He Is The Lord

Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength; we will sing and praise your might.

Psalm 21:13

On Israel’s final night in Egypt (Exodus 12-13) God struck down every firstborn male, bringing judgment on all the gods of Egypt (Exodus 12:12).  The reasoning and justification for this act is found in His Words: “I am the Lord.”

He would require from His people the ‘firstborn of every womb’ – both of people and animals.  They belonged to Him.  He owned them.  They were His.  How could He require so much?  He is the Lord.

Whatever requirements are made of me, this is reason enough – God Almighty is the Lord.  He needs no other justification to demand of me anything He wants.  Because of God’s immense love and grace for us, it’s easy to slide into a ‘teddy-bear’ understanding of God, as if He exists to serve us.  We flutter around the righteous requirements of the Gospel, soft-peddling them… but we’re really thorough with the promises of Scripture and all God does for us!  We know these!  We cling to these, as we should.  We should not shrug off the righteousness and holiness that we’re called to live out as followers of Christ.  God does have expectations of us! We cannot accomplish them apart from His grace, but that’s why He has graced us.  How can He expect these things from us?  He is the LORD.

Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength.  I will sing and praise Your might.

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Jesus' Voice Trumps

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down​​ the nets for a catch.”  Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

Luke 5:4-6

The expert fisherman yielded to the Son of God and the results were astonishing!  I love those 7 words: “But because you say so, I will…”

Much of my life as a disciple is found in yielding to Jesus.  Often I think I know… I mean, I’m pretty confident in what I think would be best.  And Jesus leads me to do what is not intuitive.  Will I follow?  Will I yield?  “Because You say so, I will.”

There’s no other reason needed to say ‘yes’ to Jesus and His instructions than because it’s Him who is speaking.  Because of who He is, the right answer is: “I will.”

While it is wise to have many counselors and to learn from as many people as possible, Jesus’ voice trumps all others.

Lord, what You say is not always easy.  But because You are saying so, I will follow.  I trust You with my life.  Thank You for leading me and for providing for every need – even the needs I don’t know I have yet!  Thank You!  I follow You this day.

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