JESUS IS LORD

Romans 10:9 - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Lord is a differential appellation for a deity or person who has authority, control or power over others. When we say Jesus is Lord, what we are saying is that He has authority, control and power over everything. By authority we mean influence or command. According to Matthew 28:18, all authority in heaven and on earth is His. He has authority over non living things, He told a storm 'be still' and it stood still, Mark 4:36-41. He has authority over all living things, which is why at the mention of His name all knees bow, Philippians 2:10. He has or is in control. He has control over all the demons and witches in the world. That is why He Is called the Lord of Host. He presides over the entire host in heaven ,earth and hell, which is why He was able to tell the legion demons who had possessed the man in Gadara to leave and they left without grumbling, Mark 5:1-20. Lastly Jesus has power. Psalm 33:8-9 says let all the earth fear the Lord, let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him, for He spoke and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast. According to Isaiah 13:13 , He is able to shake the heavens and the earth will move out of its place .Nahum 1:4 says mountain quake before Him, the hills melt, and earth heaves at His presence. Because He has power, He is able to bring back to life a corpse that began to decay, John 11:33-45.Every time you say “Jesus is Lord”, what you are doing is you are putting everything that pertains to you under His authority, control and power. By admitting Jesus Lord, what you are doing is you are submitting your challenges and everything bothering you at His feet. The challenges are no longer yours; He is free to do whatever He pleases with them.

A Lord is also someone to be obeyed. When a Lord speaks over an issue, you do not have opinions, you do not question it, all you do is just obey. When it comes to judgment, the Lord can overrule a verdict or a ruling out of mercy. The woman caught in adultery was guilty no questions about it but Jesus out of mercy overruled the verdict to stone her to death. When He said go into the world and preach, it is not negotiable. Whether you like or not you have to do just that because the Lord has spoken. When He says forgive, that is final. So before you put your challenges before Him as the Lord, you must be ready to carry out all His instructions. When He says ‘jump’, you do not ask why? What you say is ‘how high Lord’. When He says ‘go into the world and preach’, your response will be ‘yes Lord’ and off you go. As you carry out His instructions, you will see that He will begin to exercise His authority, control and power over all the issues of your life.

PRAYER POINT: Father, I am ready to carry out your instructions, please exercise Your authority, control and power over the challenges of my life.

POWER WITHOUT CONTROL

Sunday12 August                                               Bible in one year : Joshua 19-21

Memorise: out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be . James 3:10

James 3:5-12

Elijah was one Bible character that experienced victory all the way. In 2 Kings 1:19-15 , some sets of soldiers came to arrest him but soon realised that they were the ones being arrested. Those who surrendered , he spared but those who refused to surrender, he roasted alive.He was so full of power. Power is good but very dangerous. It is commonly said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.If you have power , you need lots of restraint less it turns your victory into defeat. With the power of God, you can easily secure victory but you need humility and the fruit of the Spirit to sustain that victory. A minister of God who uses his or her tongue unadvisedly will soon erode the gains of victory earlier obtained. What is the use of power without control? One reason God had not increase His anointing on some of His children or answered some who are petitioning Him for higher levels of anointing is because they cannot handle it , that is to say, they cannot control it.

If you are the type that easily curses your children or wards ,if God anoints you , you will not know when you will place a curse on them and it will stick. Pastors who curse members or workers are fast eroding their victories. If you have common sense, you will know that it is wrong to curse anyone who volunteers his or her service to God just because the fellow made a mistake . There are better ways of correcting the fellow but not through a curse. If you are fond of cursing those you should be protecting ,something is wrong with you; you should rather be blessing them. In addition, if God’s power in your life makes you proud, or to feel that you are better than your neighbour , you will lose your victory. One attribute God cannot stand is pride.God fights the proud because they compare themselves with Him, so He will want to prove a point that they nothing without Him. Are you proud of your achievements,You may soon lose them. To keep your victory permanent , handle with them lots of humility, thanksgiving and giving all credits to God alone. God hates the proud: are you proud? Repent today!

ACTION POINT: If you pray for power, pray doubly for the grace to control it.

Excerpts from Open Heavens Daily Devotional by Pastor E.A Adeboye

ARE YOU CONTROLLABLE

Friday 11 August                                        Bible in one year: Joshua 16-18

Memorise: My times are in thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me. Psalms 31:15

Read:  Genesis 8:1-2

Our God is a God of structure and order. He expects you to understand and heed the signs He sends to you. When He “shows you red”, know it is time to stop. When He “shows you yellow”, you have to be prepared and when He “shows you green”, then it is time to go. God is in charge of your life and He wants to control it. Control can referred to restricted flow. In Genesis 8:1-2, we see God controlling the rain. We all know that rain is good but too much of it is bad. In recent times we have seen the devastating effect of floods. If you have ever been a victim of flooding, whenever the rain is heavy and persistent, you will become too scared. Flooding occurs as a result of too much rain. The rain of God’s blessing that can adversely affect you shall not come in Jesus name. According to 1 Kings 17:1, there is something you can do to open heavens and there is something else you can do to shut heavens. Strive to always keep your heavens opened.

God controls the rain and He also controls blessings. In the parable of the talents recorded in Matthew 25:14-15, each servant was given talent according to their individual ability. God will not give you the blessings you cannot control. One reason God has not given some major breakthroughs to some is because He knows they will not give Him their first –fruits and tithes if the blessing is too big. By refusing to comply with God’s directives, many are cheating themselves. Will you want a life without control? As God blesses you, ask for the grace to keep the blessings in their rightful place and your heart in the Lord. God wants to be able to control you and your blessings. But what is His experience? For many of His children, the wealth the Lord has put in their hands has given them boldness or voice to speak to Him as they like without reverence. When God says give so much out of what He has given them, they will begin to argue with Him. David was not like that. He was fully yielded to God when he said my times are in Your hands (Psalm31:15), can you say the same?

PRAYER POINT: Everything in me that is resisting divine control, Father uproot it now.

Open Heavens by Pastor E A Adeboye

God is in control