"A Heart of Total Surrender"

"If at first you do not succeed, try, try again." (someone persistent) I have to wonder if God has a sense of humor; do you ever wonder that? Some of the things that He uses to get our attention are just too strange sometimes, that He must have some kind of humorous side to Him. As I was reading this morning, I just so happened to look up the word 'brim', which happens to be from the word 'ano' which means in a higher place, the place above, that which is above, the upper or heavenly calling; as far as, up to the brim, Upwards. The following words are derived from this word 'ano': 'anogeon' which means an upper room or chamber; 'anothen' which means from above, from the beginning, again; 'epano' which means above, more than; and 'huperano' which means high above. It is the word 'anothen' which really caught my attention, mostly because of the verses that I closed with yesterday; because after the selection of that portion of Scripture, I wondered why I had been told to pick that one; and woe and behold, here it was! You see, Nicodemus was perplexed not that the person could be born from heaven, but whether a person could be born a second time. There is a whole lot of difference in the meanings of these two understandings. One would assume that it is to mean that there is a birth to take place in a person, which is brought into the person; much like bringing a seed of God into a persons heart, which will then bring about New Life. However, this is not the way Nicodemus understood what Jesus was saying, nor was it what Jesus said. What Jesus was saying, was that there needed to be a literal 'born again' experience which must take place in a person; which Nicodemus understood to mean that a person must be born a second time. Okay; now here is the way I see it: if I was born a second time, yet had not surrendered all to Jesus when I was born again, would I have had a complete new birth? Maybe, just maybe, there is some kind of deformity in this New Life? A limb missing, or something of the sort? There must be a reason that I am required to surrender ALL, because why else would He ask me to do so? Guess what? Knock, Knock! Jesus can still heal a withered hand; He can still make the lame to walk; He can still make the blind to see! As I was reading this passage of Scripture in John 2:1-12, I noticed something else which really caught me by force; this wine that Jesus made, it was not just a wine, it was the best wine; in other words, it was a splendid selection, and people took notice. This is what our New Life in Christ is, and must be; and if it is not: "And I say unto you, Ask (keep on asking), and it shall be given you; Seek (keep on seeking), and ye shall find; Knock (keep on knocking), and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh (keeps on asking) receiveth; and he that seeketh (keeps on seeking) findeth; and to him that knocketh (keeps on knocking) it shall be opened." (Luke 11:9 & 10)