Today's devotional reading for:

Thursday, Aug 17, 2023

Master or Genie?

“… Jesus Christ is Lord …”

— Philippians 2:11

Is Jesus the Lord and master of your life, or is He but a genie in a bottle, there to answer your every beck and call? In some quarters of today’s Church we find a sort of theology that says one may accept Jesus as Savior and reject Him as Lord. This is heresy. People who believe this come into “faith” still hanging onto their plans, their goals, their agenda. They receive Christ as a genie in a “theological bottle” that they call forth through prayer.

People like this miss the full meaning of Christianity. To believe in Christ means to accept Him as Lord and master of our lives. Napoleon in his latter days at St. Helena said, “Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Christ makes a demand which is above all others difficult to satisfy. He asks for that which a philosopher may often seek at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse. He asks for the human heart, for his very own, exclusively his. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man with all its powers becomes an annexation to the Empire of Christ.”

George Matheson describes the human personality as a palace of many chambers. In this palace is the room of memory where Calvary may have the central place. There’s a sunny chamber of affections where we may love Christ fondly. There’s a lofty chamber of imagination where we plan the great things we’ll someday do for God. But above all, there’s the throne room of the human will. When we invite Christ into our hearts, we must allow Him to reign on the throne of our will. And as we do, suddenly a corridor opens and connects all the other chambers, for when Christ controls our will, He controls all else.

Have you surrendered the throne of your will to the King? If you haven’t, do so today. Allow Christ to reign in your heart, guiding every decision you make. Then watch as He opens to you a life beyond your wildest dreams.

D. James Kennedy Ministries

“Gimme this. Gimme that. Bless me, Lord, I pray.
Grant me what I think I need to make it through the day.”
Christian Song