Give up!

    Oh my dear soul, won't you just give up?  Give up to reputation and success, give up to self effort, to personal thoughts, worries, strugglings to make things work?  Indeed believers must strive to enter in, and "fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life", but there are times when without even realizing it, you're fighting a battle that is not yours, but the Lord's. 
    There was a man of God one time who gave a testimony of giving up.  One night, he was alone in a hotel room, and at that time was facing one of the darkest storms of his life.  He had become weary, frustrated, and on top of all that, was sick in his body.  As he prayed and cried out to God in the midst of his situation, he finally said, "Lord I give up...I can't go on like this anymore...I'm tired of fighting."  After making that statement, he felt the Lord speak to his heart something like this, "You're giving up...that is just what I have been waiting for you to do!" 
    Peace only comes when we surrender everything over to God.  Moses told the children of Israel, "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD."   In 2 Chronicles 20:15, Jahaziel told king Jehoshaphat and all Judah "...the battle is not yours, but God's."  The same applies for all born again believers who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and are living holy, set apart for Him. 
   To "give up", could also be interpreted, "To die".  Jesus gave up His life for us.  In all four of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John) when Jesus died on the cross it says, "he gave up the ghost", or "yielded up the ghost". 
    When anyone dies, in order to pass from their natural life into their eternal life (whether to Heaven or Hell), they must first give up their natural life.  The same is true in the Spiritual.  Paul said, "I die daily".  Every day we must give up, crucify, and "..put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."  Ephesians 4:22-24  You see, when we "give up", Christ can live in and through us in the most beautiful way.  Only then can we have the peace and joy that only comes from a life that is comepletely given over to Jesus...and He WILL fight our battles for us if we stay bowed at the foot of His cross.  "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7
    Give up everything but one thing...Paul said in Philippians 3:13-14 "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." That "one thing" is your part, and it is most important. Give up everything else and press toward that mark, "the high calling of God in Christ Jesus!"
    Are you tired of fighting on your own?  Does God seem distant?  If so, then perhaps He is standing back, letting you struggle, just waiting for you to give up your carnal efforts.  Give up and let Jesus take over.
 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:24-25