Response As a Believer In Jesus Christ
One of the greatest struggles I've had since accepting Jesus Christ as Lord of my life is; How do I make Jesus, Lord of my life? What do I do? What do I give up on? Now that I can believe in my mind, how can I know in my heart?
I'm reminded of a story about a flood. A storm came, the dam broke, and a flood was headed
towards
town. In one home lived a man. The police came driving by and told the man, "You
better leave. A
flood is coming and the whole town is going to be wiped out. But the man
responded, "The Lord will save me and keep me safe."
A short while later, the water was rising, the man was spotted up on the second floor of his
home. Some rescue people came by in a boat. They told him, "You better leave. The flood is
getting worse." The man responded, "The Lord will save me and keep me safe". Eventually, the man was stranded on the roof of his house. A helicopter came by that was to
lift the man to safety. The pilot told him, "You better leave. The flood is going to get
worse." The man responded, "The Lord will save me and keep me safe."
Eventually, the waters rose so high that the man had no place to hide, and he drowned,
and died.
When the man went to heaven he asked God, " Why didn't you save me and keep me safe?"
God replied, "I sent you a police car, a boat, and a helicopter. Why didn't you use what
I gave you?"
When we make the decision to let Jesus Christ be Lord over our lives, we need to become aware of his speaking to us. Not that he would talk audibly, but he would use our circumstances, and the Bible to help guide us, and show us how to live our lives in a Godly manner.
Often times, I was told God is in control. But I didn't know what I was supposed to do about it. Am I supposed to sit on a rocking chair on the front porch, and wait for God to bring me a bucket of food, money to pay the electric bill, gas for the car, and to just bring me everything I need?
When we try to understand that God is in control, and we can begin to trust Him, we will learn how to come to Him in prayer. We can develop a personal relationship. We can come to Him, ask Him to lead us, to show us how we can serve him. If we chose to serve Him, He will lead us. If we can keep our hearts and minds open to His ways, He will show us a way.
We live now, in a world that teaches that we are our own gods, that we are in control, and that we can do anything we want. I think a more practical way is to put God first, After having done that, we can begin to recognize the direction that God is leading us. Look into ourselves for the Holy Spirit's guidance, strength, and courage.
In his book, "The Other Jesus" Lloyd Oglive explained how we can let go of our lives, and come to Jesus to guidance and leadership.
Mr. Oglive says that we are "Preempted by Priorities". When we receive Christ, we are called to follow Him, and to let others know our beliefs, and the Gospels. Some things that keep us from doing what God is asking us to do are; fear of what others might say or think, or fear of what we might have to give up; pride that keeps us from accepting the fact that God is in control while we still want to be in control. We think that we can run our lives better than God can. Plans that we have made, we discover, may not be what God has planned. God ends up somewhere down the end of our list of priorities, when He should be the first priority of our lives
The real issue is that we are making a personal commitment to Jesus, and to share His love with others, that is to be our first priority.
As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God Luke 9:57-62
These men claimed that they wanted to follow Jesus, but they were not ready to give up what they already had. They we're not ready to make any sacrifice. They were not prepared to make Jesus a priority in their lives.
Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory. 1 Timothy 3:16
But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:11
When we let someone else become more important than Jesus, we make them a little god. Their plans, and opinions about our faith will lead us away from Christ. People will try to control your thoughts, beliefs, and feelings by criticizing and creating a feeling of doubt within you. If you let them, they will steal your hope.