Jesus Is LORD

Many years ago, a man I was working with noticed my “Jesus is Lord” bumper sticker on my truck and asked me about it:

“I thought Jesus WAS Lord?” he asked; “Isn’t that an obvious statement?”

I quickly found myself lost in a theological debate on the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

If I were to ask you if you believed in His Lordship, I believe I would receive an overwhelming affirmation.

Yet, if I were to ask each of you “Is He Lord of all you are and all you have?” your answer would probably contradict the first answer.

It’s easy to put on a bumper sticker saying Jesus is Lord, another thing to proclaim His Lordship with our lips and our lives.

Most of us are so inundated with the saying: “Jesus is Lord” that perhaps we have never stopped to ponder what it means.

The Lordship of Jesus was the initial confession of the early church...

 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)                                        

                      

When a Jewish convert said “Jesus is Lord” he meant: Jesus is God. When a Gentile believer said “Jesus is Lord” he meant: I have no other god besides Jesus.

                                                                      

When the church started out in the first century, Christians made a clean break with the rest of the world. They were willing to follow their Lord Jesus Christ no matter what the cost was. Their proclaiming Jesus as Lord cost many of them their very lives because it meant they rejected all allegiance to Caesar.

Soon, gentiles flocked into the church and brought with them their practices, their sins, and their idols. So, the church lowered the standard to accommodate them. And the church has never fully recovered from this mistake.

Today, too many church members serve two lords. Churches are filled with baptized pagans living double lives. They say that they fear the Lord; all the while serving their own gods.  They draw near to Him with their mouths and honor Him with their lips, while their hearts are still far from Him. Calling Him Lord, while not doing what He has said to do.

We are called to not only worship Him on Sunday but also to serve Him all week long.

The Lordship of Jesus Christ is the confession of a true Christian: in the New Testament it is never Jesus Christ and... It is always Jesus; the Alpha and the Omega, The Beginning and the End

Calling Jesus Lord is the authentic work of the Holy Spirit:

1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed: and no one can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.

Our old nature will simply never bow down to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Today we explain to a convert the difference between: Trusting Christ as Savior and confessing Jesus as Lord…when they are actually one experience.

Yet some have proclaimed Him Savior: “I accepted Christ...”

What we are actually saying is: “Yes, I accept Him...” Simply to escape hell and make it to heaven…while seeming unconcerned about proclaiming Him Lord of their lives.

Salvation is not the same as going to Old Country Buffet where you take salvation and pass up on His Lordship.

I think that some treat salvation as though they will “try it out” on some kind of trial plan; and if it doesn’t work out then they try something else.

Yes, I understand that none of us fully understands all that is involved at conversion; we are still learning. But, I need to  be really blunt with you: No one can willfully and knowingly take Christ as Savior and reject Him as Lord and be saved.

In Acts 16, the Philippian jailer asks Paul what he must do to be saved. Paul answers him; “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31)

Did you notice that Paul gives the jailer three names:

Master (Lord) Mediator (Jesus) and Messiah (Christ)?

He didn’t say; “Take Jesus as your Savior today and think about having Him be your Lord sometime in the future, and then we’ll get together and talk about it sometime.”

We do have a choice; we can receive the Lord or reject Him. But, once we receive Him, our option ends. We are no longer our own master because we have been bought with a price.

We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. He has the first word and the last. He has the right to demand absolute loyalty even greater than any earthly dictator.

He alone has a right to do it because He alone not only made us, but also paid for our redemption by His death, burial and resurrection; HIS VERY LIFE WAS GIVEN FOR US!

It is absolute foolishness to say: “Nobody has the right to tell me what to do, how much to give, how I should live...”

He already has told us! His Word is final and we belong to Him. And yet, still we find ourselves talking like that.

 

One of the problems with not coming under His Lordship is that we honestly don’t understand what that means, so it doesn’t seem like any big thing.

I understand that we want to understand before do something, yet how many fully understood electricity before you used it?

When you gave your life to Jesus Christ, YOU came under new management.

You from that point on belonged to Jesus Christ and He was and is Lord of your life.                                                                                                                                                   

The sad state of much of the Christian church today is that there is no real confession of Jesus Christ as Lord; which is strange because the word ‘savior’ is in the New Testament 25 times, while the word “LORD” is found 682 times.

Christian = a believer, a disciple, and a witness. We come to Him as a believer, and follow Him as a disciple.

Some take a stand for the Lord and keep standing. Some take a step but not a walk. We must be born-again and then go on to become disciples and witnesses.                                                                                                                                 

Yes, salvation is a free gift available to anyone who asks. But, it was not without a price: It cost God His Son and the Son His life.

However, when we become believers we become disciples and that will cost us everything we have.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is after disciples, not merely card-carrying-pew-sitters. Americans are great ones to join things.

Jesus is not just Savior of the soul, He is Lord of the life. His Lordship is over all the earth.

The question is not whether or not you will confess Him as Lord; Philippians 2 tells us that one day EVERY knee will bow and EVERY tongue confess Jesus Christ as LORD.

But when will you confess Him as Lord? Will you do it now while you can still live for Him or when it will be too late?

Is He your Lord?

Is He Lord of your body?

Is He Lord of your thoughts?

Is He Lord of your tongue?

Is He Lord of your temper?

Is He Lord of your free time?

Is He Lord of your relationships?

Is He Lord of your past, good times and bad?

Is He Lord of your future plans?

Is He Lord of your money?

Is He Lord of your church life?

Is He Lord of your recreation?

Is He Lord of what you watch on television?

Is He Lord of what you listen to in regards to music?

                                                                                                     

His Lordship covers everything from eating and drinking to all of our daily affairs in this world.                                                                                                   

The heart of revival is making Jesus Lord, proclaiming His Lordship...Have YOU done that?

When this world passes away, some will be surprised:

Jesus said;

“Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out devils in Your name and done many wonders in Your name? (sang in the choir, worked at church, preached, built great buildings for you, worked in the nursery...) And then will I declare to them, I never knew you: depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

LOST: One Sheep

I was working in my garage on a Wednesday and heard a police siren; which isn’t too unusual until it was joined by another and then another and then another and then another and then what sounded like fire trucks and ambulances.

I thought it must be some sort of ‘manhunt’ because the streets that surround our house are residential and an accident wouldn’t require that many emergency vehicles.

A short time later, Cathy called me from her school and asked if I had heard the news that something tragic had taken place in the park by our house.

So I turned on the television to see a reporter informing the viewers that a fun-filled elementary school field trip to a park had become a tragedy as the rain-soaked Mississippi River bluff 30 to 40 feet high crumbled, creating a landslide killing one child, injuring two other children, and leaving another buried beneath the fallen hillside.  The steep slope had been saturated with rain in recent days causing the rescue to be at times almost impossible.

In an effort to get to the children, rescue workers knocked on the doors of surrounding houses to plead for more shovels. For two days, helicopters filled the air…they became a constant reminder to keep praying as the rescue workers made their way through the waist high mud.

I cannot imagine the pain felt by all of those involved from the school, the families, and the rescue workers who searched for almost twenty four hours until on Thursday they eventually found the missing child; who was unfortunately dead.

Wednesday evening, we had some people over to our house for our weekly Bible study; which had been rescheduled from Thursday. The passage already picked out to study was The Parable of the Lost Sheep from Luke 15 which is:

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:4-7 NKJV)  

As we discussed this passage, pondering just how much God searches for us when we are lost, the noise from the helicopters filled the air outside of our house once again reminding us that a desperate search was still under way for one individual who was lost.

We dialoged at how much money and time and effort was placed upon this situation. It didn’t matter whether there was money in the City of St. Paul West. St. Paul, Mendota Heights, Minneapolis, and the surrounding communities that sent over rescue personal and equipment. Seemingly nothing was too great of a price to pay to try and rescue this lost child.

Our conversation went back and forth between the rescue efforts that were taking outside in our neighborhood and contrasting it to the passage we were reading in Luke 15. All of this brought new revelation into the expense that was paid to rescue each one of us. 

Jesus Christ paid a great price to rescue us; He spared no expense. Your rescue and mine cost Him His life.  

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

 

 

 

 

 

looking for the hand that moves the clouds across the sky

I'm not sure of who needs to hear this; "But I've had my share of trouble....But God hasn't failed me yet!" I write this to encourage you who are facing uncertainty; waiting for provision in some area(s). Hear this from a friend who loves you and wants to encourage you.

I want to testify that God has always provided over the years for me; in abundance. I’ve had testing and trials; layoffs and unemployment. Times where I wondered how I was ever going to provide for this household of eight members. But the Lord has ALWAYS been faithful to provide not just for my needs but abundance so that I could give into others needs. He is faithful to calm my restless heart and calm my fears.

Even today I face uncertainty in several areas of my life. But I don’t face them alone! He is faithful even when we are not. His Word is always true. I’ve been here before, I’ll be here again.

Trust God to prove Himself to you!

^“Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. ¹¹ “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts; ¹² “And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” says the Lord of hosts.”  (Malachi 3:10-12)

You Don’t Need to Worry; HE WILL PROVIDE FOR YOU!

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? ²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  (Matthew 6:24-34)

Instead, Rejoice!

^“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. ⁴ But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:2-8)

 As Randy Stonehill puts it:

“When I was a boy I opened my eyes
looking for the hand that moved the clouds across the sky
and in my simple way I believed
the One who turns the world around was reaching down for me

and He's faithful to take me through my darkest hour
faithful I’ve felt his love, I’ve seen His power
and He's faithful even when I’m not
when I haven't got the strength of will to carry on
He says, "lean on me and I’ll be strong" and He's faithful

Through the stormy days of trouble and trials
I’m not afraid to face the thunder and the fire
the endless love of God it stays the same
faith is such a simple thing and simple things don't change”

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

 

 

Best Title Ever

Although my birth name is “Thomas”, my friends call me ‘Tom” or “Tommy”. Over the years, I have been bestowed with many titles that somewhat describe who I am or what I do; among them: husband, pastor, reverend, artist, teacher, student, designer, brother, son, hockey player, athlete, guitarist, chef, grandpa, minister, friend, co-laborer, ordained, saint, sinner, leader, preacher, coach, carpenter, and jokester or “funny guy”.

But none of the names or titles ever compare to “father” or “dad” or “daddy” or “papa”. Those are bestowed upon me by my children as a term of endearment. Those very words are words that my children call me as a statement of love based on intimacy, not legality. The words made me more of a friend and less of the one who was “running the show”; even though I was in charge.

Even Jesus when He walked the earth referred to God as Father; not Almighty Omnipotent Most Holy All Powerful God. In fact, He only referred to Him as“God” one time; and that was when He was dying on the cross where He “cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).

It was the time when He fully took on the sins of the world. And, I think that most theologians would agree, is when He most identified with how we, as sinful man, see God; not as a Father, but as a God.

But that is NOT the relationship that He wants us to have. When He taught us to pray, He said; “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” (Matthew 6:9). When He prayed at the Last Supper prior to going to the Garden of Gethsemane, John records; “Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father…”(John 17:1)

Now, I’m not saying that it is wrong to use words like “Jehovah” or “Yahweh” when we pray to God; or any of the attributes that He used to reveal who He is like “Banner” or “Healer” or “Shepherd” or “Mighty One” or “Sufficient” or “Sanctifier” or “Provider” or “Lord of Hosts”. Those terms all bring honor and glory to who He is.

And I’m not suggesting that it is wrong to pray in the Name of Jesus or even in some Hebrew name (but you do understand that He does understand when we speak English, right?), or “In Jesus Name” (which really has more to do with using His authority than to a special phrase or some “magic words” tacked on the end of a prayer).

Jesus’ Name IS holy and to be honored. As the Apostle Paul writes; “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11)

I’m just saying that because we are "children of God," and followers of Jesus Christ, we should use words that Jesus used to address God.

When He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to His arrest, He prayed; “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark 14:36)

Did you catch that word attached to the word Father? It wasn’t any of the “Most HOLY God” terminology that we use to talk to God. Jesus used the word “Abba”, which is an Aramaic word that comes from the lips of infants and betokens unreasoning the trust and confidence of a child. Some theologians have translated it as the word “daddy”. In fact, slaves during that time period were forbidden to address the head of the family by this title.

I am reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul who cries out in his letters; “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” (Galatians 4:6-7)

Similarly he wrote to the church in Rome; “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15)

My friends, let’s not short change the relationship with the Father and deprive Him of hearing from His children the term that He longs to hear; “Father”, “Dad”, “Daddy”, and “Papa”. It speaks of our innermost spiritual relationship with Him, when we talk to Him as child to father, and speak to Him in a childlike way. Those were the names that Jesus used when He talked (prayed) to Him.

"Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."