House of Hope Online

December 7, 2025

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With the Christmas Season upon us, the Lord has impressed upon me the word “Yielded.”  He is calling us to be a people who have yielded our souls, that is, our minds, our wills, and our emotions to the will of God.  To yield is to surrender to the Lord, to submit to His will, and to relinquish all control to Him. 

While Christmas is a season to celebrate the birth of our Lord, it is easy to become enslaved to traditions when we celebrate.  Some traditions are tied to the elementary principles of this world, to possessions, and to an adherence to a certain warm and fuzzy feeling that we call the “Christmas Spirit.” 

Today is a day to be sober to what the Lord is saying to us in this season.  It’s okay to do something different this year.  It’s okay to harken to the voice of the Lord to see if He is making all things new this year.

Many of us are tied to the way we are used to celebrating, and we become upset and hurt when those traditions are not upheld.  Our mind thinks Christmas should be celebrated a certain way.  Our will intends to comply with what our mind thinks, and our emotions are sensitive to any variations to the plan. 

Today’s word is an encouragement to submit our mind, will, and emotions to the Lord, and watch as we reap the benefit of that obedience.  Jesus is calling us to be yielded vessels, not only in the Christmas season, but also in this season of the end times.

Mary and Joseph Yielded

The story of the first Christmas provides beautiful examples of yielding traditions over to the Lord, and doing His will instead.  First, let us look at Mary’s submission to the Lord.

Luke 1:

 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

 31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.

 32 “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;

 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.”

 34 And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

 35 And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.

 36 “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.

 37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

 38 And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Mary had to leave her comfort zone big time.  In ancient Israel, under strict interpretation of the Mosaic Law, a woman could face death by stoning for sexual relations outside of marriage.  So, Mary yielded to the will of God, knowing that she could be viewed as a sinner by the principles of the world.  She said: “…be it done to me according to your word.”

And Joseph faced the same issue.

Matthew 1:

 18 ¶ Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her, desired to put her away secretly.

 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.

 21 “And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”

 22 Now all this took place that what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,

 23 “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”

 24 And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took [her] as his wife,

 25 and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.

What a dream that was!  I love verse 24.  Joseph arose from his sleep and did as the angel commanded him.  Let us all rise from our sleep and do as the Lord is commanding us! 

Just imagine the curveball that this was in the lives of Mary and Joseph.  They were engaged to be married according to Jewish custom until the Holy Spirit intervened and changed everything.  But, praise God, they yielded their minds, their wills, and their emotions to the will of the Father.

Lord, lay your will on our hearts in this season, and quicken us to yield as Mary and Joseph did.

Jesus Yielded

In the same way as His earthly parents, Jesus yielded to the will of His Father in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:

 36 ¶ Then Jesus *came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and *said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

 37 And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed.

 38 Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

 39 And He went a little beyond [them,] and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

Matthew 26:

 42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Thy will be done.”

Matthew 26:

 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.

 45 Then He *came to the disciples, and *said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.

 46 “Arise, let us be going; behold, the one who betrays Me is at hand!”

Jesus prayed three times, asking the Father to remove the grief He perceived.  He said He was grieved to the point of death.  But He made His petition subject to the will of God, and when He knew it was His Father’s will, He yielded His life in verse 46.

We can get even more insight from Luke and John’s account of Jesus in the garden.

Luke 22:

 41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and [began] to pray,

 42 saying, “Father, if Thou art willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Thine be done.”

 43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.

 44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.

Jesus agonized over this matter, such that His sweat became like drops of blood.  Notice also in verse 43 that when we yield to the will of God, an angel will strengthen us.

John 18:

 10 Simon Peter therefore having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave’s name was Malchus.

 11 Jesus therefore said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?”

 12 So the [Roman] cohort and the commander, and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him,

 13 ¶ and led Him to Annas first; for he was father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year.

Jesus’ question to Peter in verse 11 is precious.  Shall I not drink of the cup that the Father has given me?  In other words, shall I pursue my own desires and not yield to the Father’s will? 

That needs to be our attitude in prayer.  Instead of prayer for our desires, we should soberly seek the word of the Lord, the will of God, and then yield to His will.  Remember that word “sober” implies that we are not under the influence of unsound doctrine and ungodly principles, that is, the will of the world.

Worshipping Is Yielding

The examples of yielding we have looked at here all have one thing in common:  The Father spoke into Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.  For us to yield, we must first hear from God.

The path to knowing God’s will is to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

Psalms 95:

 6 Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.

John 4:

 21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father.

 22 “You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

 23 “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The act of worship itself is yielding.  We surrender our pride and we lower ourselves in worship.  We bow down.  We kneel before Him.  We raise our hands in worship.  We acknowledge that He is greater than we are, and He is worthy of our praise and worship!  We yield to Him.

When we worship Him, He speaks into our spirits words of knowledge and prophecy so that we know His will for our lives.  I encourage you to enter worship to discern His will for this Christmas season and beyond.  Be sober to hear something that might not comply with your traditions.  But tell the Lord you have a heart to hear and obey, just as Mary, Joseph, and Jesus did.

Yielding Means Dying to Worldly Principles

The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, warns us as Christians not to comply with the elementary principles of the world, and not to submit to man-made religious decrees which have no ability to prevent self-indulgence.

Colossians 2:

 20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as,

 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”

 22 (which all [refer to] things destined to perish with the using) –in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?

 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, [but are] of no value against fleshly indulgence.

Yielding our souls to the Lord requires a resistance to what man decrees.  That is part of being sober to hear from God.  His will and His plan are not religious.  They are spiritual.  That’s why Jesus said we must worship in spirit and in truth.  Verse 23 says man’s commandments and teachings are matters which have the appearance of wisdom but have no value.

We are living in a day when we must guard against what man says.  Deception is on the increase.  Yield yourself in worship to the Lord, listen, and then yield to Jesus’ will for you.

Yielding Involves the Heart

Having a yielded soul means having a mind that is yielded, a will that is yielded, and perhaps most importantly, a heart that is yielded to Jesus.  If our heart is yielded to Jesus, we will want to hear His will, not ours, and our minds will be intent on following His guidance.  Jesus made it clear in Matthew 15 that He values a relationship with our hearts.

Matthew 15:

 7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying,

 8 ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

 9 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’”

Jesus is quoting Isaiah 29:13 in verses 8-9 when He says our words are not the issue.  He is looking for a close relationship in our hearts.  Without a love relationship, we worship in vain, and we will end up following the doctrines of men.  He wants a heart relationship with us.  When we worship, we are to come to Him in love.

Deuteronomy 30 likewise emphasizes loving the Lord as a precursor to yielding ourselves to His commands.  Loving the Lord will make you fervently want to yield to His will in all things.

Deuteronomy 30:

 15 ¶ “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity;

 16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it.

 17 “But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,

 18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong [your] days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.

 19 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,

 20 by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

If our souls are yielded to the Lord in love, we will always choose life, leading to blessing.  On the other hand, if our hearts turn away from Him, we will worship other gods, leading to curses and death.

Yield to Jesus Only

In closing, Revelation 22 has an important caution for us as we yield.

Revelation 22:

 8 And I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

 9 And he *said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship God.”

In this passage, John was ready to worship the angel of the Lord and was warned that He should only worship God.  This is particularly relevant to us, not just during Christmas, but always.  Our mind, will, and emotions must remain yielded to Jesus and Jesus only.  Santa does not deserve our praise and worship, nor do the angels encamped around us.  Mary and Joseph do not deserve our worship.  Only Jesus is worthy of our worship.  He is Immanuel, which translated means, “God with us.”

Let us pray.

Father God, we thank You for today’s word encouraging us to yield to Jesus’ will during this Christmas season.  We pray for Your presence to visit us as You did Mary, Joseph, and Jesus.  May we follow these examples and let it be done to us according to Your will.  Strengthen us to arise and obey Your commands.

Father, we ask for Your guidance in this season of our lives.  Lead us into worship that we may hear Your voice and know Your heart this Christmas and beyond.  Help us to die with Jesus to the elementary principles of this world.  And Lord, may we honor You not only with our words and actions, but also may our hearts draw near to honor You with love as we worship in spirit and in truth.  In Jesus’ name, we ask.  Amen.