Author Topic: Is Jesus REALLY Lord? (Read 9107 times)

M.A. Crawford · « **on:** January 01, 2001, 08:01:00 AM »

As we enter this new year, my concern for all of us who profess to be followers of Christ is: Is Jesus really Lord?

I am sure that at some point in time practically all Christians refer to Christ as "the Lord," but is He REALLY Lord of our lives? Experience has taught me over the years that the problem is not so much as having Jesus as Savior as it is accepting Him as Lord of our lives. More often than not, many are ready to accept Him as the One who died on Calvary to pay the penalty for our sins, but when it comes to permitting Christ to come into our lives, be Lord, and reign supreme, that is another matter. There are some who are not willing to remove "self" from the throne of their hearts and make Christ King and Lord. As a result, many are guilty--as were Ananias and Sapphira--of "holding back" something inconsistent with the Will of God in their lives they are unwilling to give up. But my Bible tells me that "ninety nine and a half" just won't do. We must SURRENDER ALL of the throne of our hearts to Jesus and make Him Lord of our lives COMPLETELY if we are to be saved.

My desire, as God has blessed us to see 2001, is to make sure that Jesus is REALLY LORD of my life. My question is: How can we make sure that He is really Lord of our lives?

M.A.

Dugald T Lewis MD · « **Reply #1 on:** January 01, 2001, 08:41:00 AM »

Dear Elder Crawford,

A hearty Amen to that post.
I join with you.

Sincerely
Dugald

Gerry C. Wagoner · « **Reply #2 on:** January 01, 2001, 09:33:00 AM »

Amen brother Mac!

gcw

Richard Myers · « **Reply #3 on:** January 01, 2001, 06:48:00 PM »

Amen!

Take my heart, Lord, for I can't give it. I believe take away my unbelief. Help me to learn of your love, to see your grace. Help me to see Jesus, every day!

Richard

Elder John Thurber · « **Reply #4 on:** January 02, 2001, 03:26:00 AM »

Is Jesus really Lord of my Life. What a soul searching question to begin this new year.

I some how believe that when one truly wants to have this experience and as God leads them that there will be times when some friends and relatives will begin to withdraw from us for they may see us as legalistic. By the way what does that word mean? Is keeping the Sabbath Holy or being faithful to one's spouse, or having a study time that is sacred to you. I guess what I am trying to say is If you are serious about making Him Lord, we better be ready to receive a critical response For it is easier to live trying to cover up your true feelings to keep peace. However I do not think Making Him Lord will ever happen by just having it the heart and trying to hang on to the world for sake of friends. Am I off base?
Friend John

M.A. Crawford · « **Reply #5 on:** January 02, 2001, 09:16:00 AM »

I greatly appreciate the comments from all on this topic. As we embark on the new year, let us determine it in our hearts that we will redouble our efforts to make Christ truly Lord of our lives, and to really mean it when we say: "Not my will, but Thy Will be done." This is my DAILY goal and prayer in these forums to "let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in His Sight."

Are we daily aware that what we say, think, and do are under the All-Seeing Eye of the Almighty? Does this fact make us more conscious of how we treat our fellow man? How does this relate to Jesus being Lord of our lives?

M.A.

M.A. Crawford · « **Reply #6 on:** January 05, 2001, 08:16:00 AM »

No, Friend John, you are not off base in your post dated 01-02-2001 at 04:26AM. The Bible tells us: "Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you" (Matt. 5:11, 12).

In the above verses of Scripture, our Lord and Savior offers us words of comfort because He knew there would be some in the church who would give in to the influence of evil and say all manner of unkind things about those who are trying to live right. They do these kinds of things, more or less, for the same reason they did them to Christ in His day: for the most part, THEY ARE NOT TRYING TO LIVE RIGHT THEMSELVES. Therefore the life of a true follower of Christ is a DIRECT CONDEMNATION of the unChristlike life they are living.

Be that as it may, we are NOT TO RUN AWAY from criticism and the false accusations of others. The Bible admonishes us: "Thou therefore ENDURE HARDNESS, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tim. 2:3, emphasis mine). We are to "Stand up, Stand up for Jesus" as good soldiers of the Cross. We are to BE COURAGEOUS and not cower down in fear when accosted by the enemy.

As representatives of Christ, let us determine it in our hearts that no amount of criticism, persecution, or anything else will cause us to "turn tail and run" and drive us away from the church, or cause us to "hide" in some larger congregation where we can "bury our heads in the sand" and not be bothered.

M.A.

M.A. Crawford · « **Reply #7 on:** January 17, 2001, 06:13:00 AM »

"Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Matthew 7:21.

Verbosity and grandiose words alone will avail us nothing! The Lord makes it VERY CLEAR in His Word the true way into His Kingdom. He tells us that not everyone that says unto Him "Lord, Lord" shall enter into the Kingdom, but he that DOES the Will of His Father who is in Heaven.

How are we to know God's Will for our lives? By way of faithfully studying the Word of God and through prayer. When we make it up in our minds that we are willing to be a DOER of God's Will, then the Holy Spirit will give us what we stand in need of in order to understand God's Will for our lives.

Herein again, ninety-nine and a half just won't do. We must be willing to go ALL THE WAY and surrender all to Him.

Are we willing to do this? We answer that question--not so much in word--but, by way of the life lived--what we do in the flesh.

M.A.

Richard Myers · « **Reply #8 on:** January 17, 2001, 06:52:00 AM »

We may talk of Jesus and we may speak of the doctrines, but unless we have love for those who despitefully use us, we are not His? Amen, Brother Crawford.

By the love we have one for another, the world will know we are His disciples!

Richard

M.A. Crawford · « **Reply #9 on:** January 26, 2001, 06:43:00 AM »

"And why call ye me Lord, Lord and do not the things which I say?" Luke 6:46.

Jesus did not direct this question to those who were of the world. He asked this question of those who claimed to be His true followers (just as we Seventh-day Adventists claim today). He was talking to His disciples and to those who kept the Sabbath as the day of worship (just as we do today).

The Bible tells us we need to examine ourselves in order to ascertain if we are even in the faith (2 Cor. 31:5), because he that thinks he stands needs to take heed unless he falls (1 Cor. 10:12).

A major objective of the enemy is to deceive us, causing us to think that everything is all right with us spiritually, when every thing is not all right. This is why we need to daily study the Word of God and VERY CLOSELY EXAMINE ourselves by the words written there as to whether we are ordering our lives according to God's Will as revealed in His Word. Because we shall be judged--not by those things written by some scholar or theologian--but, by those things WRITTEN IN THE BOOK! (Jas. 2:12; Rev. 20:12).

M.A.

loryn · « **Reply #10 on:** February 05, 2001, 04:17:00 PM »

Is there any question that should be approached with more humility than this one? Is Jesus LORD of everything we are and have? Do we love God with every fabric of our soul? Would we be willing to give up cultural institutions, fashions, belongings, or anything dear to us for HIM?

loryn · « **Reply #11 on:** February 05, 2001, 04:24:00 PM »

Just a word of caution from my personal experience for those contemplating Jesus' words concerning persecution from non-believers.

When I became a Christian, I wanted to please God in absolutely everything I did. For example, I wanted Sabbath to be an absolutely holy time. Yet my wife didn't share this experience with me. I did my best to ignore her unholy activities during sacred time; eventually trying to coerce her to not engage in them. This resulted in her hurt, and me dwelling on these words of Jesus.

Then a wise minister asked a searching question of my heart: Am I being a servant? Am I seeking to truly love my wife, or merely to solve a Sabbath problem? How holy were my love-less Sabbaths? I might think I loved God, but if I couldn't love my wife and serve her, how could I love God?

These questions rocked me to the core. More ever than before, I am humbly searching for who God wishes me to be. I'm positive I truly have not found who that is. But I trust God will reveal me to myself in His time.

WendyForsyth · « **Reply #12 on:** February 05, 2001, 04:43:00 PM »

Amen Loryn!

Wendy
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Maranatha!!!

M.A. Crawford · « **Reply #13 on:** February 06, 2001, 06:02:00 AM »

"How holy were my love-less Sabbaths? I might think I loved God, but if I couldn't love my wife and serve her, how could I love God?"

A long time devout member of the church had a husband who was not in accordance with many of its doctrines. When she married him she was an Adventist but he was not. He would mow his lawn on the Sabbath (he told me this story) and would eat all manner of unclean foods. But she would continue to LIVE THE LIFE of a Christian before him and faithfully perform her duties as wife without complaining or CRITICIZING HIM for what he was not.

One day she went to church on what was a baptizmal Sabbath. To her suprise, her husband was among those who were getting baptized. He had discontinued his unholy Sabbath activities, had ceased from eating unclean foods, and had been meeting privately with the pastor to receive Bible studies and counsel. To make a long story short, he wanted to suprise his wife and let her know that it was her EXAMPLE OF LOVE for him that she DEMONSTRATED that made the difference in his life. He could SEE CHRIST living in her, which in turn drew him to the Saviour.

As alluded to in the post, when one is trying to win souls to Christ, it is not so much in sermonizing or in argument that will draw men and women to Him and seal their decision, but IT IS LOVE--the love of Christ that IS DEMONSTRATED in one's everyday living--that is the overriding factor.

M.A.

M.A. Crawford · « **Reply #14 on:** April 08, 2001, 07:33:00 AM »

It is the height of (in the words of my late uncle) "Tom Fool-ery" to think that we can be saved without Jesus Christ being Lord or Supreme in our lives. Jesus says of Himself in John 14:6 "...NO MAN cometh unto the Father, but by me" (Emphasis mine throughout). No one can come to the Father except they come by way of Jesus Christ. Why is that? In the first part of the verse, Jesus tells us why:

1. "...I am the way...." The beginning words of a particular song read: "Jesus is the Answer for the world today; above Him there's no other, Jesus is the Way...." Jesus is the Answer! Whatever the question is unto salvation, JESUS IS THE ANSWER. Try as men may to find another way, there is no other. JESUS IS THE WAY.

2. "...the truth...." Men have, down through the ages, searched for and wanted to know what is truth where salvation is concerned. The answer today can be told: JESUS IS TRUTH. The Living Example that He left for us to follow (1 Peter 2:21) is the ONLY TRUTH that will save unto eternal life.

Jesus prayed for His true followers in John 17:17 for the Father to: "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." Jesus is the Living Word; the Holy Bible is the Written Word. They are Both one and the same where principles of salvation are concerned.

3. "...and the life...." Apart from Christ, THERE IS NO LIFE. There is only eternal destruction from which no one shall arise.

Life originates in Christ. The simplest cell--the single cell--attests to this fact. At its center is the nucleus. Without it, the cell cannot live. At the center of the life of a Christian is Jesus Christ. Without Him the Christian could not live, but would face eternal destruction.

Are we demonstrating in our everyday living that Jesus is REALLY Lord?

M.A.

M.A. Crawford · « **Reply #15 on:** April 25, 2001, 07:13:00 AM »

Is Jesus REALLY Lord of our lives? He is? Here is a thought to ponder. When the Lord brings something to our attention--something in our lives that is inconsistent with His Will--are we willing to yield to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, or is it "business as usual?"

M.A.