“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.”
Romans 10:9 (NIV)
Remember the prayer that you prayed, by faith, when you gave your life to the Lord? It probably went something like this “Jesus, forgive me of my sins, come into my heart, be my Lord, be my Savior, etc.” I’m paraphrasing but something along those lines. This is where the term “SAVED” comes from; Jesus is our Savior; therefore, we are “SAVED.”
However, what so many Christians seem to overlook is the part when we declared His Lordship as well. We acknowledged Jesus Christ as our Lord; therefore, we fall under His Lordship. What does that statement really mean – Jesus is Lord?
It means that He’s the boss, He’s the ruler, He’s the master, He calls the shots. So, if Jesus Christ is Lord, what does that make us:
– Jesus is Lord…we are His servants.
– Jesus is the Master…we are His slaves.
– Jesus is the Teacher…we are His disciples.
– Jesus is King…we are citizens of His kingdom.
When we prayed that prayer making Jesus Christ Lord and Savior of our lives, we transferred the ownership of our lives to Jesus Christ. He is now, our Lord, Master, Teacher, King and overall Boss. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 puts it this way, “…you are not our own, you were bought with a price…” We don’t belong to ourselves anymore, we belong to Him.
As Christians, why do we struggle so much with sin? We continue to hold on to unforgiveness, pride, anxiety and fear. We keep the door open for our flesh to be tempted through pornography, flirting in the workplace, thinking of past relationships or having lustful thoughts of others. We worship idols such as money, our spouse, our children, and even our jobs, titles. We relapse from our sobriety and go back to the addiction of drugs and alcohol.
One of the reasons we “struggle” in falling under the Lordship of Jesus Christ is because the devil has convinced us that we still have other options. As example; Do I lie on my tax returns so I can get more money back or do I trust God because He supplies all my needs (Philippians 4:19)? When we make Jesus Christ Lord of our lives, He becomes Lord of ALL and Lord of EVERYTHING.
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
In 2019, I was fruitful in my Life Group. My marriage and family life were doing great. As far as I was concerned, life, overall, was good. However, something in my spirit was feeling stuck and I couldn’t figure it out. It was really bothering me, so I decided to fast and pray and during that time, God showed me that I was getting too comfortable in the church and He wanted me to start reaching out to the community and share the gospel.
I didn’t know anything about community outreach other than being a part of what the church was doing. I really struggled in this because it was unfamiliar territory for me. I was never homeless or struggled with addiction, so I didn’t know how I could do it and, in all honesty, it scared me.
I begged God, “Lord, please send someone else, I don’t want to fail you.” I remember so clearly, the day God said to me “Who do you serve?” Humbly and with tears coming down my face (even now as I’m writing this devotional), I responded by saying “I serve You Lord.” He said, “You call Me Lord, then be My servant and obey.”
Today, my team and I have Life Groups in two women’s shelters. Almost 100 women have dedicated or re-dedicated their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. Most of them have been baptized, attended our encounters and going through our classes. Their families have been restored and today they are living free from addiction. Their only addiction is Jesus!
From that day on, I never disobeyed God’s instructions, he might have to speak a little louder sometimes, ha-ha, but when I know it’s God – I just obey, because He is Lord and I am His servant. (Samantha DeCorte)
TODAY’S DECLARATION
“Today, I declare that Jesus Christ is Lord over my life. Lord of all and Lord of everything.”
TODAY’S BIBLE READING
- Old Testament: Nehemiah 11; Proverbs 13:13-25
- New Testament: Luke 18:18-30; 2 Timothy 4
