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Hi there, we've been talking about stewardship and his video clips and today I want to talk
about from a little different perspective. Jesus Christ is Lord and stewardship is a
human side of that lordship relationship. The fact that He is Lord it's a historical
fact, a biblical fact. In fact prophecy tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue
will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. So stewardship is the way you and I relay to
Jesus as Lord. It's vitally important that we understand what lordship is all about.
It means he's worthy of our worship his worthy of us following him but really was down to
our choice when we allow him to be Lord of our lives. So how do we get to the point that
we are willing to trust him as Lord? Well, the first thing we have to realize is that
only love can be the foundation of that lordship. Jesus has loved us with an everlasting love
and in Ephesians, chapter 3, versus 18 and 19, Paul talks about knowing the high contempt
in link with God's love. In many goes say that we might know this love that passes all
knowledge and we will be filled to the major fullness of God. It's that king of love that
will lead us to accept Jesus as Lord. This love that God has for us is a everlasting
love. Nothing can change it. Doesn't matter what we do; God does not stop living us. Now,
what we do that affect our ability to appreciate or to experience that love? But God's love
is unchanging. His love is constant. It doesn't vary with time and situation, it doesn't vary
just because we don't feel it, and we have been his consuming passion for more than 6
thousand years. We Satan entered in this world, God already had a plan to show us his love,
to send his son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross. We need to remember that because God's
passion took him to that cross. So stop and think a moment. When was the last time you
paused and took a few moments to reflect on how much God loves you? When was the last
time you looked to the passages and scriptures that describe us as being God's beloved? When
God says, "when someone touches you they're touching the apple of his eye. When we understand
that our names are engraved in the palms of his hands, not just symbolically but the cross
engraved our names on our Savior's hands. That's how much He loved us. Stop and think,
stop and experience His love, stop and say this incredible God really does love me and
then think about it. If he loves you that much what's our best response to His love?
Well some people say to love Him back. Oh yes but let me suggest something that has
to happen first. We have to accept his love, that's one of the toughest things in our human
existence. Cause it is hard to understand how anybody could love us unconditionally.
We have to ale a choice to believe and accept God's amazing love. Understanding that His
love in unconditional, as we experience His love, love begins to awake in our hearts.
Yes, there's some elements like trust and love but more than that John in 1st John chapter
4 tell us that we love because God first loved us. If you are seeking the love of God more,
don't try harder. Experience His love more. Look at hat He has done. Because as we experience
it, His love will awake in our hearts. Well you say, "How can I do that?" Go to into the
gospel stories and read the story of Jesus, especially the closing chapters the last three
chapters in Matthew, Mark and Luke. The last five chapters in John. These are the chapters
that focus on the crucifixion and resurrection, these are the chapters that bring us to a
climax, the story of God's great love for us and in sending Jesus to live and die as
a man, to die on a cross so we might live and have eternal life. It really is that simply.
There's a story of an old Scottish preacher, many years ago and a young lady in his peruse
or his church. She came to this preacher and said "you know I'm struggling to love God!
i cant' love God, I want to love god but I can't!" He told her "Don't worry about it.
Stop trying to love God." "What you mean 'stop trying to love God.'" And she just go back
and every time you think about that just say to yourself "God loves me! Jus keep telling
yourself, God loves me!" Seven weeks later she came back to him and she said to this
old Scottish preacher "It's all right now, I've learned to love God." You see, love for
God is not something that we create in our own hearts; it's a response to God's love.
And so often when we focus on God we focus on all the things we have to do to be good
enough for him or even to repay Him for what He's done. God wants us to know His love.
To experience it to in its height and in its depths. To in length and in its breadth. God
wants us to know how much He loves us. Because if we really experience His love it will be
easy to accept Him as Lord. Trust lead us to surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord. And
this acceptance of Jesus as Lord begins in a intimate partnership with God. When I am
working with people I ask them first if they know Jesus and if they accepted Him as their
savior. That has to start like that. Then I ask them to accept Him as Lord. to allow
the holy Spirit guide their lives to make a commitment that whatever God says to them
they will obey and they will follow. If you make that decision now to let Jesus be Lord
of your life because you have experienced His love. it changes everything. Then when
a tough issue comes along, you are not trying to decide what should I do? Should I obey
or not? Should I follow what God wants me to do or not? You've already made that commitment,
you've made that decision to accept Jesus as Lord. So when the issues come up, the question
is not "Do I want to accept Jesus as Lord?" But where does he want me to go? What does
he want me to do? An how can I integrate his love...