The Life Changing Power of Submission
by Dan MacLeod
April 29, 2026 · New Life Terre Haute (New Life Fellowship)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Matthew 11:29, Matthew 2:13-20, Luke 2, Romans 12, John 2, Galatians 1:4, Luke 9:23, James 4:6-7

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/dan-macleod--the-life-changing-power-of-submission
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Tonight we are Talking about the life-changing power of submission I'm gonna read from Matthew chapter 11 in verse 29 The Bible says take my yoke upon you and learn of me For I am meek and lowly in heart You shall find rest unto your souls This is a shared yoke And I presume you are somewhat familiar with the concept of a yoke used More so and farming and days gone by than today But two animals would join together in one yoke One would be a younger and weaker animal and they would partner it together with an older stronger and well-trained animal And so it was that Christ is inviting us into his yoke now there also is Some symbolism here that Jesus uses because he's not speaking Literally of joining him under a wooden yoke But the Jews had a custom a way of thinking in which they would refer to the law or the teaching as the yoke of the law

When a rabbi would bring a student into his study They would refer to the rabbi's yoke which meant his doctrine or his way of life Simply put we might think of it as this a yoke is an influence And so Jesus is saying I want you to take my influence upon you Learn of me This is how I am. I am meek and lowly in heart Every yoke is just that it is a way to influence another Meek Simply means to be gentle or controlled in your strength lowly means to be humble or not Elevated in oneself. It is to voluntarily bring yourself low But again, we have to wrestle with this concept of a yoke because a yoke by nature is limiting to assume the burden of a yoke you are Voluntarily limiting yourself to a device that is restrictive in nature And so I'll tell you at the beginning of this lesson tonight

I am contending for the biblical principle of submission in our lives the voluntary Lowering of ourselves the yielding of our will to God's influence through whatever means it comes This means we submit to the yoke or the influence of his word his spirit spiritual authority the order of this house and even to one another and So with that brief foundation I Was inspired of this I've taught this In other places in the past but when pastor was speaking last Wednesday on the three anointings my mind went to this concept that Comes from the life of Christ and in particular three What we might call tests and I will present them here tonight I'm Marvel because as we consider the four gospels the Bible really provides us very Limited view of the life of Jesus prior to his ministry and end of life this is unique to me because

Given that the scripture is inspired I believe if in the wisdom of God he would just give us brief snapshots into 30 years of his life there must be some reason he chose to show those moments and I will present Those to you this evening The first comes in Matthew chapter 2 Versus 13 through 20 This is what I call the season of unrealized potential a Bit of context here, which I'm sure you're familiar with at least in part, but Mary is a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph when she is visited by an angel and One might think well, what what could qualify somebody To be the woman the individual that God would use to fulfill his will in the world The number one qualification of that young girl was that she was pure She was a virgin her purity positioned her To be one of those that God would choose because the prophecy said a virgin shall be with child

And when that angel spoke the word of the Lord to her and Matthew and Luke both recorded in their gospels The proclamation was that she had found favor with God She would conceive a child his name should be called Jesus for he would save the people from their sins And then as we move through the narrative of the gospels we are taken to Matthew chapter 2 The season of unrealized potential The Bible would tell us in this narrative that Herod has issued a decree for the killing of every male child to an under I Want you to think about that? Because that is an extreme measure To have soldiers and political leaders moving door-to-door through city limits Looking for every male child to an under now the truth is Herod did not really have a desire to kill every male child His intent was to kill one child the promised child

But he was so intent on killing one That he would go to that length and kill all in hopes of killing one and the Bible says in verse 13 The angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream saying arise Take thy young child and his mother and flee into Egypt and be thou there until I bring thee a word For Herod will seek the young child to destroy him Now think about this We're talking about a child that is somewhere Likely between a few months to maybe up to two years of age We draw that conclusion by the decree of Herod who said I'll kill every child to an under So this first glimpse into the life of Jesus Christ. He is a two-year-old boy. Now. I know We are oneness Pentecostal people we have a healthy revelation of what it means for God to be manifest in the flesh

But I want to remind you tonight in the incarnation God has chosen to humble himself Take on the form of a man and has voluntarily limited himself to the reality of every human experience What that means is he's two years old and as God he knows all things But as little boy Jesus he cannot yet fully form a proper sentence as God he has filled the earth With cattle and fish and food and vegetation, but as little baby boy Jesus He is entirely dependent upon Mary and Joseph to fix his dinner He has no way in his humanity of Comprehending who he is or what is happening in the world Yet there is upheaval all through the land because Herod knows this one thing There's a prophecy on that child that Isaiah spoke several hundred years ago and the prophecy said The increase of his kingdom and government there shall be no end

So I know he's only two right now And I know he's still playing with blocks on Mary's living room floor right now But there will come a day when that boy becomes a man and that man assumes a throne and that throne will Displace every other kingdom in the world But today he's just a baby He has no way of having any Comprehension or realization of who he is why he's been born what he will accomplish and how it will be accomplished His potential is unrealized Whether we want to admit it or not we all start right here and had it not been For Joseph a man in the home who could hear from God Herod would have killed that boy But thanks be to God for somebody in a position of spiritual authority Who could lay their head on the pillow and their mind wasn't so clouded with news and media that they were

Spiritually sensitive enough that when the angels spoke through a dream they could receive the revelation and the wisdom of God Here's what I want you to get about this season Is your unrealized potential is enough to attract the adversary? I've talked to all kinds of people over the course of my life. Well, I just I don't know why I'm battling so much and I Said I set my face to the word and I started reading the Bible every day And I I purpose that I was going to be faithful in my fasting and to the house of God And I was going to start being faithful in my tithe and they kind of step into the waters of Spiritual pursuit and and godly direction and it seems like they face adversity and conflict. I'll tell you why It's because the enemy Even though he doesn't fear where you are right now. He does fear who you will become

And if you're not careful here's what the enemy will do He will deceive you into making a decision in the present and you get thinking like this, you know what? All this fighting is not worth it I mean it would make sense for pastor Harpo to have to fight like this or or bishop to fight like this or or a District superintendent or a general superintendent, but me just to say just just somebody in a local church Why am I fighting like this and you make the mistake of thinking the the adversity is not worth it? Because you judge yourself based upon where you are in not where you're going But the enemy is not fighting you based on where you are. He's fighting you based on where you're going You are just in the season of unrealized potential. It is where everybody begins We all start there

There's no other way And so Joseph gets the word of the Lord. He takes his family and he stays there until another word comes The angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt verse 20 and saying arise take the young child and his mother Now go to the land of Israel The only way you survive the season of unrealized potential is By being submitted to somebody in a position of authority who is sensitive to God But I remind you he's too in some ways parenting was a lot easier when they were to They couldn't voice their opinion. Their will was not as strong And so in this season There's a high level of nurture a high level of accountability In this season, it's all about early formation It's growing in knowledge and growing in relationship think back to those early years of parenting

If if you've had children Simple words and sight cards and little games and learning is fun And you cherish every moment because you are growing in basic knowledge and the most important relationships in your life And the thing about that season of unrealized potential is you don't even have to do anything special in Everybody's encouraging you. I mean you just take one step And everybody in the rooms got their phone out and the family chat is blowing up and That baby just makes a sound and dad is sure that they said dad dad and mom is sure that she he said mama But everybody knows it was dad dad It takes the littlest things to incite the most grand response and in that season Everybody's encouraging you so glad you're in the house of God today. It's so great to see you in the altar

I saw you lift your hands for the first time. I'm so glad to see you clapping and reaching out and connecting with the spirit Ever just everywhere you go people are happy. They're excited. They're smiling. They're patting you on the back It's that season of unrealized potential, but even though Jesus is submitted. This is what you've got to grasp It's involuntary What two-year-old boy willingly submits he's not learned this stuff yet He just knows that when my diapers dirty, I can't change it When I can get hungry. I can't get my own food He is submitted to Mary and Joseph, but he can't even grasp the concept of submission But he is entirely dependent upon them for everything in his life but thanks be to God That even though the submission was involuntary it was still present Because the fact he was submitted to the oversight

Joseph and Mary and Joseph was sensitive to God. He lives through a season of great adversity. I Remember working with people that were new in the Lord and new to the church. It was like man That that that fresh convert passion They'll do anything you tell them They're on fire They haven't had time to get analytical and critical. They're not analyzing you They're just so on fire because their life's been changed by God one girl told us one day Just just tell me what the Bible says I have to do if God wants me to eat potatoes every day I will eat potatoes every day Well, I'm sure glad he didn't say that but that's the passion of that early season They come with no comprehension of the depth of submission But they're just entirely dependent upon you for everything And when you get into the story and it's just getting good and Herod's killing the people and God's giving dreams and Joseph's leading his family

And there's all these words from the Lord. It stops You don't hear anything else for 10 years And then it picks back up in Luke chapter 2 His parents go to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. He is 12 years old 10 years have passed Now think again, if we only get a couple glimpses into the life of Jesus in those first 30 years There must be something in this moment God is trying to convey to us The Bible said the days were fulfilled Family begins to return but the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem and Joseph and his mother knew not of it The Bible said they supposing him to have been in the company when a day's journey and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances When they found him not they turned back to Jerusalem seeking him and it came to pass that after three days

They found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors both hearing them and asking them questions now I'm reading into the text a little bit, but go with me here The Bible says That they went ah days journey one day's journey toward home and They turned back to Jerusalem Even if they walked a little bit faster, which you might if you lost your 12 year old son who just happened to be the Messiah Let's say it took a day's journey back But the scripture says it was after three days that they found him One day that direction one day back My mathematical conclusion is they spent a whole day looking for Jesus Now I can't tell you a certainty, but I don't think human behavior has changed that much. I know technology has behavior not so much I'm inclined to think that when Mary and Joseph returned to the city of Jerusalem

They looked where every other 12 year old boy was most likely to be They went to the basketball court Because that is the best sport Speaking which is a great game here next Monday night parents and staff versus life Academy students You're gonna want to be here. It's gonna be a great night. Has anyone seen Jesus All those kids stopped their game for a moment. No, we we haven't seen him since since the festival in They make their way to the softball field and the soccer field and the question is the same So too is the answer nobody has seen him They they find the little the little video game club those guys who are big into their games have have you all seen Jesus? We're we're looking at all the logical places where are all the other children and Jesus is nowhere to be found and

Evidently when he could not be found anywhere up because it took a whole day They make their way back into the temple and here he is the Bible says talking about the law with Doctors and these people are asking questions and he's answering and the Bible said all who heard him were astonished at his understanding And when they saw him they were amazed and his mother said unto him Son Why has thou thus dealt with us? Why have you treated us this way? Your father and I have sought the Sorrowing how would you feel if you lost your 12-year-old son for three days? Now the first night you sleep a little better It's a joke especially if your son is the Messiah if You have been trusted by God to nurture the Messiah Into his destiny How do you think you would feel if it's been three days and you don't know where he is and ten years ago?

You just lived through a massacre Because Herod was intent on killing your child Why have you done this to us? Do you have any idea how this has made us feel? How worried we were how anxious we were and Jesus responds in verse 49 now I know we've got a picture of Picture-perfect God in flesh But he has limited himself to the experience of every human being I've had a kid who's crossed 12 and one who will hit it this year I Feel like I've got a little idea of what his face look like in the tone of his voice When he looks back at his mother and says how is it that you sought me? Don't you know I have to be about my father's business It's as if he is saying aren't you the one that was visited by an angel Don't you know who I am this is what I call the season of realized potential

The last time we saw him ten years ago He had no way in his humanity of Comprehending who he was what he was born to do or how he would do it But he's had ten years of of being nurtured in the law in the prophets ten years of growth in the word and spirituality and this is the moment I submit he embraces his missional identity He understands who he is and that he has literally been born to die Mom don't you know who I am? I'm the Messiah I'm called. I'm anointed. I'm gifted. I've got something to do The Bible said they understood not the saying which he spake unto them and notice verse 51 He went down with them and came to Nazareth. Here it is and was Subject unto them Again, I don't know. I'm just reading of the text But I like to tell myself that about that moment Mary walked over there and grabbed him by the ear lobe

And he stood up in front of all those people who were amazed by him and she walked him out the door of that temple He went home and was subject unto them And verse 52 said Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man in this season of Realized potential he has come to the realization of who he is His identity and his purpose and that brings with it a sense of independence He feels that liberty to now make decisions and operate without the oversight of his parents He watches them leave Knowing it's time to go home But he does not follow So they come back in search with a little bit of a stern rebuke Though the Bible doesn't say she dragged him out. In fact, it implies that he chose to go He went down and was subject Simply put he submitted. I would tell you I think this is the most dangerous season

because it's this season of realized potential that the voice of authority and accountability Can sometimes be drowned out by the affirmation of peers or others Mary walks into a room where everybody is amazed with him except her Because she's not very impressed with this reckless sense of independence. He's operating in but if he yields his life to the influence of the majority and not to the authority Who knows what will happen? I know Biologically nothing changed between his blood at 12 and 33 and a half There was a host of Old Testament prophecy That would be fulfilled in his life He could not assume the priesthood until he was 30. I understand that but just just for a little Little estimation here nothing in his body changed between 12 and 33 and a half In theory could not his blood have done then what it would do later

Here's where I think we have an issue. I Have never met a 12-year-old boy in my life Who has the emotional maturity? To walk into a dark garden late at night Isolated and rejected drink a cup of suffering bow their knee and say not my will but thine be done In fact ever 12-year-old I've ever met driven by a strong sense of self-will and the fact is though he had realized his anointing and his calling he was not yet at a place of maturity Development or alignment to sustain it because like any normal 12-year-old boy when things got hard He would seek an easier and better way It's a dangerous thing Because in that last season of unrealized potential when people were celebrating everything in This season of realized potential here's what you're about to find out Those who used to celebrate everything will now have to correct some things

and unlike the last season Where submission was involuntary because you were just two Now you're 12 and it has to be your choice Now submission has to be voluntary and in the last season your involuntary submission protected you But in this season your voluntary submission will actually grow you The scripture said he increased in wisdom and stature one is internal one is external And in favor with God and man one is spiritual one is natural But the narrative is weaved with dangers we must consider dangers to the progress of godliness in our lives the assumption of Mary and Joseph to Just walk a day towards home after a major Celebration with hundreds and thousands of people without taking the time to make sure you had your son Assumption is dangerous The exercise of premature independence by Jesus himself perhaps There may have even been some sense of entitlement

The flattery of others Could cause him to think their voices mean more than Mary and Joseph's I'm advocating tonight for this principle Accountability is critical for Christian development And I know this flies on the face of the thinking of the modern day which screams Be your own person and do your own thing and live independently and isolated. That is not a biblical virtue Hear me You need someone to challenge you when everybody else is celebrating you and You have got to give them the liberty to challenge you without fear of repercussion I've watched Entire lives be shipwrecked Because of this I've watched preachers miss out with God I've watched Families miss out with God and children miss out with God because people neglected the voice of authority and accountability and they drowned it out with those who wanted to celebrate their every move Well, you've been living for God long enough now you can make your own decision

You can pray about it. You don't need to talk to them. You don't need counsel. You don't need to be submitted watch that That's a dangerous place to be you feel this sense of independence where you're a self-governing individual now In independent spirit will do detriment to your life into the body There is a reason the scripture told us to obey them that have rule over you and submit Yourselves you have to get this because this is necessary for a healthy church Submission cannot be imposed upon you Hebrew says it James says it Paul used the same terminology in Romans 12 to present yourselves Nobody can force you into submission You must choose to yield yourself to the influence of another He said for they watch for your souls That word watch It means one one who is sleepless One who gives up sleep

Now it's not advocating that Spiritual authority in our lives should have sleepless nights What the writer is telling us is that when you are sleeping You are most vulnerable and so what you must do is yield yourself submit yourself Under the authority of one who can watch for you when you are most vulnerable in The same way those ancient sheepfolds in Israel they would they would build a build a stone Circular barrier with one place of entry and At night time the shepherd would lay down to sleep in that singular port of entry that door There was one way in and one way out This is the concept that the writer is using You come into the church through the preach word of spiritual authority There's one way in and there's one way out you got in the church because you yielded to the influence of the preached word

And if you get out of the church It's going to be because you did not obey the rule the preach word that came through the same port of entry And there's only one way in and there's one way out. That's why John said that if you come in any other way You're cursed The writer he's admonishing those early believers obey them that have rule over you submit yourselves For when you are most vulnerable, that's where they're watching for you Even man the story's just getting good. He knows who he is. He's feeling confident People are amazed by him Mary's upset with him and the story stops again This time it's not just 10 years. It's 18 years 18 years later We find ourselves and John too At a marriage in Cana of Galilee The bible says the mother of Jesus was there Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage

When they wanted wine the mother of Jesus saith unto him they have no Wine But we have something akin to this in our house I'll get home on Monday evening after We do our Little exercise and play a little basketball and I'll say to the the boys, you know, it's Monday night Just you may mean nothing But on park street That means the garbage bins need taken down to the road It's Monday night boys, you know tomorrow is Tuesday being interpreted is Go move the garbage bins And so it is when Jesus mother says to him they have no wine He knows what she wants Jesus saith unto her now. I don't necessarily advocate this in america in 2026 woman What have I to do with thee? But I want you to hear this Mine hour is not yet come He does not deny his identity nor his power

But there is some there is some restraint in his words because He does not want to act prematurely Where do you think he learned that? 18 years earlier in a temple When everybody was singing his praises and thought he was all that in a bag of chips Mary said no boy, you're coming home. You're not ready yet Because the time of your revelation and your revealing are never the same It is always god's will that there'll be a long path A lengthy process where he's forming you and he's shaping you into christlikeness and godliness An hour is not yet come and she does this most amazing thing. She doesn't even reply The bible says she looked to her servants And just said whatever he says to you do it Because he knew and what did he do? He did it Why did he do it?

Because his mother told him to He submitted Three brief glimpses into 30 years of life and each and every moment is defined by a display of submission 18 years ago that submission was restraining him But today at 30 it releases him and this moment is the inauguration of his ministry the first of many mighty miracles But again his submission had to be voluntary He had to choose to yield his will however If you do not embrace The restraint that submission brings in the last season You will never know the blessing that it brings when it releases you in this season He is where he is Because he submitted And the first of many miracles that happened that day only happened because he submitted I want you to hear me tonight because submission is the most important thing It is the principle that made the man and it was the principle that made the miraculous

If you will become anything in the kingdom of god It will be because you grasped and lived the principle of submission You can never give so much that you can stop submitting you can never dance so passionately that you stop submitting You can never know so much that you stop submitting you can never work so hard that you stop submitting Submission is what made the man and it's what made the miracle and I've come tonight to advocate for submission to the lord in our lives Jesus was met by that centurion whose servant was sick He commended the man saying I have never seen such great faith No, not in all of israel and one must wonder. What was it? What was it about the man? Was it was it something he said how we live? Perhaps both because he says for I also am a man set under authority

Having under me soldiers Meaning he is also in a position of authority But he does not appeal to the lord on the basis of his position of authority But his position of submission I am a man under authority i'm submitted I know how this works Because I live submitted I have been elevated to a place of authority and I know if I say go they'll go and come They'll come and jesus marvels at this faith I would submit to you. It was simply this He understood the powerful connection Between submission and demonstration That there are some things That will not happen any other way except by submission There is no maturity and there is no ministry Apart from submission in our lives So these three glimpses A season of unrealized potential a season of realized potential and what I call a season of actualized or fulfilled potential

What he knew was in him at 12 Would not come out of him for 18 more years But those 18 years were defined by that concluding verse of loop two that he was growing in wisdom and stature and favor with god and man 18 years of faithfulness 18 years of growth Nobody was singing his praises like they were in the temple that day But he was growing into a place of character maturity that when he would find himself one day and that Awful garden of Gethsemane staring down Isiah's prophesied cup of suffering Knowing a crucifixion was his future He could bow his knee and say nevertheless Not my will But thine be done Three windows into 30 years of life And the guiding and protecting principle of every moment Was he lived a life of submission and what jesus examples paul writes about Galatians one four in one part of me

Now I say that the heir as long as he is a child Diffrith nothing from a servant Though he be lord of all But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father the air You can have the right bloodline and the right last name But you are nothing different from a servant Even though by lineage you might be lord of all So how then must you be dealt with you are put under You must submit to tutors and governors Until the time that is appointed of the father submission Is god's school of growth You will not grow If you don't live a submitted life So how long do I have to do this? Kind of forever You graduate one grade and you just move to the next But there is something to be considered here What is the time appointed of the father?

In our world you get your permit when you're 15 get your license to graduate when you're 18 and do that I mean we we we measure time by these numerical and age driven landmarks But I would tell you in matters pertaining to the spirit. It is not so Time in this instance is not measured by Hours and days and weeks and months and years it is measured by maturity And this is why there may be those who come into the church and they are new in the lord But because of their submission Their growth is expedited They're not casual toward the house of god They are submitted to the calendar of this house They are submitted to the order of this house And when the word is preached and when instruction is given They're not in such a hurry to go to dinner or catch the sports game that they forgot what they heard

They are meditating on the word. They're thinking. Oh my how does this change my monday? And how does this change my tuesday and how does this change my friday night? And they are leaning into this. What are they doing? They got yoked up with the rabbi They got yoked up with the lord. They got yoked up with spiritual authority And because of their submission Their growth can be expedited I've watched this All right, we had a new girl coming to the church in helifax years ago When she got the holy ghost one head one half of her head was shaved in a buzz cut only half Talk about stylish Covered with the marks of the world on her body. It didn't matter to us. We'll love you We'll teach you the word God will change you. I can't change you but god will change you

She got the holy ghost got baptized Been in church a few months started being a secondary teacher in sunday school and god started blessing her Got a new job Then became a main sunday school teacher another new convert in the church from india got saved they ended up getting married still in the church today She'd only been in the church about a year and a half for two years I'll never forget it the first time god used her in the vocal gifts of the spirit. I know people that That had been around a long time They haven't grown like that Does god love her more than he loves them? Absolutely not The difference is the posture of heart The disposition with which one lives the the submitting of oneself to say I'm gonna step into this yoke with you and i'm gonna let you lead me and i'm gonna let you change me

The time that god is looking for is not a date on a calendar. It's it's the process of maturity in your life In fact when you find the word perfect in those new testament epistles It does not mean to be without fault as we would use the word perfect It simply means maturity In other words You ought to be something more this sunday than you were last sunday And when you reflect on last year, you ought to be something Better more more mature more complete. There should be definable areas of improvement in your life When you evaluate who you are today Versus who you were a year ago Submission is god's inescapable method for all spiritual growth What's amazing though is We see these Three moments that i present to you in the life of christ 2 12 and 30 I mean man three moments

But then jesus gives us this in luke 9 and 23 If any man Will come after me Let him deny himself Take up his cross daily Say daily Daily and follow me You know if it was just three moments I might be i'll do okay But then jesus had to up the ante in the course of his ministry And said this is actually something you have to do every day Submission is not about agreement It's about alignment And you best be informed I would hesitate to tell you if it was not given to us from the lord But this Is your daily battle Each and every day i must do the hard work of coming into alignment with jesus christ Submitting my life and my will My preferences and my wants My ideas and my opinions I must come into alignment With him But if i will

It is my way to victory James told us in chapter four and verse six He giveth more grace Wherefore he saith god resisted the proud But he giveth grace unto the humble Submit yourselves therefore to god Resist the devil and he will flee from you But he giveth more grace Whatever measure of grace you have received in your life as this present moment he has more for you You have not reached the end of god he has more Doesn't matter how many years we may have served him or how many hours we may have served him How much we have prayed and fasted and how how eagerly we have searched the scriptures We will never reach the end of god There's more grace that he has for me. I'm not done yet There's still things that god has to work out in me that i need that grace for

But be informed god will resist the proud You cannot receive of god If you are not submitted to him But he'll give grace to the humble so you must submit yourselves Resist the devil and he will flee from you I want you to note these four things as we're getting ready to close here These verses offer us the progression of victory for every believer humility submission obedience and victory God gives grace to the humble. We must be humble We must humble ourselves before god and humble ourselves before one another Humility paul said do not do not think more highly of yourself than you ought to think but prefer one another Because if i have humility Which is a modest perception of myself Then inevitably I will submit myself The only one unwilling to submit is somebody who thinks too highly of themselves But if you're humble then you'll submit

And if you submit you'll resist the devil, which really just means to obey god Because the way in which you resist the devil is to obey god And then if you resist the devil, which is to obey god, he will flee from you, which is victory So this is the progression It's humility It's a proper self-perception Not thinking that i am beyond the need of submission and accountability and correction Not thinking that i am so qualified or experienced. No I need a modest perception of myself God give us humility Because then and only then Will i be willing to submit myself? I think i've told you this story before but many years ago i told a girl We were in canada. I said you know i could make your life and mine a lot better Maybe he has a word from the lord I said if i could drag you to the altar and make you submit your will

She didn't really like that, but The end of that story was she got escorted out of the church by police And never returned I asked her one night the last night she ever stood in our church. Who were you submitted to? She said i'm submitted to the lord I said no, I want you to name me a human being that you were submitted to i'm submitted to jesus See the only person who has never had to submit to another human being was adam And that was only for a time because then god gave him eve I present to you tonight a concept that's nothing new But is the defining characteristic of every believer that grows And it is the identifiable lack of this characteristic When people are drifting wandering floundering in their faith Stand together with me humility submission obedience and victory There are some

battles You will not pray your way out of There are some seasons of adversity You will not worship your way out of You will not dance so passionately that everything changes You will not sing so fervently that everything changes But i'll tell you what you can't do You can submit You can submit You can submit I got pulled into a situation not too long ago with the preacher going through a little circumstance Based upon what i had been told things seem Like he was justified and wrong had been done and I went to prayer sent him a message Walking into church here just a few weeks ago on a sunday. I said i've been praying for you for the last two days And i said you can receive this as you will But what you need to do Is walk into your pastor's office And submit yourself

To his correction i'm talking about a grown man a married man a preacher someone who's been doing this a long time We never graduate From the necessity of submission in our lives And who would have thought That submission would protect me when i didn't know i needed protection Who would have thought submission would be god's tool To keep me tucked away in secret growing and preparing For the future that i was just seeing in part And who would have thought that at the moment he was time for me to be released and begin my ministry That submission would be god's tool of choice This is what dan mcclouds learned There's a life changing power In submission And so i've just come tonight to implore you Whatever place of progress you are on in your spiritual walk You are not beyond the necessity of submission Have the humility

To submit yourself To the correction To the challenge And know this Just because you did it sunday doesn't mean you won't have to do it again today And just because you do it tonight doesn't mean you're not going to have to do it again tomorrow And just because you do it tomorrow doesn't mean you're not going to have to do it again this sunday Jesus said this is the daily battle Would you lift up your hands to the lord father we love you I thank you lord for your people That give and serve so faithfully I pray lord that you allow the word to be the mirror to our own lives God i don't want any part of my heart or my mind I don't want any area of my life no decision To be guarded from the necessity of submission lord i open myself to you

I want to be accountable to you I want to be accountable to the authority that you have placed over me and around me Lord i pray tonight that you would give us humility Help us see ourselves as we are Lord give us humility to one another between one another Lord give us humility as we gather in this house and receive of your word I pray lord The truth and the power of submission will protect somebody in this house tonight I pray the powerful principle of submission will preserve their future They may not even know what they're being protected from But I pray lord that you would keep them God let the word call them into accountability I pray lord That you would expedite the growth of those Who will walk in submission before you? Help us now. I pray Father we need you We need your word and your spirit

Shaping our thoughts our words our lives We need it lord to shape our conversations The atmosphere of our marriages in our homes I pray lord that you would give us iron sharpens iron relationships I pray lord that you would put us in the yoke with people With brothers and sisters that will provoke good works and godliness Give us relationships that enrich one another That draw us into greater spiritual depths That the scripture fill our conversations That the kingdom and the thoughts of the kingdom fill our minds In our dreams I thank you Jesus I pray you bless your people I pray you give them victory tonight I pray you give them victory in their thoughts and in their mind I pray victory in their will I pray lord every place that the enemy is afflicting them I pray the word of the lord would give strength and understanding tonight

I pray the power of your spirit would help them walk in daily victory As they align to you in your word and your will We give you praise and thanksgiving We love you in Jesus name Amen