Each time I read one of these devotions, I am forced to pause and examine myself. With each one I've been reading here lately, I think it is the best yet. And although, I have been reading this book for several years, each date I read- it's as if it's the first time- because the applications to my life are different than they were the year before. The work He's done in my mind and heart are newer and newer everyday. 2 Corinthians 5:17- "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!"
"For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland." Isaiah 43:19 I am sure that the application is not correct, but I believe I was that dry wasteland...nothing more than rotting flesh, unable to do anything but die. And God did a new thing in me. He made a pathway through the wilderness of my life, and created overflowing rivers of love, peace, joy, confidence, and courage- where there once was only waste...
Hebrews 12:27 "The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain." As He shows me what needs laid down, I reciprocate in my attempt at laying them down and He reciprocates by fully removing the me that needs to go-replacing it with Him. And that's good, because He cannot be shaken, or removed.
We are temporal, we are dust...He is eternal...I don't want anything left of me hanging around that can be swept away. I want it all gone, and only Him to remain... And this, I believe, is where it all has to start. We can't move forward in our relationships or walks with Him, if we are hell-bent (pardon the expression) on reserving our current situations or lives as they are.
February 28th's Walk With God by Chris Tiegreen: When we become Christians, we confessed Jesus as Lord. When we pray, we call Him Lord. But as we live, is He really Lord in our hearts? The words of our mouths do not tell the whole story. There is a depth in most of our hearts to which Jesus' Lordship does not go. As much as we call Him Lord, most of us have held back a corner of our heart to ourselves. His Lordship extends only so far.
The work of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to maturity in Christ- i.e., sanctification- is this: to extend the Lordship of Jesus to every inch of our lives. It is a continuous process. We want the benefits of being a Christian- such as salvation, peace, joy, and the like- but we want to retain a little autonomy as well. We have internal struggles that our friends and family do not see. There are places min our hearts that we guard, holding the Holy Spirit at a distance. We like to control the tempo of our discipleship.
To the extent that we do this, we base our lives on a false supposition- that we have the right to govern ourselves, even after we've supposedly laid our all on the alter. It is an unwise position to try to manage Jesus' Lordship over us. In fact, it isn't His Lordship at all when we control even a portion of ourselves. Its' just an illusion.
Is Jesus Lord of 100 percent of your heart? Your thoughts, your behaviors, your dreams- are they yours or His? What corners of your being have you retained for your self? Whatever they are, they are footholds for the enemy and shelters for the sinful flesh. Jesus desires more of you than you have given Him to this point. He wants it all. This seems like painful surrender to us, but from His perspective, it is a happy day when one of His people lays it all on the alter. Blessing is the result. He is trustworthy with everything we give Him, and He will manage our lives better than we ever have. At no point resist Him; set Him apart as Lord. "In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord." 1 Peter 3:15
"Christ is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all." -Hudson Taylor
