Posts Tagged: the lordship of Jesus Christ

“The Lordship of Jesus: Doing the Next Right Thing when it’s Dark”

On December 28, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

So, I was listening to a talk by Andy Stanley.  It was the first in a series titled “You’re Not the Boss of Me: How to Say No to the Emotions that Compete for Control.”  It isn’t the first time I’ve listened to this series, but it’s the first time I heard something that is incredibly important.

Toward the end of his talk, Andy said something like the following: “Christians already have a boss, and he’s a good one.”  The issue of saying no to competing emotional voices that emanate from my own heart, or from the devil, or from the world (or from wherever) is the issue of saying a consistent “Yes!” to the LORD Jesus Christ.

But, how do I do that?  I called my sponsor to do my daily report, and asked him that question.  My sponsor is a fellow recovering addict, and is also a brother in Christ.  He is also intensely practical, and doesn’t put up with any over-intellectualizing crap from me.

“I know the answer to this one!” he said.  “Just keep doing the next right thing!” he continued.

Now, I should have seen this coming.  He tells me this all the time.  Sometimes, he just abbreviates it: JKDTNRT.

Apparently Google was listening in on our conversation (a scary thought), because right after we ended our conversation, the Google Girl came on with “Just keep doing the next right thing.  Here you go!”

And there was a “Frozen 2” song by Kristen Bell.

“I’ve seen dark before
But not like this
This is cold
This is empty
This is numb
The life I knew is over
The lights are out
Hello, darkness
I’m ready to succumb

[Verse 2: Anna]
I follow you around
I always have
But you’ve gone to a place I cannot find
This grief has a gravity
It pulls me down
But a tiny voice whispers in my mind
“You are lost, hope is gone
But you must go on
And do the next right thing”

[Verse 3: Anna]
Can there be a day beyond this night?
I don’t know anymore what is true
I can’t find my direction, I’m all alone
The only star that guided me was you
How to rise from the floor
When it’s not you I’m rising for?
Just do the next right thing
Take a step, step again
It is all that I can to do
The next right thing


[Bridge: Anna]
I won’t look too far ahead
It’s too much for me to take
But break it down to this next breath
This next step
This next choice is one that I can make

[Verse 4: Anna]
So I’ll walk through this night
Stumbling blindly toward the light
And do the next right thing
And with the dawn, what comes then
When it’s clear that everything will never be the same again?
Then I’ll make the choice
To hear that voice
And do the next right thing.”

That’s a pretty good description of sane living, if you ask me.  For me, as a Christ-follower, it is also a pretty good description of living under the lordship of Christ.

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