What must we do in order to receive every blessing God promised for us?
Will we ever gain what we most desire by refusing to TRY to live in 100% obedience to God? Well, the answer to that question depends upon what we believe are our greatest blessings. Do we value money, success, and the way we look more than peace, love, and true joy? Oftentimes, we must come to the end of our search for temporal blessings in order to discover the fully satisfying blessings which come from God’s presence.
It certainly took me long enough!
And believe me, I STILL stray because my flesh is never any better than the day I was born again and it wants what it wants. But I can tell you unequivocally that the most satisfying blessings in my life happen when I am closest to God. Conversely, the most dissatisfying times are ALWAYS when I am NOT close to Him.
Experiencing real joy and peace is all about lordship.
I cannot have the unique and satisfying blessings of God while I am lord of my own life.
What is lordship?
It’s who is calling the shots. If Jesus is Lord of our life, His presence is manifested in EVERY area—work, family, dress, recreation, our passion, discipleship, our attitude, what we talk about, and how we love. Are we peacemakers? Are we kind? Are we merciful?
It is through 100% surrender to God in every area of our life that we attain a life of complete satisfaction and fulfill our glorious purpose!
So when we pick and choose which of His commandments we are going to follow, it is like saying “No Lord,” which is an oxymoron. You cannot say “no” to one you call “Lord” and have given control of your life. Hudson Taylor famously said, “Jesus is either Lord of all or HE is not Lord at all.” The first of the 10 Commandments is: “You shall have no other gods before Me,” which means we are commanded to give God 100% control of every area of our life. (Exodus 20:3)
So why would we EVER give God control?
Well, plain old common sense tells me that if God runs the universe, He’s got to be better at running my life than I am. And my experience proves this to be true. When my life is subject to Him, I am set on a course of blessings that far exceeds life under my control. My friend, it’s a “no-brainer” to put God in control. But we’ve got to transform our MIND to think this way. The Apostle Paul BEGGED Christians:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Romans 12:1-2
Paul knew the immense blessings of giving the throne of his heart to God. He desperately wanted these blessings for all believers. My friend, if you knew EXACTLY where the ton of gold was buried in the backyard of every person you loved, wouldn’t you want them to dig it up? Right, me too! Paul did, too. What God offers us is better than gold.
A “sacrifice” on an altar is DEAD. Similarly, when we present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God that means we are dead to our fleshly desires. We are sacrificing our own will to God.
We are dead to our own will and alive to Gods.
Furthermore, there is no 85% of “dead” because you either are or you aren’t. Jesus said “you are either for me or against me.” (Matthew 12:30) God does not share His throne with anyone—otherwise He would not be THE LORD. When I was studying the thoughts for this devotional, I began to ask myself:
- Is Jesus Lord of the movies I watch?
- Is Jesus Lord of the music I listen to?
- Is Jesus Lord of the way I love my family or love my enemies?
- Is Jesus Lord of the way I serve in my church?
- Is Jesus Lord of the way I spend my time?
- Is Jesus Lord of the way I spend my money?
- Is Jesus Lord of how I forgive?
- Is Jesus Lord of the way I talk about people?
- Is Jesus Lord of the way I pray and study the Word?
- Is Jesus Lord of the way I run my business?
- Is Jesus Lord of the way I dress?
- Is Jesus Lord of my health or weight loss?
- Is Jesus Lord of what I think about?
Who IS on the THRONE of my HEART?
We will hold onto what we want to obey. But that means we’re saying “No Lord” to God. Then, we must acknowledge, He is not Lord at all. This is tragic. We will miss out on so much! The omnipotent, omniscient, infinitely loving and strong God has offered to run our life.
Can we understand the immense advantage of this opportunity?
Ah, the struggle to say “Yes, Lord,” is a real struggle because our enemies don’t want us to experience the goodness of God. But, my friend, it’s worth the struggle. Surrender to God in loving obedience. Develop an attitude of complete dependence upon God. Renew your mind to understand that when we belong to God, the life we have is not ours— spiritually or physically.
If we belong to Christ, then surrender to Him is our “reasonable service.”
When we give God 100% of our finances, He blesses our finances; when we give Him 100% of our weight loss, He blesses our health; when we 100% , give Him our HR problems, He solves them; when we when we give Him 100% of our children; He answers our prayers about them.
