Back in the 80s, I heard a song that I immediately fell in love with. Here are the words . . .
I’ll say yes Lord yes, to your will and to your way.
I’ll say yes Lord yes, I will trust you and obey.
When your Spirit speaks to me, with my whole heart I’ll agree
And my answer will be yes Lord yes.
Today’s discussion includes any of the following questions. Take your pick, mix and match even 
* What does it mean to say “yes” to the Lord Jesus? I’m not speaking of initiation-conversion; but of our daily Christian lives.
* What are the costs involved with saying “yes” to the Lord?
* Give an example of saying “yes” to the Lord from your own life.
* Is the Lord asking you to say “yes” to something right now?
* Does saying “yes” to the Lord sometimes or often mean saying “no” to others? Or “yes” to others? To yourself?
Let’s see if we can get the Fanortner twinkling nicely today
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I was just thinking about personal growth and maturity – and as that relates to discipline and self motivation. And how to apply that to my life.
It’s been a struggle these last few weeks – changes have occured and I have to do a lot of things by myself – and it’s hard … (I have written about it, but it’s in Portuguese).
It comes right as an answer: to say yes where evidently the Lord is not totally present (in a certain sense) and make Him my primary cause and goal. Today – early morning, my attitude was much better, I was more motivated – but it’s not enough. So I’ll say YES to Jesus – come and take place, be my Source, be my Reason, be me, and be present (effectively).
Well, I guess I’ll have to translate my comment and post it to my brethren here in Brazil.
Interesting. I have been meditating on this sort of thing for a while now.
For me, for now, the Lord is teaching me that while sometimes He is specific about certain issues, He is also a loving Father who gives His children lots of room to grow and live so long as we don’t venture outside of His Spirit.
It’s almost as if He is saying, “Okay kids, you know what to do and what not to do. Behave and get along, I don’t want anyone getting hurt”.
I don’t think that He always has a detailed map of direction etched in eternity somewhere that we have to try really hard to figure out.
Instead, I think that He is a loving, creative Father who desires that His children grow up to be like Him.
To this, I say, “YES LORD!”
Over the last several years , it seems to me the word CHRISTIAN (especially with the word Evangelical placed before it) is seen by our culture more as a politicized term used to describe a group of people and what they are against, rather than someone who professes belief in Jesus Christ.
When people ask the question, “Are you a Christian?” it can be loaded.
It could be a question of your religious affiliation but it could also be a euphemism for “how do you vote?” or “what’s your stance on homosexuality and abortion?”
I believe the term is so misunderstood; it’s lost its weight, its significance, and its context. It’s become its own brand, and it’s own political agenda.
The word “Christian” is used in scripture only 3 times
Ironically, the word was always intended to be a noun and was never intended to be an adjective. Yet we have Christian bookstores, Christian music, Christian T-shirts, Christian radio stations, etc, etc, etc…
It is a word that has evolved over time. Take the word “gentlemen” for example. In the early 1500’s the word gentlemen meant you were a land owner and was looked at as a social status, but today anyone can be a gentleman if he has good manners, and is polite by opening doors.
I do believe there is a difference between being a Christian (as 85% of Americans claim they are) and being a Disciple,
- an apprentice, as Dallas Willard would say.
Now, how many people do you know who have seriously apprenticed themselves to Jesus?
How many people are there of whom you can say, “I know the way Jesus lived, and when I see you with people, I can’t tell the difference”?
Can you imagine someone someday saying such things to you?
Jesus sets in front of us a vivid image used to teach us about the “cost” of discipleship.
In Luke 14: 28-30: He describes a Tower
Jesus presents an image of a man who plans on building a tower.
Before he begins, he must “count the cost” to see if he has enough resources to finish the job.
Now this is the cost of discipleship, not the cost of salvation. When it comes to salvation…do I have enough to finish, the answer is always “NO”. God is the builder who finishes the job called salvation.
Then in Philippians 1:6
Carry it to completion… How many here have ever started a project and never finished it?
This isn’t good enough for discipleship.
Look at verse Luke 14:29. Not able to finish.
Jesus is saying, “If you don’t have the willingness to see it through, don’t even attempt the journey.” In other words, He does not want you on His team unless you are going to give 100%. Do not even try unless you have total commitment.
These words scare me. I do not want to be a spiritual dropout.
The older I get, the more I realize there can never be any “coasting” in the life of a Disciple.
There is no such thing as spiritual retirement.
To me saying “YES” is a real disciple finishing strong
This last sunday a brother gave a testimony about this very thing, then we sang this song:
There’s a cry from deep within me
Saying, Yes! Lord Jesus, Yes!
To Your inward operating
I say, Yes! Lord Jesus, Yes!
Just as You said to the Father
When there was a choice to make,
“Father not My will, but Thine be done.”
You said, “Yes!” for the church’s sake.
(Chorus)
Yes! Lord Jesus, Yes!
I say, Yes! Lord Jesus, Yes!
As You speak and move in all this heart of mine
Yes! Lord Jesus, Yes!
We say, Yes! Lord Jesus, Yes!
As Your church today, to you we gladly say, Yes!
As we say, Yes! every day, Lord,
You move in now to assume
All our hearts as Your own home now,
And it happens room by room
Certain doors we’ve never opened,
We can’t help but open wide
From our Yes! You flow so strongly,
Like a tide, Oh, what a tide!
(Chorus)
Just keep shining and anointing
In these inward parts of mine.
Come take ground You’ve never taken,
Make it Thine, oh, make it Thine.
You’re the resurrection power,
But to work in me today
You must hear a Yes! from me, Lord.
Here it comes, I gladly say-
(Chorus)
We’re Your Bride, Lord, now preparing
For that wedding day with You,
All arrayed in bright, clean linen,
Without spot or wrinkle, too.
How’d it happen, such as we could
Be clothed in the very best?
Stitch by stitch that garment came forth
Saint by saint and Yes! by Yes!
In my life saying “Yes” to Jesus means that I rest in the fact that I have His approval today regardless of anything I do or do not do. It means that I must fight the urge to seek the approval of man. It means that I do not perform for God to earn His approval, but I obey simply because I ALREADY have His approval. Amen.
When I am pressing in, sometimes to jump a hurdle and understand a bigger concept I get anxious and I start turning to people. I want them to take away that burden of patiently going through what He wants me to go through to take me where He wants me to be.
When I start depending on people during these times…I usually get a “whoa…slow down” type of msg and it is at that same time that I also hear God saying “No…keep coming towards me” the tension that creates is phenomenally huge.
You would think that if God says something that would trump the human voice…and it should…however the games your mind starts to play with you make the situation a lot more confusing than you think it would be.
Here are two of my blog posts about people telling me to slow down…and what happened because I didn’t.
http://www.christibowman.com/2008/09/path-through-revelation-knowledge.cfm
http://www.christibowman.com/2008/10/who-says-its-marathon.cfm
Brotherjohnny had good comments — it’s all in Frank’s e-book on the will of God.
I would like to learn what saying yes to Jesus daily does mean– when He’s not asking you to do something specific. My guess is it has to do with living with His life moment by moment, standing in readiness to let Him love and minister to whoever crosses our path.
The Lord frequently takes us out of our comfort zone, so obeying can be very costly emotionally even when it wouldn’t seem a big deal to someone watching. Being kind and thoughtful when you’d rather be grumpy or take revenge can be draining! Doing something with or for someone when you’d rather do nothing. Or having to confront something when everything in you screams to run from any kind of conflict. Harder than what I did when young — sold most things and went to Mexico with my husband and 3 kids and lived in a tiny log cabin with no running water or electricity to help some missionaries and go to their training school.
But the rewards are so much greater than the costs! (Just like how Jesus thought the payoff greater than the high cost of our redemption.) I’ve gotten to where I seldom want to take revenge for anything, although I still can’t deal with conflict well! And it was at the mission training school I learned of organic church, met people who practiced it and got to move to where we could experience it.
Saying ‘yes’ to Jesus at one point meant saying ‘no’ to my indentity being wrapped up in trying to save my marriage and my fear of trying to support 8 kids by myself. And facing my very worst fear — confronting my husband about his abusive behavior. It involved saying ‘no’ to my husband moving back in without a willingness to deal with his issues, and ‘no’ to my desire to have a restored relationship. It meant dealing with my own self-condemnation, accepting help from others, and admitting that sometimes divorce is necessary. It took me years, but I also wouldn’t trade what the Lord has taught me for anything. He really is a ‘father to the fatherless and husband to the widow.’
Frank, I couldn’t read all the comments on Mere Christianity, but all the negative ones seem to be by self- identified agnostics, not believers. So I stand by my choice. I don’t know of any Christian ‘ministries’ or websites devoted to dissing that book.
But I know of a guy who travels around warning folks of the immense danger of ‘The Purpose- Driven Life.’
Saying “Yes” to Jesus brings to mind the reply the disciples gave after Jesus had spoken a “hard word” and some left. “Do you want to leave too?” “Lord, where would we go?”
btw, are you still gonna post the movie review?
KDR
Saying yes to Jesus means to me that He’s always at work in my life bringing me closer to His image. Though I know intellectually that I have a discouraging distance yet to travel, I can’t really see that emotionally. He just shows me the very next step. I think that if I could see the horizon or the mountain ranges that are surely ahead, it would overwhelm me.
“Yes” means that, yes, I will take the next step. Sometimes it’s a hard step, but He’s always so good to me. He doesn’t make me go alone and He knows how long my stride is.
He’s like a cheering older brother with a small child. Even though “my” accomplishment was pretty much all His work, He praises me and encourages me. I know I haven’t experienced a fraction of the hardships my brothers and sisters under persecution have endured, I do know that His grace will get me through whatever may lie ahead.
Cindy
More often than not, saying “yes” to Him means saying “no” to ourselves and “yes” to others. When we say “no” to ourselves, it is not about denying self but dying to self so that others may live. Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. And we must die voluntarily, from the heart with God’s grace and strength.
This could mean sacrificing personal convenience, agenda and overlooking one another’s faults and weaknesses. Naturally, it is a painful process to go through, but think of the wondrous Cross. If it is not painful, it is not really dying. So we always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
Of course, saying “yes” to others doesn’t mean that we only agree or support in whatever they do or say. Sometimes, it can mean turning down a person, disagreeing over an issue or even rebuking someone we love dearly. Saying “yes” to a person means loving that person as God would. We may struggle with the appropriate expressions of love, because we do not have perfect knowledge like God.
But more importantly, love should be the motivation behind our thoughts and deeds towards the person. We are called to love God and to love others. And we aren’t experts in this field of business. So it’s a life long journey of learning and seeking God’s heart, into eternity and beyond.
Saying yes to the Lord is to surrender to him. It means to let his light shine on you in spite of what might be found and say: Lord, this is the way I am and without you intervening, this is how I´ll continue to be. But I give you full permission to do whatever you like to do in me to get me to the place of being surrendered to you in all areas, that you may be increasingly visably in and through my life and my life may be in harmony with your heart´s desire.”
It´s the continious yielding of ourselves to the Lord that he may work in our character and make us broken vessels like Jakob. Vessels that hold God´s life and his glory without many holes to leak through.
Our longing to surrender to the Lord is instinctive to every believer just as it is instictive to the Son to surrender to the Father. By saying yes we are dusting off the dust of our own ways and finding our spirits in a given situation where this yielding is found in union with His life within us.
On a personal note, I have since my conversion always had a yielding heart. At first I followed my instinctive desire to please the Lord without knowing how to live by his life which led to condemnation since I wasn´t able to be a “perfect” Christian. After running into that wall the Lord showed me that he is my holiness and he is my life.
As a result of this experience I began to ask Father what was His heart, His desire, what mattered to Him and made His heart leap. I asked him to lead in my way people, books and ministries that helped me answer this question that my life might be lived in the middle of a work centered on what matters to Him.
At this time I had no clue what the church and Christ´s body was all about but through a very strange “coincedence” my attension was drawn to a ministry that opened up that dimension. And really, it was in perfect harmony with what the Lord had shown me. He had shown me I was a branch on Him and now He was showing me there are more branches on this Tree and we all share His life and make up the Tree along with Him. So His eternal purpose started to open up to me and consume me.
My yes to the Lord was so intense that I ran ahead of Him, faster than was necessary. When I ran into the next wall He had for me, I hit it hard. If I would have gone His speed, it would have been easier, but then again, wrestling with God tends to leave you crippled. This wall included many different circumstances, dissapointments and tradigies in different areas of life, including the spiritual area.
All this lead to what I guess was a nervous breakdown and for the first time since my conversion, I deliberatly said: “No, Lord. I can´t bear more. I no longer give you full permission to do whatever it takes in my life to bring about your purpose.”
Not that I was abandoning the Lord. I still had a love relationship with Him but it was pretty much limited to the eternals. It was easy to trust Him when it came to eternal things but when it came to life on Earth I didn´t trust Him for my life anymore.
I felt I had tried my best to follow Him and hear His voice and it lead to disaster. How could I be sure such a heart of blind surrender to the Lord wouldn´t lead to another disaster? I couldn´t take more.
It has taken the last 5 years to find complete trust in my loving Father again and during this time I have only been half a man. Now He has healed me and my “Yes Lord” has returned, this time with less effort on my part to push the things of God into being, less expectations in anything but Him.
I look back and am grieved for my lack of trust in Father´s love but I suppose it was a necessary part of my wrestling with God to “cripple” me and get me closer to Him. Yes Lord.
I loved what brother Johnny said.
* What does it mean to say “yes” to the Lord Jesus? I’m not speaking of initiation-conversion; but of our daily Christian lives.
Isn’t that basically the same? I mean, since I was baptized (dead and alive again) I’m on ‘auto-yes’, or something like that. Something like ‘Saying yes to the lord’ could be the beginning of a whole new theology (when, how, how do you know, what does it cost, etc.). Yikes!
God loves me and his ‘Yes’ cheers me on. And when I do something stupid, I say sorry to myself, to God or to others (to whomever I did stupid to). And when I don’t wallow in self-pity and guilt feelings I will start to hear his ‘Yes!’ again. Yes!