Adonai - Lord and Master

At K-7 this summer the girls leadership gave us some devotion and bible study resources. One of the ones that sounded really interesting to me is called Lord, I Want to Know You by Kay Arthur because so many of them said that it really transformed their lives. I went home and bought the book and began going through it. Today I didn't have the opportunity to go to church because we traveled into Panama City for the day, so on the bus ride I spent some time reading the book. God revealed so much to me during that time and I just wanted to share a little bit of what I learned. Lord, I Want to Know You is a study on the names of God. The name that I learned about today was Adonai. Adonai is the Hebrew word for Lord and Master. This, to me, is one of the most significant names that Christians should understand. Viewing God as the Lord and Master of our lives can be a scary and humbling decision. If we truly believe that he is master and put Him as the Lord of our lives it requires obedience and submission on our part.

Kay Arthur said it well, "Many don't mind acknowledging Jesus Christ as a good man or even as a prophet, but they do not want to acknowledge HIm as God. If He is God, then He must be honored as God. Every knee must bow and confess Him Lord to the glory of the Father (Philippians 2:10-11). Jesus' deity and His right to be worshiped as Lord is brought constantly to our attention. And we must make a decision."
I don't know about you but the decision that I want to make is to acknowledge Jesus as God and submit fully to His will. The study goes on to share some scripture.

Luke 14:25-27 "Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, HE CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple."

Matthew 10: 34-40 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I am to set a man against his father, and daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a mans enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it. He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me."

I have heard and memorized those verses in the past but today they spoke to me more than before. I was really challenged to make sure my heart is fully devoted to the Lord, Adonai. It's so easy to run to those in your life who are there and can show their love faster and easier. I realized that I am often guilty of loving my family before God. It is so essential to run to Him with ALL of your troubles and desires FIRST, but sometimes the selfishness in me wants that instant gratification from a physical presence. God says, if we love our father or mother more than him we are not worthy of Him...wow. He wants the first fruits and the whole entirety of our hearts, everything we have to give. We are called to carry our cross and follow Him. Carrying our cross is an act of submission, just as Jesus carried His cross and paid the penalty for our sins in submission to God's will, we owe the same to Him. God blessed me this morning by speaking to my heart and opening my eyes to reveal more of Himself to me.

I had a lot of fun today in Panama City. It was a nice break to get out of the vastness of the rainforest and see Panamanian people. We took a painted school bus from Gamboa to the city for 65 cents, a fun way to get there! We spent half of the day in Cinco de Mayo plaza exploring the city and getting a feel for the area. I had some 75 cent ice cream, yum! We walked along a long strip of building where they had food and all kinds of department stores that blasted cold air into the street through open doors. I am definitely not used to all the attention from guys that we got. I knew it would be like that but it's always awkward when you walk down a street and you see 10 heads turn towards you and yell in your direction. The way men treat women sure is different than what I expect! I found a few bracelets and fun things in the market as well. It reminded me of the market in Ecuador this summer with similar items that had their own Panamanian spin to them. We also took a bus to Albrook Mall for the rest of the day. It was a very large mall with a lot of things to see, and I got to have pizza for lunch :) After meandering around for a few hours we hopped on the crowded bus home. It was so full we were all sitting on each others laps, it reminded me of crowded disney world buses. We ended up sitting by a bunch of guys our age who are training to be police men. We had an interesting conversation with them in half spanish half english and learned a little about what their lives are like in Panama. It was good to get some interaction with people outside of our GALA bubble.

Tomorrow is our first exam so I'm off to go study...hopefully....

Love, Shelby