Your Daily Devotional for September 17, 2007

 

September 17,  2007

 

 

Yielded to Him

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

 

Galatians 2:20

 

 

A man was once discouraged concerning his recent witnessing opportunities. Everyone had rejected God's Word and he was wondering if anyone would be saved at all. He prayed, "Lord give me a sign of who you want me to witness to." As he was riding on the city bus later that day, a big man got on the bus and sat down next to him. The Christian noticed that the man was crying. When he asked him what was wrong, the man said, "Can you show me how to be saved?" The believer then turned and prayed, "Lord, is this a sign?"

 

We may think that this story is ridiculous! Of course God had placed those two men together! But how often are we guilty of these same situations? How often has God brought someone across our paths who needed to be saved but we failed to tell them of Him? I am afraid we are all guilty of missing key witnessing opportunities because we were not yielded to the Holy Spirit.

 

We have seen over the past few days that the Holy Spirit desires to guide and protect us. He does so by convicting or warning us when we are doing something wrong. Sometimes we can become so comfortable in our sin that we fail to heed the Holy Spirit's promptings. We must not let our sin become so familiar that we listen to the temptations more than the Holy Spirit! We must be yielded to the Holy Spirit.

 

We must be yielded when it comes to witnessing. God commands us all to be good witnesses of Him, yet we cannot persuade people to accept Christ. That is why we must be yielded to the working of the Holy Spirit, for only He has the power to convict hearts and draw people to Him. Acts 1:8 says, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." The Holy Spirit will work in the hearts of the unsaved, but we must be yielded to Him and obey Him. We must not be afraid of witnessing to others, but must be yielded to the Holy Spirit's promptings in our lives.

 

We must also be yielded to the Holy Spirit's guidance in our lives. We see an example of this in Acts 8:26, "And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert." Philip had been in a city that was experiencing revival and great things were happening, yet the Lord told Philip to leave. While Philip may not have understood the Lord's leading, he obeyed and met the Ethiopian eunuch whom he was able to lead to Christ.

 

We must be sensitive when the Holy Spirit directs us to do something we may not understand. God has a plan for our lives, and that plan may sometimes include following Him without knowing all the details. But as we are sensitive to His leading and are yielded to His commands, we will see His blessings in our lives.

 

Are you daily seeking the Holy Spirit's will for your life? Are you remaining sensitive to His leading and prompting? We must daily yield to the Holy Spirit's will for our lives. Take time now to meet with God. Yield your will to Him and ask Him to guide you as you seek to live for Him today.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Proverbs 27-29 • 2 Corinthians 10

 

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