Savior – Lord

What does it mean to recognize Jesus as my Savior, my Lord?

Jesus came into the world to make a way for eternal salvation.  Jesus is the gift of God to the world; however, only believers – those who accept Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection – are the ones who accept God’s Gift, and are therefore saved. At the time of salvation, the believer becomes a child of God, a saint, a Christian.  This is the beginning, the first step, of a glorious journey while on earth, and continues throughout all eternity.  Some Christians seemingly are satisfied with this single transformative experience. Salvation is an awesome experience and the most important decision a person can make.  The goodness of God invites us to press-on, into Him.

God’s gift of salvation calls us to grow in our surrender to His will in our lives, as well as to surrender to His working in the lives of those whom we love. When we accept Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, He becomes our Savior.  All along life’s journey, we have choices to make regarding surrendering to God’s will or yielding to our own will.  This process of surrender is one of dying daily that Paul speaks about in I Corinthians 15:31. As we choose to surrender our will for His will, our life’s choices demonstrate that He not only saved us, He is our Lord, He is our Master.

We “work out” our salvation by trusting God’s character more and more; therefore, we mature spiritually and are able to be fed the meat of the Word.  Accepting the Lord as the master of our lives and of our very thoughts, attitudes, and actions are those times that we give Him a gift, so to speak, of living, loving and trusting Him with our all.  He gave His life so that we could have eternal life.  We surrender our all to Him, when we choose to give our lives to Him, we lose our life for Him and in doing so we actually find life IN HIM now, and throughout all eternity.  This surrender of all is a process, the process of a life-time.  What joy it is to live with Him as Master, Owner, and Lord; accepting His Lordship in our lives.  Being so in love with Him and His ways that even when faced with persecution or even death we trust Him for whatever He deems best in our lives.  One such example is when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (Daniel 3:13-30) told Nebuchadnezzar that whether God chose to deliver them or not from the fire, they would only worship the Lord God.  They were worshipping God with their very breath, surrendering their lives to the Lord. This is one of three ways we overcome as recorded in Revelation 12:11 which states, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”  We face death, so to speak, every day when we are faced with the choice to die, or not, to our own will and our own way.

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. (Luke 9:23 NASB)

I affirm, brethren, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. (I Corinthians 15:31 NASB)

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  (John 14:6 NIV)

Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.  (Philippians 2:12 KJV)

And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but only as fleshly, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to consume it.  But even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly.  For since there is jealously and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like ordinary people? (1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NASB)

If it be so, our God who we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.  But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Daniel 3:17-18 KJV)

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  (Philippians 3:14 KJV)

And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.  (Revelation 12:22 NASB)

Today’s Challenge:
As you go through your day, and when you talk with the Lord in prayer, reflect on how you might not be giving Him your all.  Ask God to reveal where you may be trusting in your efforts more than trusting in His Promises.  Ask God to help you relax, rest, and trust in Him for all that you need.  Ask God to help you stay focused on Him and increase your tenacity to follow His Plan rather than expect God to follow yours. Then choose to rest in the peace that passes all understanding that only He can give you!

Today’s Prayer:
Dear Lord, we ask that You help us trust You more today than yesterday.  Lord, please make that our growing, daily testimony.  Even when things in our lives seem so out-of-sorts or even chaotic, help us to remember that You are always with us, You promise to never leave or forsake us, so we ask that You help us rest in that truth and take one step at a time, wherever You may lead. In Jesus’ name we ask, Amen.

Digging deeper blogs augment lessons from My Leadership Compass: A Christ-Centered High School Curriculum. © 2021