Lord—not just a label
eMoment by Laurie Aker
Focus Scripture: Luke 11:24-28
“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person,
it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says,
‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes,
it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes
and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they
enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person
is worse than the first.”
27 As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice
and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts
at which you nursed!” 28 But he said, “Blessed rather are those
who hear the word of God and keep it!”
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The unclean spirit that Jesus is referring to is a demon.
Only those who are outside of Christ are susceptible to having
an unclean spirit dwell within them.
When the Spirit of God dwells within the heart of a man,
He is Lord of that man.
He rules and reigns – no demon can enter.
But when someone is outside of Christ, there is no one to guard
the heart and the unclean spirit can enter.
We want to make sure that we are truly Christian,
because someone can believe in God without truly being His.
James 2:19
You believe that God is one; you do well.
Even the demons believe-and shudder!
Many have been baptized at birth or dedicated to God as infants
who have not confessed their sin and turned towards God in repentance.
There are those who walked an aisle, prayed a prayer,
and have been baptized, but there was no true heart change.
There are those who may think because they believe in God,
go to church, or do good deeds,
that they have a place in heaven, but the Bible is clear:
Being truly Christian means that Christ is Lord, not merely a label.
Only those who hear the word of God and keep it will enter
the kingdom of heaven. You may think, who can keep the whole Word of God?
None of us can. In fact, none of us can go even one day without sinning.
So what does Jesus mean?
We all are sinners. No one is without sin.
Christ came and obeyed the law perfectly for us because we couldn’t.
When we come to Christ, we no longer live, but Christ lives within us.
He has fulfilled all the law for us and He gives us His power to overcome
sin and keep His Word. When God sees us He sees Christ.
We will still sin, however, it will not define us.
It will not be our way of life.
The life we now live, we will live out by faith in Christ. (Galatians 2:20).
The Spirit of God dwells within us and enables us to walk forward in
obedience to His word. Therefore, if we say that we love Christ
but we aren’t living according to His word, something needs to change.
Those who are in Christ love Him and keep His Word.
So, do you love Him?
Do you obey Him?
Are you IN Christ?
Is He your Lord?
Think about this today.
Ask the Lord to stir in your heart a new passion for Him.
Ask Him to increase your trust in Him and His power to enable you to
believe and keep His Word.
Do you need to confess any disobedience, apathy, or unbelief?
Do you need to cry out to Him for mercy and ask Him to be Lord?
Is there someone you know and love who says that they are a Christian
but they are not living according to God’s Word?
Close in prayer.
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