How to overcome the lifelong feelings of depression and the feelings along with.

Seek therapy, soon.

The sentence in this paragraph is meant to be the following sentence.

I truly understand why no one takes me seriously. Ignorance is very commonplace.

But then again. I don't understand why people insist on not taking me seriously.

So? Your jerkishly dismissive here.
VS


And you contradict yourself here. You're not winning anyone over with reason or charm. And you're not winning over anyone's sympathies when you backhand slap the same people who indeed try to listen and help in other threads.

You wrote a lot of nonsense in this thread alone that makes your a2k account IGNORE USER worthy.

Of course I can come across as a jerk because one comes across as a jerk by visibly showing jerkish ways of not taking me seriously.



I was never trying to.



Are you sure it is their sincere intent to help me?



I have been serious and sincere with my words here in this thread.



That's nice.

I have claimed atheist in the past. But believing atheist meant one who was neither for or against God. But in my heart I felt otherwise.
The definition of
a·the·ist [ey-thee-ist]
—noun
a person who denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being or beings.
I was ignorant. I had put my bible away and stopped praying. But in my heart I still believed in the Lord and felt I was never letting go. I kept trying to find ways to get away with living a life believing in the Lord not showing it but it's not possible. Doors started opening for me the more I thought of how to keep the Lord in my life, in my heart. And then I started praying again.

http://www3.telus.net/trbrooks/unpardonablesin.htm

http://christianity.about.com/od/faqhelpdesk/i/blasphemyagains.htm

http://questions.org/attq/is-cursing-god-blasphemy-against-the-holy-spirit/

http://www.aish.com/sp/pr/Insulting_God.html?mobile=yes

What is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost?

By Tim Greenwood

The Word of God says that there are only two situations in which a man or woman cannot receive forgiveness. The first and most common is when they are in a state of unforgiveness. That is to say that they have been wronged (or sinned against) and they refuse to forgive the person, which we find in Mark 11:25.
The second, which is actually quite a rare occurrence, is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. It is this second situation that I would like to address in this study.
Mat. 12:31 says, “Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.” But what does that mean?
Too many Christians have been stopped right in their tracks after being convinced that they have blasphemed the Holy Spirit. In all of those that we have counseled that believed or suspected that they had blasphemed the Holy Spirit, NONE of them had actually done so. The very fact that they were even concerned about it was a very good indication that they had no done so. Much of the problem has to do with misunderstands due to poor teaching and some twisted theology.
Before we get into this scripture, let me lay a little foundation concerning the Holy Spirit.
For 25 years I was taught that the Holy Spirit was a power like electricity and not the 3rd person of the Trinity. This is just not so and the scriptures bear this out. I don’t have the space to do a complete teaching on this here but the following should not only sow this as well as illustrating a few other things about the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit can be RESISTED.
Acts 7:51 Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost:
as your fathers did, so do ye.
The Holy Spirit can be QUENCHED.
1Th 5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit can be GREIVED.Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
What kind of things grieves the Holy Spirit? Read the next verse… Vs. 31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
The Holy Spirit can be QUIETED.
Zech 6:8 Then cried he upon me, and spake unto me, saying, Behold, these that go toward the north country have quieted my spirit in the north country. How can one “quiet” the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He will never force Himself upon you. If you continually resist Him, or “say” that you don’t want to hear what
He has to say… He will back off and be quiet where you are concerned.
The Holy Spirit can be INSULTED.
Heb 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite (Greek: to insult) the Spirit of grace?
And finally… The Holy Spirit can be BLASPHEMED. Which brings us to our scripture. But before we continue, I want to recap that the Holy Spirit can be: Resisted, Quenched, Grieved, Quieted and Insulted – None of these are Blasphemy! This has been part of the problem. People (all too often Pastors) have wadded all of these things together with blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Others have for the sake of emphasis, thrown a few additional real or imagined sins into the mix as well. And this has destroyed the lives of many an otherwise stable Christian.
Look, according to these scriptures, you can resist Him, grieve Him, Quiet Him and even insult Him and yet not commit the unpardonable sin by blaspheming Him.
But, the Holy Spirit can be BLASPHEMED as is shown in Mat 12:31. Well, lets dig into this passage a little.
vs. 31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: What this is saying is that every other kind of sin and every other kind of blasphemy can be forgiven. The scripture says ALL! In the Greek language “All” is always translated as… ‘ALL’! (or every one). So what if you were an axe murderer? ALL! What if you were a child molester? ALL! What if you got divorced and remarried? (I bring up the last one because an extended family member of ours believes that somehow by committing this heinous sin of ‘divorce and remarriage’ he has blasphemed the Holy Spirit and is lost and separated from God forever. No!) ALL means ALL!… but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
But, there IS something called “Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” So what is it?
Well here is what it is NOT: vs. 32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: So it’s NOT talking against Jesus! Accusing Him of all manner of sin and crimes, calling Him a drunk and a glutton, accusing Him of healing and deliverance through the power of Satan … According to this that’s even forgivable. So even blasphemy against Jesus is forgivable.
Here is what it is… but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Wow! That is rough! But what does that mean, “speaking against the Holy Spirit”?
Well it’s really pretty simple. “Blasphemy” is something slanderous and/or injurious to one’s good name. And the Greek word for “against” can mean “according to the case against” or “to the charge of” which is legal language. So what I believe this is saying is that “speaking blasphemy against” the Holy Spirit is like when someone one knowingly and deliberately as a legal witness attributes the works, operations and/or gifts of the Holy Spirit to the Devil or attributes the works, operations of the Devil to the Holy Spirit.
The Pharisees did this when Jesus was casting out demons by the power of the Holy Spirit. They proclaimed: “He cast out demon spirits by the power of Beelzebub!” Jesus stopped their mouths right then and there and straightened them out.
Now Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is NOT someone that is just parroting someone else or speaking out of ignorance. Paul in 1Tim 1:12-13 said that He had even blasphemed the Holy Spirit, but that he had done this out of ignorance.
This is also NOT just something stupid that someone casually says once or twice. This is something that is said deliberately – in abundance – from the heart. How do we know that? We know that from the context of the rest of this passage.
vs. 33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit vs. 34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. vs. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. vs. 36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. vs. 37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. He is not above using religion to accomplish his goals.
So I don’t care WHO told you that you have committed the unpardonable sin… a “friend”, a relative, a coworker, someone in your church, your Priest of Pastor or Satan himself… I guarantee you that you could NOT have done it accidentally (without knowing about it). You would have to knowingly and deliberately, from your heart of hearts reject and renounce the Holy Spirit and verbally slander Him and His works and character to others.
I don’t think a person like that would even be reading this article!
That is why you need to realize that you have not committed this unpardonable sin. Now you may have indeed sinned. But God’s Word says that He is QUICK TO FORGIVE all other sins. So ask for His forgiveness, and believe by faith that you have received it and get on with your life.
Don’t let the Devil continue to hold you in bondage. Don’t allow the Devil to hold you back any longer from your walk with God.

http://www.tgm.org/Blasphemy.htm

I don't believe a psychic can tell you, any person whether they go to heaven or hell after this life because I don't believe they would honestly know. I truly believe I am going to heaven and that God is here with me to reassure me. 
I believe in God. Love God in my heart, with my heart. I will never be against God. I never felt against God. 
The word atheist is just a word. To be an atheist I believe you have to put your heart into it. I believe in the Christian life, living a life God approves of and worshiping God. I believe a person's beliefs are deep within their soul. If I have the chance to live a wonderful life then I believe God will direct me toward that life. It's a mental process.
I might had felt I had been mentally forced to quit the academy and come back here but I feel, felt coming back to my husband was the right thing to do. 

Please forgive the times in the past when I claimed anyone being in my head. I was suffering greatly mentally with severe depression.
I don't claim psychic with abilities. We all have the ability to learn. That is a gift. We must all love one another in a mature manner.

There are many commands our Lord has given us to obey. The two greatest are as follows:

-         Jesus taught us in Matt. 22:37-38, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Our love for God must be the greatest and strongest love we have in our lives. We must put our Lord first in every endeavor we attempt, we must submit to our Master’s will in everything we do. We must obey His commands by doing everything He would have us do and abstaining from everything He would not have us do.

-         Jesus instructed us in Matt. 22:39, “And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” We try to love others as we would be loved. We are to love even our enemies and do good to those who do evil to us. Jesus also said in John 13:34, “As I have loved you love one another.” We must strive to love those in Christ as much as Jesus loved us.
Jesus told us in Matt. 22:40, “All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.” These two commands supersede all others. They are the ones that should be emphasized to all children, they are the ones that should be put up on display for all to see, all to obey.

All sins come from the heart, they are spiritual. They come from the lack of an obedient love for our God, from the lack of a caring love for all people. It is impossible to list all the situations in which we sin by ignoring our God, by hurting our neighbors. Sometimes we are even unaware of the sins we commit. Jesus can forgive all of our sins except one. When we reject the Holy Spirit, not allowing Him into our hearts, not allowing Him to introduce us to our Lord, not allowing Him to keep Jesus in our hearts.

Our Lord’s Commands

There are many commands our Lord has given us to obey. The two greatest are as follows:

- Jesus taught us in Matt. 22:37-38, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” Our love for God must be the greatest and strongest love we have in our lives. We must put our Lord first in every endeavor we attempt, we must submit to our Master’s will in everything we do. We must obey His commands by doing everything He would have us do and abstaining from everything He would not have us do.- Jesus instructed us in Matt. 22:39, “And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” We try to love others as we would be loved. We are to love even our enemies and do good to those who do evil to us. Jesus also said in John 13:34, “As I have loved you love one another.” We must strive to love those in Christ as much as Jesus loved us.Jesus told us in Matt. 22:40, “All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.” These two commands supersede all others. They are the ones that should be emphasized to all children, they are the ones that should be put up on display for all to see, all to obey.



All sins come from the heart, they are spiritual. They come from the lack of an obedient love for our God, from the lack of a caring love for all people. It is impossible to list all the situations in which we sin by ignoring our God, by hurting our neighbors. Sometimes we are even unaware of the sins we commit. Jesus can forgive all of our sins except one. When we reject the Holy Spirit, not allowing Him into our hearts, not allowing Him to introduce us to our Lord, not allowing Him to keep Jesus in our hearts.



Some of our Lord’s commands were Old Covenant ceremonial laws to make the people aware of the Savior to come, and a means of forgiving their sins until He came. Jesus Christ’s death fulfilled these ceremonial laws, they are needed no more. We are to obey all of Christ’s commands that He taught us in the Gospels. We are also to follow the New Testament teachings of the apostles on how our Lord would have us live in the New Covenant. We should also obey the moral Old Covenant laws not redefined in the New Covenant. Listed below are other specific commands of our Lord. They are paraphrased from the Bible:

- That we should have no other gods, nor worship, bow down, or call upon any other idols, heavenly beings, statues, or anything else in heaven or earth.

- Do not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Do not curse by calling down the anger of God on anyone. Do not use His name carelessly or by swearing an oath to prove you are telling the truth where a simple yes or no will do. Do not swear falsely by His name.

- Do not lie. Tell the simple truth. Honor your pledges as God has honored His

- We should worship our God in fellowship with other Christians gladly hearing and learning His word. Each can worship any day or time they desire. Where two or three are gathered together in Christ’s name, He will be there also. We should support those are called for specific work by the Lord, both with prayers and sustaining them with their physical needs. We should bring the knowledge of our Lord to all nations. Congregations should be led by elders, men seasoned with a strong Christian faith and picked by the congregation they lead. Their requirements can be found in 1Timothy 3 and Titus 1. We should take our disputes to the elders to be settled quickly, trying to avoid secular courts.

- Honor your father and mother that it may be well with you and you will live long on the earth. Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly. Take care of the elderly especially caring for those in your own family.

- Do not kill. He who hates his brother is a murderer. Do not have rage or anger. Do not endanger anyone’s life. Dogood to those who offend you.

- Do not commit adultery. Do not commit fornication. He who lusts after another has already committed adultery in his heart. Neither the sexually immoral, adulterers, or homosexuals, will inherit the Kingdom of God. Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, that is detestable to God. Do not have incest or marry certain relatives as listed in Lev. 20. Do not have sexual relations with animals. Do not rape. God detests those who dress to look like the other sex. The Christian husband is to love and treat his Christian wife as Christ loves and treats His church. The husband must be willing to give his life for his wife, always putting her and his children’s welfare above his own. The Christian wife is to love and submit to her Christian husband in all Godly endeavors. She is to dress modestly showing her inward gentleness and beauty, not outward vanity of sexuality, clothes, makeup, or jewelry.

- Do not steal. Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight or quantity. Theft, deceit, swindling, and greed are evil. Steal no more but work to give to the needy.

-We should gladly do to the best of our ability the job our Lord has given us. Give to him that asks of you and from him that would borrow from you turn not away. Help others as we would like to be helped.

- Do not bear false witness against they neighbor. Slander is evil. Do not pervert justice, do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. Speak not evil of one of another. Do not have bitterness or malice. If there is a dispute go and discuss the matter between you and the person alone, then bring in others to rectify the situation. Be kind and compassionate.

- Do not desire your neighbor’s wife, nor covet any of his possessions. The world causes man to envy intensely. Having food and shelter be content with what you have.

- Forgive others as Christ forgives us. For if we do not forgive others Christ will not forgive our sins. Do not seek revenge, for revenge is for the Lord, not man. Do not bear a grudge against your neighbor.

- The evils of drunkenness, crude talk, arrogance, pride, and foolishness keep a man from the Kingdom of God. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

- Do not practice sorcery, nor turn to mediums or spiritualists for you will be defiled by them. Do not cut nor tattoo your body.

- Give to the poor and needy. Do not take advantage of your hired laborer, pay them their wages when they need them to live on.

- Obey government laws as long as they don’t conflict with God’s laws

If we commit any sin we have committed them all. Any sin (disobedience) keeps us from God, no matter what the sin is. There is only one cure for our sins. We must believe in Jesus Christ, acknowledge our sins, sincerely repent of them and trust in our Lord’s grace to forgive them. Puff, they are gone forever.

http://www.abidewithchrist.org/w5.html

How to Live for God’s Glory

“Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.”
The Westminster Shorter Catechism
How does a person glorify God?
No question is more practical or more significant. The supreme purpose in life for any man or woman—for anyone who has ever been born into this world—is to glorify God. That is what living is all about. Glorifying God is the end result of the Christian life. Spiritual maturity is simply concentrating and focusing on the person of God until we are caught up in His majesty and His glory.
I would like to suggest some practical ways for the Christian to glorify God:
• Confess Your Sins. Confession of sin glorifies God because if you excuse your sin, you absolve yourself of responsibility and blame God for letting you get into a mess. Adam illustrates this. When God confronted him, what was his excuse? “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12). He was practically saying, “You did it, God. If You hadn’t given me this woman, none of this would ever have happened.”
To do that is to blame God and thus to assign guilt to Him. But God is never at fault when we sin. Implying that He is somehow responsible maligns His holiness. So those who try to sneak out from under the absolute responsibility for their own sin commit a grievous sin against the glory of God.
First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” The Greek word for “confess” is homologeo, meaning “to say the same thing.” To confess means to agree with God that sin is all our fault and to repent. That act glorifies God. We don’t have to beg God for forgiveness. He is faithful and just to forgive as soon as we agree with Him.
• Bear Fruit. In John 15:8 Jesus told the disciples, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit.” Why? Because then the world can see the results of a Spirit-filled life. That is what we are here for—to put God on display to the world.
Colossians 1:10 says, “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work.” Good works are fruit. When we live a life of good works, the world will see and glorify our Father in heaven.• Give Praise to God. Psalm 50:23 says, “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me.” Praise honors God. One way to praise God is to give Him credit for everything. In 2 Samuel 12:26-31, when Joab won the victory against Rabbah and got possession of the enemy’s crown, he sent for David so he could present the crown to him. This is a good illustration of how the Christian should act toward the Master. You win a victory in your life, but you don’t wear the crown. You give it to the Lord, who has won the victory for you.
• Be Content. We may be discontented about ourselves and about our circumstances. But who made us? God. And He promises to supply all our needs. When we are content, we acknowledge God’s sovereignty in our lives, and that gives Him glory. If we are discontented, it’s the same as questioning God’s wisdom. That doesn’t glorify Him.
Paul testified, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Philippians 4:11). Paul was confident that God would use all things—poverty as well as abundance, comfort as well as pain—for Paul’s good and God’s glory (Romans 8:28). He didn’t say, “I’ll give God glory in spite of my pain.” He said, “I will give God glory because of it.”
A Christian who is discontented for any reason—job, spouse, finances—is a terrible testimony about the goodness of our God. What kind of God do we have? Is He really sovereign? Can He really be trusted? Glorifying God means that we praise Him with absolute contentment, knowing that our lot is God’s plan for us now.
• Pray According to God’s Will. Jesus said, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). Jesus’ name signifies all that He is and all that He would want. Praying in His name means praying in accordance with His character and His will. And God delights to reveal His glory in answered prayer. That is why He commands us to pray—so He can show us His greatness and we can give Him the praise He’s worthy to receive.
• Proclaim God’s Word. Paul wrote, “Brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you” (2 Thessalonians 3:1). How was the Word glorified through those believers? Because they heard it and believed. They trusted Christ and were born again—and God got the glory.
Presenting the Word clearly and accurately always gives Him glory. Every time a Sunday school teacher teaches a class of kids, every time a Bible study leader opens the Word in someone’s living room, every time a father sits down with his family and starts talking about the Word of God, God is glorified. We honor Him by making His Word known and understood.
• Lead Others to Christ. God also gets glory when people are redeemed. He is glorified when Satan’s prison is broken open and men and women are turned loose from the power of the evil one. People are saved from their sins in order to give God glory. So the more people who get converted, the more thanksgiving is going on, and the more there are in the choir singing, “Hallelujah!” (2 Corinthians 4:15).

How to Enjoy God

When we live to glorify God, He responds by giving us overwhelming joy. “Well,” you say, “I have a tough life. I just don’t have any joy.” May I suggest an answer? Start glorifying God.Joy does not necessarily always make sorrow, discouragement, pain, and failure go away, but Christians can experience supernatural joy even in the midst of those things. In fact sin is ultimately the only thing that can steal Christians’ joy. When our joy begins to fade, it is a sure sign of encroaching sin or unbelief. What can we do in times like that? Get down on our knees and confess the sin in our lives. We need to pray with David, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Psalm 51:12). Then we yield to the Holy Spirit, and joy returns.
Jesus desires that His joy remain in us (John 15:11). His joy that we know in part now is what we will know perfectly in heaven. Perhaps the greatest promise in all the Bible is 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “We shall always be with the Lord.” Now that’s joy!

R.G. Lee Society of Fellows"The Lordship ofJesus Christ"Philippians 2:5-11by Dr. Roger D. WillmorePastor, First Baptist ChurchBoaz, Alabama   Soon after I became a Christian I was introduced to the Keswick Christian Life Convention, a convention for deepening of spiritual life. The Keswick Convention began in Keswick, England in 1875 and since that time has heralded the message of victorious Christian living, practical holiness and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Throughout my Christian pilgrimage I have taken seriously the claims the Lord Jesus has placed upon my life. To me the most important truth in the Christian life is the truth of the lordship of Jesus Christ.   Lordship is inseparably linked to the name of Jesus.  The text before us makes this clear.  Paul said, “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (2:9-11 NKJV). Jesus came from heaven to earth, contracted Himself to the measure of a virgin’s womb, was born in Bethlehem, lived a perfect life and died on a cross an atoning sacrificial death, was buried in a tomb and was raised victoriously, and ascended into heaven to occupy His throne in Glory where God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.   Lordship was at the very heart of Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross. Paul makes this clear in Romans 14:8-9 (NKJV): “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.  For to this end Christ died, and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”   R. G. Lee spoke of the sovereign authority of Jesus’ name in a sermon entitled The Name AboveEvery Name, from Philippians 2:9-10.  He said, “The transcendence of the name of Jesus and its everlasting glory depend upon the work accomplished at the place called Calvary and at the open grave.”    “It is because of that, dear friends, that He stands out today the First Begotten from the dead, ‘that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.’ ‘His name shall endure forever.’”   “When the names of earth’s benefactors are no more remembered, when the achievements of science are no longer of value, when the guesses of philosophers are seen to be in vain, when time shall be no more – multitudes, in praise of Him in gratitude for salvation through His name, will still sing the song of Moses, and of the Lamb of enduring name.”   “When the Caesars and Charlemagne, the Napoleons and Wellingtons and their so-called splendid victories are forgotten, the multitudinous trophies of His saving power, in enjoyment of His endless fruits of His blood-bought victories, will sing the praises of His peerless name.”    “There never was a name like the name of Jesus – so representative of sacrificial love at its best. And someday, ‘every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord … to the glory of God the Father.’” 1   When the lordship of Jesus is a settled issue in the Christian’s life, all other issues are settled.  It is my privilege and responsibility to teach the members of my congregation what the Bible says about serving God; witnessing and soul winning; stewardship of time, talent, and treasure; faithfulness to God’s work; missions; and many other aspects of Christian responsibility. I contend that if the Christian has settled the lordship issue, then all other issues in his life are also settled. When Jesus is Lord of a person’s life, he will fulfill his duties, obligations, and responsibilities with joy.   S.M. Zwemer makes a sobering statement about the lordship of Jesus Christ: “Unless Jesus is Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.” 2  This is a challenge to all Christians to bring every area of our lives under the sovereign rule of Jesus Christ. In our lives there should be no rivalry for His throne.   The lordship of Jesus has both future and present relevance in our lives. Read the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 2:9-11 (NKJV): “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 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, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This passage has both future and present application.   There is coming a day when every person who has ever lived will bow and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But for the Christian that great confession should be an everyday reality. A Christian should live moment by moment in faithful submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ.   While attempting to know more about the lordship of Christ and at the same time yield more fully to His lordship, I discovered that I, in presenting this glorious subject to others, made an appeal to people that was incorrect and potentially misleading. There was a time when I would conclude my sermon by making an appeal to my hearers to make Jesus Lord of their life.  The Lord knew the intent of my heart, but I am not as sure that the same was true of those who heard my appeal. We do not make Jesus Lord – He is Lord!  Now, when I preach on the lordship of Christ, my appeal to those in the audience is not to make Jesus Lord; I now appeal to them to surrender their lives to the sovereign rule and ownership of the Lord Jesus Christ.   The central message of the Bible is that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”  I must say again that the most important truth in relation to the Christian experience is the lordship of Jesus Christ.  If this is true, and I do believe that it is, should it not compel us to make the preaching of this message a matter of priority and urgency? Could it be that the source of defeat, discouragement, and despair in the lives of some Christians is, in large part, the fact that they are attempting to live the Christian life in their own strength and power?  They have not yet discovered the truth taught by Paul in Philippians 4:13 (NKJV): “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”   When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, it involves a recognition of His lordship, for the Savior who saved us when we received Him by faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot and do not receive Him as Savior only. We receive Him as Lord and Savior. However, for some yielding to Jesus as Lord is subsequent to their conversion. It may be a few months later, or for some, many years later. This was my own experience. I did not willfully reject the lordship of Christ; I simply did not know about His lordship. He was presented to me as Savior at the time of my conversion. I was introduced to Him as Lord several years later. However, let us note that this is not intended to be the biblical pattern.   We must not fail to communicate the “whole council of God.” He is both Lord and Savior.   I. What Does It Mean to Say That Jesus Christ is Lord?   For Jesus to be Lord of your life means that He is the ruler, the boss, the master of your whole life. He cannot be Lord of a part – He must be given control of the entire life - the whole life.   When thinking about the whole life of a person, we must think of various parts that make up a person.  Paul wrote, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”  I Thess. 5:23, (NJKV).  Paul makes it plain that the whole person is made up of spirit, soul, and body. A person has an inner, private, unseen-to-the-natural-eye aspect of life and he has an outer, visible, and public life that is seen and heard by those with whom he comes in contact day by day. Jesus desires to be Lord of the seen and the unseen, the visible and the invisible, the private aspects of our life and the public aspects of our life. He wants to be Lord of our spiritual life and of our physical life.   The inner sanctuary, the spirit and soul, contains the mind, the emotion, and the will. It is in our spirit and soul that we think, feel, choose, decide, dream, and plan. Battles are fought and won or lost on the battleground of our private life. Is Jesus Lord over this area of your life?   The writer of Proverbs said. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7, NKJV).  In Proverbs 4:23, he wrote, “Keep your hearts with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (NKJV).   Don’t underestimate the importance of our private life. Although more attention is often given to the physical body, our true spiritual health is determined by the spirit and soul – not the body.   The outward life expresses the inner life. The outward life involves our eyes, our ears, our lips, our hands, our feet, our entire body. Our public life is expressed by what we see, what we say, what we hear, where we go, and what we do. It is so important that Jesus be Lord over our public life.   We need to see the public life in the context of home life, the workplace, the classroom, and the neighborhood. We need to see it in its relationship with friends, family, work colleagues, neighbors, and classmates. We need to see it in its attitude toward possessions, obligations, and responsibilities, and the use of time and resources.   If we agree with the view of S. M. Zwemer (“If Jesus is not Lord of all, the He is not Lord at all”), then there are many areas of life that must come under His lordship. Is Jesus Lord of your thoughts? Is Jesus Lord of your emotions? Is Jesus Lord of your speech, of your relationships, of your possessions?  Is Jesus Christ Lord of your whole life?   II. What Does It Involve to Say That Jesus Christ Is Lord?   What must a person do in order for Jesus Christ to be Lord of his life?  The easy answer is, “Yield your life to Him.” This involves taking your hands off the controls of your life and allowing Him to be in control.   Such an important question requires more than a surface answer. For Jesus to become Lord of a person’s life involves absolute and total surrender. I can think of no better example of total surrender than F. B. Meyer. He was a Baptist preacher and pastor of Christ Church in the heart of London in the nineteenth century. In the midst of a successful ministry, F. B. Meyer confessed that something was lacking in his life and ministry.  J.H. Jowett recounts the following story: “Dr. Meyer has told us that his early Christian life was marred and his ministry paralyzed just because he had kept back one thing from the bunch of keys he had given to the Lord. Every key save one! The key of one room was kept for personal use, and the Lord shut out. The effect of the incomplete consecration was found in lack of power, lack of assurance, lack of joy and peace. The joy of the Lord begins when we hand over the last key. We sit with Christ on His throne as soon as we have surrendered our crowns, and made Him sole and only ruler of our life and its possessions.”3           F. B. Meyer experienced the lordship of Jesus Christ when he handed over the last key.  He had kept back the key to one room in his life and it brought great defeat. Remember, if He is not Lord of all (of every room), then He is not Lord at all. Have you yielded keys to every room in your life? Does He have the key to every room in your private life? Does He have the key to every room in your physical/ public life? Is there a room marked “private – keep out?” If so, you must be willing to surrender that key to the Lord.   There is a second element to yielding our lives to the Lord. In addition to absolute surrender, there must also be an acknowledgment of His ownership. Paul addressed the subject of ownership in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (NJKV).   We are not our own. We were bought at a price. We belong to Jesus. We are His purchased possession. When a person yields to the lordship of Jesus Christ, he or she acknowledges His ownership and gives up his or her personal rights.   Yielding to the lordship of Jesus Christ also involves total and unreserved obedience. If He is the Lord of your life, you are going to do what He tells you to do.   If asked what I consider to be the most important word in the Christian vocabulary, I would say, “Obedience.” We move forward in our spiritual growth in direct proportion to our obedience to the revealed truth of God’s Word.   I like to read the account of Elijah’s response to God in 1 Kings 17 and 18. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah, and he did what God told him to do. Several times God spoke and Elijah obeyed. As a result of his obedience, Elijah was used in a powerful way to exalt God’s name.  His response to God’s Word was always immediate and exact. He did precisely what God told him to do as soon as God told him to do it. Remember that delayed obedience is the same as disobedience. Lordship involves obedience.   Jesus raised an important question: “But why do you call Me `Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say” (Luke 6:46, NKJV)? Are you doing what the Lord has instructed you to do? Are you doing it immediately and exactly? Are you obeying God?   Stephen Olford recounts a wonderful story about an incident in the life of his friend and mentor, Graham Scroggie. Dr. Scroggie was speaking at the Keswick Convention in England on one occasion when he was approached by a young woman who had been greatly stirred by his message on the Lordship of Christ. Walking up to him at the close of the service, she said, “I want Jesus to be Lord of my life, but I am afraid God will send me overseas as a missionary, and I don’t want to go.”   Opening the Bible to Acts 10:14, Dr. Scroggie explained the utter absurdity of Peter’s answer. You will remember that God had given Peter a vision of a sheet in which were all manner of four-footed animals, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.  And a voice came to him, “Rise Peter, kill and eat.” But Peter answered, “Not so, Lord.” (See Acts 10:12-14).   Dr. Scroggie went on to explain, “A slave never dictates to a master. Therefore, to say ‘Not so, Lord’ was impertinent!” “Now,” advised Dr. Scroggie, “I want you to cross out the two words ‘not so’ and leave the word ‘Lord’; or else cross out the word ‘Lord’ and leave ‘not so’.” Handing her his pencil, he quietly walked away.   For some time she struggled. Then he returned. Looking over her shoulder, he saw a tear-stained page. The words ‘not so’ were crossed out. With a glad light in her eyes, she repeated affirmatively, “Lord!” “Lord!” “Lord!”  No longer would she dictate. She was now His disciple, and He was her Lord and Master. 4   What a powerful story! Is your obedience up to date?   Finally, the lordship of Jesus Christ involves willing service.  There must be a time in your life when you, like the prophet Isaiah, are willing to say, “Here am I Lord, send me.”   A number of years ago my wife enjoyed attending an annual Bible conference in Asheville, North Carolina, sponsored by Columbia Bible College. It was there that I was introduced to the three A’s of Christian service: Anywhere, Anytime, and Any cost. The lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives involves our willingness to go where He sends us, when He sends us, regardless of the cost. Is Jesus the Lord of this area in your life? Can you honestly say, “Anywhere, Lord! Anytime, Lord! Any cost, Lord?”   The Christian life is a wonderful life. Christ has made every provision for His children to live full and abundant lives, but there is a cost involved. Such a life does not come cheaply nor easily. The life Christ has for His children requires that we die to ourselves. There can be no rivals to the throne of our life.  It is to be occupied by Jesus alone.   I am forever spoiled. Soon after I became a Christian and at the time that I was dealing with God’s call upon my life, I was introduced to Stephen F. Olford. The lordship of Jesus Christ is the theme of his life and ministry. How Dr. Olford came to know Jesus Christ as absolute Lord of his life is a thrilling testimony. The following portions of Dr. Olford’s testimony are taken from My Most Memorable Encounter with God.   “My restoration from a period of backsliding was a memorable crisis. In fact, this return to the Lord consummated in my call to the ministry. At the time I was in England, studying to be an engineer, but God made it abundantly clear that His plan for my life was to serve Him as a preacher – anywhere, at anytime, and at any cost.”   Following his theological training, Dr. Olford spent seven years as a Scripture reader (chaplain) during World War II. Then came a time when he became increasingly aware of a deep inner dissatisfaction. Something was missing.  His soul hungered and thirsted for the presence of God and the power of His Spirit.  Dr. Olford continues:   “This led to action. Clearing my calendar for a period of two weeks, I decided to retreat to some quiet place to read and wait upon the Lord. I made arrangements to stay at a little cottage in Porthcawl, on the south coast of Wales. I took with me two suitcases of books, including works of Calvin and Owen on the Holy Spirit. I also scheduled a study on such portions of Scripture as John 14-16, the Acts of the Apostles, Romans 8, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians. Morning, noon, and night I read, meditated and prayed. Gradually confusions were clarified and convictions were crystallized. As I examined the text (Eph. 5:18) within its context and compared Scripture with Scripture, I was struck with the sheer simplicity of it all. First, there was the initial acceptance of the Spirit’s control – “Be filled in the Spirit and with the Spirit.” . . . While the Holy Spirit is both contrasted and compared to wine, He is essentially a Person, and to be filled with Him is to be under His control. This led me to 2 Corinthians 3:17, where Paul tells us that “the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”; or “Where the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty.” I had always accepted the deity of the Spirit, but I had never acknowledged His lordship. I knew Jesus was Lord, and had owned that Lordship in an objective sense, but now I saw that the lordship of Christ could only be real to me as the Holy Spirit was made Lord in me. This was the crisis point in my search for freedom and fullness in my Christian life. Without reading further, I dropped to my knees and yielded everything to the reign and rule of the indwelling Spirit . . . I knew, there and then, that I was set free!” 5 What a clear and powerful testimony!   I want to close this message with words written by E. H. Swinstead:                        Lord of every thought and action,                        Lord to send and Lord to stay;                        Lord in speaking, writing, giving,                        Lord in all things to obey;                        Now and evermore to be. 6

By: Dr. Roger D, Willmore, PastorFirst Baptist Church,Boaz, Alabama

________________1  Dr. R. G. Lee, The Name Above Every Name Taken from Dr. Lee’s sermon notes, Archives, R. G. Lee Memorial Library, Union University, Jackson, TN.2  Dr.  S. M. Zwemer, The Solitary Throne (London:Pickering and Inglis, c. 1937),1.3  W. Y. Fullerton, F.B. Meyer, a Biography (Ontario, Canada: Ontario Christian Books, 1992), 58.4  Dr. Stephen Olford, The Way of Holiness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 82-83.5  David Enlow, ed., My Most Memorable Encounter with God  (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1977), 149-57.6  Olford, 83.About the AuthorRoger D. Willmore has been pastor of First Baptist Church in Boaz, Alabama since September 2002. He has served as Minister at Large for Olford Ministries International in Memphis, TN., since 1992.  He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Jacksonville State University and the master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees from Luther Rice Seminary.  He and his wife Sandra have one son, Stephen Andrew. Joanna Moore, Church ServicesR.G. Lee Center for Christian Ministry

http://www.uu.edu/centers/rglee/fellows/spring03/willmore.htm

Depression: God Is Not Silent When We Suffer

If we know anything about God, we know that He comes close to those who suffer, so keep your eyes open for Him.

by Edward T. Welch
Never has so much been crammed into one word. Depression feels terrifying. Your world is dark, heavy, and painful. Physical pain, you think, would be much better—at least the pain would be localized. Instead, depression seems to go to your very soul, affecting everything in its path.
Dead, but walking, is one way to describe it. You feel numb. Perhaps the worst part is that you remember when you actually felt something and the contrast between then and now makes the pain worse.So many things about your life are difficult right now. Things you used to take for granted—a good night's sleep, having goals, looking forward to the future—now seem beyond your reach. Your relationships are also affected. The people who love you are looking for some emotional response from you, but you do not have one to give.
Does it help to know that you are not alone? These days depression affects as much as 25 percent of the population. Although it has always been a human problem, no one really knows why. But what Christians do know is that God is not silent when we suffer. On every page of Scripture, God's depressed children have been able to find hope and a reason to endure. For example, take 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV):
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Come to God with your sufferingYou can start to experience the inward renewal that the apostle Paul experienced when you come to God with your suffering. God seems far away when we suffer. You believe that He exists, but it seems as if He is too busy with everything else, or He just doesn't care. After all, God is powerful enough to end your suffering, but He hasn't.If you start there, you'll reach a dead end pretty quickly. God hasn't promised to explain everything about what He does and what He allows. Instead, He encourages us to start with Jesus. Jesus is God the Son, and He is certainly loved by his heavenly Father. Yet Jesus also went through more suffering than anyone who ever lived!Here we see that love and suffering can co-exist. And when you start reading the Bible and encounter people like Job, Jeremiah, and the apostle Paul, you get a sense that suffering is actually the well-worn path for God's favorites. This doesn't answer the question, Why are you doing this to me? But it cushions the blow when you know that God understands. You aren't alone. If we know anything about God, we know that He comes close to those who suffer, so keep your eyes open for Him.
God speaks to you in the Bible
Keep your heart open to the fact that the Bible has much to say to you when you are depressed. Here are a few suggestions of Bible passages you can read. Read one each day and let it fill your mind as you go about your life.
Read about Jesus' suffering in Isaiah 53 and Mark 14. How does it help you to know that Jesus is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief?
Use the Psalms to help you find words to talk to God about your heart. Make Psalm 88 and Psalm 86 your personal prayers to God.
Be alert to spiritual warfare. Depressed people are very vulnerable to Satan's claim that God is not good. Jesus' death on the cross proves God's love for you. It's the only weapon powerful enough to stand against Satan's lies. (Romans 5:6-8, 1 John 4:9,10)
Don't think your case is unique. Read Hebrews 11 and 12. Many have walked this path before you and they will tell you that God did not fail them.
Remember your purpose for living. (Matthew 22:37-39, 1 Corinthians 6:20,  2 Corinthians 5:15, Galatians 5:6)
Learn about persevering and enduring. (Romans 5:3, Hebrews 12:1, James 1:2-4)   

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

Try one step at a time
Granted, it seems impossible. How can someone live without feelings? Without them you have no drive, no motivation. Could you imagine walking without any feeling in your legs? It would be impossible.
Or would it? Perhaps you could walk if you practiced in front of a large mirror and watched your legs moving. One step, wobble, another step. It would all be very mechanical, but it could be done.People have learned to walk in the midst of depression. It doesn't seem natural, though other people won't notice either the awkwardness or the heroism involved. The trek begins with one step, then another. Remember, you are not alone. Many people have taken this journey ahead of you.
As you walk, you will find that it is necessary to remember to use every resource you have ever learned about persevering through hardship. It will involve lots of moment by moment choices: 1) take one minute at a time, 2) read one short Bible passage, 3) try to care about someone else, 4) ask someone how they are doing, and so on.
You will need to do this with your relationships, too. When you have no feelings, how to love must be redefined. Love, for you, must become an active commitment to patience and kindness.
Consider what accompanies your depression
As you put one foot in front of the other, don't forget that depression doesn't exempt you from the other problems that plague human beings. Some depressed people have a hard time seeing the other things that creep in—things like anger, fear, and an unforgiving spirit. Look carefully to see if your depression is associated with things like these:Do you have negative, critical, or complaining thoughts? These can point to anger. Are you holding something against another person?
Do you want to stay in bed all day? Are there parts of your life you want to avoid?
Do you find that things you once did easily now strike terror in your heart? What is at the root of your fear?
Do you feel like you have committed a sin that is beyond the scope of God's forgiveness? Remember that the apostle Paul was a murderer. And remember: God is not like other people—He doesn't give us the cold shoulder when we ask for forgiveness.
Do you struggle with shame? Shame is different from guilt. When you are guilty you feel dirty because of what you did; but with shame you feel dirty because of what somebody did to you. Forgiveness for your sins is not the answer here because you are not the one who was wrong. But the cross of Christ is still the answer. Jesus' blood not only washes us clean from the guilt of our own sins, but also washes away the shame we experience when others sin against us.
Do you experience low self-worth? Low self-worth points in many directions. Instead of trying to raise your view of yourself, come at it from a completely different angle. Start with Christ and His love for you. Let that define you and then share that love with others.
Will it ever be over?
Will you always struggle with depression? That is like asking, "Will suffering ever be over?" Although we will have hardships in this world, depression rarely keeps a permanent grip on anyone. When we add to that the hope, purpose, power, and comfort we find in Christ, depressed people can usually anticipate a ray of hope or a lifting of their spirits. 

FREQUENTLY-ASKED QUESTIONS

Is it okay to get medication?
The severe pain of depression makes you welcome anything that can bring relief. For some people, medication brings relief from some symptoms. Most family physicians are qualified to prescribe appropriate medications. If you prefer a specialist, get a recommendation for a psychiatrist, and ask these questions of your doctor and pharmacist:
How long will it take before it is effective?
What are some of the common side effects? Will it be difficult to determine which medication is effective (if your physician is prescribing two medications)?
From a Christian perspective, the choice to take medication is a wisdom issue. It is rarely a matter of right or wrong. Instead, the question to ask is, What is best and wise?
Wise people seek counsel (your physicians should be part of the group that counsels you). Wise people approach decisions prayerfully. They don't put their hope in people or medicine but in the Lord. They recognize that medication is a blessing, when it helps, but recognize its limits. It can change physical symptoms, but not spiritual ones. It might give sleep, offer physical energy, allow you to see in color, and alleviate the physical feeling of depression. But it won't answer your spiritual doubts, fears, frustrations, or failures.
If you choose to take medication, please consider letting wise and trusted people from your church come alongside of you. They can remind you that God is good, that you can find power to know God's love and love others, and that joy is possible even during depression.
What do I do with thoughts about suicide?
Before you were depressed, you could not imagine thinking of suicide. But when depression descends, you may notice a passing thought about death, then another, and another, until death acts like a stalker.
Know this about depression: It doesn't tell the whole truth. It says that you are all alone, that no one loves you, that God doesn't care, that you will never feel any different, and you cannot go on another day. Even your spouse and children don't seem like a reason to stay alive when depression is at its worst. Your mind tells you, Everyone will be better off without me. But this is a lie—they will not be better off without you.
Because you aren't working with all the facts, keep it simple. Death is not your call to make. God is the giver and taker of life. As long as He gives you life, He has purposes for you.
One purpose that is always right in front of you is to love another person. Begin with that purpose and then get help from a friend or a pastor.
Depression says that you are alone and that you should act that way. But that is not true. God is with you, and He calls you to reach out to someone who will listen, care, and pray for you.
© Copyright 2010 by the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission.For more help on depression, read these resources by Edward T. Welch, all from New Growth Press:Depression: A Stubborn Darkness
Blame It On the Brain Also look at When Bad Things Happen: Thoughtful Answers to Hard Questions, by William P. Smith.More information about the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation is available at its website. To look at all available CCEF resources, visit  New Growth Press.
Edward T. Welch, M.Div., Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist and faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF). He has counseled for over twenty-five years and has written many books, including
When People Are Big and God Is Small; Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave; Blame It on the Brain?; Depression: A Stubborn Darkness; Crossroads: A Step-by-Step Guide Away from Addiction; Running Scared: Fear, Worry, and the God of Rest; and When I Am Afraid: A Step-by-Step Guide Away from Fear and Anxiety; and the minibooks Bipolar Disorder; Eating Disorders; and Living with an Angry Spouse.
http://www.familylife.com/articles/topics/life-issues/challenges/mental-and-emotional-issues/depression-god-is-not-silent-when-we-suffer#.UzpBZWJOnFo

R.G. Lee Society of Fellows
"The Lordship of Jesus Christ"
Philippians 2:5-11
by Dr. Roger D. Willmore
Pastor, First Baptist Church
Boaz, Alabama
Soon after I became a Christian I was introduced to the Keswick Christian Life Convention, a convention for deepening of spiritual life. The Keswick Convention began in Keswick, England in 1875 and since that time has heralded the message of victorious Christian living, practical holiness and the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Throughout my Christian pilgrimage I have taken seriously the claims the Lord Jesus has placed upon my life. To me the most important truth in the Christian life is the truth of the lordship of Jesus Christ.
Lordship is inseparably linked to the name of Jesus.
The text before us makes this clear. Paul said, “Therefore God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (2:9-11 NKJV). Jesus came from heaven to earth, contracted Himself to the measure of a virgin’s womb, was born in Bethlehem, lived a perfect life and died on a cross an atoning sacrificial death, was buried in a tomb and was raised victoriously, and ascended into heaven to occupy His throne in Glory where God has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.
Lordship was at the very heart of Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross. Paul makes this clear in Romans 14:8-9 (NKJV): “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.
For to this end Christ died, and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.”
R. G. Lee spoke of the sovereign authority of Jesus’ name in a sermon entitled The Name AboveEvery Name, from Philippians 2:9-10.
He said, “The transcendence of the name of Jesus and its everlasting glory depend upon the work accomplished at the place called Calvary and at the open grave.” “It is because of that, dear friends, that He stands out today the First Begotten from the dead, ‘that in all things he might have the pre-eminence.’ ‘His name shall endure forever.’”
“When the names of earth’s benefactors are no more remembered, when the achievements of science are no longer of value, when the guesses of philosophers are seen to be in vain, when time shall be no more – multitudes, in praise of Him in gratitude for salvation through His name, will still sing the song of Moses, and of the Lamb of enduring name.”
“When the Caesars and Charlemagne, the Napoleons and Wellingtons and their so-called splendid victories are forgotten, the multitudinous trophies of His saving power, in enjoyment of His endless fruits of His blood-bought victories, will sing the praises of His peerless name.”
“There never was a name like the name of Jesus – so representative of sacrificial love at its best. And someday, ‘every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord … to the glory of God the Father.’”
1 When the lordship of Jesus is a settled issue in the Christian’s life, all other issues are settled.
It is my privilege and responsibility to teach the members of my congregation what the Bible says about serving God; witnessing and soul winning; stewardship of time, talent, and treasure; faithfulness to God’s work; missions; and many other aspects of Christian responsibility. I contend that if the Christian has settled the lordship issue, then all other issues in his life are also settled. When Jesus is Lord of a person’s life, he will fulfill his duties, obligations, and responsibilities with joy.
S.M. Zwemer makes a sobering statement about the lordship of Jesus Christ: “Unless Jesus is Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.”
2 This is a challenge to all Christians to bring every area of our lives under the sovereign rule of Jesus Christ. In our lives there should be no rivalry for His throne. The lordship of Jesus has both future and present relevance in our lives. Read the words of the apostle Paul in Philippians 2:9-11 (NKJV): “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 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, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” This passage has both future and present application.
There is coming a day when every person who has ever lived will bow and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. But for the Christian that great confession should be an everyday reality. A Christian should live moment by moment in faithful submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
While attempting to know more about the lordship of Christ and at the same time yield more fully to His lordship, I discovered that I, in presenting this glorious subject to others, made an appeal to people that was incorrect and potentially misleading. There was a time when I would conclude my sermon by making an appeal to my hearers to make Jesus Lord of their life.
The Lord knew the intent of my heart, but I am not as sure that the same was true of those who heard my appeal. We do not make Jesus Lord – He is Lord!
Now, when I preach on the lordship of Christ, my appeal to those in the audience is not to make Jesus Lord; I now appeal to them to surrender their lives to the sovereign rule and ownership of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The central message of the Bible is that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”
I must say again that the most important truth in relation to the Christian experience is the lordship of Jesus Christ.
If this is true, and I do believe that it is, should it not compel us to make the preaching of this message a matter of priority and urgency? Could it be that the source of defeat, discouragement, and despair in the lives of some Christians is, in large part, the fact that they are attempting to live the Christian life in their own strength and power?
They have not yet discovered the truth taught by Paul in Philippians 4:13 (NKJV): “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, it involves a recognition of His lordship, for the Savior who saved us when we received Him by faith is the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot and do not receive Him as Savior only. We receive Him as Lord and Savior. However, for some yielding to Jesus as Lord is subsequent to their conversion. It may be a few months later, or for some, many years later. This was my own experience. I did not willfully reject the lordship of Christ; I simply did not know about His lordship. He was presented to me as Savior at the time of my conversion. I was introduced to Him as Lord several years later. However, let us note that this is not intended to be the biblical pattern. We must not fail to communicate the “whole council of God.” He is both Lord and Savior.
I. What Does It Mean to Say That Jesus Christ is Lord?
For Jesus to be Lord of your life means that He is the ruler, the boss, the master of your whole life. He cannot be Lord of a part – He must be given control of the entire life - the whole life.
When thinking about the whole life of a person, we must think of various parts that make up a person.
Paul wrote, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” I Thess. 5:23, (NJKV).
Paul makes it plain that the whole person is made up of spirit, soul, and body. A person has an inner, private, unseen-to-the-natural-eye aspect of life and he has an outer, visible, and public life that is seen and heard by those with whom he comes in contact day by day. Jesus desires to be Lord of the seen and the unseen, the visible and the invisible, the private aspects of our life and the public aspects of our life. He wants to be Lord of our spiritual life and of our physical life.
The inner sanctuary, the spirit and soul, contains the mind, the emotion, and the will. It is in our spirit and soul that we think, feel, choose, decide, dream, and plan. Battles are fought and won or lost on the battleground of our private life. Is Jesus Lord over this area of your life?
The writer of Proverbs said. “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7, NKJV).
In Proverbs 4:23, he wrote, “Keep your hearts with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (NKJV).
Don’t underestimate the importance of our private life. Although more attention is often given to the physical body, our true spiritual health is determined by the spirit and soul – not the body. The outward life expresses the inner life. The outward life involves our eyes, our ears, our lips, our hands, our feet, our entire body. Our public life is expressed by what we see, what we say, what we hear, where we go, and what we do. It is so important that Jesus be Lord over our public life. We need to see the public life in the context of home life, the workplace, the classroom, and the neighborhood. We need to see it in its relationship with friends, family, work colleagues, neighbors, and classmates. We need to see it in its attitude toward possessions, obligations, and responsibilities, and the use of time and resources. If we agree with the view of S. M. Zwemer (“If Jesus is not Lord of all, the He is not Lord at all”), then there are many areas of life that must come under His lordship. Is Jesus Lord of your thoughts? Is Jesus Lord of your emotions? Is Jesus Lord of your speech, of your relationships, of your possessions?
Is Jesus Christ Lord of your whole life?
II. What Does It Involve to Say That Jesus Christ Is Lord?
What must a person do in order for Jesus Christ to be Lord of his life? The easy answer is, “Yield your life to Him.” This involves taking your hands off the controls of your life and allowing Him to be in control. Such an important question requires more than a surface answer. For Jesus to become Lord of a person’s life involves absolute and total surrender. I can think of no better example of total surrender than F. B. Meyer. He was a Baptist preacher and pastor of Christ Church in the heart of London in the nineteenth century. In the midst of a successful ministry, F. B. Meyer confessed that something was lacking in his life and ministry.
J.H. Jowett recounts the following story: “Dr. Meyer has told us that his early Christian life was marred and his ministry paralyzed just because he had kept back one thing from the bunch of keys he had given to the Lord. Every key save one! The key of one room was kept for personal use, and the Lord shut out. The effect of the incomplete consecration was found in lack of power, lack of assurance, lack of joy and peace. The joy of the Lord begins when we hand over the last key. We sit with Christ on His throne as soon as we have surrendered our crowns, and made Him sole and only ruler of our life and its possessions.”
3 F. B. Meyer experienced the lordship of Jesus Christ when he handed over the last key. He had kept back the key to one room in his life and it brought great defeat. Remember, if He is not Lord of all (of every room), then He is not Lord at all. Have you yielded keys to every room in your life? Does He have the key to every room in your private life? Does He have the key to every room in your physical/ public life? Is there a room marked “private – keep out?” If so, you must be willing to surrender that key to the Lord. There is a second element to yielding our lives to the Lord. In addition to absolute surrender, there must also be an acknowledgment of His ownership. Paul addressed the subject of ownership in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (NJKV).
We are not our own. We were bought at a price. We belong to Jesus. We are His purchased possession. When a person yields to the lordship of Jesus Christ, he or she acknowledges His ownership and gives up his or her personal rights.
Yielding to the lordship of Jesus Christ also involves total and unreserved obedience. If He is the Lord of your life, you are going to do what He tells you to do.
If asked what I consider to be the most important word in the Christian vocabulary, I would say, “Obedience.” We move forward in our spiritual growth in direct proportion to our obedience to the revealed truth of God’s Word.
I like to read the account of Elijah’s response to God in 1 Kings 17 and 18. The Word of the Lord came to Elijah, and he did what God told him to do. Several times God spoke and Elijah obeyed. As a result of his obedience, Elijah was used in a powerful way to exalt God’s name.
His response to God’s Word was always immediate and exact. He did precisely what God told him to do as soon as God told him to do it. Remember that delayed obedience is the same as disobedience. Lordship involves obedience.
Jesus raised an important question: “But why do you call Me `Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say” (Luke 6:46, NKJV)? Are you doing what the Lord has instructed you to do? Are you doing it immediately and exactly? Are you obeying God? Stephen Olford recounts a wonderful story about an incident in the life of his friend and mentor, Graham Scroggie. Dr. Scroggie was speaking at the Keswick Convention in England on one occasion when he was approached by a young woman who had been greatly stirred by his message on the Lordship of Christ. Walking up to him at the close of the service, she said, “I want Jesus to be Lord of my life, but I am afraid God will send me overseas as a missionary, and I don’t want to go.”
Opening the Bible to Acts 10:14, Dr. Scroggie explained the utter absurdity of Peter’s answer. You will remember that God had given Peter a vision of a sheet in which were all manner of four-footed animals, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, “Rise Peter, kill and eat.” But Peter answered, “Not so, Lord.” (See Acts 10:12-14). Dr. Scroggie went on to explain, “A slave never dictates to a master. Therefore, to say ‘Not so, Lord’ was impertinent!” “Now,” advised Dr. Scroggie, “I want you to cross out the two words ‘not so’ and leave the word ‘Lord’; or else cross out the word ‘Lord’ and leave ‘not so’.” Handing her his pencil, he quietly walked away.
For some time she struggled. Then he returned. Looking over her shoulder, he saw a tear-stained page. The words ‘not so’ were crossed out. With a glad light in her eyes, she repeated affirmatively, “Lord!” “Lord!” “Lord!”
No longer would she dictate. She was now His disciple, and He was her Lord and Master.
4 What a powerful story! Is your obedience up to date?
Finally, the lordship of Jesus Christ involves willing service. There must be a time in your life when you, like the prophet Isaiah, are willing to say, “Here am I Lord, send me.”
A number of years ago my wife enjoyed attending an annual Bible conference in Asheville, North Carolina, sponsored by Columbia Bible College. It was there that I was introduced to the three A’s of Christian service: Anywhere, Anytime, and Any cost. The lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives involves our willingness to go where He sends us, when He sends us, regardless of the cost. Is Jesus the Lord of this area in your life? Can you honestly say, “Anywhere, Lord! Anytime, Lord! Any cost, Lord?”
The Christian life is a wonderful life. Christ has made every provision for His children to live full and abundant lives, but there is a cost involved. Such a life does not come cheaply nor easily. The life Christ has for His children requires that we die to ourselves. There can be no rivals to the throne of our life.
It is to be occupied by Jesus alone.
I am forever spoiled. Soon after I became a Christian and at the time that I was dealing with God’s call upon my life, I was introduced to Stephen F. Olford. The lordship of Jesus Christ is the theme of his life and ministry. How Dr. Olford came to know Jesus Christ as absolute Lord of his life is a thrilling testimony. The following portions of Dr. Olford’s testimony are taken from My Most Memorable Encounter with God.
“My restoration from a period of backsliding was a memorable crisis. In fact, this return to the Lord consummated in my call to the ministry. At the time I was in England, studying to be an engineer, but God made it abundantly clear that His plan for my life was to serve Him as a preacher – anywhere, at anytime, and at any cost.”
Following his theological training, Dr. Olford spent seven years as a Scripture reader (chaplain) during World War II. Then came a time when he became increasingly aware of a deep inner dissatisfaction. Something was missing.
His soul hungered and thirsted for the presence of God and the power of His Spirit.
Dr. Olford continues:
“This led to action. Clearing my calendar for a period of two weeks, I decided to retreat to some quiet place to read and wait upon the Lord. I made arrangements to stay at a little cottage in Porthcawl, on the south coast of Wales. I took with me two suitcases of books, including works of Calvin and Owen on the Holy Spirit. I also scheduled a study on such portions of Scripture as John 14-16, the Acts of the Apostles, Romans 8, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians. Morning, noon, and night I read, meditated and prayed. Gradually confusions were clarified and convictions were crystallized. As I examined the text (Eph. 5:18) within its context and compared Scripture with Scripture, I was struck with the sheer simplicity of it all. First, there was the initial acceptance of the Spirit’s control – “Be filled in the Spirit and with the Spirit.” . . . While the Holy Spirit is both contrasted and compared to wine, He is essentially a Person, and to be filled with Him is to be under His control. This led me to 2 Corinthians 3:17, where Paul tells us that “the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”; or “Where the Spirit is Lord, there is liberty.” I had always accepted the deity of the Spirit, but I had never acknowledged His lordship. I knew Jesus was Lord, and had owned that Lordship in an objective sense, but now I saw that the lordship of Christ could only be real to me as the Holy Spirit was made Lord in me. This was the crisis point in my search for freedom and fullness in my Christian life. Without reading further, I dropped to my knees and yielded everything to the reign and rule of the indwelling Spirit . . . I knew, there and then, that I was set free!”
5 What a clear and powerful testimony!
I want to close this message with words written by E. H. Swinstead: Lord of every thought and action, Lord to send and Lord to stay; Lord in speaking, writing, giving, Lord in all things to obey; Now and evermore to be.

By: Dr. Roger D, Willmore, PastorFirst Baptist Church,Boaz, Alabama

________________1 Dr. R. G. Lee, The Name Above Every Name Taken from Dr. Lee’s sermon notes, Archives, R. G. Lee Memorial Library, Union University, Jackson, TN.2 Dr. S. M. Zwemer, The Solitary Throne (London:Pickering and Inglis, c. 1937),1.3 W. Y. Fullerton, F.B. Meyer, a Biography (Ontario, Canada: Ontario Christian Books, 1992), 58.4 Dr. Stephen Olford, The Way of Holiness (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998), 82-83.5 David Enlow, ed., My Most Memorable Encounter with God (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1977), 149-57.6 Olford, 83.
About the Author
Roger D. Willmore has been pastor of First Baptist Church in Boaz, Alabama since September 2002. He has served as Minister at Large for Olford Ministries International in Memphis, TN., since 1992.
He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Jacksonville State University and the master of divinity and doctor of ministry degrees from Luther Rice Seminary.
He and his wife Sandra have one son, Stephen Andrew. Joanna Moore, Church Services
R.G. Lee Center for Christian Ministry

How To Show Mercy
Read This: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:36-37)
Think: An apology doesn’t make everything okay. It doesn’t take away the sting of betrayal, mend a broken heart, or instantaneously re-establish trust. But it’s a start. In the same way, forgiving someone isn’t saying everything is okay. It doesn’t turn back the clock or numb our emotions. But it’s the beginning of God’s work in and through us.
God is about reconciliation and that means not giving us what we deserve. In Matthew 18:23 Jesus tells a parable about a king who forgave one of his slaves a large sum of money. The very same slave came across a slave who owed him a relatively small amount of money. Instead of showing him the same kindness he had received, he grabbed him, choked him, and threw him in jail. The king heard what happened and became angry saying, “Should you not have shown mercy for your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?” (vs. 33).We’ve all seen the effects of withholding forgiveness as well as the humility to receive. Amongst family members, friends, neighbors, or co-workers relationships are broken and people’s hearts are hardened. Does anything good come from us trying to give someone what we think they deserve? Rather Romans 2:4 says, “do [you] not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?” It’s not the yelling, name-calling, getting even, or giving a piece of our mind that restores a relationship, it’s love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
That is a glimpse of who God is. It’s hard to give, but it may be equally hard to accept. Sometimes it makes us feel worse; it would be easier to suffer the consequences of our poor choices. Mercy breaks down our defenses and our pride, and so begins the journey to reconciliation.
Ask: Think back to a recent conflict. Could you have reflected Christ more clearly in your reactions? What could you have done differently?
Pray: Ask God to help you do what is required of you, “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8, NIV)
- See more at: http://skitguys.com/blog/post/how-to-show-mercy#sthash.OIkUbcMQ.dpuf

How to Enjoy God

When we live to glorify God, He responds by giving us overwhelming joy. “Well,” you say, “I have a tough life. I just don’t have any joy.” May I suggest an answer? Start glorifying God.
Joy does not necessarily always make sorrow, discouragement, pain, and failure go away, but Christians can experience supernatural joy even in the midst of those things. In fact sin is ultimately the only thing that can steal Christians’ joy. When our joy begins to fade, it is a sure sign of encroaching sin or unbelief. What can we do in times like that? Get down on our knees and confess the sin in our lives. We need to pray with David, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (Psalm 51:12). Then we yield to the Holy Spirit, and joy returns.
Jesus desires that His joy remain in us (John 15:11). His joy that we know in part now is what we will know perfectly in heaven. Perhaps the greatest promise in all the Bible is 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “We shall always be with the Lord.” Now that’s joy!

How To Show Mercy
Read This: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:36-37)
Think: An apology doesn’t make everything okay. It doesn’t take away the sting of betrayal, mend a broken heart, or instantaneously re-establish trust. But it’s a start. In the same way, forgiving someone isn’t saying everything is okay. It doesn’t turn back the clock or numb our emotions. But it’s the beginning of God’s work in and through us.
God is about reconciliation and that means not giving us what we deserve. In Matthew 18:23 Jesus tells a parable about a king who forgave one of his slaves a large sum of money. The very same slave came across a slave who owed him a relatively small amount of money. Instead of showing him the same kindness he had received, he grabbed him, choked him, and threw him in jail. The king heard what happened and became angry saying, “Should you not have shown mercy for your fellow slave, just as I showed it to you?” (vs. 33).We’ve all seen the effects of withholding forgiveness as well as the humility to receive. Amongst family members, friends, neighbors, or co-workers relationships are broken and people’s hearts are hardened. Does anything good come from us trying to give someone what we think they deserve? Rather Romans 2:4 says, “do [you] not know that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?” It’s not the yelling, name-calling, getting even, or giving a piece of our mind that restores a relationship, it’s love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness.
That is a glimpse of who God is. It’s hard to give, but it may be equally hard to accept. Sometimes it makes us feel worse; it would be easier to suffer the consequences of our poor choices. Mercy breaks down our defenses and our pride, and so begins the journey to reconciliation.
Ask: Think back to a recent conflict. Could you have reflected Christ more clearly in your reactions? What could you have done differently?
Pray: Ask God to help you do what is required of you, “to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8, NIV)
- See more at: http://skitguys.com/blog/post/how-to-show-mercy#sthash.OIkUbcMQ.dpuf

Anon no offense and please feel free to ignore this q, especially if I have made this inroad before, but your enthusiasm in such a futile undertaking about such a controversial subject, as I may have mentioned elsewhere, puzzles some of us

It might help us respond if you if without revealing anything crucial to your identity, you'd tell us something about yourself, eg, age, sex, loc, relig, nat'l, ed., motives, family, etc