WE MUST BE TOTALLY YIELDED TO GOD!

"I will be found by you, says the LORD,
and I will bring you back from your
captivity; I will gather you from all
the nations and from all the places where
I have driven you, says the LORD, and
I will bring you to the place from which
I cause you to be carried away captive." Jer 29:14

Something wonderful happens when we seek the Lord
with all our hearts. He begins a restoration. It
hasn't happened yet? How much is "all"? 50%? 80%?
99%? 100%? I know for some this seems hard, but it
is the way of the Lord. He requires all. When you
buy a car, do you buy the wheels only? Ok, how about
the wheels and the frame? No? You mean you want all
of it? With a full tank of gas, too? You even want
air in the tires? Of course you do. You want to drive
down the street with the knowledge that you own a car --
lock, stock, and barrel. The same goes for the computer
you just bought. You didn't just buy an Intel processor.
You bought all the components. You bought the fancy
case, the monitor, the speakers -- every thing that
makes it run. See what I mean? When Jesus paid the
price for your ransom, He bought all of you, not just
an arm and a leg. He bought your body, your soul
(composed of your mind and emotions), and your
spirit. He paid for it all and that's what He
wants. Let's go back to that shiny new car for
a moment. Let's suppose that you drive it home and
see a dent on the hood. Now it's no big dent, but
it's noticeable to you. What do you do? You drive
it back to the dealer and want it repaired. Why?
You bought a new car and you want it to look new.
A little later, you hear a tick in the engine.
You repeat the process for the same reason. It's
a new car and you want to keep it that way.

Jesus expects nothing less. Unfortunately, we tend
to want to keep parts of ourselves for our own use.
Won't work. Can't happen. If we want all the promises,
we must keep all the conditions. And look at those
promises: restoration of fortunes, restoration of
lands, restoration of freedom.

Joel (chapter 2) adds a few others: restoration
of all that the cankerworm and locust have destroyed,
new crops, new wine and much more. All that in
exchange for the right of ownership. "Sure," you
say, "but it's easier said than done." Indeed it is.
It's a process. It begins with a determination of
the heart to seek God, to be totally yielded to Him.
It grows as we give more and more of ourselves. It
finds it's fulfillment in our total obedience.

Fortunately, Jesus is willing to let us yield
a piece at a time. He is patient. He will grant
us partial fulfillment for partial dedication.
With that in mind, we need to begin today to
yield ourselves. We need to continue tomorrow
and the day after that and the week after that
and the month after that and the year after that --
until we have attained a measure of maturity.
If we do this, we will see the restoration begin
and amplify day by day. Oh, it may not be in the
form in which we want to see it, but it will be
there. We may not see it today, but we will see
it as time goes by. Trust me on this. God has
promised it. Let it happen to you! Hallelujah,
Amen and Amen.