Living the Yielded Life

The following blog is a summary of a message preached by Pastor Eddie Lawrence.

Watch the Sermon HERE!

Every person is living a yielded life - the question is, to whom or what are we yielding? We're constantly giving in, submitting, and surrendering to someone or something every day. But what does it mean to live a life specifically yielded to the Lord?

What Does It Mean to Yield to God?

The word "yield" in Scripture comes from the Greek word "paristemi," which means to present, submit, or surrender. It carries two important meanings: giving up authority to someone greater, like a soldier laying down his sword, and producing fruit, like a farmer's seed yielding a harvest.

Romans 6:12-14 provides our foundation: "Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal bodies, that you should obey it in its lust. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you're not under law, but under grace."

The truth is simple: you'll never yield the fruit God wants in your life until you first fully yield to Him as the ultimate authority.

Tapping the Brakes in Surrender

Just like a yield sign on the road isn't a suggestion but an instruction to acknowledge who has the right of way, yielding to God means recognizing His authority over our lives. When we got saved, we died to our rights - Jesus now has the right of way in every area of our lives.

Who Has Authority in Your Life?

Philippians 2 reminds us that ultimately every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. The word "Lord" (Kurios in Greek) means boss, sovereign prince, owner, and possessor. When we acknowledge Jesus as Lord, we're saying He has the authority to tell us how to live, where to go, and what to do.

Jesus made this clear when He said, "If any man wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." There's a daily dying involved in following Christ - dying to our own desires and impulses to follow His leading instead.

Following the Holy Spirit's Leading

Romans 8:14 tells us that "as many as are led by the Holy Spirit, they are the sons of God." God's children learn to yield to the voice of the Spirit, obeying His promptings and holy hunches. This can keep us out of so much trouble when we learn to ask, "Lord, what are you saying?" and remain on high alert for His direction.

The Funeral That Brings Forth Fruit

Jesus taught a powerful principle in John 12: "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain." Death precedes life in God's kingdom.

Why Death Must Come Before Life

As long as a seed stays safely in its package, it has potential but produces nothing. For that potential to manifest in multiplication, it must be buried in the ground. Similarly, some problems in our lives require a death and burial of certain things that are in the way before God's solution can manifest.

Our marriages get better when we die faster - death to self, that is. Every disagreement doesn't have to end with someone planting a white flag. Instead of making it about who's right and who's wrong, we can meet together before the Lord, recognizing that He's always right.

What Needs to Die in Your Life?

The self-life is the only thing that hinders God from having His way in our lives. We must learn to reckon ourselves dead to sinful impulses and fleshly desires. This isn't always easy - the Lord will ask us to do things our natural self doesn't want to do, sometimes daily or even hourly.

But here's the promise: unless that grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. When we die to ourselves, we position ourselves for the harvest God wants to bring in our lives.

Resist, Rest, and Receive

Learning to Resist the Right Enemy

James 4:7 gives us the formula: "Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." The reason we can't resist the enemy at times is because we're resisting the Lord. If we're not submitting, we're resisting. We must quit resisting the Lord so we can effectively resist the devil.

Resting in God's Finished Work

Paul reminds us that "sin shall not have dominion over you because you're not under law, you're under grace." We don't get right with God by keeping law - He does something for us through grace. Our faith recognizes that we can't do it, but Jesus already has. We trust Jesus for what He's accomplished, and His righteousness becomes ours.

Receiving His Grace and Power

When we rest in His work, we can receive His grace. And when His grace comes, it empowers us to do what the Lord wants us to do. As Paul said, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me."

Remember this truth: When you stop fighting God's process, you finally find His power.

The Wait That's Worth It

Why don't we yield to God? Often because we have our own plans or want to speed things up. But sometimes God requires us to wait, and there's a significant difference between waiting and waiting on the Lord.

Waiting vs. Waiting on the Lord

Isaiah 40:31 promises: "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength." This isn't just about waiting - you can wait without waiting on the Lord. The promise is specifically for those who wait ON the Lord.

Waiting on the Lord looks like this: "Lord, I don't know what you're doing, but I'm trusting you. I can't see anything happening, but I know you're at work. Everything in me wants to fix this, but you're saying hold off, and I believe you know what you're doing."

Regular waiting without the Lord involves worry, frustration, stress, impatience, and anger. But waiting on the Lord is a form of worship, trusting that He's arranging and orchestrating things beyond our sight.

God's Timing is Perfect

God is never late when He has you waiting. You can trust He is working. Sometimes what we're waiting for, we may never see in our lifetime. God may be using your faithfulness for a great-grandchild not yet born. Abraham waited 400 years for his descendants to inherit the promised land, but his faith sustained them through that entire period.

The puzzle isn't finished yet. We're part of God's grand scheme of redemption, and it's going to be amazing and awesome. You will not regret living a yielded life.

Life Application

This week, begin each day by asking, "Lord, here I am. What do you have for me today?" Practice yielding to God's authority in the small moments - when your flesh wants to react in anger, when you're tempted to worry instead of trust, when you want to rush ahead of His timing.

Remember that your struggle ends and His power begins at the point that you yield to Him. Living a yielded life isn't about perfection - it's about daily surrender, recognizing that Jesus has the right of way in every area of your life.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What areas of my life am I still trying to control instead of yielding to God?
• Where do I need to "tap the brakes" and let God have the right of way?
• What needs to "die" in my life so that God can bring forth the fruit He desires?
• Am I waiting on circumstances to change, or am I waiting on the Lord with trust and worship?

The yielded life is the pathway to experiencing God's power, peace, and purpose. When we surrender our rights to the One who purchased us with His blood, we discover the abundant life He has planned for us.