The first thing I must be willing to admit when I begin to examine what controls and dominates me is that I am the one responsible for having yielded myself to whatever it may be. If I am a slave to myself, I am to blame because somewhere in the past I yielded to myself. Likewise, if I obey God I do so because at some point in my life I yielded myself to Him.

If a child gives in to selfishness, he will find it to be the most enslaving tyranny on earth. There is no power within the human soul itself that is capable of breaking the bondage of the nature created by yielding. For example, yield for one second to anything in the nature of lust, and although you may hate yourself for having yielded, you become enslaved to that thing. (Remember what lust is— “I must have it now,” whether it is the lust of the flesh or the lust of the mind.) No release or escape from it will ever come from any human power, but only through the power of redemption. You must yield yourself in utter humiliation to the only One who can break the dominating power in your life, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ. “. . . He has anointed Me . . . to proclaim liberty to the captives . . .” (Luke 4:18 and Isaiah 61:1).

When you yield to something, you will soon realize the tremendous control it has over you. Even though you say, “Oh, I can give up that habit whenever I like,” you will know you can’t. You will find that the habit absolutely dominates you because you willingly yielded to it. It is easy to sing, “He will break every fetter,” while at the same time living a life of obvious slavery to yourself. But yielding to Jesus will break every kind of slavery in any person’s life.

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March 14, 2011

Journal Entry for Today-JDV

I spent the better part of my prayer time yesterday listening for you God. I realize that I all too often simply take time to roll out all my petitions to you, and ask for your intervention and direction and then fail to stop and listen for your voice. Pastor Richard mentioned in his sermon yesterday that you want a dialog with us, and I know that, I simply have not taken the time recently to quiet myself down and listen for you.

 And God says…”Underneath all that I have made available to you is My desire to have a relationship with you. Jesus provides for our personal relationship just as I provide for all your needs. I ask you to bring Me your requests as part of our personal relationship.  I ask you to seek first the kingdom of heaven, and remind you that I will meet all your needs. And if you search the scriptures and the still small voice inside, you will recall that all that I have provided through Jesus I have provided to facilitate our personal relationship. And our relationship grows and is strengthened when we have a dialog. My sheep know My voice and respond to Me.”