Jesus is Lord?

On March 14, 2018   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 10: 9         NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Do you call Jesus Lord? Do you worship him as Lord? Do your daily behaviors reflect his lordship? Do you obey him as lord?

The first question is easy, but I find each subsequent one gets harder. First, I must ask myself what it means to worship him, obey him and reflect him as Lord. We do not live in the feudal Europe of the past, so the idea of lordship is a bit foreign to us. Add to that the high value we place on individuality and independence and we become even further removed. Yet, we are called upon to serve him as our lord. In fact, wasn’t it a prerequisite of your salvation? Didn’t we accept him and confess him as our lord?

The best tool I have is movies. I think about the medieval era movies I have watched and that adds texture to my thoughts. Jesus’ obligation is to care for me. He is to defend me against my enemies and I owe him fealty. I owe him obedience, respect and honor. In return, all my problems become his. I am his responsibility.

Jesus is certainly our brother and our best friend, and we should not lose sight of that, but he is also Lord. His lordship is weighty and should be. He takes his responsibility towards us seriously. We must bear our responsibility towards him just as soberly. His commands are life and death. They are not just wishes. He gives them to us to impart abundant life to us, but obedience is a value unto itself. We should hearken to his word even when we do not understand. His having spoken should be enough.

What is Jesus saying to you today? What has he told you in the past? What are the goals and directives he has given for your life? Has he given you something to do that is yet undone? We are all given this day to begin anew. Each day we have the opportunity to improve upon yesterday. Each day is new and carries new promise. We are not called into condemnation but rather reevaluation. Are we where we want to be in our walk with Jesus? What does he wish to speak to us? Where is he leading us?

Jesus is Lord. He is our leader. His word is command even though it is also blessing. He is a benevolent lord and that is a worthy statement. He is worthy of honor and service. We should enter his court with high praise. He is our lord and our king.

Back to Top

Commanding Presence

On September 6, 2017   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 15: 17

This I command you, that you love one another.

I may have mistyped today’s verse. Shouldn’t that read, “I encourage you to love one another” or “I suggest you love one another?” And yet, I looked it up in a bunch of translations and all of them say “command.” What happened to the gentle, kind Jesus or is it that we sometimes forget he is Lord?

Good things flow to us when we obey the Lord and he always has our best interests at heart. However, it seems to me that his giving us a command ought to be reason enough to do it. Where does reasoning fit in? Is there any room to question this directive?

Jesus is our big brother and our best friend. That does not negate his lordship though and I think we sometimes forget that he is Lord and king. We have been given a high status in the kingdom of God and we praise God for that but it would not hurt us to revisit Jesus as Lord. We worship him but lordship also demands obedience. Every word out of Jesus’ mouth is to be obeyed. I can tell you that his words are life and that it serves you well to obey him for that reason but I do not wish for us to lose sight of Jesus as Lord and master.

Every knee will bow before the Lord Jesus. He is to be lifted up. Yes, talk to him as your big brother. Giggle with him as your best friend but also praise him, worship him and above all obey him because he is Lord and because he is worthy. He takes his responsibility seriously and we are wise to remember that we owe him service and obedience.

Back to Top

Check-up

On November 11, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 6: 46

And why do you call Me “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say?

I have this verse highlighted in my Bible and every now and again it just jumps out at me. I kind of wish I had not highlighted it. Then again, it is a good question the Lord Jesus poses and one that is worthy of repeated consideration. How am I doing, today, at following his words?

I am not the only Christian who stumbles here. It is quite easy to settle into a comfortable, if a bit apathetic, routine with the Lord. We are supposed to zealously follow Jesus but it is difficult to retain that zeal on a day by day basis if we are not purposeful about it. The world and life intervene. There are many things we must do and it is so easy for that myriad of obligations and just daily life to take our eyes off of our first love. Then we have to wake ourselves up and look at our priorities. When that event occurs, I think the question we must ask ourselves is, “Am I truly doing what Jesus said?” It seems to me that this question must be answered at two levels. The first and most obvious as well as most important is, “Am I doing all that is recorded in the Bible?” Some people might ask that question differently to essentially limit the assessment to the red letter portion of the New Testament. I believe that to be error because Jesus is the Word. He is the whole Word so when the Bible says in the Psalms to trust the Lord that is every bit as strong an edict as something printed in red ink. So, are we, am I, doing all that Jesus has directed me to do in the Bible?

The second inquiry is into those things God has specifically spoken into my life. Am I following the dietary instruction He has given me? Am I following the course He has laid out for me? Did I give what He told me to give? Did I apologize to that person He told me to apologize to? Basically, this question represents the directions God has given to you pertaining directly to your life.

How are you doing? This is a challenging process but it helps us get back on track if we have slipped a little and it helps us refocus on whom we actually serve as our Lord. As Jesus says, if I am not following what He has told me to do, then how can I really say He is my Lord? It hurts a bit to realize how disobedient I have been but oh, it feels so much better once I realize the truth and apologize to Jesus. We get to start again and he holds no grudge. He is so good.

So, give yourself a check-up. Regardless of the answers, it really does bring life and light into your life and we all need that.

Back to Top

Daily Declaration

On February 19, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 67: 19

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation [Selah].

What is salvation? So many times we have a narrow perspective on salvation. We often limit its scope to being saved from hell. Of course, that is one of the inclusions of the word salvation but these Old Testament writers had a much more complete understanding of salvation.

The word salvation, according to Strong’s, means “something saved, deliverance; hence aid, victory, prosperity; – health, help, welfare.” Therefore, God is our daily deliverance, aid, help, victory, prosperity, health and welfare. Does that put a different perspective on today’s verse? 

The word “Selah” means to stop, pause and consider. We are supposed to stop here as if this verse is a crescendo and ponder its meaning. When we do we notice that this little 15 word sentence is loaded with power and good news. One of the takeaways is that God bears our burdens. Another is that God is our salvation. We also see that it is possible for us to bless the Lord. There is at least one more though. That is that this burden shifting salvation occurs on a daily basis. There may be a revelation in there. It is not enough that I gave Jesus my heavy burdens yesterday. I must meet Him again this morning and pronounce his lordship over my life today. That is like fireworks going off in the sky above me. 

Every day we proclaim that Jesus is our Lord.  From that reality easily flows the daily laying down of our burdens. It becomes almost automatic to give him our worries, deadlines and cares when we begin with a daily declaration of his lordship over our lives.

I hope this revelation sets you free in at least one aspect of your life. Proclaiming his lordship over our lives daily unleashes his power into our day. It gives his angels assignments for our benefit. Maybe this gives the understanding and motivation for getting up five minutes early so that we can speak with Jesus and declare him as Lord today.

Back to Top