Make Jesus Lord through the Holy Spirit

Paul wrote, "No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3). Today, we hear a lot of preaching and teaching about "making Jesus Lord of your life." I want to share some of my thoughts on that.

 

 

First of all, Jesus is Lord, whether you realize it or not.

 

 

Second, no one can call Him Lord but by the Holy Spirit.

 

 

Third, you cannot "make Him Lord" of your life except through the power of the Spirit.

 

 

Fourth, we who preach and teach cannot force or motivate others to make Jesus Lord of their lives, except through the Spirit.

 

 

Fifth, we who preach and teach must first of all make Jesus Lord of our lives and set an example before God will use us to help others make Jesus Lord of their lives.

 

 

Sixth, we must be filled by the Holy Spirit so He can move through us like "rivers of living water," convicting others to make Jesus Lord of their lives.

 

 

The bottom line is that we must preach and teach believers how to be filled and how to walk in the Spirit if they are going to make Jesus Lord of their lives. Doesn't that make sense?

 

 

Years ago, I pastored a church in which the pastor before me had graduated from the same seminary I attended. The church was dead and depressed. The pastor preached the Word, but he had never taught the people about the Holy Spirit. In the first few months, I preached "how to be filled with the Spirit" and "how to walk in the Spirit." And the church came alive! People began to walk in the Spirit. Church attendance doubled. People began to witness. Souls were saved. Jesus was exalted. That, dear people, is what most churches desperately need today.

 

 

Realize He is Lord. Renounce yourself as Lord. Respond to Him as Lord and fall on your knees, for He loves you.

 

 

Prayer: Father, help us to know what it means to truly make Jesus the Lord of our lives. Fill us with Your Spirit and help us to walk in the Spirit daily. In Jesus' name, Amen.

 

 

Quote for the Day: "Lord, take me where you want me to go. Let me meet the people you want me to meet. Tell me what you want me to say, and keep me out of your way." —Author Unknown

 

Anointed with the Holy Spirit

Jesus said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me
to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release
to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those
who are oppressed" (Luke 4:18).

It is electrifying when you are conscious of the anointing of the Holy
Spirit. This anointing is real, and we have evidence of it. The most
powerful evidence is our deep conviction of sin. John 16:8 says, "And
He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and
righteousness and judgment." Where, O where, do you see any conviction
of sin today? The world has done all it can to squelch any feelings of
guilt from wrongdoing. Even Hollywood actresses used to have
convictions against nudity, but nowadays, they seem to gloat about it,
and their popularity rises. They are not even ashamed. "Were they
ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even
ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush" (Jer. 6:15).

But the Bible says, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a
broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise" (Ps. 51:17).
Have you ever seen someone come to Christ with a "broken and contrite
spirit"? Isn't this ever powerful?

Isaiah wrote, "For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives
forever, whose name is Holy, 'I dwell on a high and holy place, And
also with the contrite and lowly of spirit, In order to revive the
spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite'" (Isa.
57:15). He also wrote, "To this one I will look, to him who is humble
and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word" (Isa. 66:2). My
heart cries out for me to have that contrite spirit. What about you?

Paul wrote, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;
the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Cor.
5:17). That anointing offers deliverance to the captives. Today,
people are captives to sin and Satan, to drugs and depravity, to lust
and licentiousness. Real deliverance comes through our new birth.
Let's tell people the good news that Christ suffered and died for our
sins, paid the debt in full and rose again so we can receive Him and
be new creatures. Let's tell them, shall we?

Prayer: Father, thank You for anointing us with Your Spirit. Teach us
to have broken and contrite hearts. Help us to live as new creatures,
freed from the bonds of sin. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Quote for the Day: "One of the best-kept secrets among Christians
today is this: Jesus paid it all. I mean all. He not only purchased
your forgiveness of sins and your ticket to Heaven, He purchased every
blessing and every answer to prayer you will ever receive. Every one
of them—no exceptions." —Jerry Bridges

Worship God in the Spirit

The Bible says, "we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh" (Phil 3:3). The flesh does not and cannot worship God. Dr. Ironside said, "Real worship is that of the heart, when the Spirit of God takes the things of Christ and shows them unto us. As we are occupied with Him, true praise and adoration ascend to the Father." Only when the Holy Spirit of God works in and through us can we worship God with true praise and adoration.

The most beautiful example of true worship is when John "was in the Spirit" and saw the Son of man, the Lord Jesus, in His glory. The Bible says, "His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze… and His voice was like the sound of many waters… out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man" (Rev. 1:14–17).

A powerful illustration of this concept also appears in the song "O Holy Night." The lyrics tell how the world "lay in sin and error pining" until Jesus appeared. Then the song climaxes with the great words of the chorus: "Fall on your knees." Every time I hear that heart-thrilling phrase in that song, I do just that, fall on my knees and worship Him.

Then in the Scriptures, we encounter that awesome, holy moment when the woman who "was a sinner… learned that Jesus was reclining at the table in the Pharisee's house. She brought an alabaster vial of perfume, and standing behind Him at His feet, weeping, she began to wet His feet with her tears, and kept wiping them with the hair of her head, and kissing His feet and anointing them with the perfume" (Luke 7:37–38). "Such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers" (John 4:23).

O dear people, we must worship Him in our quiet times, in our homes. He is the High and Holy One. Just tonight, as I was giving thanks for our food, the Spirit of God moved in my heart, and my heart grew so full that I just sat there and wept and worshipped Him.