Submission

Author - Jauhmar Ellick

It's our favorite thing to do… Submission.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about submission, primarily how a disciple submits to a leader that teaches others to follow Jesus. During the process of living in the Fellowship House there’s been a whirlwind of things I’ve been having to get used to. Submitting myself to others has been one of them.

Anytime I think about submission, I just go straight to Jesus. That’s because He’s the prime example of what the word submission actually means. He’s literally God’s Son, who left His status in heaven, and came down to live amongst us (John 1:14),  submitting Himself to the limitations us humans have to deal with.

Now, can I ask you a question? Being truthful with yourself is the key here. Would you leave your high ranking status job to go to a third world country and live amongst the people for 33 years? Be honest, and there’s no wrong answers. Well, ladies and gents, that's exactly what Jesus did when He came down here to earth. Jesus submitted not only to His Father but also to the practices of His 1st century Hebrew countrymen. However, there's one thing Jesus did not submit Himself to. SIN. Jesus came to show us that when we submit to the Creator we don’t have to submit to His broken creation.  

Now you may be wondering “Okay?, but what does that have to do with this week's prompt?” Well it has a lot to do with it. See, as Jesus was here on this earth, He was taking instructions from His Father who was up in Heaven. Jesus said  “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing” (John 5:19). In relation to our walk as disciples, we should imitate the leader that is teaching us how to follow Jesus. They've seen things we haven't seen as younger, less mature disciples. They have knowledge and wisdom that we can only acquire if we submit ourselves to their authority.

That’s how Jesus was (and still is). He submitted Himself to His Father’s teaching because His Father was able to see things He couldn’t. He had to relax and rely on the Holy Spirit to guide and direct His steps. That's how it should be with us, giving up our authority to run our own lives and submit to the one who is teaching us and guiding us down this path we call life.

For example, Mr. Arlington Francis is one of the leaders of The Fellowship. He teaches us these hand signs that correlate with the Bible. (If you haven't checked them out you should. Step over to the homepage, download the app, and get started. Better yet. Come by the house and I will teach them to you!) In order for us to gain the knowledge and learn the signs, we must first of all have patience. More importantly, we must submit ourselves to his leadership in order to learn them. We sit and watch as he goes from “Creation!”, “Fall!”, “Flood!”, “Nation!”, screaming at the top of his lungs until he turns into papa smurf. Then we replicate the things he does with the same enthusiasm… sometimes! However, we won’t be able to do that if we didn't submit ourselves to his teaching of the signs.

In order to be like Jesus, a true disciple, we must submit ourselves to the authority that’s over us without batting an eye. It's for our own good, because we never know how our submission now can lead to helping save lives 3, 5, 10 years from now. Our submission now leads us to becoming the leader in the near future. True leaders submit to authority in order to change the world. If we want to change the world,  we must submit ourselves to others. Surrender to the teachers that are trying to teach us a thing or two. We should submit ourselves to the Word (Jesus) and let the Holy Spirit guide us and teach us, so we can go out and make a difference in this world.  Submitting to teachers, leaders and pastors now can change our lives right now as we speak! There’s so many people out here that we could be reaching if we would just submit to Jesus Christ and the leaders He’s puts in our lives.

I’ll be the first to admit this season of life has been difficult for me, submitting to Jesus’ teaching and His love. Sometimes things get overwhelming. But I know that with submission now change will come later. It's up to me to leave the passions and orthodox teachings of the world alone, and come to the One who teaches truth. It's my responsibility to wake up each day and submit my desires, my wants, my everything to Him so I can be used for His glory. For His KINGDOM!!!

It's going to be a challenge, I’m understanding that each and every day. But there's something greater on the other side. It's my end goal, and I know it's in reach. I just have to submit to Jesus’ teaching and who He is to make sure I get where He wants me to be!
 
Thanks again for another week of fellowship with you readers. It is always great to just experience you and let y’all experience me! I’m excited for this second half of The Fellowship year. It's crunch time. I’m asking you to pray for us in our time here, in our relationships, our curriculum, and more importantly our submission!

Scripture of the week is JAMES 4:7-8.

Thanks again, see y’all soon.