Lord And Savior

 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. 2 Peter 3:18

We seem to know Christ far better as Savior than we do as Lord. This, in spite of His being called "Lord" far more in Scripture than He is "Savior." We welcome His salvation while dodging, even subtly rejecting His Lordship. It's a losing battle, except for those who flee from His Lordship, His sovereign rule, and are blind to the fact that they do so.....Written in my prayer journal are three things that I believe speak to this. I want to share them today.

"May we cease seeing Him mainly as our Helper and instead, know Him as Savior and Lord." I don't know the source of this quote, but I do know the desperate need that it become true in our lives and relationship with Him. If it doesn't, I question whether we really have any kind of relationship with Him at all.....He is welcome in our lives as a "helper." He assists us. He brings about the desired results we want. He protects us from events we don't want. He provides, He comforts, He encourages and gives strength. In short, He hangs around waiting for our emergency call and then rushes to the scene of our need. When the need is met, He withdraws and doesn't interfere in the course of our life. A life in whose direction we have already decided. Our desires are at the forefront. His are barely known, if known at all. Most of us may say we don't view Him in this way at all, but allow Him to search us in this. Isn't there far more truth here as concerns us than we dare to admit. Aren't we far more comfortable with Him as our Helper than we are with Him as our Lord? Helpers are at our command. We are at the command of a Lord.

"There is a depth in most of our hearts where Jesus' Lordship does not go." Chris Tiegreen....This may be best seen in Jesus' encounter with Peter after His resurrection. Three times He asked Peter if he loved Him. Each time he replied that he did, but there was a boundary on that love and devotion. The first two times he replied, Peter answered with a word that defined love as being between two friends. It was deep, but it was not total. Jesus knew that His love, His Lordship with Peter, who had denied Him three times prior to His crucifixion, had limits. When Jesus asked him a third time, "Do you love Me?" Peter broke. This time he answered with the word "agape," which meant total, unconditional, surrendered love. Christ had penetrated past the boundary Peter had placed upon Him. He had always been Peter's total Savior. Now He was totally Peter's Lord. How about you and me? Where do we fit in Peter's story? How much of it is our story right now? How deep in our hearts does our love for Him really go?

"The parts of our heart we retain for ourselves is a foothold for the enemy." Chris Tiegreen....Our life experiences should have taught us the truth of this, but we are such slow learners. What we retain for ourselves is not really "ours" at all. If it is ours, then it is not His. If it is not His, then it is outside the covering of His presence and protection. It isn't under the blood. When the Lord's angel passed over the land of Egypt, the people of Israel were instructed to have the blood of a sacrificial lamb upon their doors. It was their protection from this angel of death. Our protection from the evil plans of the enemy is found in the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. If the people had not covered their doorways with the lamb's blood, they would have died alongside the Egyptians. Under that blood, they were safe. So are we when we have all of our lives under His. Whatever we try to keep control of, keep to ourselves, is fair game for the enemy of our souls. That's where he gets his foothold in our hearts. That's where we're vulnerable to His attacks. Our safety is in Him, and only that which we yield up to Him knows that safety. Do we, do you, know it today?

We may speak of Him being our Lord and Savior. We may sing heartily of it as well. When He looks into our hearts, does He find the truth of it in our lives? Is He finding it now?

Blessings,

Pastor O