{"id":631,"date":"2018-09-19T03:13:08","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T03:13:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=631"},"modified":"2018-09-19T09:23:42","modified_gmt":"2018-09-19T09:23:42","slug":"631","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html","title":{"rendered":"How Abraham Lived Out Surrender (10 Steps to Freedom Week 2 Day 3)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"unsplash-logoDanka
Danka & Peter<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom<\/a>. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus!<\/em><\/p>\n

STEP TWO: day 3<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Surrender<\/i><\/b> and unleash the Spirit\u2019s power within you<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Back in the Old Testament, a man named Abraham had been given a promise, the promise of a son. Twenty-five years later, after many years of praying and waiting, God fulfilled that promise and gave Abraham a son named Isaac. And then this happened:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen God said, \u2018Take your son, your only son, whom you love\u2014Isaac\u2014and go to the region of Moriah.\u00a0Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering\u00a0on a mountain I will show you.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Genesis 22:2<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not how Abraham planned on his fatherhood going. He finally had what he\u2019d wanted his entire life, and now God was asking him to give it up. God was asking Abraham to surrender Isaac. As difficult as it was, Abraham did just that: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar,\u00a0on top of the wood.\u00a0Then he reached out his hand and took the knife\u00a0to slay his son.\u00a0But the angel of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0called out to him from heaven,\u00a0\u201cAbraham! Abraham! Do not lay a hand on the boy.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/span>Genesis 22:9-12<\/span><\/p>\n

God didn\u2019t ask Abraham to surrender because he wanted to punish Abraham but because He wanted to bless him. And God did exactly that, blessing Abraham abundantly and renewing His covenant with him. When Abraham surrendered to God, God blessed him above and beyond. When we surrender to God, He blesses us with freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Abraham is an extreme example of what it looks like to surrender to God. What are some things (i.e. possessions, relationships, control) not as extreme as your own children that you\u2019ve struggled to surrender to God?<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Surrendering ultimately hinges upon trust. Do you really trust that if you surrender fully to God that He\u2019ll take care of you and meet your needs?<\/p>\n

You can read other devotional entries\u00a0for 10 Steps to Freedom\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus! STEP TWO: day 3 Surrender and unleash the Spirit\u2019s power within you Back in the Old Testament, a man named Abraham had been given a promise, the promise of a son. Twenty-five…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[327,318,328,172,326],"class_list":["post-631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-steps-to-freedom","tag-abraham","tag-freedom","tag-isaac","tag-old-testament","tag-surrender"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Abraham Lived Out Surrender (10 Steps to Freedom Week 2 Day 3) - Next Steps<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Abraham in the Old Testament had to decide whether full surrender to God was something real to him or just a theory.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Abraham Lived Out Surrender (10 Steps to Freedom Week 2 Day 3) - Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Abraham in the Old Testament had to decide whether full surrender to God was something real to him or just a theory.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next Steps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-19T03:13:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-19T09:23:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/danka-peter-63772-unsplash-300x200.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Daffern\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@joshdaffern\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Abraham Lived Out Surrender (10 Steps to Freedom Week 2 Day 3) - Next Steps","description":"Abraham in the Old Testament had to decide whether full surrender to God was something real to him or just a theory.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Abraham Lived Out Surrender (10 Steps to Freedom Week 2 Day 3) - Next Steps","og_description":"Abraham in the Old Testament had to decide whether full surrender to God was something real to him or just a theory.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html","og_site_name":"Next Steps","article_author":"facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern","article_published_time":"2018-09-19T03:13:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-09-19T09:23:42+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/danka-peter-63772-unsplash-300x200.jpg"}],"author":"Josh Daffern","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@joshdaffern","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html","name":"How Abraham Lived Out Surrender (10 Steps to Freedom Week 2 Day 3) - Next Steps","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/danka-peter-63772-unsplash-300x200.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-19T03:13:08+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-19T09:23:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#\/schema\/person\/8ac2e15479ad6a320d2082837203cb7c"},"description":"Abraham in the Old Testament had to decide whether full surrender to God was something real to him or just a theory.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/danka-peter-63772-unsplash-300x200.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/files\/2018\/09\/danka-peter-63772-unsplash-300x200.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/631.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Abraham Lived Out Surrender (10 Steps to Freedom Week 2 Day 3)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/","name":"Next Steps","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Josh Daffern","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/#\/schema\/person\/8ac2e15479ad6a320d2082837203cb7c","name":"Josh Daffern","description":"Born and raised in California, Josh graduated college from California Baptist University and spent two years as a missionary in Africa before coming back to America and finding the love of his life (Robin). Josh graduated from New Orleans Seminary with a Masters of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. Josh has been involved in full-time ministry for over twenty years. He enjoys hiking, beach volleyball, reading, playing anything competitive, and rough-housing with his kids. Josh, his gorgeous wife Robin, his outrageously handsome boys Zeke, Shepherd and Lincoln and his princess Elle, live in northern Virginia. Josh also blogs on Patheos as New Wineskins: an Apologist for the Modern Church and you can find links to all his content on joshdaffern.com. Enjoy the blog!","sameAs":["http:\/\/joshdaffern.com","facebook.com\/drjoshdaffern","https:\/\/x.com\/joshdaffern"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/author\/jdaffern"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":633,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631\/revisions\/633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}