Friday, February 18, 2011

On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord...'

I've been thinking and meditating on this word 'Lord' lately. It's a very well-known word use in prayer and used in accordance to Jesus. Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines it like this: 1. one having power and authority over others, 2. a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due.

The truth is many have come to know Jesus as their savior, their redeemer, their friend, their healer... but He has also become to some a slave and a genie. For someone to be Lord over us sounds like a trapping thing. To think of Jesus as our Lord is an easy thing to claim in words, but would you believe that there is freedom when we come to the deep understanding of Jesus as Lord over our lives: Lord over our decisions, over our emotions, over our dreams, and Lord over our thoughts. Freedom sounds like a funny word to use when you read those definitions again, doesn't it? But what if we understood lordship in the sense of a battle and our Lord was the one leading us into victory? He is leading us triumphantly into victory, where with Him as our leader, we are destined to win! There is a pretty high confidence to know that you are on the winning team and the end result is already known!
We have been saved by grace through faith... We are saved from the captivity of our sin and saved from the lies of this world that entangle us. Jesus was the one who released us from our captivity... and He is our Lord! When we understand what Jesus has released us from, we understand that Him as our Lord means Him as our Savior! Read those definitions again... ask Jesus to have Lordship over every area of your life... it's only when He is Lord that you will find the most freedom to know that you are headed toward victory!
"If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is LORD and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Romans 10:9-10
"Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:9-11
"Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the LORD, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving." Colossians 2:6-7
"In your hearts regard Christ the LORD as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." 1 peter 3:15

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