It’s easy to acknowledge Jesus as our Savior! After all, He took us as we are—broken and battered and scarred with sin—and then delivered us, cleansed us with His blood, and set us free. Because of that, we joyfully sing, “What a wonderful Savior is Jesus my Lord, what a wonderful Savior is He!” However, it’s a very different thing to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and to sing with the same gusto, “I surrender all.” That’s because if Jesus truly is Lord, our life and lifestyle will change, and sometimes we don’t like that because we feel out of control.
"It is not a conclusive evidence that a man is a Christian because he manifests spiritual ecstasy under extraordinary circumstances. Holiness is not rapture: it is an entire surrender of the will to God; it is living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God; it is doing the will of our heavenly Father; it is trusting God in trial, in darkness as well as in the light; it is walking by faith and not by sight; it is relying on God with unquestioning confidence, and resting in His love."1
What Do the Following Bible Passages Tell Us About Jesus?
Read: Mark 1:35
In the early morning, Jesus would get up while it was still dark and go outside to a secluded place to pray.
Read: Isaiah 50:4
Ask Yourself: Who is testifying in this verse: Isaiah the prophet or someone else?
Read: Isaiah 50:6 to discover the answer.
This is a Messianic prophecy pointing toward what Jesus would experience every morning on this planet.
Every morning, God would awaken Jesus to disciple/teach Him. God would give Him the tongue of a disciple/teacher so that He could give a word to sustain the weary. This early-morning time was pivotal to Christ’s life on earth.
Our Father God loves us enough to awaken us as He did the Messiah! He will bring us to the altar each morning.
It is the love of the Father that moves His heart to wake us up each morning to have unrushed time with Him, His Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Part I – Honor Jesus As Lord
Honor Jesus as Lord by asking God every night to wake you the next morning to have unrushed, undistracted time alone with Him in the Word and in prayer.
Ask Yourself: What does God’s Word teach us about Jesus as Lord?
Read: Matthew 28:18
Jesus proclaimed that all authority had been given to Him in heaven and in earth.
Read: Philippians 2:5–11
Jesus humbled Himself to be obedient to God the Father to the point of dying on the cross. Jesus died and was resurrected from the grave. God exalted Jesus to His right hand and gave Him a name above all names. At Jesus’ name, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him as Lord.
We know that everyone in the universe will soon bow to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. So, why do we not honor Jesus as Lord now? Do we love Jesus as Friend and Savior but not as our Lord?
Driver’s Seat Illustration
You are in the driver’s seat of your life. You decide where you want to go, how you want to get there, and how fast you get there. But then you decide that you want Jesus to be Lord of your life. If Jesus is the Lord of your life, where should He be sitting in this car?
- If Jesus is now in the driver’s seat, where will you be sitting?
- So, Jesus is driving the car now. What happens when He goes in a direction that you don’t want to go?
- What happens if Jesus isn’t driving fast enough for you?
- If Jesus is Lord of your life, where should you be sitting?
- If you are in the back seat and Jesus starts going in a different direction than you want, what do you do?
- If Jesus is Lord of your life, where should you be sitting?
Do you know the best place for us to be as Christians when Jesus is in the driver’s seat, when He is Lord of our lives? We should be in the trunk. We can’t see where we are going, and we can’t tell Him what to do. But we are lying down in simple faith, trusting that our Lord and Master will take us where He knows we should be.
Back to the Word!
Ask Yourself: How can we stop doing things that we know are wrong?
Read: Ezekiel 36:26, 27
Jesus is ready to cut out the hard places in our hearts that refuse His Lordship. We must surrender to Jesus as our Master Surgeon so that He can do this surgery for us.
Read: Colossians 1:27, 28
The secret of victory for the Christian is contained in two three-word phrases in this passage. What is it? (“Christ in you” and “perfect in Christ”)
Jesus lives in us, by His Holy Spirit, and He empowers our surrender! While our righteousness is nothing more than filthy rags (see Isaiah 64:6), we are perfect in Christ.
Jesus lived an abiding life of surrender to His Father in heaven every moment of every day. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (John 4:34). Jesus’ passion was to do the will of God the Father.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was overwhelmed with carrying the weight of every sin committed by every child, youth, and adult who has ever lived. He wanted a way out from His Father—but notice what He prayed as He fell on His face: “...My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39, emphasis added). Three times He wrestled with what He wanted personally and chose to give up His will to His Father.
This same Jesus, who daily gave up His will to His Father, lives in you through His Holy Spirit. This same Jesus, who wanted to live and not die, gave up His will to His Father, stretched out His hands, and submitted to die on the cross in your place! This glorious truth leads us to be willing to surrender all to Him every day!
What can we do each morning to tune out distractions and honor the Lordship of Jesus?
“Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
Part II – Honor Jesus as Lord
Every morning, make it your first priority to focus on who Jesus is and what He has done for you. Then surrender all that you are, all that you have, and even your attitude and electronics to Jesus as Lord.
This same Jesus, who has all power and authority, lives in you; He gives you strength and power to submit your will to Him. Jesus will help you! He will not fail you!
What Does God’s Word Teach About the Source of Our Power to Live for Christ?
Read: Ephesians 2:22 and Philippians 2:13
The Father and Son dwell with us (live in us) via the Holy Spirit. And it is the grace of God Himself that empowers us to surrender. He gives us both the ability to will and the ability to do His will.
Read: John 14:17-18, 23 and Ephesians 3:14–19
We are not on our own to wrestle, worry, and strive to try to honor Jesus throughout the day. We are not spiritual orphans! Jesus promised, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” And when He comes to us, we will experience His fullness.
Just as Jesus lives in us by faith (the cup full of water) and empowers us to yield good fruit, we also keep abiding in Him, and His life flows through our own.
"God desires to manifest through you the holiness, the benevolence, the compassion, of His own character. Yet the Saviour does not bid the disciples labor to bear fruit. He tells them to abide in Him. 'If ye abide in Me,' He says, 'and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.' It is through the word that Christ abides in His followers. This is the same vital union that is represented by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. The words of Christ are spirit and life. Receiving them, you receive the life of the Vine. You live 'by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' Matthew 4:4. The life of Christ in you produces the same fruits as in Him. Living in Christ, adhering to Christ, supported by Christ, drawing nourishment from Christ, you bear fruit after the similitude of Christ."(emphasis added.)2
Our greatest work is not to bear fruit but to abide!
Read: Philippians 4:13
“I can do all things through Him [Christ] who strengthens me.”
Christ is our strength to live each moment in honor to Him. When we are in Him, and He is in us, we will want to live for His honor and glory. (See 1 Corinthians 10:31.)
Read: Philippians 4:8
“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”
Call to Action & Challenge
Every moment, practice honoring Jesus with your choices.
Yes, you can start today!
We often know Jesus as Savior and Friend, but do we know Him as Lord?
- Draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper.
- On one side of the line, draw a crown at the top. Underneath the crown, write “What is surrendered to Jesus.” In that column, list the things you know you have given to the Lordship of Jesus (what you have surrendered to Him).
- On the other side of the line, write “What is not surrendered to Jesus.” In that column, write down those things you are struggling to surrender. After you write a few things down, pray and ask the Holy Spirit if there’s anything you have forgotten.
What is surrendered to Jesus
What is not surrendered to Jesus
Whatever is not surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus holds us captive. Put this chart by your bed and, every day this next week, surrender what is not yet surrendered to Jesus. If you are struggling to surrender, pray, “Lord make me willing to be willing to be willing to surrender!” You can add as many “willings” as you need to that prayer.
Who needs Jesus to do what He promised in Ezekiel 36:26, 27: to give you a new heart and to take out your heart of stone?
If God is calling you to have this heart surgery, please join me on your knees before the Lord. I invite you to have a private prayer to ask Jesus to cut out whatever is in your heart that should not be there: bitterness, hatred, lust, or love for anything or anyone that replaces Jesus as Lord.
Pray: “Dear Father in heaven, thank You for loving me so much! Thank You for Jesus, our Master Surgeon. We ask that Jesus would come, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and cut out the hard places in my heart. Please cut out my bitterness, my hurt, and my love for anything or anybody that has replaced Jesus as Lord. Give me a new heart! Amen.”
Challenge
This coming week, as you seek to honor Jesus as Lord, strive for the following:
- Ask God to awaken you each morning to have unrushed time alone with Him.
- Every morning, make it your first priority to focus on who Jesus is and what He has done for you. Then surrender all that you are, all that you have, and even your attitude and electronics to Jesus as Lord.
- By the power of Jesus who lives within you by faith, follow His lead in all your choices through the day.
Always remember…
"Jesus says, 'Without Me ye can do nothing.' Our growth in grace, our joy, our usefulness—all depend upon our union with Christ. It is by communion with Him, daily, hourly—by abiding in Him—that we are to grow in grace. He is not only the Author, but the Finisher of our faith. It is Christ first and last and always. He is to be with us, not only at the beginning and the end of our course, but at every step of the way. David says, 'I have set the Lord always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved'" (Psalm 16:8).3
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman \ Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org
- Ellen G. White, The Acts of the Apostles (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1911), 51
- Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1898), 677
- Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ (Mountain View, California: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1892), 69
