Who is Lord/Master over your life?

In ancient days nations/people groups would often make a treaty with a neighboring superpower called a suzerain for the benefit of military protection, and land.  A people group/nation could only have one suzerain and was to be completely loyal and faithful to it.

When God delivered the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, He made covenant with them by Himself walking between halves of sacrificed animals as a witness that He promised to protect them and be their God as long as they were faithful to Him.  They would have recognized His language to them, politically, as that of a suzerain.

I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  Exodus 20:2 AMPC

Now therefore, if you will obey My voice in truth and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own peculiar possession and treasure from among and above all peoples; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation [consecrated, set apart to the worship of God]…  Exodus 19:5-6 AMPC

We see Jesus also speak in the same language of a suzerain.  Through His sacrifice of Himself and great love, He delivers us from our enemies, with the primary enemy being death.

The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed One, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound]. [Isa. 61:1, 2.] Luke 4:18-19 AMPC

Hear then and know that Jesus has claimed us as His own through His shed blood, and in gratitude we are to submit to His authority in our life.

[Christ, the Messiah] is therefore the Negotiator and Mediator of an [entirely] new agreement (testament, covenant), so that those who are called and offered it may receive the fulfillment of the promised everlasting inheritance–since a death has taken place which rescues and delivers and redeems them from the transgressions committed under the [old] first agreement.  Hebrews 9:15 AMPC

Now if for some reason a vassal of a suzerain failed to pay necessary tribute to the suzerain, that suzerain may allow enemies to conqueror and enslave the vassal.

This may seem like unfair strong arming but in God’s economy it is better to discipline a child then have that child be lost to the world.  Mind you God will send many warnings before he would take action like this.

In studying along with my church about these ancient treaties and covenants I was reminded of a picture God gave me in the summer of 2015.  In it I saw a tall towering king that had ruled the land, approaching me, but I let Him pass, behind Him came a smaller, but still powerful king.  This smaller king picked me up, put me in the cavity of his chest, and carried me to a foreign land that I did not want to go.

This was a warning.  For me, at that point, I turned, and began a 5+ year process of learning, growing, and submitting to Jesus as Lord of my life, trying to live by His Word.  During this time, I had to get quiet with Jesus and ask Him to show me my sin.  Some sin was readily noticeable, and some remained hidden to me.   I was dependent on God to show it to me so that I could come to Jesus in prayer, trusting in His love, that in my weakness He would redeem me.

You see God designed us.  He knows us.  He knows that we are not able to carry these burdens for ourselves that we need/require Him as our deliverer, our suzerain.  It is His joy to help us.  He did not come that we would have to earn His love, but that we might rely on His love for our benefit.

Now a days, I regularly have to cry out to God to help me with the sins He has revealed to me.  I have to plead the blood of Jesus to shield my eyes, to guard my heart, to harness my tongue, and take my thoughts captive.  Often times it feels I’m constantly in a washing machine.

God is holy.  Nothing impure can come before Him.  We require Jesus’ blood.  He is the only way to stand in the presence of God.  We must allow Jesus to cover/be atonement for us the impurity, our sin condition.  We must stop hiding from Him and ourselves.  Even a little impurity ruins the whole batch.  I heard an analogy recently about a plate of brownies that had one special organic ingredient from the person’s backyard, and just a teaspoon of it.  We might gobble the brownie down not realizing the ingredient was dog poop.  Even a teaspoon would cause you to spit it out.

What can we do as individuals?  We can humble ourselves before our Father ask Him to show us our individual sin and go confidently to Jesus with these sins knowing He will redeem us, and in doing so, light a Fire of the Holy Spirit in our homes, our community, and our nation.

I challenge you to come boldly to the throne of Jesus as you are.

THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. [Ps. 110:1.] For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes. Let us therefore, receiving a kingdom that is firm and stable and cannot be shaken, offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship, with modesty and pious care and godly fear and awe; For our God [is indeed] a consuming fire. [Deut. 4:24.]        Hebrews 12:1-2, 6, 28-29 AMPC