The Lord says:
"You are still in a season of repair and restoration. Repairing and restoring your relationship with the Holy Spirit is foremost. With this, everything else in life will begin to flow. You may not understand fully what I am doing in your life now, or why I am doing what I am doing, but one day you will understand. All things work together for good."
Beloved of God, we are still in this season of repair and restoration. I want to talk about our relationship with the Holy Spirit today. So, let's go back to the basics today. Let's go back to the very simplicity of who the Holy Spirit is in our lives.
A lot of people go around looking for formulas or methods to achieve their ambitions or whatever they want in their life. But that's not how one works with the Holy Spirit. Instead, a heart that is soft, tender, yielded, and pliable (i.e. easily bended) before the Holy Spirit is the key. When He says so, you say so. When He says no, you say no. When He says do this, you do this. When He says do that, you do that. When He says go here, you go here. When He says go there, you go there. When He says let go, you let go. When He says hang on, you hang on.
Well, this is how I live my life.
Sometimes, it may even seem to be foolish to those who don't understand what God is doing in my life and in the ministry God has entrusted to me. But eventually they will understand. And sometimes, people's minds got "jammed" as to why I chose to do what I do. But I am just obeying God and doing what God says, every step of the way in my life. If God says let go, I let go. If God says move ahead, I move ahead.
So, what is 'yieldedness' in one's life? It can be defined as 'not insisting on our own ways or own fleshly desires; but yielded, submitted, and surrendered to Him and His way'. That's what 'yieldedness' mean. It means when He corrects, we can humble ourselves, and we do not need to get offended or fight back. You know why? Because He, the Holy Spirit, is all knowing, not us. The Holy Spirit will show you what to do, every step of the way. He will even show you the (hidden) sins and motives in your life that you need to let go.
One example is David, a man after God's heart. Nathan, a prophet raised up by the Lord at that time, represented 'the Spirit of the Lord (who spoke to David)'. Now, David was a king and powerful in his position on earth at that time. He was the king of Israel and Judah. David could have been offended by Nathan. David could have even killed Nathan in order to shut his mouth. But no! David's heart was soft and tender enough before the Lord. David admitted his sins and wrongs. This is one example of a heart that is soft, tender, yielded, and pliable before the Lord.
So you see, we need to return to the simplicity of who He is. The people of this world have made this life so complicated. But we need not fall into that. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you and guide you to return to the simplicity of who He is, even as you come to Him just as you are.
What is our part? Our part is to humble ourselves before Him. When He leads and guides, we follow. When He corrects, we choose to change our ways, and not insist on our own ways. Why? Because He sees farther than us, and His ways are always higher than ours. So, let His will be done in our lives, not our own fleshly desires. He will never lead us into trouble. I believe this is the key to living a life of good success on this earth (i.e. success that is measured by the Lord, not by this fallen world).
Let's look further at David now. 2 Samuel 12:13 (NKJV) says, 'So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."'
What is the background here? The Lord used a prophet named Nathan to deal with David, or rather, to rebuke David of his wrongs. You see, the Holy Spirit has not been poured out yet during that Old Testament time. So, Nathan here represents 'the Holy Spirit speaking and correcting'. At that time, David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, and he even cunningly had Bathsheba's husband (Uriah) killed!
But the wonderful thing is this. When Nathan came to rebuke David, David didn't kill the prophet. Instead, David came to his senses. I mean, he could have killed the prophet. After all, he's king. But, instead of hardening his heart, David said, "I have sinned against the Lord."
Here, you see a heart that is soft and tender before the Lord. Here, you see a heart that is yielded and pliable before the Lord. David wasn't perfect in many ways. But the Lord's not looking at all that. The Lord's looking at his heart.
Now it is the same with our hearts before the Lord. He's not looking at all those sins. He's not all-out looking at those sins in order to expose you. But He's looking at your heart. Is your heart willing? Is your heart willing to be changed by the Lord? Is your heart yielded before the Lord? Is your heart soft and tender before the Lord? This is what He is looking for even right now.
In cross-reference, you can look at Psalm 51.
In Psalm 51:3-4 (NKJV), David said, "For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight..."
In Psalm 51:10 (KJV), David said, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."
What is a right spirit? A spirit (or a heart) that is soft, tender, yielded, and pliable before the Holy Spirit. A heart that is not putting up a front. But a heart that is willing to humble. In other words, a heart that is willing to let the Holy Spirit have His way in one's life.
David was willing to allow the Lord to deal with him. This is what touches the Lord's heart the most. The same it is today. The Lord has never changed in His ways. And you know what? David didn't look back ever since. He went on to become arguably the greatest king ever in Israel!
Let us contrast between David and Pharaoh. While David's heart was softened when the Lord dealt with him, Pharaoh's heart was the opposite. Pharaoh's heart was hardened further when the Lord dealt with him. See? One, a soft heart, and another, a hard heart.
Exodus 7:14 (NKJV) says, 'So the Lord said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go."'
What is the background of this verse here? The Lord actually used Moses and Aaron to tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go. But Pharaoh refused. Instead, his heart was hardened even more.
Exodus 9:34-35 (NKJV) says, 'And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. So the heart of Pharaoh was hard; neither would he let the children of Israel go, as the Lord has spoken by Moses.'
What does this word 'harden' mean here? In Hebrew, it is 'qashah'. It can mean 'to be tough, to be sore, to be stiff, to be fierce, to react negatively, to be defensive'. The more the Lord told him to let the people of Israel go, the more his heart was hardened. So, it's clear here that Pharaoh refused to acknowledge the words of the Lord. Not until the tenth plague, when his firstborn died, that he gave in. You know what? Pharaoh stood to lose so much more in the end. Not only did he lose his firstborn, he lost his entire mighty army and chariots who got drowned in the Red Sea!
So beloved of God, the Lord is giving each of us a choice even right now. The Lord is asking us, "Do you want to choose to be a David, or do you want to choose to be a Pharaoh?" Let us choose to be a David, a heart that is soft and tender before the Lord. Amen!
Let us pray:
"O Lord God, we choose to be like David, and not Pharaoh. Teach us to have a heart that is soft and tender before You. Teach us to have a heart that is yielded to what You say. There may be many things we do not understand now, what You are doing in our lives, and why You are doing what You are doing in our lives, but one day we will understand. Because You are always a God who wants the very best for us. You are always a God who sees farther than anyone of us can see. In Jesus' name. Amen."
