Sunday, July 19, 2015

What Do You Call Him

What Do You Call Him
July 20, 2015
Luke 6:46  "'Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?'"

The Lord has many different names yet He is still the same being.  But what you call Him is significant to your Christian walk.  The name by which you call Him suggests what and who He is in your life.  The Lord has a placeholder in each of our hearts; He should be near and dear to all of us.  When He is near and dear to you, what do you call Him?  Do you call Him Heavenly Father?  Do you call Him God?  Do you call Him Lord?  The wording isn't necessarily the same for all us us, because we see Him differently; we submit to Him differently.

When I say we submit to Him differently, I mean that we all have our own areas of total submission to Him and the areas we like to remain independent.  Very few of us are totally submitted to Him if we are honest.  Although we should be completely submitted to Him, we hold back.  What you call Him and how much you submit to Him are very highly correlated.  Some only want Him to be a Savior from Hell, and if they only know Him as such, they might be surprised when it comes time to enter into eternity.  Some only want Him to be God, a powerful being up in Heaven with no earthly presence.  Some want Him to be Healer when they are sick.  His name might change depending on your needs and whims of the moment and how much of your life you want to submit to Him.

Jesus called Him "Our Father" which paints an amazing picture of unity among us as well as provides insight into the Lord's character.  But who is He to you, actually?  The Bible says that Jesus rebuked those who would call Him "Lord" yet did not submit to His instructions.  The term "Lord" in the Bible was synonymous with the term "master."  If you called someone "Lord" then you recognized you were either His servant or His dedicated student.  Either way, you would submit fully to someone whom you called "Lord."  But Jesus was being honest about the irony.

People call Him an All Powerful God but don't act like it.  People call Him Lord but don't actually submit to Him.  People call Him a Father but don't let Him lead and protect their families.  We are all guilty of this to a degree, calling Him one thing yet acting like He is not.

So, I will ask again, who is He to you?  Is He KING?  Is He Father? Is He Lord?  Never mind what you call Him, what do your actions say about who He is?  Your actions define who He is in your life.  I doubt any of you call Him "Master," but you should.  I doubt very few of you call Him "Prince of Peace," but you should.  I doubt many of you call Him "Strong Tower," but you should.  I challenge you to look up the names of the Lord and make a decision as to who He is allowed to be in your life.  If your actions do not demonstrate it, then He certainly isn't "that" in your life.

One of my favorite names for Him comes from the heart of King David.  He called Him, "Lord Almighty, the God of the Armies of Israel."  That was certainly who the Lord was do David; his actions proved it!

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Judges 13:16-18, 1 Sam 17:45, Luke 6

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