JESUS RULES – OK?

Not a very comfortable idea for many church people today, is it?  A condemned and crucified carpenter from miserable Nazareth in control of the church?  NEVER.  NEVER.  NEVER.  NEVER.

That is the cry of the church today, despite her giving lip-service to this biblical truth.   

Have you noticed that when Jesus arrives in a situation, He always takes charge?   

Remember the wedding in Cana of Galilee when there was no wine and He took complete control of the situation and gave them more than heart could desire.  Remember when He entered the Temple and discovered those who were making merchandise of religion, and how He drove them out with a whip of cords, overturning the tables of the money-changers?  He took complete control.

Now, have you noticed when He appears, He controls.  No, He’s not a ‘control freak’ as we would call such people today.  He was the eternal Son of God coming into His own purchased possession, the rightful Owner of all things.  He takes charge – as it should be.

But here’s a very difficult point: when He comes to your heart, He wants to take charge of it.  That’s not pleasant, is it?  “We are the Temple of the Holy Spirit,” Paul tells us.  When Christ comes to the Temple of your heart, what does He see?  Does He see the money-changers’ tables sitting where He should be?  Are activities going on in your life that ought not to be?  Are things present in your heart that offend Him?

And are you seeking the Lord to “purify my heart,” and to make you holy?  If so, then you must expect Christ to work in those areas of your life that are not under His control.  And that will be uncomfortable and disturbing and painful. 

You are not your won; you were bought with a price – the precious blood of Christ.  So you have no rights to your own life, but He has - exclusively.