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Jesus is Lord


Do you know what a lord is? According to dictionary.com it is
a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.
In Romans chapter ten, scripture says that as Christians we are to confess Jesus is Lord. Which I guess also means that we live out the fact that Jesus is Lord. So how do we live out Jesus being the person who has authority, control and power over us?
I can tell you that if you start down the road that I'm going to describe, which is my personal journey, it won't be a cake walk. In fact, it's been the hardest thing that I have ever done.
About five years ago (if you know me, it seems like the entire world stood still and put a beat down on me about five years ago, but I survived) I was really interested in losing weight. I had tried WW, but never really had any success and so I took someone's advice and signed up for an online bible study called The Lord's Table. It changed my life. I started reading the bible every day in order to spend time with God. It wasn't to prepare for bible studies, which I was leading at the time, it wasn't research for a question someone had, it was just for the purpose of spending time with God.
And out of that time, I learned from a mentor that I should be listening when I read. I was listening for specific verses that God wanted me to put into action in my life. At the time, it was the most foreign and bizarre thing that anyone has ever asked me to do with scripture. Verses started to jump out at me, they would just really stick in my mind and so I would try and put them into action. For instance, if the verse that stuck out was love your neighbor, I would go over to my neighbors house and hang out for awhile or take a little gift over.
By doing those two things I began to recognize God's voice in my life. I began to see His promptings through out my day. I began to see my life through his eyes, which meant that I was also becoming aware of my sins. He would convict me and I would purge myself of what was revealed and just when I was back on my feet I'd be hit with another wave of where I could draw closer to him. Often times he would use books that I was reading. Fiction, nonfiction, it didn't matter to God he would show me places to grow and how to become more obedient. I know from others that God uses whatever means we need to hear him to do this work. For some it's through sermons, friends, meditation, the list goes on and on.
I took a real scrubbing in the midst of that transition. Part of it was probably the fact that the world does not want you to serve God, but I think the biggest part of it was regardless of how close I thought I was to God, each step closer revealed darkness within me that had to be removed in order to be in his presence.
Even now, five years later, God continues to show me areas in which he is not Lord in my life. Ways in which I have created little demi gods to rule over areas of my life instead of letting the true Lord have control over all of it. The difference now is that I long for that cleansing, because I know what awaits me. I don't morn the death of those little gods, but willingly ask for Jesus to point them out so that they can be put in their proper place. I know that there is no other god better than Jesus, because I've seen what he can do. He is a kind, and generous Lord, but he is a jealous God. He will not tolerate sharing his throne with my little self made deities.
For me, that's what Jesus is Lord is about for me. What about you? What does it mean for Jesus to be your Lord?

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