Pastor Richard Waialeale
February 7, 2021 - W2106

Who’s Your Lord?

Arise, Awake, Act!

Pastor Richard Waialeale 

February 6 & 7, 2021

Aloha & Welcome, New Hope Oahu--Everywhere & Anywhere. Thank you for choosing to be with us today! We'll be talking about Who's Your Lord?  In this message I will be answering three important questions:  Why does making Jesus my Lord matter to me? What does that mean? How do I do that?  It's easy to make Jesus Number One when everything is fine, but what happens when you're affected by a pandemic or unemployment--who's your Lord, now?  A daughter asked her father, "Daddy, who do you work for?"  The father says, "I work for myself, me."  She asks, "You're the boss?"  He says, "Yes, I'm the boss.  I'm Number One."  The daughter paused, and thought about it, and said, "Well, you still have to listen to mommy."  We all think that we are the masters of our own lives, but one day we will all give an account to the true Master of our lives!  

Romans 7:22-23 NKJV says: "²² For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. ²³ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."

The apostle Paul is struggling with his alter ego, fighting within himself.  While it's important to make Jesus our Savior, equally important is that we make Him our Lord. Making Jesus our Savior is not the same as making Him our Lord.  

Romans 14:11-12 NIV says: "¹¹...every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’ ¹² So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God."

Often, the problem is that we like to be in control!  It's like teaching a dog to fetch a ball: you throw the ball, and the dog chases it and brings it back to you; but when you try to grab the ball, the dog hesitates. It has a reflex action to resist! The dog has no problem bringing the ball back to its master, but when it's time to give up the ball, it resists. We're like that dog--we want to be in control!

1 Corinthians 12:3 NIV says: "...no one can say, “Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit."

When we pray the salvation prayer, we can be assured that the Holy Spirit is in us and is working through us.  Spirituality begins and ends with the acknowledgement of our Lordship through Jesus Christ.  Jesus is our Lord.  While it cost God nothing to become Lord of all creation, it cost Him everything to become our Lord! 

Exodus 20:3-4 NRSV says: "³ you shall have no other gods before me. ⁴ You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath..."

Other Gods: Your attitude or behavior causes you to act in a certain way--your predisposition: it's what you stand for, what you put up with, how you love your wife, your kids, and others. The apostle Paul exhorts husbands, wives, and everybody else in...  

Ephesians 5:25-27 NKJV: "²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, ²⁶ that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." 

"Sanctify" is to set apart because she is that special to Him!  When the Bible says, "Husbands, love your wife just as Christ loved the church," you are never more like Jesus than right at that point when you love as Jesus loves. The church is people, not a building, not a program! Therefore, husbands love your wife just as Jesus loves the church. 

How does this work?  Husbands, there will be days when you come home from work and you've just spent eight grueling, beat?you?up hours at work. You park the car and all you're thinking about is taking a bath, eating, and sleeping!  You walk up to the front door and open the front door, and this is what you look and sound like (shows his grandson's toy Tyrannosaurus rex)!  Your wife hears this, so before you open the door say, "Jesus is my Lord!" Then pray, "Lord, what are you saying to my wife?  Would you say those words through me? Lord, what are you thinking of her?  Would you think those thoughts to me?  How are you feeling about her and how do you see her?  Would you do that through me?" 

When you make Jesus Lord of your life, your wife will see God's love, heart, and presence coming through you!  How amazing is that?  The Lord now controls your spouse's disposition.  Are you loving her as Jesus loves her?  Who's in charge of your life now?  If Jesus is not your Lord, then you'll give lordship to anything else around you or any distraction that comes into your life. Jesus must not only be Number One, He must be the Only One that controls and determines who you are! Here are three principles to help you make Jesus your Lord: 

1. REMEMBER  

We must find ways to remember because it's so easy to forget!  When I first came on staff here at New Hope, one of the things that I quickly learned was that when Pastor Wayne is teaching or leading a meeting, I must always carry a pad and a pen--that's the normal!  Later, I started recording him as I couldn't write fast enough.  You must figure out ways to remember.  Here's what I do, and it's biblical: I talk to myself!  David and Nehemiah also talked to themselves:  

David said in Psalm 42:5 NIV: "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,"

Nehemiah 5:7 KJV says: "Then I consulted with myself, and I rebuked the nobles..."

Nehemiah considered several steps ahead and would always talk it out in his head. There will be times when the whole world will go dim on you and you want to fight with God, but don't fight with God.  Do the second point: 

2.  SURRENDER 

Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church says, "Everyone eventually surrenders to something or someone.  If not to God, you will surrender to the opinions or expectations of others, to fear, money, to resentment, or to your own pride, lusts, or ego.  You were designed to worship God, and if you fail to worship Him, you will create other things to give your life to.  You are free to choose what you surrender to, but you are not free from the consequences of that choice."  

Surrendering your strength to God is strength under control! It does not mean we are weak, but it means we are meek, choosing and directing our power to be constructive rather than to be destructive. When a horse has on a harness, it looks uncomfortable and awkward, but the horse doesn't lose any strength--instead, the horse gains usefulness as its strength is under control! 

Here's an example: As an eagle soars, a crow will ride on the eagle's back and bites its neck; but the eagle doesn't respond nor fight the crow. Instead, the eagle simply opens his wings wide and just soars higher and higher, ascending toward heaven!  The breath capacity of an eagle is greater than the crow's and a time will come when the eagle will reach a certain height and the crow will just fall off--simple as that!  

We can learn from the eagle and refuse to fight with the crows in our life--just continue to ascend as the pesky distractions/crows will soon fall off!  Refuse to succumb to distractions, keep your focus on things above, rising above all distractions!  

Proverbs 16:32 CEB says: " Better to be patient than a warrior [powerful] and better to have self-control than to capture a city."

When you make Jesus your Lord, everything will not be peaches and cream, but eventually, everything will work out!  Sometimes we don't know that Jesus is all we need until Jesus is all we have! Jesus is not only Number One--He's the Only One! If you don't surrender to Christ, you'll surrender to chaos! I have grown the most in the depths of the valley, when I hit rock bottom--not at the peak!  

Hosea 6:1 NIV says: “Come, let us return to the Lord. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds."

ACTION STEP:  We are designed to worship God by listening to or singing worship songs and He is glorified. Pray for people going through this pandemic. Another way to make Jesus your Lord is to...  

3. SERVE

Jesus was given many different names, but the one that He loves most is servant. Jesus loves those that serve.  When we serve, it helps us to remember that we're not in control--Jesus is in control!  Jesus had almost reached the end of His three-year ministry; and it was time to return to His Father...

John 13:3-5 NIV says: "³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him."

The act of washing feet is the work of a slave; the word "towel" refers to linen and righteousness and "water" speaks of the Word.  I'm never closer to Jesus than when I'm serving; and serving will open your heart to that.  There are two huge bodies of water in Israel, one is the Sea of Galilee, full of fish, fishermen, restaurants, and people.  It's beautiful.  It has an inlet of water coming in mostly from the Jordan River and has an outlet for the water to drain.  Nearby is the Dead Sea, one of the richest seas in the world, but no fish!  It's dead. The salt content is normally 22 percent, creating columns of stalagmites, and nothing can live in the Dead Sea--it doesn't have an outlet to drain the water and the water just stays there!  

APPLICATION:  Whatever God pours into us He intends that we pour it out, similar to the Sea of Galilee. One of the best ways to catch the heart of Jesus is to serve. In other words, use it as an outlet for your life--that's the best way to serve.  If you don't have an outlet, you'll be rich but dead, as the Dead Sea!  Having an outlet to pour out what has been poured in, is necessary.  If Jesus is Lord of our lives, we must give life away so we can receive life. How do we do this?   

ACTION:  Take time to pray and ask God to show you, "Lord, how can I serve you? I'll do whatever you ask me to do."  I guarantee God will show you! 

STUDY QUESTIONS: 

1.      How do you surrender to God?
2.      How will you serve God?
3.      What will you do to remember God’s commands?
4.      What are you doing to share the good word of God?
5.      How will you be an example to others that shows God’s love?