09/09/2026
WEDNESDAY’S WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT from our Presiding Bishop Lambert W. Gates, Sr.
"The Peace of the Yielded"
Scripture:
"But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all." — Mark 10:43–44
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." — Isaiah 26:3
Yesterday I watched a man run a red light. He gunned it through the intersection like something was chasing him. And then I pulled up beside him at the very next light. All that risk, all that recklessness — and he gained nothing. We sat there together, waiting on the same green.
Saints, there is a subliminal desire in every one of us to dominate. To be first. To get ahead. To win the moment. Most of us would never call it that, but it shows up in our driving, in our conversations, in our marriages, in our churches. It causes distress, carelessness, danger, and ruptured relationships. And it never delivers what it promises. You spend real risk to buy an imaginary lead.
James and John came to Jesus wanting the seats on His right and on His left. The other ten got angry — not because they were holy, but because they wanted the seats too. And Jesus said, so shall it not be among you. He didn't just tell them to take a different road to greatness. He changed what greatness is. Elsewhere He said, he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. Greatness among men does not translate into greatness as God sees it. The servant isn't great because he serves — he's great because he stopped keeping score.
Hear me this morning: you cannot build a fiefdom for yourself and build God's Kingdom at the same time. A fiefdom is territory you hold; the Kingdom is a reign you receive. Fiefdom is defended. Kingdom is served. So let me ask you plainly — what are you trying to dominate? What are you trying to control? What have you territorialized — in your home, in your ministry, in your relationships — and called it the Lord's work? When you find yourself defending, you've quietly switched allegiances, even while the vocabulary stays the same.
And here is what the striving never tells you: there is no peace in it. None. As long as you're fighting for position, you are never at rest — you're on watch. So what do you do with that hunger to dominate? You don't reroute it — you surrender it. Not my will, but Thine be done. And when you yield, something happens that the man at the red light will never know: peace. Perfect peace. Not because everything went your way, but because you stopped needing it to. You cannot run a red light at rest. Dominance is always guarding something. Peace has nothing left to guard.
Declare it with me — type it in the chat, say it out loud:
"I yield — and I have peace!"
To God be the glory.
