If Only We Would Yield
In this blog post, I am going to discuss a great example of yielding to the Holy Spirit. If only the average church would take the time to yield to the Holy Spirit today, things would be so much better. Sadly, most of the churches today are so theologically brainwashed by man’s philosophy. In Acts chapter sixteen we will see several things that result from Paul and Silas yielding to the Holy Spirit.
Timothy is Introduced
In Acts 16:1-5 we are first introduced to Timothy who is of good report, and his mother is a Jew and his father is a Greek. So, he has an interesting family background. If you read my previous blog post from my series on the Book of Acts, you will see Paul dealt with some major conflict regarding circumcision. For the sake of cultural issues, he takes Timothy to be circumcised. We do see that the churches they do minister to get strengthened and more people become converted.
Holy Spirit Leads Paul to Macedonia
Going on to verses six to ten we see that Paul and Silas attempt traveling to Asia and Bithynia; however, the Holy Spirit prohibits them. This is something very important here with yielding to the Holy Spirit. You might have something that you think you should do, but God tells you to hold off. We may not see the reason right away, but we will eventually see why. I never question God’s reasoning, because His reasoning is certainly better than mine will ever be. We then see Paul has a dream of someone in Macedonia telling him to come and help them. Paul now feels strongly led that he is to go to Macedonia. Sometimes God will communicate to us through dreams at times, which is important for us to discern our dreams.
First Fruit in Philippi
Continuing to Acts 16:11-15 we see that they do end up in Philippi which is a part of Macedonia. As the Sabbath day comes, they come across a woman named Lydia, and they minister to her and she gets saved, and so does her whole household. Paul could have gone to Asia and Bithynia instead, but if he did this woman would never have gotten ministered to. God might change your plans to bring an answered prayer to someone else!
Paul Deals with Demonic Spirit
Moving on to verses sixteen to twenty-four we see another fruit of Paul yielding to the Holy Spirit. He encounters a girl with a spirit of divination. She is a fortune-teller who brings much profit to her masters. The spirit of divination includes wizards, witches, spiritists, magicians, astrologers, and false prophets. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (NKJV) tells us, “There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you.”. Sadly today we see many Christians who partake in this garbage by being involved with tarot cards and much more.
Paul and Silas are in Prison
As Paul encounters this demon-possessed girl, she follows him for a few days saying that he is a man of God. Paul eventually gets annoyed with the spirit behind her and cast it out. If you read the scripture closely it says he spoke to the spirit. This is very important because our war is not flesh and blood but principalities and rulers in the heavenly places. After the girl is delivered her masters find out that their hope of profit from her is gone. They get very angry with Paul and go to the authorities. Paul and Silas end up in prison because of Paul delivering a girl from a demonic spirit. This is another example of persecution here in the Book of Acts. I am not sure how any minister could tell you that your best life is to be now on earth.
Praise God Through the Storm
Lastly in verses twenty-five through forty we see that while they were in prison, they still praised God and prayed. Isn’t that an example for us, they could have spent that time complaining about what took place, instead they praised God. Even when you are going through a difficult time, God is still worthy of all praises. Do not ever let the enemy knock you down to the point you stop worshiping God and praying. As they were praying and worshiping, a great earthquake happens, and the prison doors open, and their chains are loosed. We then see the prison guard comes to see what is going on and he gets saved along with his family!
Prison Guard Gets Saved
Continuing on, Paul and Silas are released from the prison and depart from the area. Even though they suffered they were still able to bear fruit. A prison guard and his family got saved through this situation. It is always amazing how God works when we yield to His Spirit. If Paul would have not yielded to the Holy Spirit and would have gone to areas that he should not have gone to, these great things would not have taken place. This is an example that shows us the importance of yielding to the Holy Spirit in every aspect of our life.
Final Thoughts
To yield to the Holy Spirit, we must put away the works of the flesh, because of the conflict with the walk of the spirit. Galatians 5:16-18 (TPT) tells us, “As you yield freely and fully to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. For your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit and hinder him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your old self – life from dominating you! So then, the two incompatible and conflicting forces within you are your self-life of the flesh and the new creation life of the Spirit. But when you are brought into the full freedom of the Spirit of grace, you will no longer be living under the domination of the law but soaring above it!”. I don’t usually use The Passion Translation, but I like how this scripture is translated here. I encourage you this week to take time and diligently seek God and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in whatever is going on in your life right now!