Episode 25: Kingdom Realities Part 2- Yielding Part 2

Listen in as we continue our discussion on yielding to the Lord. Every believer, no matter the situation or context, should be developing a habit of inquiring, listening, and yielding to God in every area of their lives. In this episode we focus on what it looks like to yield to the Word, the most foundational source in which God will guide us. Get ready to see your obedience to God's Word, rise to another level. 

Transcript

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We kind of skip that part. We focus on the study to show yourself approved. But we miss the part where it says, a workman that needs not to be ashamed. Well, why does he not, he or she not need to be ashamed? We don't need to be ashamed because we're approved. Right? So how do we know that we're approved? It comes from the study. So the last episode, which was episode 24, we started talking about the four kingdom realities that I believe that every single Christian should be experiencing on an everyday basis. This starts when they get born again to the point where they go on to see Jesus in heaven. We before we moved into that, I think it was the first, I think it was 21, 22, and 23. We discussed what I like to call the kingdom principles. These are the things that kind of define what the kingdom is, how it works, all that, so that we have a stage or a picture to recognize, to uh give context to how we um operate in these specific realities. So the first one was that the kingdom of God is our residence, it sets up our protocols, our procedures, our boundaries. Second one is that the kingdom of God is now, it's uh fully it's um not going to be something that we just step into in the future, but it's something that we that we live in now. And the third thing is that the kingdom of God is within us, so it's freely accessible at all times in every single environment. That is the context in which we're talking about these four kingdom realities. Well, the last one we talked about was yielding, and we went into detail about um yielding to God, yielding to um his movement, yielding to his words, yielding to what he says, so that every single Christian, since the moment they get born again, should be developing the ability to recognize and um learn the voice of the Lord. Why? Because this is one of the ways, this is one of the key ways in which he talks to us. So by listening to the voice of the Lord, learning to recognize it and become more aware of it, we will be able to uh listen to his instruction, listen to his advice, listen to his uh methods, so that we will be able to actually become successful or applic apply those instructions or even obey those instructions to the fullness of which we were supposed to do. But then the main thing that we focused on for the last episode was that I talked about the difference between yielding and obedience. Because a lot of Christians, their our focus is to obey Jesus, right? To obey what he tells us to do. And that's still good, that's still a good thing. But the problem is that there's no help with that, there's no assistance with that. We've heard it all the times, if you've been a Christian for a long time, that we're supposed to obey God. I totally agree with that. I'm not saying we're we shouldn't. But the question is, how do we obey God? Well, the answer is found in Romans chapter 6, where we discovered that the concept of obedience and the concept of yielding were both mentioned, I think I think I remember correctly, I think it was like five times. I think it was five or six times, but they were both mentioned the same amount of times. But in what in specific verses, yielding came first. So what was the point? The point was was that if you are struggling with obeying God, it's not that necessarily you have a rebellion issue or a disagreement issue or even an obedience issue. It's that you're struggling with yielding. Because the yielding, if you yield to God, if you yield to his ways, if you yield to his words, then you will eventually, the it's inevitable you will eventually obey him. Okay? So it's it's it's kind of this thing that in order to obey someone, you first have to hear them. But once you hear them, then it depending on your trust and your value upon that person will actually move you to actually obey them, right? We've all had individuals that have told us what to do or have given us advice, and because we did not establish trust with that person, or that person might not necessarily have the experience or the fruit to back up their words, we don't probably will not necessarily obey it or take their words to heart. But if it comes from a person of trust, if it comes from a person that we have developed a relationship with, and it comes from a person that has the experience and the fruit or the actions to back up what they're saying is true, then all of that put together, when we hear what they their advice, when we hear their instruction, there is a more, it is more likely that we will allow those words to move us into a corresponding action of obedience. So it's the same thing in the spirit world, it's the same thing with Christianity. When we trust God, when we learn to trust him and and place a value on what he says, and that he loves us and for he's love, he loves us, he's never against us, he's always for us, and that everything that he does is for everything he does, and everything he says is for our benefit and success. Then when he tells us to do something, we might be, scripture says, do not lean on your own understanding, right? So there might be times where he might tell us to do something that we're struggling with because we don't fully understand it, but because we un because we trust the source, because we have a relationship with the origin of those instructions, he could tell us something that is totally out of the ordinary, but because we love him and because we trust him, we will just allow those words to move us into obedience, right? So we talked about in the last episode that it is important to just be flexible and to be um teachable, but most importantly to be flexible when we're hearing the voice of the Lord so that we can yield to what he is saying. Obedience, all that requires is someone to tell you what to do, they can leave the room and then eventually come back and see if the the activity was done. That's not how God operates. He does not just tell us something tell us to do something and then leaves and see if it leaves for a period of time, comes back and then sees if it's accomplished or not. That's not how he moves. What he does is that not only does he tell us what to do, but he actually he actually um prods us, gently kind of nudges us in the sense of I am just come with me. Let me guide you, let me move, let me, let me influence you. He does it with us, he partners with us and that partner with us, and when we get so acquainted with his presence, when we get so acquainted with his ways, then when he says something, there is this sense of okay, I trust you, so I rest, and then I and then I'm just I'm not as rigid, I'm not as as um stubborn, if you will. And so when his words tell when the word tells us to give, all we have to do is let our guard down and just yield. Take a small step, and eventually, eventually the steps will will eventually move into a jog, the jog will move into a run, and you will eventually start obeying. So, again, the key to obedience is not necessarily just doing it on your own, it is leaning into the the assistance of the Holy Spirit to actually yield to what he wants us to do, and then he will help you do the rest, okay? And that's what we talked about, that's what we talked about in the last episode. In this episode, I kind of want to pick up there, and I want to kind of do a yielding part two. And the key thing I want to focus on is that we we talked about yielding to God's voice basically last episode, but I want to talk about yielding to God's word because at the very beginning, scripture, at the very beginning, when you get born again, you might you you start hearing the voice of the Lord, but the confidence that you're actually hearing him is low. It's one of those things that you have to practice, it's one of those things that you have to find a church that teaches it, that supports it, and then you get into a location where you're comforted, where you're supported, and you get you have permission to practice it. To the point that if you were to mess up, if you were to, let's say you go up to someone in leadership and you say, Well, you feel like the Holy Spirit is telling you, they will, because of their experience, because of their relationship with the Lord, they will be able to recognize, is the Lord really telling this, telling this person what they're saying, what they're claiming? Um, they would back it up against the word, all of that. But if they find out that what you said is not correct or it's is inaccurate, they won't criticize you, they won't um put you down for how dare you try to hear the voice of the Lord. They will say, Okay, we like the fact that you're risking it, we like the fact that you're trying it, but let's let's teach it. Let's let's let me show you where where there was a mess up. And so that's the heart, that's the place that you want. You want a safe place of basically labing, a place where you can practice and a place that you can mess up, okay, without ridicule or uh criticism, but you still want instruction so that you can get better at it. But at the very beginning, learning to hear the voice of the Lord, it's not it your confidence in that arena is low. But the one thing that you that you can develop very, very early on is your confidence in the word of God because the word of because God will never say anything that is in contradiction to what he's already said in scripture, right? So I want to talk about today is how to yield to the word of God. Now, there are three things that I want to focus on for this episode. The first one is in order to yield to the word of God, there are three things that must be in place. The first thing is that you must know the word. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 15, it says, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Now, I used to read this scripture and interpret it probably the same way that everyone that's listening to this podcast has interpreted it. That what that what the scripture is saying is that we are to study and we are to study the scriptures, and by studying the scriptures, we show that we are approved, right? So it's kind of like a talent show or a or earning or a deserving thing that, hey, I studied the word, I studied the Bible, I know what it says. So that means I am approved by God and I can rightly divide the word of truth, right? Okay, and that is usually how it is interpreted. And it wasn't until about maybe within the last year where I heard a minister do a different spin off it, and it really pierced my heart. I mean, it really uh I really witnessed with it, and it was totally contrary to how I've always read it, but contrary, but it was all it was perfect alignment with the New Testament theme, which is grace, which is I don't earn it or deserve it. If you are studying, if you're studying scripture to earn approval, that's not New Testament, right? And this is a lot of times where scripture, this is a lot of times where this verse is interpreted. But I want you to know it says, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed. Why do you not need to be ashamed? We kind of skip that part. We focus on the study to show yourself approved, but we miss the part where it says, a workman that needs not to be ashamed. Well, why does he not, he or she not need to be ashamed? We don't need to be ashamed because we're approved, right? So how do we know that we're approved? It comes from the studying, right? So we're not studying to gain approval, we're studying because while we're studying the scriptures, the scriptures are revealing to us that we are approved by God. Not by us trying to be approved, but because he has looked at us and he has called us approved. Why? Because we're in Christ, right? So the studying is not a sense of deserving or earning approval. The studying in scripture tells you that you're approved by God already, right? And why, and once you know that you are already approved, then you can approach God without being ashamed, right? And which also leads to rightly dividing the word of truth. So, what's the point? The point is is that to know the word, to know the word, if I did not know the word, okay, if I did not know the word, I would not have been able to uh reveal or to gain understanding of that specific concept in that specific verse, especially a verse that has interpreted been interpreted a certain way a whole lot of times. So the whole point is that in order to know the word, we're going to have to study it. We're going to have to be be in it, we're going to have to read it, we're going to have to memorize it, we're going to have to be chewing on it, um, thinking about it, meditating on it, all of these things that we've learned throughout, not only during this podcast, but for those of you who have been Christians for a very long time, that a lot of these customs, a lot of these tactics you have been taught from the cradle, right? And so, in order to know the word, we have to spend time in the word, right? And so the more you know it, the more you understand it, the more you become aware of it, you will more likely yield to it, right? Because you're familiar with it. When you hear someone speak on speak like in a sermons, sermon, or maybe even when you're reading it, that the more acquainted you are with the truth, you will more likely be uh sensitive to it, which in turn will cause you to yield to it. You don't yield to things that you're unsure of, right? That's why sin is so damaging, because the more uh the more sin does not always sin does not start off as a tree. It starts off as a seed. But the more you commit to it, the more you uh attach yourself to it, that seed will start to germinate and develop more and more and more and become more like a tree, right? It becomes more of an anchor, it becomes more of a weight in your life. So that when that specific sin pops up because you have a relationship with it, if you will, because you have a connection with it, you will most likely yield to it. So what we need to do is we need to do that with the word. How do we do that? We learn, we read it, we study it, we meditate on it, we feed on it, okay? It isn't it encompasses our speech, it encompasses our thinking. Everything about us comes with the word, right? Now, the second part that we're gonna have to do is that we're gonna have to trust the word. Okay? Not only knowing it is one thing, okay. There are a lot of Christians that can quote it, that can memorize it, that can do they know the word, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they trust it, right? They haven't seen it work in their own life. Uh, 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 16 through 17 says this all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished and furnished unto all good works. So the point is, guys, is that is that when we read the word and we're and we're immersed in it, and we become acquainted with it, and we start learning the truths, we start learning the ways that it works, learning the methods, this is when we start putting things to practice, right? Scripture says that faith without works is dead. Just read the book of James. It's all about putting the word to practice. We're not just hearers of the word, but we're doers. It's in the doing where we learn the trusting, right? When we when we do the word and we see that it actually works, that's when we establish the trust. There are people that just memorize it, they just know it, but they don't, they haven't learned it, they haven't developed a relationship with it to the point where they actually start producing fruit. Okay. A lot there are a lot of theologians, there are a lot of heavy thinkers that think about the Bible, but they do not allow that thinking to actually manifest into actions, right? And true Christianity is not just thinking, it's actually doing. And so if you are thinking about it, but you're not allowing what you're thinking about to translate into your doing, you're not actually living true Christianity. Okay? So in order for, and this actually just supports the yielding piece, right? The more you become acquainted, the more you become aware of scripture, the more you will actually start, it will actually start moving you into actually doing it. So if you're struggling with tithing or if you're struggling with any form of giving and you don't necessarily trust it, spend time in the word studying it out for yourself, right? Don't don't just wait on a person in the pulpit to tell you about giving, okay? Don't don't do that because you'll be limited to their revelation and their understanding, and they might not be entirely correct. It is up to you, walk out your own salvation with fear and trembling. It is up to you to determine what giving looks like to me and in my interpretation of scripture and my relationship with God. Now, again, we've talked about this. Don't go out into a corner all by yourself. You should have a community around you helping you, teaching you, but also directing you from error, right? But at the end of the day, walk out your own salvation. You have to decide what you believe to be true on your own based on your own relationship. Okay, so how do you do that? You study the word, you get into it, right? And the more you get into it, the more you'll start being moved into actually doing it, and it's in the doing where you establish the trusting, right? So the third thing is that not only do you have to know the word, so just head knowledge, then you gotta trust the word, and the head knowledge has now become active. We're straight we're now doing it. Then the third one is be filled with the word, right? The thing that you're most filled with is the thing that you will yield to. The thing that you're you're most you're you're you're full of is the thing that you're aware of, you're more acquainted with, you have a relationship with, so that when it pops up, that is the thing that you will actually latch on to or yield to. Okay, so the scripture is John 8, third 31, 32. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Okay? Notice that the freedom part, we've heard this quoted all the time, but they say that the truth makes you free. That's not true. Truth by itself does not make you free. It's the knowing of the truth that sets you free. But even just knowing it doesn't set you free. Right? Because we just talked about this. Know the word. Well, if you know it, that doesn't necessarily mean you're free. Why? Because it's just head knowledge. The knowing hasn't materialized into the doing piece, right? So how do you get to the doing piece? We've already talked about it. It says in verse 31, Jesus said to the Jews, which believed on him, if you continue in my word, it's the continuing in the word. Even when you don't see the results, even though when you don't see the results, even you don't see the point, even though you don't like, okay, my pastor, I honor him, I respect him, but he's telling me I need to I need to do this concept. I don't see it, and so uh, but I see it in the word, so I'm just gonna stay meditating on it, I'm gonna keep feeding on it, I'm gonna listen to from listen to other sermons about it, I'm gonna read books about it, I'm gonna glean information from other people that have practiced it. What am I doing? I'm I'm basically I'm basically going through the body of Christ, looking at different points of view, looking at different experiences, and trying to see the fruit or trying to see the benefit of this specific concept. But as you're studying and as you're reading, the Lord will start teaching this to you, and you are continuing and continuing and continuing, and as you're continuing, eventually it will actually start gaining traction, you will eventually start doing it. In other words, the head knowledge starts to manifest into the actions, which in turn will develop you to start trusting it, which in turn will actually start to manifest it. Okay, so the whole point, guys, this this yielding to the word, this yielding to the word, this is we in order to yield to it, in order for the word to be so real to us that the moment we hear something that we've never heard for heard before, we might not in our head might not fully understand it, but because we're so aware of the word and aware of how he does things, you can hear it and immediately latch on to it. And the thing that you latch onto, the thing that you will most likely end up doing, right? That's happened to me multiple times because I have spent so much time studying and been in the scriptures. I have been in services before where I didn't know the speaker, I didn't know um their background or nothing, but they would say a specific statement that I've never heard before, but it did not contradict, and it was actually supported by the themes of scripture that I have come to believe. And so my head didn't quite get it, but my spirit, which is my spirit, which is in tune with the word of God, my spirit would jump out and latch at it. And that is when though and those moments are crucial, because those are the times in which the truth has become real to you, and the truth that is real to you is the truth that you will eventually live out. Okay? So, all in all, in order to yield to the word of God, we've talked about yielding to the voice of God, but you will learn that as you grow up in Him. But to yield to the Word, to yield to the truth, the all the three things that you have to do is that you first have to know it. It has to be head knowledge, okay? You then gotta trust it. Well, how do you trust it? By doing it. Okay. But and not only do you have to know it, not only do you have to trust it, but you have to be filled with it. You have to continue in it. You have to continue in it. What you continue in is what you're filling yourself up with. Alright? Again, that's why sin is so damaging. Because you it starts off small, you spend more time with it, attentive to it, and it grows and grows and grows and be and gets a stronger hold on you. The word works the same way. Spend a little time in it, but the more you spend, the more you continue in the word, the more you'll learn learn the word, and when you learn it, eventually you'll start doing it, and when you do it, you'll start experiencing it. So that's how you yield. That's how you yield. It's not about obeying the word. We all believe in obeying the word, but preachers have been saying you need to obey the word. Awesome. How do you do that? This is how you do it. Learn it, right? Know the word, then trust the word and be filled with the word. You do those three things, and by just default, you will find yourself yielding to the word. Okay? Talk about this last episode. What you if you sow to the flesh, you'll reap corruption. If you sow to the spirit, you'll reap life eternal, right? So the things that you sow to, the things that you spend time with, the things that you give your attention to is the place in which you will reap from. You spend time in his word, you will reap from his word. It's that simple, guys. So, all in all, I hope this has been a blessing to you, and I hope that this has helped you navigate, practically help you navigate the Christian life. It's not about obeying him, it's about yielding to him. And the way you yield to him is how and how how do you yield to him? By spending time with him, trusting him, and being filled with him. Right? The more you you do all those three, you'll become acquainted with him, you'll be aware of him, and then he'll just have to whisper to you. You'll say, That's my father, that's my savior, that's the Holy Spirit, and you'll immediately and you can just relax and just yield, and before long you'll find yourself actually doing the thing that he wants you to do. So I hope this has been a blessing to you. I hope you have a good rest of your day, and hope you have a good rest of your night. God bless.