Tag Archives: Lordship

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You Are Not Your Own

Don't Cheapen The Purchase Price Of Your Salvation

SYNOPSIS: You are not your own. Like the Israelites who were bought with the Passover blood out of their Egyptian slavery, you have been bought out of slavery to sin with an inconceivably and incomparably high price—the precious blood of Jesus: “You were bought at a price.” (1 Cor 7:23) You were bought; someone died for your freedom from sin. God caused his Son’s execution to secure your redemption. How do you think that makes God feel when you cheapen the price of your redemption by becoming enslaved sin again? Hard to hear? I know! A bit harsh? Of course! Yet how great the jealous love of God for you that he would execute the penalty of death for your spiritual infidelity—upon his Son!

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 13:4-5

You must never worship any God but Jehovah; obey only his commands and cling to him. The prophet who tries to lead you astray must be executed, for he has attempted to foment rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of slavery in the land of Egypt. By executing him you will clear out the evil from among you.

If you have been reading through the first five books of the Bible, what is known as the Pentateuch, or the Books of Moses, by now you are accustomed to how severely God deals with spiritual rebellion. You may not like it, you may not understand it, you may have difficulty squaring this “mean” side of God with your twentieth century concept of a loving, merciful deity. You may prefer the New Testament “Father” to the Old Testament “Judge.”

So what do you do with a chapter like this in which God demands death to those who lead his people into spiritual apostasy? And not just any old death, the one who is guilty is to be summarily executed. They are to be stoned—one of the most brutal forms of death imaginable: “Stone him to death because he has tried to draw you away from the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 13:10) Furthermore, the one who is responsible to report the breach of religious fidelity—and make no mistake, this chapter makes it clear that no one can turn a blind eye to this kind of rebellion—is to literally throw the first rock: “Do not spare that person from the penalty; don’t conceal his horrible suggestion. Execute him! Your own hand shall be the first upon him to put him to death, then the hands of all the people.” (Deuteronomy 13:8-9)

Sidebar: Interestingly, in the New Testament, Jesus had something to say about casting the first stone, didn’t he! Only those who were without sin were qualified to take such action—which obviously meant that no one would ever qualifiy to throw out the first pitch. So was Jesus correcting his Father’s overreaction to spiritual infidelity? Not at all. Rebellion against a holy and just God demanded his full wrath—death: “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) The problem was, every human being was guilty and therefore deserving of execution: “For all have sinned and fallen short of God’s righteous standards.” (Romans 3:23) If God executed justice as he should, no one would live. That is the whole point of the gospel: Jesus paid the death penalty for us by dying on the cross in our place: “For he himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’” (1 Peter 2:24) Truly, this is the Good News: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23)

Thank God for the grace—God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense—that delivers me from the wages I deserve to get. But that still leaves us with this chapter and what seems like an inflexible, draconian, brutal side of God. For sure, God’s ruling is a drastic response to sin. But think about what this means: God redeemed the Israelites out of slavery and made them his very own people: “the Lord your God…brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 13:10) God redeemed them, that is, he bought them at a high price, which, among other things, meant thousands of Egyptian firstborn sons died in place of the Israelites. (Read Exodus 11-13) God purchased them with blood, so the Israelites were not their own—they belonged to God. He had every right to jealously guard their fidelity to him. Setting aside our inability to comprehend the inconceivably high demand of spiritual infidelity, what we can comprehend is that God is fiercely protective of the loyalty of our hearts toward him.

Here’s the deal: Not only the Israelites, but neither are you your own. You, too, have been bought out of slavery with an inconceivably and incomparably high price—the precious blood of Jesus Christ: “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies…. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.” (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23) You were bought; someone died for your freedom from sin. God caused his Son’s execution for your freedom. How do you think that makes him feel when you cheapen the price of your redemption by flirting with sin?

Dramatic, yes. Hard to hear, I know. Inflexible, of course. Yet how great the jealous love of God for you that he would still execute the penalty of death for your spiritual infidelity…upon his Son!

You are not your own—and that is scary good!!

Going Deeper: Memorize 1 Peter 2:24 this week. Then quote it each day in a prayer of gratitude for Christ’s redeeming grace.

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Room For Only One God

And It’s Not You!

There is room for only one God in your life, so let God be God. He has a great track record in that role, you know—and you don’t!

Enduring Truth // Focus: Psalm 131:1

My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.

There is only One who is God—and that’s not you! Basically, that is what the King David is saying of himself in this brief song of assent. The Message translates verse one this way:

God, I’m not trying to rule the roost,
I don’t want to be king of the mountain.
I haven’t meddled where I have no business
or fantasized grandiose plans.

Yet this business of godship is more prevalent than we care to admit. You see, when we fret and worry over matters we can’t control, when we meddle and manipulate to get our plans fulfilled, when we come to God after the fact for help, when we pray as a last rather than a first resort, when we cut corners in our financial stewardship because we can’t afford to give to the Lord’s work, and when we put our hope in government (or anything else) at the expense of our trust in God, in effect, we have removed God from his rightful throne.

There is room for only one God in your life, so let God be God. He has a great track record in that role, you know, and you don’t.

And by the way, when you allow God to be God, good things happen for you:

  • You become the recipient of greater grace. Recognizing God’s rightful role takes true humility (the opposite of pride and haughtiness), as David describes, “My heart is not proud, O LORD,my eyes are not haughty”—Psalm 131:1a. Of course, the Bible repeatedly tells us this is always the catalyst for greater grace. (Proverbs 3:34)
  • You become the recipient of greater security. You put things that are above your pay grade back into the hands of the only One wise enough to handle them—what David calls “great matters or things too wonderful for me” —Psalm 131:1b (See how Paul describes them in Romans 11:33-36)
  • You become the recipient of greater confidence. Someone else is running the universe, which means you don’t carry that great weight upon your shoulders. David says, “But I have stilled and quieted my soul” —Psalm 131:2a … which is possible only when you first walk with the Shepherd who leads you beside quiet waters and restores your soul.
  • You become the recipient of greater contentment. David describes it “like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content” —Psalm 131:2b (MSG) Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (I Timothy 6:6)
  • You become the recipient of greater hope. “O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore”—Psalm 131:3. It is by Biblical hope, as Paul teaches, “we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Romans 8:24) “Hope” as Paul says in Romans 5:5, “does not disappoint us…”

Hmmm…grace, security, confidence, contentment, hope. I think I’ll let God be God!

Thrive: Have you told the Lord lately that you have no God but him? Maybe you should do it now!

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Room For Only One God

Let God Be God

There is room for only one God in your life, so let God be God. He has a great track record in that role, you know—and you don’t!

Read: Psalm 131 // Focus: Psalm 131:1

“My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.”

There is only One who is God—and that’s not you! Basically, that is what the King David is saying of himself in this brief song of assent. The Message translates verse one this way:

God, I’m not trying to rule the roost,
I don’t want to be king of the mountain.
I haven’t meddled where I have no business
or fantasized grandiose plans.

Yet this business of godship is more prevalent than we care to admit. You see, when we fret and worry over matters we can’t control, when we meddle and manipulate to get our plans fulfilled, when we come to God after the fact for help, when we pray as a last rather than a first resort, when we cut corners in our financial stewardship because we can’t afford to give to the Lord’s work, and when we put our hope in government (or anything else) at the expense of our trust in God, in effect, we have removed God from his rightful throne.

There is room for only one God in your life, so let God be God. He has a great track record in that role, you know, and you don’t.

And by the way, when you allow God to be God, good things happen for you:

• You become the recipient of greater grace. Recognizing God’s rightful role takes true humility (the opposite of pride and haughtiness), as David describes, “My heart is not proud, O LORD,my eyes are not haughty”—Psalm 131:1a. Of course, the Bible repeatedly tells us this is always the catalyst for greater grace. (Proverbs 3:34)
• You become the recipient of greater security. You put things that are above your pay grade back into the hands of the only One wise enough to handle them—what David calls “great matters or things too wonderful for me”—Psalm 131:1b (See how Paul describes them in Romans 11:33-36)
• You become the recipient of greater confidence. Someone else is running the universe, which means you don’t carry that great weight upon your shoulders. David says, “But I have stilled and quieted my soul”—Psalm 131:2a … which is possible only when you first walk with the Shepherd who leads you beside quite waters and restores your soul.
• You become the recipient of greater contentment. David describes it “like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content”—Psalm 131:2b (MSG) Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (I Timothy 6:6)
• You become the recipient of greater hope. “O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore”—Psalm 131:3. It is by Biblical hope, as Paul teaches, “we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Romans 8:24) “Hope” as Paul says in Romans 5:5, “does not disappoint us…”

Hmmm…grace, security, confidence, contentment, hope. I think I’ll let God be God!

Making Life Work: Have you told the Lord lately that you have no God but him? Maybe you should do it now!

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Under New Ownership

Being With Jesus:
John 1:1-5 (NLT)

“Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God. He has always been alive and is himself God. He created everything there is—nothing exists that he didn’t make. Eternal life is in him, and this life gives light to all mankind. His life is the light that shines through the darkness—and the darkness can never extinguish it.”

Think for a moment about the significance of John’s words in verse 3:

“Jesus created everything there is—nothing exists that he didn’t make.”

Now if you hold the Bible to be true—that it is God’s authentic, inspired, authoritative Word—then there is no more significant chapter in the Bible than John 1. And there are no greater words that bear upon your life than what you find in verse 3.

If nothing exists that Jesus didn’t make, including you, then what does that mean for you? Simply, yet most profoundly, this: You are not your own; rather, you are owned. God created you, and as your Creator, he has a right to rule over you. You are not the god of your life. You are not the king of you. You have no rights of godship, no authority to sit on the throne of your kingdom, no grounds for demanding your way, getting what you want, fulfilling your wishes, achieving your dreams or tickling your fancy.

Jesus has moved in and your life is under new ownership. Therefore, self must be dethroned; it must actually be obliterated!

Since God created you, along with everything else that you see and don’t see, he therefore owns everything. And since he designed everything in the universe, then everything exists for his pleasure and his purpose. And by the way, John 1 tells us, since Jesus was with God from the beginning, and actually is God, and in fact was the agent of creation, then it is actually Jesus who holds the deed of ownership over you—ownership that is only honored through his Lordship over your life. Abraham Kuyper said it well:

“There is not an inch of any sphere of life of which
Jesus Christ the Lord does not say, ‘Mine.’”

And by the way, that is a very good thing! You see, the good news is that his ownership is not grievous or burdensome. God is no tyrant, even though he has every right to be. In fact, it is just the opposite with God. It is an ownership that is loving, generous and gracious. John says this is clearly demonstrated in the life of Jesus, who came to earth in human form to reveal in living color the God who is full of glory, grace and truth (John 1:14). Furthermore, to all who surrender and reorder their lives to God’s rightful ownership, God himself invites them into a personal relationship  in the same way that Jesus lived in relationship with God: as child with Father (John 1:12).

Yes, you are under new ownership. And as self is dethroned, even obliterated, ownership becomes relationship. Then, through relationship, you will witness his glory, you will discover his truth and you will experience his grace. You will now be living in the loving care of the eternal Father as his dearly loved child.

05_40_4Iamthelightoftheworld_web1Abraham Kuyper was right: “There is not an inch of any sphere of life of which Jesus Christ the Lord does not say, ‘Mine.’” If you claim Jesus as Lord of your life, then he holds the deed of ownership over you. But this is no grievous ownership. Rather, as you take the step to dethrone self and enthrone Jesus as your sole owner, you will personally and powerfully experience this beautiful reality declared throughout the Gospel of John: the light of life; a light that can never be extinguished—the abundant life now and eternal life forever.

Following Christ you must dethrone self in order to enthrone him as Lord of your life. But his ownership is not grievous. Rather, ownership becomes relationship through which you are empowered to witness his glory, discover his truth and experience his grace. When Jesus takes sole ownership of you, you are privileged to now live in the loving care of the eternal Father as his dearly loved child.

With that in mind, it is imperative that you realign everything about your life—words, relationships, thoughts, wishes, plans, actions, patterns—to the fact that Jesus is Lord of you. Everything else must become a distant second to that. Truly, since he created you, anything that doesn’t fall under his absolute Lordship over your life doesn’t deserve to exist at all. As William Barclay said,

“The essence of Christianity is not the enthronement
but the obliteration of self.”

Now obviously, you will need the help of the Holy Spirit to achieve complete surrender to his utter ownership—which is a subject that much of the rest of Scripture fleshes out. But as you take the step to dethrone self and enthrone Jesus as the owner of you, you will experience this beautiful reality of John’s Gospel: a light that can never be extinguished—the abundant life now (John 10:10) and eternal life forever (John 3:16).

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“In order for any to have Christ as their Saviour they must first have received Him as their “Lord”, as their King to rule over them, for God saves none in their rebellion against Him. We must cease our rebellion against Him and His authority and give Him the throne of our hearts as our ruler or He is not our Saviour no matter what our profession.” (I.C. Herendeen)

Getting To Know Jesus: Perhaps you may want to join me in offering this heartfelt prayer, “Jesus, you are the rightful ruler of me. I surrender everything I am and trying to become to your Lordship. Take me over, clean me up, set me on a course that will only and always bring glory to you and demonstrate your ownership of me to the world. I cannot do this on my own—obviously—so thank you for making this a reality by the same power that created me. In Jesus name, amen!”

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When Good Is Enemy Of The Best

Essential 100—Read:
Genesis 11:1-9

“Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’” ~Genesis 11:4 (NLT)

You might read this story about the Tower of Babel and wonder, like I did, what’s so bad about Babel?  I mean, was God just having a bad day of something?  After all, it’s not often you see unity of purpose and effort achieved among human beings like this.  The United Nations could learn a lesson here!

So why did God look upon what these folks were doing and say, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” (Genesis 11:6-7) And at that, he put an end to their efforts, confused their language, and scattered them across the face of the earth. (Genesis 11:8-9)

The problem was not the tower they were trying to build, nor their effort to achieve unity among the nations. In large part, public work projects and united efforts are a good thing.  But in this case, good was the enemy of best.  You see, after the great flood of Genesis 7-8, God had told these nations to scatter across the earth, repopulated it and establish human civilization wherever they went. (Genesis 9:1,7) In fact, this was a critical piece of the covenant God made with Noah and his descendants (Genesis 9:8-9), and was likely the reestablishment of the original covenant God had made with but had been forfeited by Adam. (Genesis 1:26-30)

What was wrong with Babel?  Simply this: Disobedience, pride and independence from God. Instead of fully devoting themselves to God’s command, they thought they could do better. They chose to go it alone. And God put a stop to it!

That’s always the problem with human beings, including you and me, isn’t it?  Every single day, we wrestle with who is going to be God in our lives. Rather than seeking and doing what God says, we seek and do what we want to do. Of course, we acknowledge God to a degree, but then we pursue what we want. With regularity, we twist Jesus’ well known prayer of submission into, “God, not your will but mine be done!”

Stop and think about that today. Is there a Tower of Babel in your life—something that seems so good; something that makes sense to those around you; something that would advance your comfort, security and name?  Remember, what looks good to you may in fact be the enemy of God’s best for you!  Maybe it’s a purchase you are considering, a plan you are making, a relationship you are considering, or…you fill in the blank.

Peter Marshall, the venerable Chaplain of the U.S. Senate in the mid-twentieth century, once prayed,

“Save Thy servants from the tyranny of the nonessential. Give them the courage to say ‘No’ to everything that makes it more difficult to say ‘Yes’ to Thee.”

That’s a great prayer: saying no to the good and yes to the Best!  Why don’t you join me in praying that prayer all this week?

Reflect and Apply:  Let me encourage you to simply ask, “God, what do you want?”  Or as Bobby Richardson, MVP second baseman for the New York Yankees once prayed at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ meeting, “Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen!”  Pray that prayer, my friend, and then make sure you put it into practice.

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Room For Only One God

Read Psalm 131

Featured Verse: Psalm 131:1

“My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.”

There is only One who is God—and that’s not you! Basically, that is what the King David is saying of himself in this brief song of assent. The Message translates verse one this way:

God, I’m not trying to rule the roost, I don’t want to be king of the mountain. I haven’t meddled where I have no business or fantasized grandiose plans.

Yet this business of godship is more prevalent than we care to admit. You see, when we fret and worry over matters we can’t control, when we meddle and manipulate to get our plans fulfilled, when we come to God after the fact for help, when we pray as a last rather than a first resort, when we cut corners in our financial stewardship because we can’t afford to give to the Lord’s work, and when we put our hope in government (or anything else) at the expense of our trust in God, in effect, we have removed God from his rightful throne.

There is room for only one God in your life, so let God be God. He has a great track record in that role, you know, and you don’t.

And by the way, when you allow God to be God, good things happen for you:

  • You become the recipient of greater grace. Recognizing God’s rightful role takes true humility (the opposite of pride and haughtiness—Psalm 131:1), which is always the catalyst for more grace. (Proverbs 3:34)
  • You become the recipient of greater security. You put things that are above your pay grade back into the hands of the only One wise enough to handle them—what David calls “great matters or things too wonderful for me.” (See how Paul describes them in Romans 11:33-36)
  • You become the recipient of greater contentment. David says, “like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content.” (Psalm 131:2, MSG) Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (I Timothy 6:6)
  • You become the recipient of greater hope. It is by Biblical hope, as Paul teaches, “we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Romans 8:24) “Hope” as Paul says in Romans 5:5, “does not disappoint us…”

Hmmm…grace, security, contentment, hope. I think I’ll let God be God!

“I have one passion. It is He, only He.”
~Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf

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Psalm 131: Room For Only One God

One Year Bible: I Kings 11:1-12:19, Acts 9:1-25; Psalm 131:1-3; Proverbs 17:4-5

Room For Only One God

My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
(Psalm 131:1)

There is only One who is God—and that’s not you! Basically, that is what the King David is saying of himself in this brief song of assent. The Message translates verse one this way:

God, I’m not trying to rule the roost, I don’t want to be king of the mountain.
I haven’t meddled where I have no business or fantasized grandiose plans.

Yet this business of godship is more prevalent than we care to admit. You see, when we fret and worry over matters we can’t control, when we meddle and manipulate to get our plans fulfilled, when we come to God after the fact for help, when we pray as a last rather that a first resort, when we cut corners in our financial stewardship because we can’t afford to give to the Lord’s work, and when we put our hope in government (or anything else) at the expense of our trust in God, in effect, we have removed God from his rightful throne.

There is room for only one God in your life, so let God be God. He has a great track record in that role, you know, and you don’t.

And by the way, when you allow God to be God, good things happen for you:

  • You become the recipient of greater grace. Recognizing God’s rightful role takes true humility (the opposite of pride and haughtiness—Psalm 131:1), which is always the catalyst for more grace. (Proverbs 3:34)
  • You become the recipient of greater security. You put things that are above your pay grade back into the hands of the only One wise enough to handle them—what David calls “great matters or things too wonderful for me.” (See how Paul describes them in Romans 11:33-36)
  • You become the recipient of greater contentment. David says, “like a baby content in its mother’s arms, my soul is a baby content.” (Psalm 131:2, MSG) Paul says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” (I Timothy 6:6)
  • You become the recipient of greater hope. It is by Biblical hope, as Paul teaches, “we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Romans 8:24) “Hope” as Paul says in Romans 5:5, “does not disappoint us…”

Hmmm…grace, security, contentment, hope. I think I’ll let God be God!

“I have one passion. It is He, only He.”
~Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf