Surrender to Joy

By Austin McLain

Enjoy the freedom that comes from knowing the truth!

Are you fed up with religion but curious about God? In this book I hope to share a new way of thinking. It’s not all bad, boring, or hopeless. It’s not about self improvement or dos and don’ts. Life can actually be happy, peaceful, and free!

If you already have a

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: May 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647731076

Book preview

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Surrender to Joy

Reframing God, Us, and the Quest for More

Austin McLain

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2020 by Austin McLain

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Cambridge Edition: 1769.

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information, address Trilogy Christian Publishing

Rights Department, 2442 Michelle Drive, Tustin, Ca 92780.

Trilogy Christian Publishing/ TBN and colophon are trademarks of Trinity Broadcasting Network.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Trilogy Christian Publishing.

Manufactured in the United States of America

Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-64773-106-9

ISBN 978-1-64773-107-6 (ebook)

To all those who desire true freedom, this is for you.

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

(John 8:32 NLT)

Introduction

This book is essentially the book that I wish someone would have written a long time ago, so I could have read it and avoided a lack of joy, a lot of frustration, and toxic religious thinking.

My hope with this book is to help people in religion break out of their religious thinking to understand what Jesus’ message was all about—the love, the rest, the peace, and the joy.

I also hope to help non-Christians understand God’s heart in a new way, too, so they could see that He’s good. It’s not about all the dos and don’ts that everyone was taught. It’s actually the complete opposite. Let’s give up on trying and accept that someone has done the work for us.

If you don’t yet believe in God, that’s okay, too. I hope that this book would help you to see a clearer picture of what it’s all about, that there’s no judgment against you, that God actually deeply loves you, and that you can find rest, peace, and joy in this crazy thing called life.

To experience the fullest joy, you need to surrender fully. What do I mean by that?

I mean that, in every situation, you can simply choose to have joy because you can leave all of your concerns in God’s hands—all your friendships, all your relationships, all your finances, your health, all your life circumstances, even your healings, and your relationship with God Himself.

You can surrender it all to Him and choose to enjoy every situation like a kid wrapped up in your Father’s arms. He has done it all and promises to work everything together for the good of those who trust Him, and you can’t get more trusting than surrendering literally everything to Him.

Sound too good to be true?

Then maybe you don’t know just how good God really is. Fear not, though. As you dive into the chapters ahead, you’ll be confronted with truths that, if you choose to accept them, will come to change your entire perspective on God, yourself, life, purpose, identity, freedom, and joy. I won’t lie; it’s going to be confronting and flip most of what you’ve been taught on its head. For those of you that have the sense that there is more to life, though, I think you’ll find the words on these pages stir up something deep within your soul. I’m not saying that we have no role to play. I’m simply stating that the burden isn’t ours to bear. Christ already bore the burden for all of us.

Our lives now represent the one event every creature anticipates with held breath, standing on tip-toe as it were to witness the unveiling of the sons of God. Can you hear the drum-roll?

(Romans 8:19 MIR)

Jesus did all the work for us; He set us fully free and made us fully right with the Father. All we have to do now is rest in that truth, stop our striving, and live freely. It really is that simple—just rest.

1

Do or Do Not, There is No Try

Self-righteousness/Christ’s righteousness

Assuming that you’re human and not some sort of alien creature, I can say pretty confidently that you’ve felt pressured at least once in your life to perform or live up to someone else’s standards. There is pressure on us every day to live a certain way, get that job, marry that person, make this much money, buy this car, look a certain way, or go to that school. The list goes on.

Then there’s the whole myriad of added pressure for people in the church; read your Bible this much, pray this many times, worship this way, be this way with your kids, be at church every Sunday, etc.

I hate to get anyone’s panties in a bunch, but that’s all nonsense. Jesus didn’t come to set up religion; He came to set people free from religion. Before you try to stone me or whatever the religious kids are doing nowadays, look at the way Jesus handled religious people during His time on Earth. The only people He was ever harsh with or got frustrated towards were the religious people. He never got mad at sinners for not being good enough. He got mad at the religious for thinking they were good enough.

The moment we think we can work our way to heaven we’re actually riding the express lane to hell in our thinking. That line of thinking is what keeps people so imprisoned with sin, feelings of inadequacy, depression, anxiety, and a general feeling of pressure and hopelessness, a heavy burden.

It puts all the weight of our salvation on our own shoulders, making us think that we have to save ourselves. That’s why the Bible is full of warnings against being self-righteous.

Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

(Luke 18:9-14 NLT)

Those of you who try to be put right with God by obeying the Law have cut yourselves off