221 of 365 - Lord of All

“Nevertheless, many even of the authorities BELIEVED in him, but for FEAR of the Pharisees they did NOT confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from MAN more than the glory that comes from GOD.” John 12:43-44

I fear many of us get to the point of belief, but we are stuck there. The glory of man seductively slips its way into first place in our hearts. We’re not afraid to be put out of the Jewish synagogue, but we have our own “synagogues” we aren’t willing to sacrifice…things we prioritize that are keeping Jesus from His rightful Lordship position in our lives.

As the brother of Jesus reminded us, “You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” (James 2:19)

Belief is not the same as declaring – confessing – Jesus as your Lord and Savior. The devil believes and still remains his own lord.

What does it look like to have Jesus as the Lord of our lives? He is the ruler, master, authority, and boss. Of. Everything; All. Of. Us. It is yielding our lives to Him. Absolute and total surrender. We are not our own.  He is the one we want to impress. He is the voice we want to listen to above all others.

S.M. Zwemer says, “Unless Jesus is Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.”

I fear we believe in Jesus, but our heart is still in a full-on battle with the world. And we can’t successfully serve two masters. We like the idea of Jesus as Savior, but not so much of Jesus as LORD OF OUR LIFE. We love the identity we try to create, copy and portray more than we love the identity given to us by our Creator. We love the purpose we covet more than the greater purpose we were designed for. We love the glory that comes from peers, status, comfort, control, worldly achievement, human accolades more than the glory that comes from God for God.

Questions: How do we break free? How do we love God more than the world? How do we move from belief to surrender? How do we make God first?