God's Bondservant

By Delasi Tettevi

The book, Gods Bondservant speaks to the heart and soul of complete and total surrender to the lordship of Christ in the life of every believer. Inspired by the lives of four ordinary yet remarkable women in the annals of biblical history: Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba and Mary, the author explores the concept of submission and dying to self and sin and taking up our crosses daily to follow Jesus.
Packed with powerful bible principles, thought- provoking insights, reflective study questions and activities as well as prayer points, this book seeks to encourage readers to take their relationship with God a step further to a place of intimacy with him as sons and daughters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483663968

Book preview

God’s Bondservant

9677.jpg

Delasi Tettevi

Copyright © 2013 by Delasi Tettevi.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2013912078

ISBN:   Hardcover   978-1-4836-6395-1

             Softcover    978-1-4836-6394-4

             Ebook         978-1-4836-6396-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 07/12/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

135133

CONTENTS

13120.jpg

Author’s Corner

Acknowledgments

Chapter One

Introduction: All To Jesus I Surrender…

Part I   Case Studies:

Women In The Genealogy Of Jesus

Chapter Two

Women In The Genealogy Of Jesus: Rahab

Chapter Three

Women In The Genealogy Of Jesus: Ruth

Chapter Four

Women In The Genealogy Of Jesus: Bathsheba

Chapter Five

Women In The Genealogy Of Jesus: Mary

Part II   [Bond] Servanthood:

The Lowly Path To The High Calling

Chapter Six

What Does It Really Mean To Be

God’s Bondservant?

Chapter Seven

Jesus, Our Forerunner And

Shining Example

Chapter Eight

The Conclusion Of The Matter

Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.

Take my moments and my days; let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move at the impulse of Thy love.

Take my feet, and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing always, only, for my King.

Take my lips, and let them be filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold; not a mite would I withhold.

Take my intellect, and use every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine.

Take my heart, it is Thine own; it shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour at Thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.

AUTHOR’S CORNER

9694.jpg

For many years I have battled within myself about the quality of my spiritual life. Dissatisfied with the level where I was, I decided to write this book to deal with some of the problem areas in my life and challenge myself to be the best that God wants me to be. After much consideration, I came to realize the solution to my spiritual unrest was in redefining what it really meant to me when I asked Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of my life. Being Lord of my life meant that everything of mine was voluntarily surrendered to his authority, will, and purpose in my life. God’s Bondservant is a book that originally was written from a feminine perspective but was later modified to be gender inclusive. It delves into the lives of four women, total strangers who are unified by a common genealogy: the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ. In writing this manuscript, my life has been transformed and has been touched in more ways than I thought at the inception of this. God has revealed so much to me about who he wants me to be, what he wants me to be, and where he wants me to be. I am grateful to him for the inspiration, and I must truly say that I have never had this much fun studying God’s word like I did. Lord, I’m amazed by you and your love. I truly love you today and always.

Delasi Tettevi

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

9708.jpg

God laid this book on my heart many years ago, and I am grateful to him for the way he has orchestrated events in my life that have led up to the actual writing of this book. The people I have met, the situations I have gone through, the joys, the heartaches, and the pains very much like the characters in this book have strengthened my resolve to serve him and be a vessel of honor for him. His name shall be forever praised!

A big thank-you to my wonderful family: Rev. and Mrs. Tettevi, Selali, and Edinam for being a huge source of encouragement to me. To you all, I will not be where I am today without your prayers, love, and support. Nyame nhyira mo!

Emem, you have been supportive and amazing! Thanks for believing in me and inspiring me to write. I appreciate all the long hours you took to read through the manuscript. You do bring out the best in me.

Dr. Lanre Okunola, your counsel and advice was more than I could have ever asked for. You were a source of strength and a delight to bounce ideas off. Your spiritual guidance was invaluable to the creation of this piece. Thank you. Andrew, the bond of friendship we share has been a blessing to my life. Thanks for the encouragement and godly advice when I told you about this manuscript. You are a true and treasured friend.

Dr. Lorna Guse, you have played many roles in my life, but my most cherished one is that of a friend. You were like a mother to me through all those difficult times, and you availed yourself to be used of God as a blessing to me. You are an amazing woman.

To my wonderful crew at Xlibris, thank you for your enthusiasm and all the work you put in to making my first book a success. Couldn’t have done it without you, guys! Kudos!

CHAPTER ONE

9714.jpg

Introduction: All to Jesus I Surrender…

All to Jesus I surrender

All to Him I freely give

I will ever love and trust Him

In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender

Humbly at His feet I bow

Worldly pleasures all forsaken

Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus I surrender

Make me, Savior, wholly Thine

Let me feel the Holy Spirit

Truly know that Thou art mine.

All to Jesus I surrender

Lord, I give myself to Thee

Fill me with Thy love and power

Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender

Now I feel the sacred flame

Oh, the joy of full salvation!

Glory, glory, to His Name!¹

I have always been intrigued by Christians who could tell you the exact day, exact moment, right down to the exact dress they were wearing the day they accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and personal Savior. Why? Because I never had that special earth-shattering moment, like that of the Samaritan woman at the well; and so for a very long time, I felt very insecure about my salvation. I prayed the sinner’s prayer at every opportunity I got: crusades, church rallies and after reading gospel tracts. I even chose to commit my life again at a wedding just so I would have a specific date, but when I forgot the date, I was back on the wagon of always trying to find a special moment that I will not forget. Quite recently, I heard an anointed minister of God share his testimony about coming to know God and admitted that he had also prayed the sinner’s prayer on numerous occasions, and that got me thinking. The story of my journey with God was not going to be exactly like that of the woman of Samaria who heard the message of salvation at the well and had a drastic change in her life, but it also did not have to be one where I was constantly insecure about my salvation either. Much reflection revealed that my insecurities did not stem from not having a Damascus road experience but were rather rooted in the depth of my surrender to the lordship of Christ in my life. I needed to allow the Holy Spirit to take over my life completely and have total ownership of my heart so that whenever the devil, the accuser of the brethren (Rev.