The Experience of Living Under a Lord--Part 2
Now, keep in mind, if Jesus is Lord, He must receive first priority in your life. He is above every other love and every other loyalty. He is above every goal, dream and ambition. You cannot be a disciple and say "Lord, first let me..." He must be first...in everything. Otherwise, He is not truly Lord of your life, regardless of what you say, Jesus stated:
Constitutional Scripture: Luke 6:46 But do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do the things I say?
Focus Point: Remember, You cannot call Him Lord and then start making excuses for not obeying Him. You cannot claim that He owns you and then go ahead and do whatever you please. In the Kingdom of Heaven there is no such thing as a "weekend citizen".
Focus Point: You do not follow Him one time and not another depending on your preference. If Jesus is Lord, you cannot live for Him on Sunday and for yourself the rest of the week. Jesus is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.
Focus Point: Keep in mind, that the Lordship of Christ is a twenty-four hour proposition. There is no other schedule.
Focus Point: Keep in mind, that living under a lord also means giving up all concepts of personal ownership. This does not mean you have to sell your house or sell your automobile or even give away some of your personal possessions. What it does mean is learning not to take a proprietary view toward these things. The King of Heaven is a righteous and benevolent Lord who graciously allows us to use and fully appropriate His riches and resources of all good things. That is one of the rights as kingdom citizens.
Focus Point: We can enjoy all these things without measure as long as we remember who owns them. The moment we begin to think that they belong to us, we begin to set ourselves up for serious trouble.
Focus Point: When we begin to think that ownership is ours, we make a lord of ourselves. This takes us out of alignment with the will and character of the King because in His kingdom there can be only one Lord.
Please note: What happens when we think of ourselves as owners? Well, in our dog-eat-dog culture it means we feel that we have to fight for what we get, hoard what we have, and guard it anxiously from fear that someone will sneak and take it away. And our neighbors are doing the same thing. We live in fear of economic downturns, inflation, downsizing and never having enough.
Focus Point: This is not Kingdom thinking. Keep in mind what the Lord Jesus stated:
Constitutional Scripture: Luke 12:22-23 Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23) Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
Please note: In the Kingdom of Heaven, there is no economic crisis and there are no shortages. With a king who owns everything, how could there be?
Focus Point: When we relinquish our sense of ownership and acknowledge God as the Owner and ourselves as stewards, it relieves us of the pressure of having to worry about how we are going to make it because we are now depending on Him for our welfare.
Focus Point: Remember, relinquishing ownership puts us into position of full access to those resources.
Constitutional Scripture: Luke 6:46 But do you call Me Lord, Lord, and not do the things I say?
Focus Point: Remember, You cannot call Him Lord and then start making excuses for not obeying Him. You cannot claim that He owns you and then go ahead and do whatever you please. In the Kingdom of Heaven there is no such thing as a "weekend citizen".
Focus Point: You do not follow Him one time and not another depending on your preference. If Jesus is Lord, you cannot live for Him on Sunday and for yourself the rest of the week. Jesus is either Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all.
Focus Point: Keep in mind, that the Lordship of Christ is a twenty-four hour proposition. There is no other schedule.
Focus Point: Keep in mind, that living under a lord also means giving up all concepts of personal ownership. This does not mean you have to sell your house or sell your automobile or even give away some of your personal possessions. What it does mean is learning not to take a proprietary view toward these things. The King of Heaven is a righteous and benevolent Lord who graciously allows us to use and fully appropriate His riches and resources of all good things. That is one of the rights as kingdom citizens.
Focus Point: We can enjoy all these things without measure as long as we remember who owns them. The moment we begin to think that they belong to us, we begin to set ourselves up for serious trouble.
Focus Point: When we begin to think that ownership is ours, we make a lord of ourselves. This takes us out of alignment with the will and character of the King because in His kingdom there can be only one Lord.
Please note: What happens when we think of ourselves as owners? Well, in our dog-eat-dog culture it means we feel that we have to fight for what we get, hoard what we have, and guard it anxiously from fear that someone will sneak and take it away. And our neighbors are doing the same thing. We live in fear of economic downturns, inflation, downsizing and never having enough.
Focus Point: This is not Kingdom thinking. Keep in mind what the Lord Jesus stated:
Constitutional Scripture: Luke 12:22-23 Then He said to His disciples, "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23) Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.
Please note: In the Kingdom of Heaven, there is no economic crisis and there are no shortages. With a king who owns everything, how could there be?
Focus Point: When we relinquish our sense of ownership and acknowledge God as the Owner and ourselves as stewards, it relieves us of the pressure of having to worry about how we are going to make it because we are now depending on Him for our welfare.
Focus Point: Remember, relinquishing ownership puts us into position of full access to those resources.
Letting go of personal ownership also nourishes and releases
a generous spirit within us
a generous spirit within us
