YIELD Part 1: Called to YIELD.

CALLED TO YIELD

Psalm 1 (ESV)

1 Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree

planted by streams of water

that yields its fruit in its season,

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

4 The wicked are not so,

but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

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PRAY

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BEGINNING A BRAND NEW SERIES CALLED: YIELD - Bring Forth.

I love this time of YEAR.

We’re coming into SPRING. (March April & May).

we are stepping into a NEW NATURAL season of Blossom, Of New life. New life coming

(Grass story: I love this time of year because the Weekend Warrior in me comes out. I love lawns. I have a picture somewhere of me and my dad and when i was a little boy i would watch my dad mow the lawn. I would sit at the window and watch him draw out the lines and then go back and forth and i would see the catcher at the end being dumped out - i rememvered the smell of a FRESHLY cut LAWN. and NOW i too love to mow the grass and see the lines and take it all in - its wonderful - But its THIS time of YEAR that we see the new color in the grass, it begins to grow again in the warmer temps and before long i will be out there twice weekly sweating it out cutting the grass in the middle of summer.

The temperature changes

The Light Changes....

But the Color comes in.

ITS a GREAT TIME OF YEAR because we see the new LIFE come in,. The Flowers start to blossom.( We have our own kind of FALL NOW. its not Rainfall, its not snow fall, its OAK LEAVES FALL - Its like a DEMONIC PESTILENCE.)

...... All that to say, its a season of NEW LIFE. Another YEAR. New Color. New things to see and watch and ENJOY.

DID YOU KNOW THAT OUR LIVES ARE ALSO MEANT TO FEATURE NEW LIFE> WE GROW. WE GO ON. AND WE PRODUCE THINGS IN OUR LIVES AS BELIEVERS>… WE YIELD THINGS.

AND WE HAVE A LIFETIME OF USEFULNESS TO GOD.

A LIFETIME TO PRODUCE SOMETHING FOR GOD.

Psalm 1:1-3 “1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

YOUR LIFE IS A SEASON

AND YOUR LIFE HAS SEASON.

WE ARE SEASONAL PEOPLE.

We don’t live by a WORLDY timeline.

We live ACCORDING to the SEASON that the LORD commands over our lives:

is 40:7-8 “7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”

So what DOES YIELD EVEN MEAN?

There is TWO ways to look at/ it can mean two things that are different but its actually incredible how inter-related they are

DEFINITIONS:

1.To produce something or provide something (a natural, agricultural, or industrial product). "the land yields grapes”

a farmer would consider farm land useful based on its yield. or what it can PRODUCE.

What can the ground bring forth in terms of a good crop.

That agricultural use also transfers now into how we manage money just like you would agriculture so for example when you buy a BLUE CHIP stock one of the main thing you think about is what KIND OF YIELD does the stock give you.

Whats the dividend, or the YIELD.

2..To give way to, to Yield TO SOMETHING

To Give up or Give into. To Submit or YIELD towards something.

Like - a common one is to YIELD to oncoming Traffic.

You can yield to , demands, or pressure.

A sense of Giving UP my preference to that of someone else.

Yield in the BIBLE is often used when discussing OBEDIENCE.

I YIELD to the PROCESS, to the PLAN, to the SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD.

a couple of verses for that show how YIELD works in this way:

Firstly - OT Verse where hezekiah is getting things right and the people of God return to the passover feast:

2 Chron 30:7-8 “7 Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. 8 Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you.”

Then Jesus before finally giving up his life He says

Matt 27:50 “50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.”

A couple of other quick verses:

Hosea 8:7 “7 For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind. The standing grain has no heads; it shall yield no flour; if it were to yield, strangers would devour it.”

Haggai 2:19 “19 Is the seed yet in the barn? Indeed, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree have yielded nothing. But from this day on I will bless you.””

Matt 13:23 “23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.””

SO HERE ARE SOME KEY WORDS/phrases:

YIELD-GROWTH-PRODUCE-BRING FORTH-RETURN TO-PROVIDE-HARVEST-FRUIT-INCREASE-PROVISION-PATIENCE

YIELD. A BRAND NEW SERIES IN THE HOUSE.

SO HERE IS THE BIG QUESTION WERE GOING TO ASK IN THIS SERIES:

WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO LIVE A LIFE THAT IS YIELDED TO THE LORD AND THEN PRODUCES A LIFE YIELDING OR RETURNING or BEARING FRUIT AND RETURNING TO GOD.

WHAT DOES THE WORD OF GOD SAY ABOUT A LIFE THAT HAS A RETURN

THATS BRINGS A YIELD

THAT BEARS FRUIT AND BRINGS FORTH WHAT IS GOOD.

THATS THE LIFE WERE CALLED TO LIVE!

((((((BUT FIRST WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHY. ITS BECAUSE WERE CALLED>

The PEOPLE OF GOD Are a CALLED PEOPLE.

Called FROM THE WILDERNESS OF SIN. INTO A LIFE OF GRACE WITH JESUS CHRIST AS LORD.

1.I AM CALLED TO YIELD.

you are set apart to be a person who is used by God.

have you ever thought that the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE.... Could USE me to FUFLILL HIS PLAN?

But why would this be?

Well you have to go back to the very beginning,

mankind was MADE by GOD for God but SINCE THE FALL

We exist in a fallen state until GOD Called ABRAHAM.

And it was the calling OUT of ABRAHAM

That MEANS through the CHOSEN-NESS of ABraham our stories are written in and we are now called to be IN.

We were OUT. But through JESUS’s Blood. His Sacrifice for us

Now We are IN.

All of us were made to be people who produce and make good use of our lives for the purpose and the glorification of God.

Now were CHOSEN.

Deut 14:2 “2 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.”

Psalm 4:3 “3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him.”

It exists for all of us - we are set apart - How comfortable are you in your SET-APARTNESS?

Romans 1:1 “1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,”

You are set apart for the GOSPEL of God.

God has CHOSEN YOU.

You are HOLY To THE LORD

HE HAS CHOSEN to you be an INSTRUMENT of His blessing to the world.

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This changes the way we live.

It means a simple meeting at work next week ISNT SO SIMPLE. GODS ON THE MOVE.

A coffee catch up with someone whos struggling: all of a sudden takes on a whole NEW meaning!! Whyt>? BECAUSE IM CALLED TO BE A YIELD PRODUCING INSTRUMENT for the GLORY of GOD.

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So WHY YIELD? because you're called.

2.I AM CALLED TO YIELD FRUIT.

Or another way i could say it is BEAR fruit, or WE YIELD TO CARRY Fruit.

To BEAR means to CARRY FORTH.

God BRINGS THE YILED THROUGH US, THE INCREASE, THE CROP - But ITS OURS TO ALSO WEAR IT WELL.

Two reasons we as chosen people are called to be people who YIELD:

(i)WE YIELD FRUIT TO DISPLAY GOD.

We are MEANT TO BE a CONTINUAL DISPLAY of GOD in our WORLD.

YOU ARE THE GOD MOVIE IN YOUR LIFE.

And its the FRUIT of our LIVES that Makes that DISPLAY WONDERFUL.

Its WHAT MAKES IT A FEATURE FILM. THE. FEATURE FILM.

Did you know that as you YIELD and Bring FORTH Fruit - YOU SHOW THE WORLD THE BEAUTY OF WHO GOD IS.

YOU DISPLAY WONDERFUL.

YOU DISPLAY GLORY

YOU DISPLAY GRACE

YOU DISPLAY GALATIANS 5:22 LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, SELF-CONTROL.

THIS IS THE DISPLAY OF GOD: This is the SHOW of YOUR LIFE - The Real time display thats PLAYING OUT in your WORLD today - SO HOWS THE DISPLAY RIGHT NOW?

(my beautiful wife from time to time has to tell me now.... maybe when i get a litted heated in a moment… maybe in traffic… maybe in a restautant.... YOUR A PASTOR IN THIS TOWN. But its not really my vocation… its my belief. and its IN WHOM I BELIEVE that makes all the differenvce).

But its the FRUIT of the SPIRIT like WISDOM that we are meant to CARRY and to SHOW and DISPLAY for the GLORY of God.

Proverbs 8:19 “19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver.”

Q:Do you WEAR Jesus Well?

(ii)WE YIELD FRUIT TO BLESS OTHERS:

CHOSEN BY GOD TO YIELD.

FRUIT IS A BLESSING TO THE PERSON WHO ENCOUNTERS THAT TREE.

THATS YOUR LIFE.

We YIELD FRUIT TO NOT JUST DISPLAY GODS GOODNESS

BUT SO THAT OTHERS CAN GET A TASTE!

PSalm 34:8 “8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”

SET APART/CHOSEN TO YIELD TO A WORLD THAT DOESN’T KNOW HIM BUT CAN BY OUR DISPLAY OF HIM.

BUT WHY?

To be a BLESSING to Others.

John 15 (ESV)

1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.

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16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

So thats why you can say:

Im CHOSEN.

Im a display

Im a blessing

In Jesus name, Amen.

HE GAVE UP HIS LIFE, SO THAT HIS LIFE COULD EXIST IN AND THROUGH YOU.