Growing In God Through Fellowship Band

I’d like to offer a word of testimony and praise. I wanted a devotional book for Lent and was taken with the title of a book Altar’d by Susan Kent. I bought it on the title alone, and since Ash Wednesday falls on Valentines Day, decided it would be a lovely gift for each member of my 3 bands.

Tuesday has become “Fellowship Band Day” with band 1 starting at 9am EST. This first band loves to choose a “word for the year” that we focus on, something that expresses a growing edge for each of us. I shared that I felt the area where I most needed healing was with control because I recognize that loss of control often leads to fear, anxiety, and so forth. What I really needed though was the antithesis of control, a word that would describe how the LORD would bring healing. One of my bandmates mention surrender, and I instantly knew that was the word I was searching for.

My second band met 10 minutes after the first ended, and I shared with these ladies what the Holy Spirit revealed to me about Surrender vs Control. When I asked the two ladies if they received their copies of Altar’d, one of the ladies held hers up and said, “Yes, and I hope you bought a copy for yourself, Judy. Did you see the subtitle and section headings?” I hadn’t yet opened my copy and, as I mentioned, had bought it strictly based on a nudge regarding the title Altar’d. There, at the bottom of the book, the subtitle read, “The Transforming Power of Surrender”. And each section heading in the contents described a different aspect of surrender.

God continued to unfold the story with my third band, an in-person fellowship with my neighbor. She said, “Isn’t there a song that sums up surrender?” We both instantly began singing, “All to Jesus I Surrender” and agreed that it was a goosebump moment.

The back cover of Altar’d sums it well: “In the midst of a world filled with chaos and disappointment, pain and death, there is a promise of restoration and transformation. However, it isn’t found at the end of our lives, but at the end of ourselves. It is found when we embrace surrender.” God’s prevenient work in our lives is amazing!

I can’t wait to see what God has orchestrated for me through the faithful work of Susan Kent’s book Altar’d during this coming season of Lent!

Judy[Altar’d: The Transforming Power of Surrender,  by Susan O. Kent, Seedbed, 2023]