depths of our innermost being.

Surrender - Too Deep to Cross

The Banks story

Right at the moment that Carolyn began to pray for people to come who would truly jump in and carry our mission like it was their own, I was going through some amazing heart healing and forgiving of all sorts of leaders and people in my life who I had worked with through difficult times.

A river that is ankle deep is like a refreshing trickle

The Banks story

When there is pain in relationships, we often judge, resent, or become bitter, and we need to forgive. I had an opportunity to forgive, and furthermore to identify an ungodly belief that leaders would not support me. I broke agreement with that ungodly belief, and then that SAME DAY Duncan and Kate were meeting a couple in Texas who needed to know what they were doing next. D&K connected them to us, and fore-saw that WE needed people just like them, and THEY needed people just like us. Literally the next opportunity a leader of mine had to show support, they did

A river that is knee deep is pulling on you. there is a power there.

Waist deep is a different story. That’s a level where you are really IN the river, even if all of you isn’t wet yet.

Too deep to cross is the place of surrender. Not every believer allows God to lead them here.

In our journey

From the Altar, from the place of encounter, to the place of surrender, we are set on a journey where what happened in the sanctuary is deepening in us. And this isn’t a ONE OFF thing, its a whole lifetime of invitations from God to chose Him.

Every time, God is inviting you deeper, He is inviting you to deeper surrender. Sometimes it’s letting go of things that you would like to keep, but they are not compatible with where He is leading you.

Sometimes it is like Harold, letting go of mindsets that have kept us bound up.

Surrendering to God is the only way we ever truly learn the joy of being KNOWN by God. And though none of us is ultimately that impressive, or particularly righteous, when we allow God to know us, when we let more and more of our guard down before Him, He fills us with more and more of Himself.

Time and time again I have seen people let go of patterns of sin, let down walls of unforgiveness, accept God’s truths about themselves, only to see God fill them up in new ways, to new depths.

Letting go and picking your feet off the ground, letting God carry you down the river is the place of surrender.

Calling - Fishing

For those people who ARE able to take their feet off the ground and let God’s river carry them out, they eventually reach a place where the river sends you to a place where the dead water of the world start becoming fresh, and all sorts of “Fish” start popping up.

Leading others, discipling others, presenting others to their own moment at the altar, is actually a supernatural stage in the journey we are on with God. That’s not to say that if you don’t have a thousand disciples you are not on a journey with God, but you should accept that as you grow in God, and as you grow in following His ways, giving to others and helping them will be part of your life, as it is His.

There is a stage of Surrender

Surely picking your feet up and letting God carry you away MUST be the ultimate surrender, right?

I couldn’t imagine that God would ever ask me to plant a church, and be rooted in Greensboro. I imagined going to the nations. But I didn’t imagine that it was a process that included confinement (another word for surrender).

There is a stage of growth that initially feels like splish-splashing in the river is over, and it’s time to fish. And if you are anything like me, the ministry of the fisher can sometimes feel more like work than an adventure with God.

It’s important to remember in this

Abiding - The trees beside the river

Anyone who makes surrendering to God such a habit, such a part of their life that they are able to keep surrendering even when it feels confining will find access to joy in God that is just plain not available to everyone.

God’s love is available to all, at all times, but when a person reaches the point where their fruit feeds others, where the life that’s flowing in THEM becomes healing for others, that is an amazing place. And it’s available to all of us, if we will allow it.

See if you fish for long enough an amazing thing happens. Your boots start to sink into the mud. Before long your boots turn to roots.

All along the riverbank are trees. Trees whose fruit is for food and whose leaves are for healing. These trees are you and me, if we will allow it.

How is this surrender? Well that food isn’t for YOU. Those leaves are for someone ELSES healing.

All along the river are people who have laid their lives down to partner with God however He wants. And He ALWAYS wants to multiply what He has done in us into others.

Jesus said that from our innermost being will flow rivers, and it is the trees who manifest this the best. Rather than being “in the river” the river is in them!

Ezekiel didn’t see the trees on his way DOWN, just when he came back

When I was first born again I looked forward into my life with God and all I wanted in this world was to get going. I didn’t know what it would be like to be ankle deep, when my feet were refreshed by the river but the rest of me was still very much driven by all the same desires I had before.

There aren’t levels in God. There aren’t some who are just plain old more Special to God. There ARE those who are farther down the road of surrender.

Ministry

Knee-Deep Jake

Don’t make plans about what God can do for you. Surrender!

The beautiful thing is that you don’t LEAVE the altar of surrender as you go along the journey. The River FLOWS from there. You move WITH it.

Don’t make plans about what God can do for you. Surrender!

Waist Deep Jake

The decision to surrender ultimately comes down to the moment when the river is too deep for you.

The decision to surrender ultimately comes down to the moment when the river is too deep for you.

In the Revival that God started in Toronto, God poured out His Spirit in such power and with such Joy and laughter that people were accessing this stuff in HIGH DOSES and coming away from encounters saying “I’m ready to do ANYTHING” and God took them at their word. Have you ever been to a conference or a burn night and left saying “Oh God, just do whatever it takes, I need You!”? God takes you at your word, but we need to remember, it’s His Kingdom, and it’s HIS river, so it may cost you some of the stuff that ISN’T His.

Heide Baker figured it out. She said Holy Spirit was the Laughing Gas for people, so God could perform heart surgery on them in the Spirit.

We have all been growing, and more growth is coming. It gets deeper and deeper, and there are always more and more people ready to start their own journey.

I didn’t see the trees that were feeding me and bringing me healing. Now that I have come a ways along in the river, I see it. And I want to BE that for others.

The wonderful thing is that every step along the way, God is deepening your relationship. God is growing more of His fruit in your life, the Kingdom that started small like a mustard seed grows and grows until soon its the biggest thing you have.

Encounter Him, Surrender what He’s asking you to surrender, get plugged into your Calling, and Abide in it, and in Him.

And in many ways while we can grow to become like the trees that are planted beside the river, Abiding in Him, and He in you, at the SAME TIME, God is happy to take you on the whole ride all over again! And with some maturity under your belt and experiences of trusting Him and seeing His power to keep you safe, it gets more exciting.

There is ALWAYS more to surrender, which also means there is ALWAYS an invitation from the Father into MORE of HIM.

Ministry

We are going to have a time of , which will mean a time of MORE GOD. The Adrian Cross model

If God is already moving on you, come forward now.

I don’t know if you are like Harold, who needs an encounter, and needs to surrender for the first time. To put your trust in Jesus, and lay everything else down. If you choose to do it, God will MEET you and your life will never be the same.

Maybe you are like I was after a year in Toronto. Ankle deep, but thinking that was everything. God has a WHOLE lot more to give you. It is His GOOD PLEASURE to give you the kingdom, but He wants you to surrender having your OWN kingdom.

If you are knee deep, where this whole faith in God thing is starting to get real, today is an opportunity for you. God is measuring out a thousand cubits for you and in the supernatural He wants to lead you right past any obstacles that may be trying to get noisy and convince you to stop or turn back. Let Him lead you today.

To my waist deep friends, your life is His, and you know it, but your old self is trying to stay above the water, and the world’s not doing you any favors. Lay down the struggle. Let HIS resurrection life be your everything. Jesus is fine with you coming to Him with nothing. He LOVES it in fact. Let it all go this morning.

Wherever you are, just getting started, boots turning to roots, God is pleased with you. He knows about all you have been through, and He is ready NOW to lead you into what’s next in Him.

I don’t know where you are in this journey, but I know this. God is inviting you deeper. And I want to give you an opportunity to respond. It has NOTHING to do with your ability to achieve anything, and it has EVERYTHING to do with His ability to lead you.

As you come and allow God to move in your heart, He will fill you.