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 TNIV)
I come from a very proud family. My dad lived through the Great Depression with his mom and sister. (His father died when he was 5 years old.) He lived through World War II with many trips over seas in convoys of 100 Merchant ships per trip. Needless to say, 100 ships did not make it through each trip. He returned to become a police officer, then homicide detective. Mom and dad worked multiple jobs to afford their first home, their children, and even sending their children to college.
When you're proud of your accomplishment and you've worked hard to earn each of them, it's difficult to humble yourself to accept help. It's difficult to put your life in someone else's hands. But that's what we need to do to get out of the pothole we jumped in. We can't forge our own escape plan. We can't dictate to The One standing at the top how He will save us. We need to listen to His instructions, then follow them. Once we get up top, we need to continue following His instructions so we don't fall back in or fall in another pothole. He needs to call the shots. He needs to be in charge. That's what "Lord" means.
When we call out to Him, "Jesus, you are my Lord." We put Him in charge. He calls the shots.
Come to think of it, maybe my dad had some humility too. He listened to his mom growing up. He took orders from his superior officers in WWII. He listened to his boss on the police force and every job I saw him work. Oh, yeah, and he went every weekend to a church building to listen to his Lord. Even when we didn't want to go, he took us kids with him. We watched him learn, grow...and follow the instructions of his Lord. It all starts with asking Him for help.
I come from a very proud family. My dad lived through the Great Depression with his mom and sister. (His father died when he was 5 years old.) He lived through World War II with many trips over seas in convoys of 100 Merchant ships per trip. Needless to say, 100 ships did not make it through each trip. He returned to become a police officer, then homicide detective. Mom and dad worked multiple jobs to afford their first home, their children, and even sending their children to college.
When you're proud of your accomplishment and you've worked hard to earn each of them, it's difficult to humble yourself to accept help. It's difficult to put your life in someone else's hands. But that's what we need to do to get out of the pothole we jumped in. We can't forge our own escape plan. We can't dictate to The One standing at the top how He will save us. We need to listen to His instructions, then follow them. Once we get up top, we need to continue following His instructions so we don't fall back in or fall in another pothole. He needs to call the shots. He needs to be in charge. That's what "Lord" means.
When we call out to Him, "Jesus, you are my Lord." We put Him in charge. He calls the shots.
Come to think of it, maybe my dad had some humility too. He listened to his mom growing up. He took orders from his superior officers in WWII. He listened to his boss on the police force and every job I saw him work. Oh, yeah, and he went every weekend to a church building to listen to his Lord. Even when we didn't want to go, he took us kids with him. We watched him learn, grow...and follow the instructions of his Lord. It all starts with asking Him for help.
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