I want you to see the beginning of the temptation in Genesis 3:1. The devil asked, ‘Has God said?’ He took ‘the Lord’ out. How did Eve respond? She took ‘the Lord’ out as well. Before Eve fell to the temptation and ate the fruit, she stepped out from the Lordship of her God. Keep The Lord In God.

Satan did not question the existence of God, the Creator, he questioned His Lordship. His whole approach was that there is a God but He is not my Lord and He shouldn’t be your Lord either. When satan can get the Lord out of your God, He has hooked you and its just a matter of what bait you will bite on. 

Satan did not question the existence of God, the Creator, he questioned His Lordship. Share on X

During the Last Supper, when Jesus warned that someone was going to betray Him (Matthew 26:22), they asked, is it I Lord? That was the disciples’ relationship with Jesus Christ. Lord has to do with ownership. Even though the disciples had been with Him for three years, they did not become so familiar that they lost the Lordship. 

Compare them to Judas, who replied, ‘Is it I rabbi?’ Judas only saw Jesus as a teacher, not as his Lord. When Jesus is your Lord, you can fall and trip but you are still under His covering. You will repent and come back. That is the relationship. That’s why Jesus had the audacity to call Judas devil because the devil was the first person who said God without Lord. The devil’s number one task is to make you religious and remove your relationship and lordship of God.

The devil’s number one task is to make you religious and remove your relationship and lordship of God. Share on X

The second thing I want to highlight is that today if the enemy will doesn’t try to remove ‘the Lord’ out of God, he will settle for empty confession without the full practice of Lordship, (Matthew 7:21, Luke 6:46). Today the devil is content with you calling God ‘Lord’ as long as it is not backed up with your life. 

You can profess Jesus’ Lordship without surrendering to His will. To do the will of God means you have to yield your own, (Acts 16:31). 2 Samuel 15:25-26 shows David’s acknowledgement of God’s Lordship in his life.

Acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus Christ requires three things:

• His ownership. 
• Absolute surrender. 
• Willingness to serve His purpose.

I challenge you, my friend, to live with this position in your heart – here I am, Lord, do to me what seems good to You. We know it is God’s will to heal, deliver and bless us but if things don’t go the way you want them, say here I am, do to me as it seems good to you.

To overcome temptation, never let the devil take you out of the realm, umbrella, and protection of the Lord God. 

[Blog is written by Edward Gardiner; Sermon by Vladimir Savchuk]