Is He Lord?

God’s Word will tear you up- no doubt about that. We know it may not always be comfortable (often isn’t), but His ways are perfect and the end result is always greater than we could ever imagine. So when I was digging through the Gospels the other day and came across two extremely firm statements of Jesus’, they pierced deep into my heart:

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do the things which I say?” –Luke 6:46

“If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.” –John 8:31

I had a great conversation with a gentleman last night who is battling a pretty tough stronghold. As we talked, I explained to him that although his intentions to be a better husband, father, and employee were all honorable attributes, he would never reach that point if he was keeping Jesus on the sidelines (that goes for all of us). As sinful individuals, we always want to give God almost everything- but hold onto that one part of us that we cannot let go of. A mentor of mine calls this a “pet sin”: http://afatherswalkgr.blogspot.com/2013/08/letting-go-of-nut-in-your-life.html

It is only when we are able to finally reach that point of surrendering ourselves fully to the Lord that the other areas in our life can then be healed, restored, and blessed- not the other way around.

We tend to hold on to these pet sins, unhealthy emotions, and forms of character, all of which are an idol of some sort- and they all they all hinder us from reaching our true potential. Even I tend to not to let some things go because they have been such a big part of my life for so long and I honestly sometimes cannot envision what my life would be like without them. But then yesterday the Lord spoke clear as day to me: “Matt, I want to take you to the next level, but cannot if you are still holding on to these things.” God can only work with what we are willing to give Him. The sad truth is that although we worship every weekend the price that Christ paid for us, we completely diminish it when He asks the same in return.

There isn’t a single part in the Bible that says it’s okay to give God anything less than our best. The cool thing about that is what Jesus says next in John: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (v 32) If we want to live the life God intended for us- then we need to be intentional about living our lives for Him.