Morning by Morning, December 12 - "Lord of All"
Good morning, Lord Jesus. I lift up Your name and speak out Your authority over every area of my life and every moment of my day. ...
"Jesus Christ -- He is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36).
Lordship is relational. You're Lord and I'm not. You're in charge and I'm not. You're in control and I'm not. Any area of my life where I'm still in charge or in control, I'm still being lord of that area instead of yielding to Your Lordship of that area.
Insisting on my lordship instead of yielding to Your Lordship is just another form of pride -- where I'm going to do what I want to do in the power of my strength and in accordance with my will. It's like in the days of the judges where "there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes" (Judges 21:25). That's the opposite of humility. That's an attitude of rebellion, resisting Your will and authority in our lives, rooted in pride, and refusing to acknowledge You as our King, Your Word as our Law, Your Character as our Example, Your Truth as our Standard, and Your Spirit as our Guide.
Your Word says "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.... Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you" (James 4:6-10). So our pride resists You in the very places where we need Your grace the most. And when things don't go well, when that's not working out so well for us, it feels like You're opposing us but we're really just opposing You and living out the consequence of our rebellion and resistance against You.
In the folly and foolishness of our pride that insists on our will and our way, asserting our own lordship, we're basically saying, "No thanks, God. I've got this." Which is just another way of saying, "I don't need You. I can handle things just fine on my own. So just take Your grace and go give it to somebody who really needs it -- somebody who's weak enough to need You and 'humble' enough to admit it."
Wow, forgive me, Lord. Uproot that attitude from my heart and my mind, and all the subtle ways it sneaks in under the guide of self-confidence or healthy independence, when it's really just plain ol' pride. It's a modern version of that ancient declaration, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14). It's like saying, "I am Lord of all."
Wow, that's ugly. But when You show it to me like that, I want no part of it. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). And I sure don't need more chances to fall, but the power of Your grace to lift me up. And the way up is down -- down on my knees, surrendered in my heart, yielded to Your Lordship in every area of my life -- not doing what's right in my own eyes, but doing what's right in Yours.
So as best as I can and all by Your grace, I believe in my heart and confess with my mouth "that Jesus is Lord" (Romans 10:6). I want to come to place where I can proclaim in both faith and in truth that "Jesus Christ -- He is Lord of all" -- Lord of all that I am and all that I have, Lord all I ever will have and ever will be, Lord of my spirit and soul and body, Lord of identity and destiny, Lord of my family and all my relationships, Lord my work and ministry, Lord of my gifts and calling, Lord of my finances and hopes, Lord of my past and present and future, Lord of my eternity, Lord of all. Lord, let it be so. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
