Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

Taking the Mystery out of Leadership

Archive for the tag “surrender”

10 Aug 2026

Come Out With Your Hands Up!

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God–this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 NIV

Knowing the will of God is easy, but you do one thing first.  There is a prerequisite for knowing the will of God.  You must be willing to do the will of God – to obey Him completely, first. 

Often we want the opposite.  We cry out to God for guidance  and direction, asking Him to show us what to do.  But we want more clarity so we can then decide whether we want to do His will or not.  But God has a different way.

He says that we must first surrender to doing whatever He desires, then He will show us the plans He has for us.  We must be willing to obey Him completely first, then we will know the will of God – His good, pleasing, and perfect will.  We surrender to His plans much like one who surrenders to the sheriff in the Old West who says, “Come out with your hands up!”  We lay down our lives and surrender to His complete authority over us.

The God-honoring life is always a life of faith.  He says, “My righteous ones will live by faith.” (Hebrews 10:38; Habakkuk 2:4)  A life dedicated to God will be one of daily surrender and wholehearted obedience.  We are perfectly designed to fulfill this plan, but we must commit to it first.  (Ephesians 2:10)

We can have great confidence in God’s plans because He always acts according to His character.  He is love and all He does is from this foundation.  He is sovereign over all things in His creation.  He is good and all that He does is good.  This does not mean a God-honoring life will be an easy life.  Jesus says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)  Trust Him with your future! 

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13 Jan 2020

Making Decisions According to God’s Will – 1

Kingdom leaders want to further God’s purposes in their lives and through their leadership.  They seek to align their decisions in accordance with God’s will.  But given the many choices, how does one discern the Lord’s will in specific decisions?  Here are some foundational thoughts regarding this important topic.

If a Kingdom leader is to know the will of God, they must first commit themselves to doing it.  Often, we desire to know God’s plans for us and then we decide if we want to obey them.  But God’s ways are not our ways.

Jesus says in John 7:17 (ESV):  If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority.

And again in Romans 12:1-2 (ESV) we read: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Note that the precursor for testing the good and acceptable and perfect will of God is to first present yourself a living sacrifice to the Lord and become transformed in the renewal of your mind.

In Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV) we see:  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  The Lord is working on/in/through us to do His good works which He planned long ago.  It’s our job to align ourselves with Him and His plan for us and then we will experience His perfectly designed plan for which we were created.

Because God is God, He will have no trouble in communicating to us what He wants us to do.  Our problem is doing God’s will, not knowing God’s will!  We must be willing to do whatever He desires for us, before He will let us know His plan for us.  This can be frightening, but if we really know God and His love, we will also trust Him as we follow His guidance by faith.

May our attitude be that of Mary who, after learning about God’s plan for her to be the mother of Jesus says, …”Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”  Luke 1:38 (ESV)

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