Is Jesus The Lord Of Your Life?

Is Jesus the Lord of Your Life?

This morning I want to address the question of what it means for Jesus to be the Lord of our lives.

Rom 10:9-10

9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

(NIV)

The word Lord means to govern over or to rule over. By confessing with our mouths that Jesus is Lord means that we will follow His every teaching and allow Him total control over our lives. Many times we concentrate on Jesus being our Savior and neglect Jesus has our Lord. Once we accept Christ as our Savior, it doesn’t stop there. We are also commanded to accept Christ as our Lord or ruler. This is where many Christians are falling short today. We “talk the talk”, but we don’t “walk the walk”. God had blessed our founding fathers with a new nation that acknowledged God as the supreme ruler.

What has happened to the Nation that God had blessed us with? We as Christians have let ourselves become complacent in our walk with Christ. We no longer put Him first in our lives. We have allowed sin not only to come into our lives, but also into our churches.

Growing up in North Carolina in the 50’s and early 60’s, life was a lot simpler than it is today. We didn’t have the luxuries that we have today, but we did have joy, peace and our right to practice our Christianity. If you needed something from the store, you had better get it on Saturday, because all stores were closed on Sundays. This was a state law respecting the authority of God not to work on the Sabbath. Attending elementary school, we said the Pledge of Allegiance (including the words “under God”) each morning and then a teacher would say a prayer over the intercom that included the name of Jesus Christ. At lunchtime a blessing would be said before eating. We were encouraged to bring our Bibles to school and we were allowed to read them. We could even witness to others and pray with them in school. The Ten Commandments were posted in each school. What has happened in the last 50 years?

Since the time of my youth many things have changed.

1. Christian Clergy can no longer speak in our schools, but other religions can be discussed in our schools.

2. Prayer and moments of silence has been removed.

3. The reading of the Bible and handing out Christian tracks in schools are discouraged.

4. The posting of the Ten Commandments and “In God We Trust” posters have been removed from our schools

5. Clergy can no longer pray at Graduation ceremonies.

6. A student lead prayer at graduation ceremonies must be written out and approved in advance. The prayer cannot mention Jesus Christ.

7. High School football games can no longer start with prayer.

8. The Boy Scouts are being ridiculed for mentioning God in their motto and for not allowing homosexuals to become scoutmasters.

9. Ten Commandments monuments and nativity scenes are being removed from government property.

10. Pornography has been ruled as free speech.

11. The killing of unborn babies is now legal up to the day that the baby is due.

12. In some states, it is against the law to discuss religion on public transportation.

13. Divorce is running rampant even in our churches.

14. Same sex marriages are now becoming legal in most states.

15. Just about every show on TV depicts adultery, sex or homosexuality. Many TV shows and movies make fun of or ridicule our Christian beliefs.

Why is this happening? Is it because we have turned our backs on God? Is it because we have the attitude that we have our ticket to heaven, so why worry? I believe that this is the attitude of many believers and many pastors.

Matt 7:21-23

21 "Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

23 Then I will tell them plainly, ’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

(NIV)

As pastors we are to preach salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ. We must teach what it means to really accept Christ as our Savior. In the book of Romans, Paul tells us that we must believe in our hearts. This is not the same as believing in our minds. Remember in the Garden of Eden when the serpent convinced Eve to eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan did this by using Eve’s mind and her senses. Eve knew in her heart that she shouldn’t, but Satan used her mind to convince her that she would become like and equal to God. Believing in you mind that Jesus exists and that He is the Son of God does not save you. Even Satan believes and knows that Christ is the Son of God, but Satan refuses to accept Christ in his heart. So it is with many who confess to be Christians today. They believe in their mind, but have not given their hearts to Christ. The heart is the life support of our bodies. When we turn our heart over to Christ, we are actually giving total control of our lives over to Christ. We are saying, “Here I am Lord. Take me. Use me. Lead me and I will follow wherever you lead. May your will be done and not that of my own.” That takes a lot of courage to do, but that is what Salvation is all about. Surrendering to the saving grace of Jesus Christ.