Jesus Is Lord

 1 Corinthians 12:3

Therefore I want you to know that no one speaking by the [power and influence of the] Spirit of God can say, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is [my] Lord,” except by [the power and influence of] The Holy Spirit. 

Exodus 17:15

And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah Nissi. (The LORD My Banner). 

1 John 4:2-3

By this you will know The Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and which is already in the world at this time. 

Romans 10:9-10, 13

That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him out from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved. ~ For whosoever shall call upon The Name of The Lord shall be saved. 

    Why is this designation as LORD become so important even in this day and age? To be someone's Lord is to have the rule and mastery over them, as well as the protection and guardianship. To have Lordship is to have the governorship, as Isaiah wrote in  Isaiah 9:6 "...and the government shall be upon His shoulders...". Within His government He is the fulfillment of The Law (Matthew 5:17) and His Law is Love (Romans 13:10). 

    Who declared Jesus Christ Lord to begin with? His Father, Almighty God, gave His only begotten Son Lordship for a time (Psalm 110:1; Mark 12:36; 1 Corinthians 15:24-25). It is His Lordship we desire when we come to Him in faith, believing Him to be God's only begotten Son.       We come in faith with repentant hearts when we need to confess our sins. We come in faith believing that He not only hears the cries of our hearts but longs for us to hear the cry of His heart. We come to Christ as friend to Friend, meeting at the altar which we have set up for Him. Altars can be built anywhere. If that is not possible for you where you are, remember: when we clasp our fingers together, that is our altar, for prayer is where we meet God.

    The altars of the Old Testament were at times set up after the meeting had taken place as a remembrance of that meeting between God and man. As Moses had set up the altar in Exodus 17:15, one of our key verses for today. Moses named his altar THE LORD MY BANNER. Abraham built an altar, too. Genesis 22:1-19. Abraham and his son Isaac walked up a mountain carrying the tools and equipment needed to build the altar and lay the sacrifice. Abraham named his altar THE LORD PROVIDES. 

    We have named our altars, too. We may travel hither and yon, but the memory of where we were when we spoke with God and God revealed Himself to us is our Remembrance. There was a time when my kids were little that we had just enough money coming in to pay the rent and the utilities. But we had no money for food. So we sat together in the kitchen, held hands and prayed for God to bring us something to eat. No sooner had we said Amen than there was a knock on the door. On the porch were some a couple of friends, each with their arms full of groceries. God already knew our need and had prepared in advance to answer our prayers of faith. THE LORD PROVIDES. 

    Therefore with full confidence I may say, as Moses said, THE LORD IS MY BANNER. I will wave His Name across the plains, the mountains, the oceans, the valleys and the lakes. I will carry His Name into battle each time I declare that He Is Lord, for Christ is not just Lord, He is MY LORD. I declare in my heart, in my home, in my family, in my church, in my neighborhood, in my city, in my state, in my country, and beyond, that wherever The LORD leads me, I will go, because He goes with me. 

    JESUS IS LORD. 

JESUS IS  LIFE

LORD OF ALL 

Sellout (Blood Money)

 

Thirty pieces of silver. The value of a man's life. One Man in particular. Blood money given to a different man. 

        Zechariah 11:12,13 

Then I told them, “If it seems right to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” So they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—this magnificent price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

                            Matthew 26:14,15

Then one of the Twelve, the one called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.

                            Matthew 27:9,10

Then what was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 32:6-9) was fulfilled: “They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on Him by the people of Israel,and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord had commanded me."

                            

    Judas, who had been chosen by Jesus to be one of "the chosen", the twelve men whom Christ had called by name to follow Him, was not a faithful follower. He had his faults, namely, money. He sold out this Prophet he followed from town to town for thirty pieces of silver, the equivalent of four days labor. 

    *In Roman terms it would have been the equivalent of four denarii; in Grecian terms it would have equaled four drachmas. It is the shekel referred to from Genesis to Zechariah. It is the penny, the denarius, mentioned in Matthew 20:1-16. It is a day's wages. This is how the Jewish leaders determined the correct price to pay to have Jesus betrayed. 

       Yet Jesus called him, "Friend" (Matthew 26:50). That must've cut into Judas' heart, but it was too late. He had already betrayed Jesus by a kiss on the cheek. While we know Judas was sorrowful for what he done to his Friend, we can only surmise about whether or not he was repentant. For neither sorrow, nor remorse, nor penitence is repentance. 

        But we should not be hasty in judging Judas. We, too, have blood on our hands. We, also, have traded the riches of knowing Christ better for the wealth of a bag of holes. Instead of reading our Bibles on a daily basis that we might gain strength and wisdom from them, we squander our days. Instead of kneeling prayer over The Word of God, we might read a passage or two and hope for the best. 

        Whatever we have set our sights on and our hands to do instead of seeing and doing what we are supposed to be doing is the thirty pieces of silver we have been paid to look the other way, instead of at The Way. We have looked to the left and looked to the right on this narrow path in which we attempt to walk: our eyes have seen and our hearts have wandered. We have become faithless sellouts to our Faithful Leader.  

        We need to get back to the altar and lay down our pride, humbling ourselves at the foot of His cross. We will repent of all our wickedness and set our face to seek Him out. We will fall prostrate before Him and He will lift us up. 

        Even if you can't get to church, you can get to the altar. It is a sacred place where a person meets God. In Old Testament times, an altar was built after a person had met (communed) with God. Many altars were constructed to burn a sacrifice on. Though it is not necessary for the Christian to burn a sacrifice, it is necessary to lay the sacrifice God wants from us on the altar. 

        Where is your altar set up that you meet with God and lay your sacrifice on? Some have set up a small table or chair on which to lay their open Bible and pray there. Some go out into an open area, open Bible in hand, and speak with God there. You'll know your altar when you see it, if you are listening to The Spirit direct you. 

    

Resources:

*1. TruthSaves 

Talking To Jesus 

Sweet Hour of Prayer 

Lay It All Down

    

 

Good Morning Praise God with the Harp

 

PRAISE GOD WITH THE HARP

Psalm 43:4

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my greatest joy. I will praise You with the harp, O God, my God. 

In this verse the psalmist recognizes several things:

1. God Is

2. God has an altar (a place of worship)

3. Going to God's altar is a joyful thing 

4. God likes music

5. God is the personal God (my God)

6. The psalmist emphasizes to God that God is his God

Are we recognizing God and declaring that He is our God? Are we worshiping God at His altar? the way He wants to be worshiped?