Continuing my 2020 Lenten Journey- with personal thoughts and commentary by Martha McDuff Wiggins on the book “Lord I Want To Know You” by Kay Arthur.
Day 13
Adonai, Your Lord and Master
Even though we’ve already learned other names, you can never really ‘know’ them until you have bowed down before Adonai, Your Lord and Master. To feel refuge in His loving arms you must first acknowledge His right to rule over you, over every part of your life.
If this is so, then why would we study some of His other names first? The answer is simple. For example, it is much easier to call Him El Shaddai than it is Adonai, Your Lord and Master. Some of us must first be nursed along, must be made to feel it is safe to trust in His promises. Still, complete and total sufficiency cannot be found apart from knowing Him as your Adonai, Your Lord and Master.
Abraham understood what it meant to have a master-servant relationship, for slavery existed in the days of Abraham. A bondservant was a type of slave who was bound in service to a master without being paid wages. Such a slave was actually far better off than a hired servant. This was because the master provided for his every need. It was the master’s responsibility to feed, clothe, shelter, protect, and to give direction (counsel) in his day by day living. Servants for hire had to fend for themselves, meet most of their own needs, when away from the master. It was only a bondservant/ slave, therefore, who could be totally dependent upon a master to meet all of his needs.
So it is with Adonai, Your Lord and Master.
However, be forewarned, to be Adonai’s good and faithful servant/slave comes with great responsibility. Abraham also knew this to be true. Having won a great victory over his enemies, he understood and acknowledged that it was God who brought about the victory; he acknowledged God’s Lordship over him. Did the victory come easy? Not by any means! Abraham had to trust in God’s sovereignty in order to obey His command. Abraham had to fight the battle!
In the book we read, “But does it matter what I do as long as I acknowledge Him as Lord and tell Him I want His free gift of eternal life? Yes, it does, for Lord, is more than a word; it indicates a relationship. The lordship of God means His total possession of me and my total submission to Him as Lord and Master.”
Whether or not you can honestly call Him Adonai, Your Lord and Master, allowing Him complete possession of you and totally submitting to His Will, well… that is the bottom line, is it not? Putting it bluntly, it is the difference between Heaven and Hell in Eternity.
So many today are unhappy in their Christianity. They claim they are not being fed. In attempt to ‘feed’ their flock many churches are turning to special effects and big media Hollywood-like productions. They send their flock out happy, humming, and thinking they are ready to take on the world. They are definitely turning out an enthusiastic, inspired flock. And that’s a good thing… a good place to start. There is nothing wrong with what they are doing, yet, in the most important way, they are not truly ‘feeding’ the flock.
Why not? Yes, they get the flock to give of themselves and foster many opportunities to do good works. However, it has become more important in today’s culture to feel happy all the time rather than introspectively assess one’s personal relationship with Adonai, Your Lord and Master. There is no accountability. We each need to know and own whether or not we are fulfilling our personal responsibilities to the Lord in a way that we can truly call upon His name and not have Him answer us, “And why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?”(Luke 6:46) “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS’” (Mathew 7:21-23)
Being good and giving will not gain you entry through that very last door into heaven. Neither will declaring His name and calling Him your Lord. Only the faithful servant who accepts His sovereignty and does whatever the Lord asks of him, no matter the cost, will be welcomed through to live with our Lord in Eternity.
Not easy at all! So, when I am asked if I am saved, my answer is: Through the Body and Blood of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, I am saved over and over again every single day of my life. Simply put… I AM Saved, but I must choose it each moment of my life.
If you have stuck with me this far and not run away, the biggest take away for each of us is that He is with us every step of our earthly life’s journey, from birth back to Him. When we acknowledge, bow down before, give free reign to Adonai, Your Lord and Master, we find our El Shaddai, The All-Sufficient One, waiting with arms wide open to shelter us. Our God is a great God and we can trust Him to fulfill all of His promises to us!
Mental action to facilitate your Lenten Journey:
Answer these questions honestly in your heart not your head. Who do you bow down before? Who has power over you?
If it isn’t Adonai, Your Lord and Master, call upon His name and ask Him to lead you to Him. He is waiting to bring you home.🙏🏻💖
Further action if so inclined:
Do you know what it means to be truly fed?
Reflect on Jesus’ words in John 6:53-58, NKJV:
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
Now ask yourself what does this truly mean? Are you being fed in this way?
🙏🏻😇
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