Yielding to God by Mthobisi.

Matthew 27:50(ESV) And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and YIELDED UP His spirit. One of the greatest levels that a person can attain in their walk with God is the ability to YIELD themselves completely to Him. To YIELD to God is to surrender ones whole being and will to the Holy Spirit, to allow Him to synchronize them with His will. When one has learned to YIELD themselves to God, it is easy to hear His voice and be directed by Him. It is the spirit, the inner-man of the heart and soul of a man that God wants to win over, Solomon says "The SPIRIT of man is the lamp of the LORD, SEARCHING ALL THE INNER DEPTHS OF THE HEART."(Proverbs 20:27) - God wants us to YIELD the inner depths of our hearts to Him, to direct and release our spirits to Him. It is what Jesus did at the cross when He was about to die, when He cried out to God that blows my mind, the bible says "and Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and YIELDED UP His spirit."(Matthew 27:50) - Its powerful. I've always heard pastors and preachers talking about YIELDING yourself to God; I understood the concept and theory but I didn't understand how to practically DO IT, how to work it out, until I read the opening scripture. It is more a DECISION than it is a prayer or a confession or a meditation - even though Jesus did pray when He was about to die, according to Luke. If we read the same scenario in the gospel according to Luke, it says "Jesus called out with a loud voice, "FATHER, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT." When he had said this, He breathed His last."(Luke 23:46). When we put these two accounts together, both by Luke and Matthew, we realize that this is what actually happened "Jesus cried out with a LOUD VOICE and said "FATHER, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT." and He practically YIELDED UP His spirit to God." - He did exactly what He prayed. When a man has decided to surrender his heart to God, he positions himself under the mercy of God, under His guidance, that man becomes MOVED by God and used of God. Solomon says it this way "THE KINGS HEART IS IN THE HAND OF THE LORD, like the rivers of water; HE TURNS IT WHEREVER HE WISHES."(Proverbs 21:1) - this is one of the most powerful experiences a man can wish for, to have his heart in the HAND OF GOD and God turning it not where THE MAN WISHES but WHEREVER GOD WISHES, and truth be told THIS THING is an effortless thing Its a DECISION. When God has won a person's heart, they don't worry if what is in their hearts is the will of God or not, because it always is. Look at men like Paul, who were so YIELDED to God that they even LOST SIGHT OF who they were, they DIED DAILY, he says "I have been crucified with Christ and I NO LONGER LIVE, BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME..."(Galatians 2:20). It is so easy to YIELD ourselves to God but the trouble is our own desires, our own treasures, Jesus said "where your treasure is, YOUR HEART WILL BE ALSO"(Luke 12:34) and until we see what Paul calls "THE UNSEARCHABLE RICHES OF GOD'S GRACE" we will never see a treasure in God and if our treasure is not in God then our hearts will not be in God also (I preach this to myself as well). The Holy Spirit longs for us so much, there is no word to express it and when we are full of Him, we recognize how much He eagerly and patiently longs for us to surrender ourselves fully to Him because that is to our advantage. The Holy Spirit's heartbeat is US, to see us achieving that GLORIOUS destiny that God has set for us and He knows that being YIELDED to Him is the most important FACTOR; it is a prerequisite to achieving that LIFE OF DESTINY. Oh how I remember Stephen the martyr of God, when full of the Holy

Spirit gazed up to the heavens and saw "the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!(Acts 7:56) and right there and then when they were stoning him to death, he said "Lord Jesus, RECEIVE MY SPIRIT."(Acts 7:59) - O WHAT SURRENDERING TO THE LORD. Stephen surrendered even at his worse moment, at the point of his death; the only thing he cared most about was to have his spirit committed to Jesus. David says it also, as though Jesus "INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT; deliver me, LORD, my faithful God."(Psalm 31:5). It was also Paul on his way to Damascus, at the first appearing of Jesus, who surrendered himself to the mercy of the Lord when he said "LORD, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?(Acts 9:6) - This is it. If we could make that DECISION to YIELD ourselves fully to God, we could experience greater things, if we could decide to commit ourselves through CONTINUOUS FELLOWSHIP with His Spirit, there is no thought or imagination to where God can take us, "now to Him WHO IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDINGLY ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK, according to the power that works in us,"(Ephesians 3:20). In life we are a result of the things we have given ourselves over to, now IMAGINE giving yourself over to God. It was the noble King Hezekiah who made a statement to Israel through letters sent to all the tribes, pleading with them to return to God and in his letters he also said "now do not be stiff-necked, as your fathers were, BUT YIELD YOURSELVES TO THE LORD; and enter His sanctuary, which He has sanctified forever, and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of His wrath may turn away from you."(2 Chronicles 30:8) - I see from this letter that YIELDING to God will ultimately mean entering His sanctuary and SERVING HIM. How wonderful it would be to serve the Lord in such great unity and harmony with His Spirit. When you serve God, yielded and synchronized with Him, you share His heart - Jesus is an example of that, He was so yielded to God to the point that He even said "Me and My Father ARE ONE"(John 10:30) and also "very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, BECAUSE WHATEVER THE FATHER DOES THE SON ALSO DOES."(John 5:19). Jesus had the heart of the Father, He was compelled by LOVE to do what He did, He let God live in Him, even though He Himself was God "rather, He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."(Philippians 2:7), because He was greatly YIELDED to His Father, Paul says "THE LOVE OF CHRIST COMPELS US, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, THAT THOSE WHO LIVE SHOULD LIVE NO LONGER FOR THEMSELVES, BUT FOR HIM WHO DIED FOR THEM AND ROSE AGAIN."(2 Corinthians 5:14-15) What perfect YIELDING. Let us decide to YIELD ourselves fully to the Lord, to live life for Him and Him only. God Bless You.