HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Philippians 2:8-11 - And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Romans 14:7-9 - 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
There is a saying that is famous in church circles – Jesus is Lord of all or not at all.
We love it we declare it but the question is do we live it and understand it.
Many people want a Savior but they do not want Jesus to be Lord.
One of the Hebrew names for God is Adonai.
The word “Lord” means “the one who has absolute power, absolute authority,” “the master.” It speaks of supreme authority, controller, ruler. One of the key aspects of Lordship is ownership.
When we say that Jesus is Lord of our life what we are saying is that we are no longer in control we no longer retain ownership and we no longer are our own master. We do not control our own destiny. All of it is in the hands of God.
Romans 14:7-8 - 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
Whether we live or whether we die we are the Lord’s. – We are His.
How we live or how we die is His choice.
The name Adonai means that Jesus is the boss, the King, the Master, The ruler and has the chief say so in our lives.
~ Billy Graham – “Ninety-five percent of church members live defeated, un-victorious lives because they have never made Jesus Lord.
~ George Sanchez wrote – Ninety-five percent of the problems that people have in their spiritual lives and for which they seek counseling are basically a poor understanding of who Jesus Christ is – He is Lord.
Jesus Christ IS Lord.
When we make a commitment, we are in control.
We commit to win souls because we decide to do it.
We commit to study our Bibles only because we want to.
We can commit to tithe but we retain the option not to.
When we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus, we are no longer in control and we are surrendered to a life of obedience and serving Him.
If we are committed to anything, we need to be committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
He is absolute Lord.
We have to surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 14:9 - For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Jesus Christ is called “Lord” no less than 747 times in the New Testament.
We do not make Jesus Lord; He is already Lord.
Acts 2:36 (NLT) - “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
Isaiah 42:8a - I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another,
He is already Lord of all. Jesus is Lord.
There are only two decisions that we make:
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord? Have you surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Is He Lord of all that you have and all that you do?
Jesus died to claim us as Lord.
When He died for us, He was redeeming us. He is Lord because He died for us.
The Cross of Calvary says that He is Lord.
He has purchased us; we are not our own. He has redeemed us with His blood.
1 Corinthians 6:19 (AMP)- Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?
If you are a Christian, then Jesus now lives in you; and you are His purchased possession.
If you are saved, then you are under new management.
When we gave our heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, that was the last independent decision we ever made.
We are not our own. We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is wonderful because He knows more about how to manage our life than we do.
He alone can make you what He wants you to be and what you need to be and what you would want to be if you could only see it how He sees it.
The Lord Jesus has made a great investment in us. He died for us and bought us with His blood. His investment in us is such a blessing because it means that He is going to watch over us.
Ephesians 1:13-14 - And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his ownby giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
When we submit to the Lordship of Christ, we are saying that we trust Him, we trust His promises. All of them. We trust Him not only for our Salvation but for everything.
We are taking Him at His Word.
The reason that many people struggle with the idea of Lordship is that they have no idea of what is in the Word. Or they struggle with taking Jesus at His Word.
When we believe, we are then sealed with the Holy Spirit.
A seal, as spoken of here in this passage, is a legal document.
This seal means the following:
If Jesus Christ is not Lord of our life, then we have no right to call ourselves a Christian.
Romans 10:9-10 - that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
We are saved by believing that Jesus Christ is Lord and yielding to that Lordship.
This is more than just saying that Jesus is Lord.
At the time when Paul wrote the book of Romans, to say that Jesus Christ is Lord could cost a person his or her life.
Caesar, at that time, was revered as more than an emperor, but was considered as a god.
The people of the Roman Empire were required to say that Caesar was Lord.
Christians would not do that. - It is not Christ - AND - it is Christ only.
The Bible does not mention receiving Christ as Savior.
He is Savior, but we receive Christ as Lord. As Lord He is our Savior.
Acts 16:31 – So, they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
We give all we know of ourselves to all we know of Jesus. We take Jesus and all that He is, and He is Lord.
We cannot have what He gives unless we accept who He is, and He is Lord.
~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon said that - if a convert declares that he knows the Lord’s will but doesn’t mean to do it, then it is our duty to assure him that he is not saved.
Lordship means our entire submission and obedience to Him.
Submission means that any other plans, desires and wants that we have will take a back seat to Him.
MANY people struggle with the idea of submission because we are taught to value our independence and our will and our stuff. We love the idea of ownership and my things.
There is no other ruler or King in our life, including ourselves.
Matthew 6:24 (AMP) - “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].
When Jesus is Lord of our life we follow His will. Lordship is not simply a matter of what we say but how we live.
Matthew 7:21 - “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Luke 6:46 (NLT) - “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?
There are a lot of people who are into confession but many are not into submission and repentance.
A person becomes a Christian by submitting their life as a fully devoted, committed follower of Jesus Christ.
A follower is no longer in the lead.
There is a great deal more that we will unpack as I preach this message this month.
I want to leave you with a question… Is Jesus truly the Lord of your life?
As we start the summer months know that you are loved by God!
We look forward to what God is going to do here at HCC. Enjoy your vacation. Enjoy some time off. Continue to make the family of God a priority in your life.
Blessings,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Happy December and Merry Christmas!
Luke 2:25-29 (NLT) - At that time there was a man in Jerusalem named Simeon. He was righteous and devout and was eagerly waiting for the Messiah to come and rescue Israel. The Holy Spirit was upon him 26 and had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 That day the Spirit led him to the Temple. So, when Mary and Joseph came to present the baby Jesus to the Lord as the law required, 28 Simeon was there. He took the child in his arms and praised God, saying,29 “Sovereign Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised.
One of the most untold stories of Christmas is what happened forty days after the birth of Jesus. This was when Joseph and Mary went to the Temple with Jesus for the ceremony of purification and dedication and had an encounter with Simeon.
The Christmas story is about real people living real life who are serving a very real God. The stories we read in the Bible are perfect for life today because these people were living everyday life just as we are.
temple when he did.
I don’t want you to miss this. – Simeon was able to walk into a very precious moment with God, simply because he lived each day led by the Spirit of God. –
Don’t miss this. – It is when we walk everyday with the Spirit of God that we are led into extraordinary moments with God.
I want you to notice I said walk not stumble. Those who walk with God don’t stumble into things accidentally they are led there intentionally by the Spirit.
One of the Great Lessons we learn from this story is that being Led by the Holy Spirit isn’t really all that difficult.
Notice that everyone in this story was where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there.
Mary and Joseph- They came to Jerusalem 40 days after the birth of Jesus to dedicate him.
Luke 2:21-24 -And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
Simeon
Luke 2:27 - So he came by the Spirit into the temple.
Simeon was led at just the perfect moment by the Spirit of God into the Temple.
All of them were just doing what they should be doing.
Being in the will of God is not a matter of luck it is a matter of obedience.
Everyone was doing what God called them to be doing at that point in their lives. This obedience brought everyone together in the same place at the same time.
We get so afraid sometimes about missing the promises of God. Listen the Holy Spirit will lead you right into it.
When you don’t know what you should be doing just do what you should be doing.
I love the saying “If you aren’t doing what you should be doing then you are going to get the very things you don’t want”.
Encounters with the Holy Spirt are commonplace when you learn how to listen and are led by the Spirit of God.
Those who are filled with the Spirit of God are being led even when they don’t realize THAT they are being led.
Proverbs 3:5-6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Someone needs to get this – If we are not leaning on our own understanding then that means that we are going to be led in ways that we don’t make sense to us. What we are doing is taking each step, in faith knowing that God knows what He is doing.
When you are Spirit led you will never suffer from FOMO.
FOMO – Fear of Missing Out.
I want you to hear me - if you will be filled with the Spirit, you will be led by the Spirit. If you are led by the Spirit, you will not miss God and you will not miss out on His promises.
Over the years I have met people that are afraid that somehow, they will miss out on what God has for them.
Hear me – If you are living for God – you will not.
Being filled with the Spirit is not just about walking in His power but it is also about walking in His timing. He will lead you where you need to be at the very moment you need to be there.
To many times we over think things. Our obedience and God’s timing will always intersect when it should. This is the essence of being Spirit Led.
Simeon allowed the Holy Spirit to work in His life and because he did God allowed him to be a part of something truly amazing.
Simeon reminds us that we can wait with expectancy when God gives us a promise.
Scripture says that Simeon was eagerly waiting for the consolation of Israel.
It does not say that he was impatiently waiting but that as he went about his days, he did it with hope and expectancy, looking to see when God would keep his promise.
He wasn’t anxious about God’s promise, his impatience didn’t leave him weighed down a heaviness.
Expectancy – The act or action of living with the knowledge that something will happen. Hope that is certain and steadfast. The feeling that something exciting and positive is going to happen. Anticipation that comes with a promise. It is knowing that God is good and will always keep His Word and promises. An eagerness to see God proved true.
God had promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah or the consolation of Israel. God’s peace and comfort for the Nation of Israel and for all mankind.
Christmas reminds us that God is a promise keeper.
Christmas reminds us that if God will fulfill the promise of that first Christmas that He will fulfil every promise that He has given us in His Word.
2 Corinthians 1:20 - For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
The fact that Jesus came the first time gives us the hope that He is coming the second time.
The story of Simeon reminds us that God gave a promise of Salvation to all people, and He fulfilled that promise.
My Prayer this month is that you will have a renewed expectancy in the promises of God.
Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas!
Pastor Marvin & Dawn