Lord of my Life

1. Jesus - Lordof my life – 21st May 2016
“Thisis my command:Love each other…”(John15:17)
As Christians,the key forus isthe understandingthatJesus ChristisourLord and saviourinone’s life.
But simplystatingthisfactisnot sufficient…butwhatisimportantforus isour submission toHis
lordship.Tosubmitisto yieldtothe will andcontrol of another.ForChristians,itisyieldingtothe will
and control of JesusChrist.
As an example “Thisismycommand:Love each other…”(John15:17) as statedin the Scripture,it
commandsbelieverstolove one another…thatiswhatis requiredfromus tobe done!Itmeansthat
whenScripture sayswe are not to do thingssuchas from the TenCommandments,thesethingsare not
to be done.It shouldbe understoodthatsubmission,orobedience tothe commandsof God, isrelated
to Christiangrowthandmaturity,andis notrelatedtobecominga Christian. Simplystatingthatone isa
‘good’ Christian doesnotmake one togrow inmaturityas a Christian. We mustknow thata person
becomesaChristianbyfaithalone inChristapart from our works.Our faithisobtainedthrough
obedience toGod.“Throughhimwe received grace andapostleshipto call all the Gentilesto the
obedience that comesfrom faithfor his name’ssake”(Romans1:5).
We shouldrealize thatcomplete obedience cannotbe accomplishedsimplybywillingittobe done or in
the strengthof one’sinnerbeing.Itwill nothappensimplybecause we “decide”todo it.Thisis because
evenbelieversare prone tosinful conductandthoughtsapart fromthe work andpowerof the Holy
Spirit.Inorderto be obedient,we mustrelyonthe powerprovidedbythe indwellingHolySpirit aswe
can learnfromJohn 14:16-17, “AndI will ask the Father, andhe will give you another advocateto help
you andbe withyou forever— 17
the Spirit oftruth. The world cannotaccept him,because it neither
sees him nor knowshim. But you knowhim, for he liveswith you andwill be in you”.Thisin itself isan
act of obedience,forwe are commandedtobe filledwiththe Spiritaswe readfrom Ephesians5:18,
“Do not get drunk onwine, whichleads to debauchery.Instead, be filledwiththe Spirit”.
Thisdoesn’tmeanthata believergetsmore of the Spirit,butratherthatthe Spiritgetsmore of the
believer—whichisthe whole ideaof submission.Beingfilledwiththe Spiritisyieldingtothe Spirit’s
control.Practicallyspeaking,thishappensasabelieverrespondspositivelytothe leadingof the Holy
Spirit.Bythisis notmeantfeelingthatone isbeingleadintofull-time Christianministryandobeying
that feeling,althoughthismaybe included.Rather,itreferstothe day-to-daydecisionswe make,such
as respondingkindlyto others,helpingthe needy, andassistance tothe Churchetc. We can learnin
Romans12:17, “Do not repay anyoneevil for evil.Be careful to dowhat is right inthe eyes of
everyone”.
As Christianswe needtoconsciously andatall timesbe truthful inourcommunicationwithothers as
wewlearnfrom Ephesians4:25, “Therefore each of you mustput off falsehoodandspeak truthfullyto
your neighbor,for we are all members ofone body”. Furthermore we are requiredtobe honestinour
businessdealings aswe readin Ephesians4:28, “Anyonewho hasbeen stealingmuststeal no longer,
but must work, doingsomethinguseful withtheir own hands,that they may have somethingtoshare

2. with those inneed”. Christiansneedto spendtime inprayerandstudyingGod’sWordas we are
commanded sothat we clearlycome to know Hisplanand directionforourlives. We can learnin 2
Timothy2:15, “Do your best to present yourselfto Godas one approved,a worker whodoes not need
to be ashamedand who correctly handlesthe word of truth.” These are a justa few examplesof daily
decisionsthatdemonstrate submissivenesstoChrist.
It isalso importanttonote that evenwhenwe fail toobey,Godhas made a provisionforthatso that we
can remaininfellowshipwithHim. We canlearnfrom 1 John1:9, “Ifwe confessour sins,he is faithful
and justand will forgiveus our sinsand purifyus fromall unrighteousness.” We canlearnthat even
thisispart of submissionandobedience:toconfessoursinstoGod so that we can remaininfellowship
withHim.It isimportantto note that whentoughdecisionsarise,the firstthingwe shoulddoispray,
askingthe Lord to helpusto make the right decisionand/orbe obedienttowhatwe alreadyknowis
rightfrom the Word.
To sum upthe ideaof the Lordshipof Christ,it doesnotconsistof one act of obedience butratheris
measuredbythe sumof our obedience,and aswe statedabove…itcannot be accomplishedinourown
strengthor power,butby seekingthe poweravailable tousbythe indwellingHolySpirit.We are
strongestwhenwe are relyingonHim as we can learnfrom 2 Corinthians12:10, “That iswhy, for
Christ’ssake, I delightin weaknesses,in insults,inhardships,inpersecutions,indifficulties.Forwhen I
am weak, then I am strong”.