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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Carissa Vitorovic

Absolute Surrender

I work with, as was mentioned, Amazing Facts, and have been for the last few years, which has certainly been a blessing as we've traveled around and held various training seminars around the world.

I would encourage you to come out this afternoon if you are desiring to give Bible studies.

If you are passionate about sharing the word of Jesus Christ, I would encourage you to come out and join us this afternoon as we consider that very topic.

But again, coming from Northern California, I came from a family that loved the country, that loved being out in nature.

I grew up with horses and dogs and chickens and cow town, right?

And you know, when my parents decided to buy a horse for me, they had to buy a special type of horse.

As you may have noticed, I am taller than average.

So noticeably, the horse that I required would be a little larger than usual and thus we settled upon a Clydesdale And I loved my huge horse Sequoia by name I loved my mammoth beast now my sister was not quite as enthusiastic about horses.

And thus, my parents bought her a little Shetland pony by the name of Allie Capone, after the infamous Al Capone.

So there we were 1 afternoon riding around the pasture, me on my Clydesdale, and my sister on her pony.

And we rode around leisurely, and we were enjoying the time together, when suddenly I looked over across the arena and I saw my sister struggling.

You see, that little pony was having a bad day, and that pony was bucking.

And my sister was holding on with all her might, and yet did not quite make those 8 seconds.

It wasn't long before she hit the ground.

And there I am leisurely cantering around the arena as my sister hits the ground.

Now you know, what must you do when you fall off a horse?

You can't teach that horse that that's acceptable behavior.

But do you think my sister was about to get on that horse?

And there I am on my Clydesdale when I hear my father's voice.

And I ride on over to that pony, climb off my Clydesdale, and step on.

And at first she is moving quite nicely at a trot.

And yet again she is bucking, yet again she is rearing, and when I reach the point of feeling as though I might too hit the ground, when the buck became too strong, I put my feet down.

You see, it didn't take much before that pony learned the lesson of absolute surrender.

That is the very topic we are going to be considering today.

What does it mean to be absolutely surrendered to Jesus Christ?

What does it mean to surrender our plans, to surrender our dreams, and to truly know our Father's heart?

Would you bow your heads with me as we pray?

Heavenly Father, we have come here today because we desire to know you.

We are seeking your face and your presence.

Oh Father God, may I be forgotten and Jesus lifted on.

Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit may speak through your word, open our hearts Lord so that we may receive your message, may it change our lives is our prayer.

There's a missionary by the name of Hannah Moore.

Hannah Moore was 1 of the very first missionaries, Adventist missionary, and she traveled to the beautiful continent of Africa.

Now as Hannah prepared for this trip, it was not as though as our excursions today where you jump on a plane and you're there within 36 hours.

No, Hannah knew that she was going to a very rugged country.

Hannah knew that there was malaria, there were diseases.

Hannah knew that she would be in a remote village and likely never see her family again.

And yet as Hannah packed for this trip, she brought along the essentials.

Brought along those pots and those pans and the little memories from home.

And yet, if you look at the items that Hannah brought along, you would find something very unusual.

You see, included in those pots and pans and blankets was Hannah's casket.

You see, Hannah did not believe that she would live for long.

And she packed that casket as a way of saying, I am going to Africa and I am going to die for Jesus there.

I don't know if it'll be 2 weeks, 2 months, 20 years, but I am giving my all to the work before me.

And I wonder sometimes as we prepare for our missionary journeys, as we prepare for the mission that God has for us here, have we packed our casket?

They knew that they must come up with a plan.

Word came to them of a prophet, of a man that could curse a people and they would die, bless them and they would prosper.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Numbers chapter 22.

And we will begin this morning in Numbers chapter 22, verses 7 through 13.

And The Bible says, So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed, with the diviner's fee in their hand.

And they came to Balaam, and they spoke to him the words of Balak.

And he said to them, Launch here tonight, and I will bring back word to you as the Lord speaks to me.' So the princes of Moab stayed with Balaam.

Then God came to Balaam and said, who are these men with you?

So Balaam said to God, Balak, the sons of Zippor.

King of Moab has sent to me, saying, Look, a people has come out of Egypt.

Perhaps I shall be able to overpower them and drive them out.

Then God said to Balaam, You shall not go with them.

You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.

And finally in verse 13, So Balaam rose in the morning, and he said to the princes of Balak, Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to give me permission to go with you.

Imagine with me that I was to come to you, and I was to say, you know, your son is giving me great difficulty.

I do not like your child whatsoever, and I'm coming to you for permission to kill your son.

There is no need for me to go before the parent and ask this question because the answer is obvious.

There is no need for me to plead a second time, well God have you changed your mind yet?

There is no need for me to ask because the answer is already clear.

I don't know about you, but I can speak for myself.

How often we plead with the Lord when the answer is already known?

How often we plead with God for wisdom when what we need is courage to follow what God has already given to us?

Are we willing to come to God and lay our plans before Him.

God, whatever the cost is, God, I want to follow you fully.

In the book Ministry of Healing, page 478, We are told that many are unable to make definite plans for the future.

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Absolute Surrender

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