Promise for Today - Freedom Isn't Free

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:13-14 NLT

It has been said, "When the will to be free is greater than the will of bondage, the way to freedom can be found." However, the price of freedom has always been paid in heartache and blood - of the oppressed, of the oppressors, and of the liberators.

It's been eye-opening to realize the percentage of the generations once and twice removed who seem to have forgotten and/or fail to recognize and acknowledge the freedoms we enjoy here in the states and the ultimate price that's been paid so we can enjoy them - freedoms many people in the world still today can only dream of. God help us all.

For our Christian walk, Christ willingly paid the ultimate sacrifice to liberate us from our sinful nature. His Blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness and frees us to love others as He loved us. Have we forgotten? Do we fail to recognize and acknowledge what He has done so we may walk in it?

Freedom was God's plan from the beginning. Even Isaiah prophesied, "I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” 

Freedom isn't free.

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for loving us more than enough to set us free from a lifetime of being slaves to sin. Thank You for setting our spirit free so that even in chains, we cannot be bound. Thank You for Your Word that assures us if Your Son has set us free, then we are free indeed. May we have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

The Load

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

Psalm 32:1-5 NLT

We were never meant to be beasts of burden. When we are honest with ourselves, we recognize the weight of sin and rebellion. It is so heavy. Heavy on our minds and hearts and weighs us down both physically and spiritually.

Carrying our sin and rebellion was never God's plan for our lives. According to Scripture, He chose our Way of salvation before the foundation of the world. Do you remember what it felt like when you came to Jesus and asked Him to forgive you? Do you remember the feeling of being released from that load? 

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

Prayer:

Father,

           There is no greater joy than true freedom that comes only through You and Your plan of salvation for all mankind. Thank You for taking the load off our backs and making us free indeed. Thank You for love so strong that we can never be separated from You. Help us to love as You love, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

I'm Free - Randle & Phelps

Through the Bible in a Year
Reading for February 10th
Exodus 30:11-31:18
Matthew 26:47-68
Psalm 32:1-11

Proverbs 8:27-32

Something Different for May - Day 14 - Struggling with Sin

Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.

But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.

So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

Romans 7:7-25 NLT

Prayer - Day 14

God, Your law teaches me what sin is. I see the good I want to do—yet I don’t do it. I see evil I don’t want to do—yet I keep doing it anyway. I feel wretched! Who will save me from myself? You, of course. Only, always You, who delivers me again, today, through Christ Jesus, my Lord. Amen.

Praying Through Romans    www.crosswalk.com

Something Different for May - Day 12 - Set Free

Well then, since God's grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching which we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin and you have become slaves to righteous living.

Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom.

But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:15-23  NLT

Prayer: Day 12

Father,
           I'm humbled. I once was a slave to sin which was leading me to death. Yet now, thanks to You, I'm free from that! The wages of my sin should have been death, but instead I've received Your gift - eternal life in Christ Jesus my Lord. Thank You, Father. Amen

Praying Through Romans         www.crosswalk.com

A Reminder - Every Kind of Sin

And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.
Titus 2:12-14 NLT

With the aid of the Internet, myths and urban legends are detrimentally rampant because lots of people will believe almost anything they read in written form. It's astonishing to discover how often a myth or rumor is widely accepted as truth simply because someone has heard it, read it or said it so many times.

The verses from Titus jumped out at me today. How often do we buy the lie that we'll never be able to overcome a sin in our lives because we believe we were 'born that way' or we've 'always been like this' or 'that's just the way I am' ? Verse 14 declares that Christ gave His life to free us from EVERY kind of sin. I don't see an asterisk that lists any exclusions. It doesn't read 'every sin except for...'

Let's bust a few myths today, shall we? It doesn't matter how many times you've tried and failed. It doesn't matter how many times someone has proclaimed that you will never be this or that. It doesn't matter how many times you've heard it, read it or said it... The Truth is this. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.

God's Truth - His Word - is the original myth buster. Put it to the test.

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for shining the light of Your Truth in our lives. Help us to understand Your Word and to overcome the myths and rumors and lies about our own lives and about You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Called to Live in Freedom

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:13-14 NLT

It has been said, "When the will to be free is greater than the will of bondage, the way to freedom can be found."  However, the price of freedom has always been paid in heartache and blood - of the oppressed, of the oppressors, and of the liberators. 

It's been eye-opening to realize the percentage of the generations once and twice removed who seem to have forgotten and/or fail to recognize and acknowledge the freedoms we enjoy here in the states and the ultimate price that's been paid so we can enjoy them - freedoms many people in the world still today can only dream of. God help us all. 

For our Christian walk, Christ willingly paid the ultimate sacrifice to liberate us from our sinful nature. His Blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness and frees us to love others as He loved us. Have we forgotten? Do we fail to recognize and acknowledge what He has done so we may walk in it? 

Freedom was God's plan from the beginning. Even Isaiah prophesied, "I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me,  for I have paid the price to set you free.” Freedom isn't free.

Prayer:

Father, 
          Thank You for loving us more than enough to set us free from a lifetime of being slaves to sin. Thank You for setting our spirit free so that even in chains, we cannot be bound. Thank You for Your Word that assures us if Your Son has set us free, then we are free indeed. May we have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Friends' Favorites - A Memorial

There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always. About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”  And when he observed him, he was afraid, and said, “What is it, lord?”
So he said to him, “Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God."
Acts 10:1-4 NKJV

Memorials are a great tribute to those who have given their lives in service for others, whether in the armed forces during conflict or through humanitarian effort. A time to remember and honor what they have done. However, it's a different kind of memorial I'm thinking about this evening - the one in our Promise for today. Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.   

When I read this, I had to ask myself. Have I prayed enough or given enough that my prayers and alms would come up for a memorial before God?  And if I haven't, why haven't I? 

Do I take my freedom to worship so casually that I forget the price that was paid for it? Because I was born into a Christian nation, do I turn an unfazed eye and ear to the plight of our Christian brothers and sisters who do NOT live in the land of the free and the home of the brave?  Those for whom Christianity today is as much persecuted with beatings and torture and death, as it was in the first century?

For those who have given their lives to offer freedom in Christ to a lost and dying world - a memorial. For those who have given their lives so that I might live in the land of the free - a memorial. For the One who gave His life to redeem every soul - let my life be a living memorial...

Prayer:

Father,
         Change our hearts! Renew a right spirit within us! Let our prayers and alms be such that they come up for a memorial before You...and You alone, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Friends' Favorite - * All of Them

All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and

all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea,

all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.

All of them ate the same spiritual food, and

all of them drank the same spiritual water.

For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.

Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

1st Corinthians 10:1b-5 NLT

God declared a new beginning for all of them, whether they were born in the land or were strangers who chose to be a part of the assembly and follow the Lord; God made no distinction among them. It no longer mattered to Him. Here's all you have to do... (read Exodus 12).

And then He gave them the same instructions. All of them were given the same opportunity. And again, He made the point of expressing that it made no difference if they were born in the land or were strangers who chose to follow His ways. Follow Me and live. Not one of them could say, "Well, You gave him more than you gave me..."  Not one...

Did all of them follow Him? No, they did not. Will you?

You may say, Yeah, but that was back then and He provided their shelter and their food every day and they didn't have to earn a living and pay gas prices and... 

The great Equalizer is this, they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ.  The same Christ who instructed us in Matthew 28:20, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world...

I ask again... Did all of them follow Him? No, they did not. The question is, Will you?

Prayer:

Father,

         Help us to examine our own lives - face to face with You. Cause the compass of our hearts to be totally fixed on You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Make Us Ready

Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.
Acts 12:7

A friend shared her SOAP with me today on this Scripture. (SOAP is an acronym for Scripture Observation Application and Prayer.) Linda always has a different take and this one is no exception. It is really good!

She writes:

OBSERVATION: God is sending an angel to break Peter out of prison. Peter was asleep and the angel had to wake him and tell him to hurry up! That's when the chains fell off his wrists. I see this as those times God sends an answer that we might not be ready for, and He actually makes us ready (struck Peter's side, chains fell off). But in order to receive it, Peter had to act quickly and follow the angel out to freedom (read vvs. 8-11).

Am I refusing to follow God to freedom?!?

APPLICATION: Lord, I don't know how often You'll need to wake me or even ask me to act quickly. But let me understand and learn that trust is the key - because without trust, it does not matter what You ask or how fast I need to act. However, if I trust You, then it all works out.

PRAYER: Father, Let us recognize when we've been unchained and set free, and let us not remain seated in our prison. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Free to Live

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn't, and doesn't, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it's sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that's the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.
Romans 5:20-21 The Message

It wasn't so long ago that we were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. We let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell us how to live. We filled our lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose His temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, He embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on His own, with no help from us! Then He picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. Now God has us where He wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all His idea, and all His work. All we do is trust Him enough to let Him do it. Free to live the life He freely gave us. It cost Him everything, but He was and is willing to take us as the return on His investment.

Do we truly understand what it means to be free? We think because we've grown up in the "free world" that we know. Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer at sin's every beck and call! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ's sin-conquering death, we also get included in His life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word.

When Jesus died, He took sin down with Him, but alive He brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That's what Jesus did. That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don't give it the time of day. Don't even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you've been raised from the dead!—into God's way of doing things. Sin can't tell you how to live. After all, you're not living under that old tyranny any longer. You're living in the freedom of God.

What is True Freedom? Does freedom mean that we can live any old way we want? Since we're free in the freedom of God, can we do anything that comes to mind? Hardly. You know well enough from your own experience that there are some acts of so-called freedom that destroy freedom. Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in His freedom!

I'm using this freedom language because it's easy to picture. You can readily recall, can't you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing—not caring about others, not caring about God—the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God's freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?

As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn't have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you're proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.

But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!

If you work hard for sin your whole life, your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. You are free to live.

Taken from The Message: Ephesians 2, Romans 6, Romans 8

Prayer:

Father,
You are the only One who can take the mess we've made and make it new. Help us to walk in the newness of life that You and You alone have provided for us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Taste and See

 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Psalm 34:8 NIV

I took part in a discussion today about emotional eating. The experts say it's a learned behavior. I think there's a bit of truth in that, but I also contend that it may have a little something to do with my genes. I'm half Italian. Food was the answer for everything when I was growing up. 

• Oh, you're sad? Mangia! Mangia! (Italian for "eat up")
• Oh, you fell down and got hurt? Here, eat a little something - you'll feel better! 
• Honor roll?!? That's marvelous! Let's celebrate - Mangia! 

Quick! How many comfort foods can you name? Truthfully, though, how many people do you know who go to food for comfort? Or to liquor or some other form of self-indulgence? The sad truth is it might feel like comfort in the moment, but it robs us of any real or lasting comfort. 

In John 14:26 (the Living Bible) Jesus said, But when the Father sends the Comforter instead of me—and by the Comforter I mean the Holy Spirit—he will teach you much, as well as remind you of everything I myself have told you. If we would go to God's Word and seek solace, the Holy Spirit would guide us into all Truth (John 16:13).  And where the Spirit of the Lord is freedom (2nd Corinthians 3:17). Freedom from the pain, freedom from the cares of this world, freedom from the desire to seek comfort from anything that is not God's comfort. Taste and see that the Lord is good!  Oh, that we would get to the place where we rightly divide His Word as quickly as we can divide a pie into six!

Prayer:

Father,
          Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit to comfort us and to guide us into all Truth. Help us to retrain our hearts and minds to seek Your comfort over anything and everything the world has to offer us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Help Me! The Cry of My Heart

Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me. For I cried out to him for help, praising him as I spoke. If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer  or withdraw his unfailing love from me.
Psalm 66:16-20 NLT

Help me!! I'm supposed to be going through the accumulation of STUFF and purging. I thought I would start with my office here at the house... I'll just tell you straight up - I'm not good at purging. However, I am very good at accumulating STUFF! I'm also very good at stuffing it into drawers or boxes. 

I've spent the last 3 hours going through cards, letters, old bills, old newspaper articles... a sales ad! Really?!? Most of it, I can recycle or shred, but right in the middle of it, some old family pictures. I don't know how they got mixed in with all that.  Stuffing the stuff...

In the course of it, I happened upon some great and some not-so-great memories, but in my heart, I "visited" some of the milestones and landmarks of my life. God is so good! I am grateful to be able to remember, and I am grateful that I have the advantage of age to look back with an attitude of gratitude for all God has brought me through!  At times like this, I always go back to what turned my life around and brought me to God, and I just felt like tonight, I wanted to share it again.

For me, it was this song.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBOIG8QoA9s.  Larry Gatlin wrote it and recorded it with Kris Kristofferson in 1972. I bought the record then, but didn't listen to Help Me until somewhere around 1980. A brief history of me at that time - paycheck on Friday, go to the bank, go to the liquor store, be drunk all weekend, sober up enough on Sunday to go to work on Monday. Be sick till Wednesday. Be good on Thursday, and start all over again on Friday. Broken. I was so broken... 

This is my testimony - the shortened version. I'd been raised in church by a mother who tried, but I decided at 16 that I could never be good enough (I didn't know about God's amazing grace), so I walked away. By the time I listened to the entire song of Help Me, (ten years later), I was desperate. I needed to get back to God, but couldn't find my way. I'd forgotten how to pray. I couldn't bring myself to even try to talk to God after all I'd done in a decade of debauchery. That's when I found the 45rpm record in my collection for the final time and actually listened to it all the way through for the FIRST time. God used my favorite singer to throw me a lifeline. 

I am convinced that God gave that song to Larry Gatlin for me. It was the prayer of my life - for my life, of exactly where I was, and exactly what I needed. 

If this resonates with you, let me tell you this. You're never too far gone. You've never done more than God will forgive. Jesus has already willingly paid the price for your soul. His grace truly IS amazing. God loves you and He will use everything at His command to get to you. Just let Him know you realize you need help.

Prayer:

Father,
           I pray for the one reading this right now who needs Your saving grace. Please reveal Yourself in a very personal way so they know it's You. Save souls, heal their mind, body and spirit, and set them free from those things that tie them in knots, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

It Isn't Free

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Galatians 5:13-14 NLT

It has been said, "When the will to be free is greater than the will of bondage, the way to freedom can be found."  However, the price of freedom has always been paid in heartache and blood - of the oppressed, of the oppressors, and of the liberators. 

It's been eye-opening to realize the percentage of the generations once and twice removed who seem to have forgotten and/or fail to recognize and acknowledge the freedoms we enjoy here in the states and the ultimate price that's been paid so we can enjoy them - freedoms many people in the world still today can only dream of. God help us all. 

For our Christian walk, Christ willingly paid the ultimate sacrifice to liberate us from our sinful nature. His Blood cleanses us from all unrighteousness and frees us to love others as He loved us. Have we forgotten? Do we fail to recognize and acknowledge what He has done so we may walk in it? 

Freedom was God's plan from the beginning. Even Isaiah prophesied, "I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget you. I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me,  for I have paid the price to set you free.” Freedom isn't free.

Prayer:

Father, 
          Thank You for loving us more than enough to set us free from a lifetime of being slaves to sin. Thank You for setting our spirit free so that even in chains, we cannot be bound. Thank You for Your Word that assures us if Your Son has set us free, then we are free indeed. May we have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Locked Doors

That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said.  As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.”

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said.

John 20:19-26 NLT

There they were behind locked doors, afraid that the same leaders who killed Christ would kill them. Totally understandable, right? What a horrific experience! Grief-stricken. Confused. So afraid... Then Jesus showed up! What a great time of rejoicing it must have been!! 

Imagine having someone restored to you who you thought was gone forever! Everything was changed! Everything He said was true - they had living proof!! The Messiah!! Then He said to them, "As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you." 

Eight days later... the Scripture reads... The doors were locked... Pastor Alan asked the question, "If everything changed, why hasn't anything changed?"  What has God said to us? Are we still behind the locked doors of our hearts and minds? 

Prayer:

Father,
           Your Son came to set the captives free! Fill our hearts and minds with the boldness and courage of our freedom. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

True Freedom *

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you. Galatians 5:1 The Message

13-15 It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.

22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Galatians 5:13-23 The Message

Prayer:

Father,

          We make the rest of this chapter our sincere prayer. Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, help us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but we work out its implications in every detail of our lives. Help us to not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. You have planned far more interesting things for us to do with our lives. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Taking a Stand +

Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.

Philippians 3:13-16 The Message.

Christ giving His life for ours as the final Blood sacrifice for our sin is the ultimate freedom. The Crucifixion is what allowed and enabled every other freedom that we have and enjoy.  We need to remember - we MUST remember - true freedom comes with a great price. There are things we must know in every fiber of our being in order to be able to make and take a stand for freedom.

As Houston, Texas pastors square off against demands from city government, I just want to take a moment to remind us again of the price paid for the freedoms we enjoy and often take for granted. There is ALWAYS a price for freedom.

Bill Belew, Christian Worldview Examiner, wrote the following:

******************************************************Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence ?

 Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.

 Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned.

Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

 Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.

 They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

 What kind of men were they?

 Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy.  He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.

 Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.

 At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.  He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

 Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

 John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Skipping down, Mr. Belew goes on to write: Remember: freedom is never free! 

***************************************************

What will we do when it's our turn. Will you take a stand?

Prayer:

Father,

         Drive it home deep within us. Let us not make light work of the price of freedom, but rather, let us make true freedom our life's work in all arenas of our lives and for all people. It is Your will that none should perish, but that all should have everlasting life. Thank You for sending Your Son to pay the price for our sins. Lord, make us courageous in the fight to stand for Your Truths. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen  

True Freedom *

The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me,
       Because He has anointed Me
      To preach the gospel to the poor;
      He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
      To proclaim liberty to the captives
      And recovery of sight to the blind,
      To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
      To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”

 Luke 4:18-19  NKJV

How many times have you read this portion of Scripture and held on to it for dear life - or used it when ministering to someone who was heartbroken? Have you ever wondered if God really understood the depth of your broken heart? I'm not trying to be fractious or facetious. I've had people express that very question to me. To be honest with you, I've wondered a time or two myself - God, do You know to what extent exactly it was broken?

Let me assure you, He does.

There are some horrible, deplorable, gut-wrenching events that take place in the lives of those around us and in our own lives. Some we know about. Some we don't... not till much later. Some we read about and throw a prayer heaven-ward, but are we touched with the feeling of their situation? For instance, when was the last time we thought about and fervently prayed for the people of Malaysia who are still trying to recover? Scripture tells us Jesus IS touched with the feeling of our situations. 

If we do even just a little study on the word thrauo  - which is the Greek word interpreted as oppressed, we will find that it means to break, break in pieces, 

shatter, smite through.  If we go to the original reference (Isaiah 61:1), we find that the Hebrew word definition translates to break, break in or down, break in pieces, rend violently, wreck, crush, quench, rupture (figuratively), to be broken, be maimed, be crippled, be wrecked, to shatter... I'd say that pretty well covers it, wouldn't you?

And as Jim Mackey sagaciously pointed out a few years back, anything that crushes or shatters our life creates a prison of our own making. It is from THAT prison Christ came to set us free. Free to be who God created us to be. Free to free others from the chains of their souls, no matter where they may be. 

That's true freedom.

Prayer:

Father,

          Continue to illuminate Your Word so that we get it and can walk in the freedom that You alone can and have provided for us. And as we grasp the Truth of Your Word, help us to give the keys to those around us who need a way out of the prison of their souls. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* God's Give and Take

"Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”  In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

Job 1:21-22 NKJV

We have heard it said that life is all about the give and take. I'm inclined to agree with that. While we may think that being given something all the time may sound like living a blessed life, it's wrong. Have you ever been in a relationship where it was all one-sided? If it's you doing all the giving - time, energy, etc - it gets old pretty quick. By the same token, if you're on the receiving end all the time without the opportunity to give back, that doesn't work either. It is give AND take. That's what makes a relationship.

We've all heard numerous sermons about being a blessing to others. However, there is the danger of becoming the Bless ME generation - believing the teaching that propagates the untruth that God is there just to bless us. How many people do you know who have fallen away from following the Lord because something bad happened or they didn't get what they wanted and they believed God should have, would have, could have done something? Therein lies the danger. We accuse God of wronging us when we don't get what we want.

We were / are created for worship. We are to worship God. We are to bless Him. And while it IS true that God will bless us, Hebrews 11:6 assures us He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. It also says that without faith it is impossible to please God and that those who come to God must believe that He IS. Does God withhold from us? Yes, He does. Does He withhold from us just to be mean or just because He can? No, absolutely not! He is our Father - a true Father. One who is all about caring for His children, loving us, raising us up to be the best that we can be...and that means training AND discipline. That's REAL love. That's TRUE love.

Scripture tells us He delights in us. It is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom (Luke 12:32). According to His good pleasure, He laid out the plan for our salvation so we could be adopted by Him (Ephesians 1:5), revealing to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself (Ephesians 1:9).

God gives us freedom (Psalm 146:7). He gives us wisdom (Proverbs 2:6). The Lord gives rest from our sorrow and from our fear and from our hard bondages... and even though that Scripture (Isaiah 14:3) is in reference to the fall of the Babylonian king, the Word also tells us in Acts 10:34-35, that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.

God so loved the world that He GAVE His Son to die on the Cross for OUR sins (John 3:16). Behold the Lamb of God who TAKES away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Let us learn the lesson from Job. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.

Prayer:

Father,

          You are holy and You are righteous and You are God and we are not. We acknowledge Your lordship and submit ourselves to You. We give our lives to You and ask that You take away everything in our heart that does not please You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Slave Phrases

Even though I am a free man with no master, I have become a slave to all people to bring many to Christ.

1st Corinthians 9:19  NLT

We've talked about first-time obedience and how we expect it from those around us. However, we don't give God first-time obedience. We call Him Master, Savior, Redeemer, Father, and yet sometimes, we don't do even His most basic instructions.

I truly believe the Bible is the Divinely-inspired Word of God. I believe that every word was intentionally included. Every story, every parable - I DON'T believe that God put fillers in there - it's all there for a reason and a purpose... just like us. I may love parts of it more than other parts, I may even have parts I don't like at all, but that doesn't make them any less true.

I never realized how many times the slave phrases reference us - you and me - Believers and followers of Christ. Sons and daughters of the Most High God. Joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Slaves of God. Servants of Christ Jesus.

Okay, don't look at me in that tone of voice... the same man who instructed us to follow him as he followed Christ, also wrote this in Philippians 1:1, This letter is from Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus. And in Titus 1:1, This letter is from Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I have been sent to proclaim faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know the truth that shows them how to live godly lives.

James wrote the same in James 1:1, This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. As did Peter in 2nd Peter 1:1, This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ... And so did Jude in Jude 1:1, This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.

Slaves generally don't punch a time clock or get off at a certain time. However, I find myself trying to hoard my time at work - hating to be interrupted - and yet the nature of my job is to BE interrupted so I can help others. I only had an hour or so I could call my own...literal translation - an hour or so when it was all about ME and what I wanted to do without having to take anyone else into consideration. True definition - selfish. I really hate that. I don't want to be selfish - I don't like to even think of myself as being selfish, but the truth is I surely am... and that is definitely NOT being like Jesus who was totally selfLESS and humbled Himself unto death for me and for you.

When did I start thinking that I could take time off because I am tired of not doing what I want? Think of your loved ones who have not received Christ as their Savior or who are making bad decisions - ones that will pull them away from Christ. If you knew today was their last day on earth, or that Jesus was coming back tonight to take His bride, would you wanna watch that movie again - the one you've seen 6 times already or would you pray for all you are worth?  When we get tired, as we do and we will, we only need to go to our Master... In Matthew 11, Jesus said, Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Slaves don't generally get a day off. Work for the night is coming...

Prayer:

Father,

           Remove everything that keeps us from fulfilling Your purpose and plan in our lives. Help us to better see our place and part in Your scheme of things. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Wonderful Works*

They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way; They found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, Their soul fainted in them. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, That they might go to a city for a dwelling place. Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness. 
Psalm 107:4-9 NKJV

My family and dear friends in the Midwest and on the East Coast are in the grip of winter and another 6"-12" of snow, depending where they live. It's so cold outside and the wind is whipping and there is ice and some sort of precipitation in all four directions, but there is much to be thankful for. We have homes. We are not exposed to the elements. I saw lots of photos showing blizzard buffets... so there is food that we are not digging out from underneath the ice.  We don't have to first milk the cow, to churn for butter to put on the popcorn...

Can you look for good in the midst of your "snow" day? Can you thank Him for the extra family time that you don't normally get? The extra time at home to get that project finished? The opportunity to sleep in a little? God can always be found. Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! 

Prayer:

Father,
           Oh, that we would see Your hand in everything that touches our lives and give You praise for it. Help us to see You more clearly. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen