Lordship: Who is leading your life?

"But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?"

Who is leading your life right now? This question is deeper than what it might appear.

This is a critical question when in transition, and requires some honest self-reflection and prayer.

Maybe you’re leading yourself, to the best of your own ability.

Perhaps you have a strong voice in your life, a mentor, boss or parent, who is shaping your future.

Or if you get to the cold, hard truth, maybe you’ll admit that no one is in the driver’s seat, and you’re a runaway train!

The right answer, of course, as a good Christian, is to say that you’re ‘Holy Spirit-led’.

We say, pray and sing about these things all the time.

Christians confidently declare “Jesus is Lord”.

Do we really know what we’re saying?

Adonai: Lord

The Hebrew word ‘Adonai’ is translated as ‘Lord’, and can also mean master, ruler and possessor.

God is also called ‘Lord of Lords’ in the Bible, which puts him at the highest authority, above any other power that exists.

There is nothing light about this name, and it has ramifications for how we are called to live.

Lordship

Building on this, ‘lordship’ means to be submitted to the leadership, authority and possession of God.

And because he is ‘Lord of Lords’ it means our whole lives and hearts must be yielded, we don’t get to pick and choose.

This is what it really means to say ‘Jesus is Lord’, and having him lead us fully.

Are you completely submitted to the Lordship of Jesus?

The test of Lordship: Obedience

According to scripture, in the words of Jesus himself, there is only one way to know.

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.” - Luke 6:46-49

We know that Jesus is truly leading us, and is Lord of our lives, when we:

• Come to Him

• Hear what He is saying

• And do what He says

This is how we build our lives on an unshakeable foundation.

The alternative is sobering.

To hear and do nothing (the definition of disobedience) may see us build our lives in our own strength, but without the foundation from the Lord it is sure to end in ruin.

What does Lordship look like?

I went through this process a few months ago and it was confronting.

As I invited Jesus to be Lord over every aspect of my heart and life, giving Him full rights over my future, I was confronted with the weight of what this meant.

For me, that was:

• Jesus exalted above all things, people and purposes

• Making myself of ‘no reputation’, as Jesus did (choosing to not fight for ‘self’ e.g. promotion, entitlement, rights etc.) (Philippians 2:7-10)

• Radical obedience to His word and commands

• Being willing to relinquish anything Jesus wants to take away

I learned that Jesus has a higher standard of Lordship than I do.

Yes, I get friendship with Him, yes, I get partnership with Him, but first there must be true Lordship.

How do we respond?

Last year a friend sent me a brilliant message from Ian Clayton who talked at length about the issue of Lordship way back in 2012, listen here.

I pulled this from the transcript:

“Your labor is to surrender to lordship. That's what your labor is, to surrender to His lordship in your life so that His lordship can reign on your house.

… the issue is that there is a throne that sits inside your mountain. Every mountain has a throne.

And you either sit there or Jesus does.

So I had to abdicate the throne of my mountain because I ruled over my mountain as a king in my own lusty, fleshy way as an unbeliever. And until you surrender that mountain seat to Him to become Lord of that mountain, He'll never become Lord and you'll never sit in His seat until you make Him Lord and give Him permission to sit in His seat by you getting off it!

And so I had to surrender to His lordship in my life. Every time I try to rescue myself from something, He would go, ‘excuse me, are you in charge or am I in charge?’”

Our work is to surrender. And when Jesus has that place on our throne, we get to partner with Him in our process.

Actions

• Read Luke 6:46

• Ask the Holy Spirit if you’ve handed over full Lordship to Jesus - your transition, season and your life

• If not, repent

• I now dare you to pray a bold prayer that invites Jesus to be Lord over every aspect of your life. Don’t take it lightly, feel the weight of it

Prayer

Below is similar to what I prayed a few months ago. Beware, the Lord takes these words seriously and where your Lordship is, and who/what is leading your life, will be tested!

Jesus, you are my Lord.

I repent for putting myself, other people and things in your place of Lordship.

I want you to be Lord over every aspect of my heart and my life.

I surrender my being, my doing and my future to you.

Examine my heart and if there is anything that isn’t submitted to you, reveal it and remove it.

I ask for your complete leadership, and thank you for it!

In your name I pray, Amen

Missed last week’s post? Catch up now.