Beloved, as you rise to meet this day, pause and consider this one staggering truth: “No one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3, NASB). These are not idle words. This is the line in the sand between dead religion and living faith. You can recite creeds and attend services, but unless the Spirit of God has breathed life into your soul, the name of Yeshua will never ring out as Lord from the depths of your heart.
Jesus Is Lord—this is not mere doctrine. It is the thunderous confession of a heart conquered by grace. It cannot be manufactured by intellect or emotion. It is born of spiritual rebirth. The flesh recoils at His Lordship. The natural man demands autonomy, but the Spirit reveals a better way: surrender that leads to life.
And yet, many churches today strain under the weight of programs and productions that attempt to create love for Christ without confronting the heart’s need for regeneration. They preach morality without the cross, motivation without repentance, and Jesus as model instead of Jesus as Master. But Jesus is Lord, and that means He is King, Sovereign, and worthy of your total allegiance. No gimmick can produce true devotion. Only the Spirit can draw the soul to kneel in awe and cry out, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28, NASB).
This confession—Jesus is Lord—is the Spirit’s work in you. If you can say it with reverence and love, then rejoice! The Spirit has opened your eyes. He has shown you the crucified, risen Savior, and planted within you a hunger for His presence. But if your heart feels cold, pray this morning: Holy Spirit, reveal Jesus to me. Strip away the veil. Let me see the One who died and rose for me, and in seeing Him, may I love Him with all my soul.
But there is more. If we truly confess Jesus as Lord, we must dethrone another master—ourselves. Romans 6:19 calls us to offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. The self-life—the proud, stubborn “I”—must be crucified. It cannot co-reign with Christ. God will not share His glory with the ego of man.
The Holy Spirit deals violently with the flesh, but always for the sake of love. He says, “This selfish I cannot live.” The ego is anti-Christ at the root. It loves attention. It craves control. It demands credit. But the Spirit leads us into a deeper surrender, where we echo John the Baptist’s cry, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30, NASB).
This morning, offer no defense for your pride. Do not make peace with your self-centered ambitions. Invite the Spirit to burn away everything in you that resists the Lordship of Christ. Say aloud, “Jesus is Lord”—and mean it with your life.
Let it shape how you speak to your family.
Let it guide how you work and serve today.
Let it determine what you love and what you leave behind.
Jesus is Lord—not just of your Sunday mornings, but of your thoughts, your body, your finances, your affections, your future. You cannot make Him Lord by your own strength. But the Spirit within you can. And He will, if you yield.
Your Spirit whispered truth to me,
And scales fell from my eyes.
You lit the fire that made me free,
And taught my soul to rise.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, awaken in me again the awe and wonder of who Yeshua is. Let me not speak His name lightly, nor serve Him halfway. Destroy in me the selfish ego that exalts itself, and plant instead a deep-rooted humility that treasures Christ above all. Today, may my every word and action confess: Jesus is Lord. Amen.
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