Synonyms: renounce, relinquish, dispense with, forswear, disclaim, disown, disavow, discard, wash one's hands of, give up, stop, cease, drop, forgo, desist from, have done with, abjure, abstain from, discontinue, break off, refrain from, set/lay aside, desert, leave, leave high and dry, turn one's back on, cast aside, break (up) with, vacate, quit, evacuate, withdraw from, surrender, cede, yield, indulge in, give way to, give oneself up to, yield to, lose oneself to/in, uninhibitedness, recklessness, lack of restraint, lack of inhibition, unruliness, wildness, impulsiveness, impetuosity, immoderation, wantonness
Antonyms: keep, claim, continue, stick by, self-control, power through, achieve, defend, bear, hope, acquire, quick visit, adopt, continue along, adhere, remain, pursue, support, take up, keep up, reuse, advocate, stay, persevere, cherish, keep going, carry on
Showing 601 to 625 of 975 results
601. Three Kinds of Givers
Luke 12:13-21
Illustration
Keith Wagner
... anything from the flint, you must hammer it. Yet, all you get are chips and sparks. The flint gives nothing away if it can help it, and even then only with a great display. To get anything from the sponge, you must squeeze it. It readily yields to pressure and the more it is pressed, the more it gives. Still, one has to squeeze it. To get anything from the honeycomb, however, one must only take what freely flows from it. It gives its sweetness generously, dripping on all without pressure, without begging ...
602. Stay Awake! Routine Can Be a Blessing
Luke 12:32-40
Illustration
Wallace H. Kirby
One of the musicians who played many years for Toscanini said that the maestro had the ability to make the orchestra feel it was playing a well-known work for the first time. Each repeated playing of the score was done as if it were the premiere performance. After once recording the Beethoven Ninth Symphony, Toscanini said he had been conducting the Beethoven Ninth for over fifty years. He continued, "Now I think I finally understand it." Routine can yield its blessings if we stay awake.
Sermon
Tony Everett
... unneeded material things. Some buy lottery tickets and risk their livelihood by gambling on card games and athletic contests. Others drink alcohol and take illegal drugs to blot out the pain. Some become trapped in shallow relationships that promise love and yield only more heartache. Still others grasp desperately to the latest fad of "feel good" philosophy that promises happiness and success but results only in more hopelessness and helplessness. The porch light's on, but nobody is really at home. Isaiah ...
Sermon
Larry Lange
... 8:19-23). That's how the apostle Paul might have described what Larry showed me that wintry March day. But now Larry had no money and no time for experimentation with sustainable farming techniques. Conventional methods were a better guarantee of the kind of fiscal yields necessary to save his farm. "Our land has been in our family for four generations, counting my sons," said Larry, hanging his head and shaking it. "If we don't make it this year, we'll lose it all." If that weren't enough, hundreds of ...
Sermon
Mary S. Lautensleger
... also produce thanksgiving in those who receive. We give because of all God and Christ have first given to us. Giving enriches the giver as much as the receiver. What a different world this would be if we took Paul's advice to heart. Bountiful sowing yields a bountiful harvest, and we have seeds for scattering and sowing in abundance. Robert Louis Stevenson, author and poet, spent most of his life in a sickbed, dying at age 44. A look into his life would leave one with the impression that he did not have ...
Children's Sermon
Marti Kramer Suddarth
... .’ And it was so.” That’s oceanography, the study of the oceans and everything inside, and geology, the study of rock and land formations. God invented oceanography and geology. (Read Genesis 1:11.) “Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so.” Does anyone know what the study of plants is called? It’s called botany. God was the very first botanist, or plant scientist ...
Sermon
Billy D. Strayhorn
... thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low by thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen. Remember this, our God is ...
608. Totally Poured Out
2 Timothy 4:9-18
Sermon
King Duncan
... these two people to safety. Together the three surmounted the ridge, found a hut, and spent the night in warmth and conversation. Bell had, of course, rescued the man and the woman. But they had also rescued him. For, if he had not heard their distress, he would have yielded to exhaustion and lost his own grasp. (5) What a marvelous parable of our place in this world. God has placed us here to serve one another and to serve Him. It is in giving away our lives that we receive new life. It is in serving that ...
609. Forgetting Your Own Fatigue
2 Tim 3:10--4:8
Illustration
C. E. Montague
... these two people to safety. Together the three surmounted the ridge, found a hut, and spent the night in warmth and conversation. Bell had, of course, rescued the man and the woman. But they had also rescued him. For, if he had not heard their distress, he would have yielded to exhaustion and lost his own grasp. What a marvelous parable of our place in this world. God has placed us here to serve one another and to serve Him. It is in giving away our lives that we receive new life. It is in serving that we ...
610. Proper 22, Pentecost 20, Ordinary Time 27
Psalm 80:7-15, Isaiah 5:1-7, Matthew 21:33-46, Philippians 3:4b-14
Bulletin Aid
Amy C. Schifrin
... we live out this inheritance in joy and faithfulness as we await your promised return. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. All: Amen. Offertory Prayer All: Clear the stone, plant the seed, tend the vineyard of our hearts, O sovereign Lord, that your good fruit might yield a bountiful harvest in our lives. Amen. Dismissal Leader: Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. All: Amen.
611. Show Us a Sign
Matthew 24:36-44
Illustration
Billy D. Strayhorn
... sign which is blinking the words: "Caution Ahead." He ignores it and continues his rant. "I need your guidance Lord, please. Send me a sign." About that time truck full of traffic signs pulls out in front of him. Very visible are the signs: "Dead End, Stop, Wrong Way, Yield, No Crossing and Do Not Enter." But Bruce ignores them, he doesn't see what he's asking for, complains about the truck and whips around it only to eventually run into a light pole. He gets out and yells at God. At the end of the scene he ...
612. Time to Unpack
Matthew 11:1-19
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... , emotional, spiritual lives to be vulnerable to any unauthorized access. Unless we say so, and unless we are in control… No one gets close. No one comes near. No one is let in. Brene Brown has found in her research that an intolerance for vulnerability yields a devastating harvest. For vulnerability is the incubator of almost all the good things of life. To be invulnerable is to be incapable of joy, of love, of belonging, of creativity. The paradox of life is this: a perfect immune system is a disaster ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.” In Christ, the curse of death has ...
Sermon
Leonard Sweet
... . But with a difference. Jesus did not promise that these actions and attitudes would serve those who practiced them well in the world. In Jewish wisdom teachings doing good generally resulted in getting you a tangible reward. Good deeds yielded good rewards. Jesus’ “beatitudes” did not promise this ethical equation. In fact, Jesus’ “beatitudes” warned that this world would not always recognize the rightness of righteousness. Jesus looked ahead to the “kingdom of God,” to a time of divine ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... is in your life that could bring a blemish to your reputation or cause you to hurt someone else. And if you have already gotten yourself in a bad situation, remember that God is a God of healing and reconciliation. There is still hope if you are willing to yield to God’s control. Years ago, Dr. Charles Sheldon sat on the side of a hill at Winona Lake with a thousand other men and listened to the life story of the speaker on the platform. Here is what that speaker had to say, “Twenty-five years ago, I ...
616. John 10:1-10
John 10:1-21
Sweet
Leonard Sweet
... a home’s “courtyard,” open to the sky and with the exit guarded by only one gateway, supposedly with a “gatekeeper.” Extreme investigation of the “gatekeeper” image and history has created a backlog of suggestions and inferences, but has ultimately yielded no conclusive distinctions for a unique “gatekeeper” individual. What this “gatekeeper” does, in Jesus’ scenario, is to keep the entranceway to the sheep safe and secure. The only one allowed to enter through the gateway is the one ...
Sermon
King Duncan
... important to us. We are like the seed that fell among the thorns. But there is a final group of people in Jesus’ parable. “The seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” That is the wonderful thing about seed sown on fertile soil. It can lead to a harvest bountiful beyond imagination. As someone has said, you can count the seed in any apple, but you can’t count the ...
Sermon
Steven Molin
... Free. Free to do what you want to do. Free to go where you want to go." The astonished woman replied, "Then I choose to go with you." After a lifetime of yearning for freedom, the first thing this former slave chooses to do when she becomes free is to yield herself back under the authority of someone else. This is our call. You and I are free; that's what Jesus said. May we use our freedom to be his servants in a dark and hurting world, and reflect his glorious light! May this begin today. Thanks be to God ...
619. A Four Word Memoir
Philippians 1:12-30
Sermon
King Duncan
... like this: “Couldn’t cope so I wrote songs.” Best-selling author Sebastian Junger submitted this: “I asked. They answered. I wrote.” The book contains submissions by obscure writers, too. I like this one from someone named John Kurtz: “Kentucky trash heap yields unexpected flower.” And this plaintive plea from an unknown person: “Applied at Target. World is ending.” And this one from a 27-year-old man after a breakup: “I still make coffee for two.” How about this one? “70 years, few ...
Sermon
Richard Gribble
... groom care for each other on their wedding day. The nation will be adorned with flowers and jewels as if preparing to marry the Lord. Isaiah speaks in metaphorical language that God will cause righteousness and peace to spring up as a garden refreshed by rain yields new growth. God, the one who has been ever faithful to the Hebrew people, will bring a new day. Additionally, he says Jerusalem — not only the city, but the entire nation — will be delivered from the past as the dawn indicates a new day. For ...
621. Dial-A-Tale
Illustration
Don Baker
... tale. After several unsuccessful attempts to explain a wrong number to the small child, Tom felt he had only one alternative. He obtained a copy of Three Little Pigs, and set it by the phone. Now, whenever a child calls, he simply reads them the tale. A beautiful illustration of yielding personal rights. He didn't, as you might have thought, change his telephone number to avoid the "invasion of his privacy."
622. I Vow To God
Illustration
... follower of Jesus, and by serious witness and warning I will try to lead others to think of the needs of their immortal souls. I hereby vow to read no less than four chapters in God's Word every day. I will cultivate a spirit of self-denial and will yield myself a prisoner of love to the Redeemer of the world." That young man was William Booth, who later led thousands to Christ and founded the Salvation Army.
Drama
Ken Davis
... . The two messengers stood close, shouting their opposing words. Then, the one with the vital message put his arm gently around the volunteer's shoulder and leaned very close to speak directly into his ear. Almost without hesitation, the volunteer began to yield to his instruction. Occasionally he paused to listen as the opposition frantically tried to convince him to turn around. But then, by the gentle guidance of touch, the one with the vital message led him on. A moment of frightening realism occurred ...
624. A Spirit of Unity
Illustration
Staff
... light of Christ's commands. Then they came together. Francis Schaeffer, who told of the incident, asked a friend who was there, "What did you do then?" "We were just one," he replied. As they confessed their hostility and bitterness to God and yielded to His control, the Holy Spirit created a spirit of unity among them. Love filled their hearts and dissolved their hatred. When love prevails among believers, especially in times of strong disagreement, it presents to the world an indisputable mark of a true ...
625. Twelve Rules for a Happy Marriage
Eph 4:20
Illustration
Ann Landers
Twelve Rules for a Happy Marriage: Never both be angry at once. Never yell at each other unless the house is on fire. Remember that it takes two to make an argument. The one who is wrong is the one who will be doing most of the talking. Yield to the wishes of the other as an exercise in self-discipline, if you can't think of a better reason. If you have a choice between making yourself or your mate look good choose your mate. If you feel you must criticize, do so lovingly. Never bring up a ...
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