Yesterday’s sermon at our church was titled, “Modern Slavery.” Today’s devotional reading is from another place in the New Testament, also about being a slave.
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
Our pastor did a great job of showing us from the Bible that even Christians can be enslaved by anything that controls us. He listed a few things like drugs and alcohol, food, lust, television, fear, gambling, the desire to be popular, and could have added many more. I thought of a few, like gossip, overt desire for anything (even comfort) and perfectionism.
Yesterday we were shown the results of an interesting survey done in England where people were asked what they could not live without. Clean drinking water topped the list, but Facebook was number four! Chocolate and coffee, also on the list, suggested that people didn’t take the question too seriously, but if they did, human priorities are terrible out of whack. Many people are enslaved to the frills of modern life.
The bottom line of the sermon was a quote: “The only way to be genuinely free is to fully surrender my life to the Son of God.” I agree. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32).
Surrender to Christ and faith in Him results in freedom. The devotional reading for today outlines some of these freedoms, such as freedom to enjoy and grow by reading and understanding the Bible, freedom to live under the kindness and care of God and freedom to claim and receive the prolific and life-giving promises of God.
God’s Word is a Christian’s comfort in distress, cheer in sorrow, and anchor when life is stormy. We are also free to come to the throne of grace whenever we want to talk to God or have a need. This access to God includes the freedom to spread before Him all our desires, difficulties, wants and burdens.
We are set free from guilt as His forgiveness is freely given as we confess our sins. We are free from want for He promises to supply all our needs. We are free from fear for His perfect love drives it out. We are free from all condemnation and future judgment and are presently being set free from the power of sin.
Slavery to other things, from cell phones and texting to substance abuse and bitter resentment ties up our time, talents, emotions and potential. Offering ourselves as servants/slaves to Jesus Christ opens our lives to the perfect will of God and sets us free from all that cripples us and holds us from accomplishing great and everlasting things. Jesus promises to set us free — and He does!
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Lord, if any activity is sin, like gossip and bitterness, compulsion to do it is easy to recognize as slavery and that bondage is easy to shun. But other activities, like eating and hobbies, have a fine line between normal enjoyment and being enslaved. My motivations can switch too, making a good thing into a sinful thing. You’ve shown me that I can ‘do housework to avoid reading my Bible’ and ‘read my Bible to avoid doing housework’ so I need Your Spirit to keep me alert and aware of not only the taskmaster that bids me into slavery, but my own motivations that make me willingly go along with such slavery. Far better to ignore all those ‘voices’ and listen only to You. You call me to faith, obedience and righteousness — and in heeding that call, You set me free to be all that I can be.
My temptations are not the same now as they were many years ago before Christ came into my life. Back then, temptation was more about overt sin, those carnal “I-wants” that most people would say were sin. These days, they are far more subtle.
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (James 1:14–15)
Temptation is an appeal made to human desires. If I want pleasure, or comfort, or more, or the best, I can be tempted to say and do many things that I ought not do. However, as Christ works in my life, my desires have become fewer and less about the world. I am less interested in “bigger, better, more” yet temptations have increased. They just come at a different angle.
These days, the evil one tries to pull me away from what God has given me through faith. Satan wants me to doubt that God loves and wants the best for me. He wants me to think that my life as a follower of Jesus Christ is pitiful and difficult. He wants me to think the blessings of God are coincidences or things that I have earned. He wants me discontent and without any fruit of the Spirit that blesses me and those around me. He wants me to quit, not care, not pray. The list is long and every day, he seems to come up with a new one.
Today I read that Satan’s focus is not so much to get me to do wrong as to keep me from being useful to God. He tries to shift my point of view so that I focus on things that do not matter. Without the voice of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, I’m not sure I would even recognize this as temptation, other than it seems to be relentless. The more I want to serve God, the more I find ideas and excuses flying into my mind that suggest I should stop doing so. This is war, yet God does not leave me without resources.
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14–16)
Jesus Himself was tempted. Right after His baptism, He was “led by the Spirit into the wilderness” for this very thing. It was important that His calling to bear the sin of the world not be sidetracked, so right up front, He was tested and stood the test. He refused to bow to Satan’s offers, keeping His focus on His divine commission.
I relate to this testing. God has work for me to do, less demanding for sure, yet each day I am tempted to toss in the towel. Prayer is hard work. Reading the Word of God and doing what it says is hard work. Loving as He loves most often requires sacrifice. Serving others can be thankless. Instead of doing what God wants, I could write a bumper sticker that says, “I would rather be. . . .” and fill in the blank with a host of non-sinful activities that have little to do with obedience and advancing the kingdom of God.
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Lord God, You know that daily life happens to everyone. Many daily needs must be taken care of, like cooking, cleaning and pulling weeds. But when Satan tempts me to think this is all that I need to do, or that You do not care if I waste my time doing them, I need to remember what Jesus did with His daily life. I need to pay attention. Being responsible for the daily stuff is one thing; it is part of Your calling on my life, but Satan can also use it to draw me away from living more like Jesus lived. He tries to substitute “okay stuff” for total obedience — and I need Your grace to choose and live in total surrender and obedience to Your will.
Even though none of my family members are mute or overcome by evil spirits, I identify with the father in this story from the ministry of Jesus.
(A man in the crowd said), “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.”
And (Jesus) answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”
And they brought the boy to Him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.
And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.”
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”
And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. (Mark 9:17–27)
I know the desperation of a parent concerned for both the physical and spiritual well-being of my children. I know the frustration of trying to help them and being unable. I also know that the answer is first and always to bring them to Jesus, but even then, I also know faith and unbelief can live together.
There is only one solution to this. As Spurgeon says, when our hearts are breaking we should remember the great Physician’s words, “Bring them unto me.” No Christian parent or grandparent must stop praying until we stop breathing. Nothing is hopeless as long as Jesus is alive. Nothing is too hard for Him.
So I pray, but why then does He wait? Spurgeon says that the Lord sometimes allows His people to be “driven into a corner” that we might discover in our experience how necessary Jesus is to us. We know it by faith in our hearts, but we need to see the reality in our lives.
There is nothing like unsaved and ungodly family members to show us our own powerlessness against the depravity of the human heart. Concerns for unsaved loved ones cause us to flee to our sovereign and powerful God, not only for answers to their need, but for strength and grace ourselves. Because of what it produces, this powerlessness is actually a great blessing. I know enough of my own heart that without the Spirit of God working in me, I would quickly drift from total reliance on the Lord to lackadaisical unconcern for anyone or anything else but my own peace and comfort.
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Jesus, I know that You can save the most distant and indifferent heart. You can bring back to Yourself the most rebellious child. You can also remove my sorrow because You delight to comfort Your people. As You use my powerlessness to teach me, may I know Your peace and grace while learning the lessons I need to learn.
A few years ago, a well-known actress twirled about on a beach chanting the exciting discovery, “I am God” — not even a small “g” — as she decided that in essence she is the creator of all things.
This actress and others who have come to her same conclusion, would have a field day with a phrase from these verses in the New Testament. Unfortunate for them, the phrase does not stand alone. It must be read in its context.
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:2–4)
The phrase is: “you may become partakers of the divine nature.” This looks something like “I am God” but then the other phrases in this passage clarify that being a partaker of the divine nature is not the same thing as becoming God.
Peter writes that grace and peace are multiplied to his readers “in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord.” The word used here for “knowledge” means “full discernment.” It isn’t about awareness of their existence, but a much deeper knowing, even a personal relationship with God and Jesus Christ. He also says “our Lord” which implies a shared submission. If everyone is God, how can you submit to all of them?
Next, Peter says that God’s divine power grants to His people everything they need for life and godliness. Even those who think they are God have no rational basis to assume they created their own life. No one can plan their own conception and birth.
As for making godliness of their own doing, they must change the meaning of the word. This is not about being godlike (even if they get that definition correct), but is about being holy. Holiness is “other than” — totally pure and utterly far above all other things. To have this bestowed by God results in a contrite and humble heart. To boast that “I am godly” immediately makes it not so. Godliness never includes pride.
God calls His people to His glory and excellence. He is not in the business of making me all that I can be, but is transforming me into the image of His Son. This cannot happen unless He deals with my sinful desires. One of those is to “be like God” as suggested to Eve in Eden. She was already made in His image, but that was not enough. This desire led her to temptation and sin. Since God is sinless, her and Adam’s disobedience ruined the image. It is being in this image of God that faith in Christ restores.
That means the essence of Deity is never mine, as Satan suggested to Eve. However, as the first humans were initially created in the image of God, by the renewal of the Holy Spirit I am also recreated in the image of the Most High. It is in this sense that Christians are partakers of the divine nature.
For instance, “God is love” and by the filling of the Holy Spirit, we become able to love like He does. “He that loves is born of God.”
God is truth. Those who believe in Him become true and lovers of whatever is true. He is good, and He makes us good by His Spirit and grace. Apart from Him, “There is no one who is good.”
He also makes us members of the body of Christ and puts the life of Christ in us. In that way, Christians become partakers of the divine nature in a higher sense than merely by how we think and act. Because of His power, the same life that makes Jesus alive also is our life.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — (Ephesians 2:4–5)
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
Our union with Christ is the only reason for any godliness or Godlikeness that we possess. It is this life that ought to make us stand out in our sinful and dark world. All that we say and do should flow from the One who lives in our hearts and gives us life. To say that any goodness I have is my own is arrogance. To say that I am God is sheer blasphemy.
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Lord, as Your Word says, godliness is a mystery. Yet this mystery has been revealed by Your Spirit. You say it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” So many times I’ve patted myself on the back instead of giving You the glory for all that You have done in me. Forgive me. As for those who think they are good, or that their “goodness” is their own, or who think they have become deity, have mercy. Forgive them, give them light and draw them from this deception into truth.
Our youngest son attended a school in junior high where each student was recognized by one character trait. When a neighboring family of four children heard about it, they decided to present me with a poster depicting the trait that they most noticed in me. It was serenity.
Sometimes I feel a bit guilty that I don’t get in a flap over most things. When I do, people know about it, but it isn’t a frequent occurrence. I’ve wondered at times if being calm in crisis is odd, but when I read today’s devotional verse, a sense of gratitude and praise filled my heart.
He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD. His heart is steady; he will not be afraid. . . . (Psalm 112:7–8)
I’m not consistent with this because I sometimes wonder if God is not involved in terrible events, but I cannot think that for long. The Bible gives way too much evidence for His sovereignty, as do the many experiences of my life. Events may not make sense, but I am strongly certain that God is here, working things for the good of His people. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that God is good and He keeps His promises. These truths are anchors for my emotions.
The disciples learned the same thing, but like me, they learned the way of serenity was listening to and choosing to believe the Word of God. When Jesus noted their anxieties, He said to them, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1)
This means worry and anxiety are choices, just as faith and trust are choices. Those who believe in Jesus can choose to stew over life, or we can “let” go of that and believe in the One who is sovereign over all things. When we do, He puts peace in our hearts.
In another situation, Jesus talked to the disciples as the plot against Him began to unfold. They heard Him talk about leaving them. They were upset and worried. If I had been in their shoes, I likely would have been the same. However, Jesus told them again . . .
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (John 14:27)
Again, He says that His followers can choose a troubled heart or choose to not let it be troubled. It isn’t simply a matter of turning off our emotions or fears, or pushing them aside. Instead, it is remembering who He is and His power. It is knowing that God is in charge and then deciding to trust Him instead of giving way to fear.
Not only that, His peace is not like the peace the world gives. Worldly peace depends on peaceful situations, but the peace Jesus gives is wholly independent of what is happening. That is what makes it seem odd. By reason and logic, no one should feel at peace when life falls apart, but I often do because His peace does not depend on everything being in place.
Spurgeon says that Christians should never fear bad news, giving the same reasons that God gives me. Others can get in a flap, but I have an amazing God who has proved His faithfulness over and over. I might get distracted, even have the same alarm as others, at first. But when He urges me to think of Him and I do it, fear is replaced by His peace.
God knows that fear is a dangerous thing. While it might be healthy to fear lions and wild dogs, fear can lead a person into the sin of self-reliance quicker than anything else. It can make me resist or reject God, complain against His providence, and take matters into my own hands in an attempt to escape the problem.
Instead, I need to trust God as He tells me, and to “Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord” as He says. He has taken me there and done that enough times to prove to me that in Christ, I can meet trouble with calm composure.
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Lord, I’ve read about saints of old who sang praises while being burned at a stake or attacked by lions in an arena of persecution. The peace and courage You give magnifies Your name and shows the world that You are the Most High God. My traumas have not gone to that extreme, but no matter what they are, I want to glorify You. Thank You for Your peace that passes understanding, and for often giving it when I least expect it. I am always amazed (even puzzled) when serenity is in my heart instead of fear or worry. Nevertheless, may those who notice it also recognize that this comes from You.
(Photo credit)
The police said that this outcome was unheard of; a child abductor returning a boy to his home, safe and unharmed, but it happened this week. Speculation abounds concerning why. This morning’s news says this person has now been arrested so he may give his reasons. However, I suspect he brought the child home because he could not bear the pressure in his own heart.
The family of this little boy attends a Christian church. No doubt they were praying. Besides that, hundreds of people have been praying for them and their child, even for the person who went into their home and took him from his bed. And God answers prayer.
When an unsaved person is the subject in a bombardment of prayer, God’s answer can be to deeply convict them of sin. This is done by the Holy Spirit. While some people might shake off a mild version, deep conviction usually produces drastic results. A few may even commit suicide. Some will try to make amends for what they have done. The desired result is that the person falls on their knees before God, confessing their sin, repenting and crying out to God for forgiveness.
David was one of the latter. While God called him a “man after my own heart” this did not mean he was perfect. However, when he sinned, he hated it, which is like God. Here is what David says about forgiveness and the effects of deep conviction.
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah (Psalm 32:1–5)
I don’t know if the man who took that little boy felt the heaviness of God’s hand on him, but I would not be surprised. Why else would make a convicted child molester turn from his plans and instead do what thousands of praying people were asking God for? What would make such a person change their mind?
I know the power of conviction. It can be an almost oppressive sense of being wrong, of doing wrong. Because I also know the blessedness of forgiveness and having my sin covered, I know what to do with conviction. It requires confession and abandoning the sin, going a different direction. Because I am in Christ, I know that God forgives me.
God has shown me His power to redeem and turn me around. Because of that, conviction is one of His guides for my life. When I err, I usually know what I did and what I need to do about it, but sometimes the conviction is there and I am not sure. For this I can also go to God and ask Him to clarify. Is this some sort of false guilt (one of Satan’s tricks) or is it real? And if it is real, what did I do?
Verse 6 from this psalm says, “Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found.” This tells me that going to God is a good idea, but also hints to quickly do it. If ignored, conviction can deepen, but that sense of guilt can also be pushed to the back burner. Instead of the forgiveness and freedom that come with confession, it becomes a dull ache in the heart, like a lump that should not be there. This lump of unconfessed sin has damaging effects on the whole person. Health can fail. Energy wanes and lifelessness takes over. The weight of it produces relationship problems and even confusion. As David learned, it is far better to talk to God about sin than let it drain my vitality.
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Lord, I don’t know about that child abductor’s motivations, but I do know that he needs You. Everyone does. We all sin, perhaps not as he did, but the degree of sin is not the issue. With You, sin is sin. We all do it and we all need forgiveness and cleansing. I pray that for him and for others caught in the web of sin, but also under the power of conviction. Show them the way of confession and the power of Your forgiveness. Release them by Your mercy and grace.
I also thank you for teaching me the blessing of forgiveness and justification. This happens to all who call upon You, regardless of what they have done. Your goodness astounds me each day. I am so thankful that You have lifted the weight of sin from me, putting it on Christ who was able to take and conquer its punishment on my behalf. Because of Him, those who come to You with sin are incredibly blessed with forgiveness and the promise of spending eternity with You.
No matter what you do, somebody is apt to grumble about it. I knew a woman who, when they stayed home grumbled that they never went out, and when they went out, she grumbled that they never stayed home. We all know people who fiddle with the thermostat because it is either too warm or too cold. The tea is too strong or too weak. The toast is too light or too dark. Nothing ever suits them.
Jesus was perfect, the only person who never sinned. He treated everyone with respect and always did and said the right things, but people complained about Him too.
And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (Luke 15:2)
For the religious leaders of His day, receiving and eating with sinners was tantamount to defiling yourself with the same sins. Imagine thinking that. If I want to be pure, I could not spend time with people who are impure? Who qualifies? I don’t, and I don’t know anyone who does.
Yet Jesus, the perfect man, receives sinners. Why should He do that? For one thing, He had no fear of defiling Himself. He said that defilement comes from the heart, and His heart was pure. He was safe, but that was not one of His reasons for spending time with sinners. Perhaps the most important motivation was that He had the power to forgive their sin. He loved them so much that He willing gave His life that sinners could be pardoned.
Other people might receive sinners. Those in exalted positions sometimes hold receptions for common people, that they might “receive” them. But this is not the same as what Jesus did. Think of royalty waving to passing beggars or receiving sinners in an “out-of-doors reception place” or a special location where they offer charitable entertainment.
Instead, Jesus opens the gates of His heart, and receives sinners right into Himself. This reception is an intimate personal union in which Jesus makes repentant sinners members of His own body. There is no other reception like this.
Perhaps the most amazing part of it is the humility and lowliness involved. Jesus is far above all others, holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from even the best of humanity, yet He receives all, even the lowest of the low. He is none other than the eternal God; angels bow before Him and worlds were created by Him, yet He receives sinners.
Humanity raises its fist against God, and if not quite that brash, sinners silently and sinfully still go our own way. Sinners reject His plan of salvation or just ignore Him. Yet He still took upon Himself the form of a servant and bore our sins. That He is willing to receive the vilest of the vile, or even the most self-righteous goody-two-shoes is marvelous and beyond comprehension.
However, He does not hold a reception party, pat sinners on the head and wish them a better life. His offer is new life. The sinners that He receives do not have to remain that way. He will take them from whatever state they are in, transform their lives, and wear them as jewels in His crown — but only if they are willing to be received and changed.
But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12–13)
It is a great wonder that Jesus receives sinners, but for this greater wonder of new life and adoption into the family of God to take place, sinners must also receive Him.
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Jesus, many years ago I did not know how to describe You or Your invitation to me. I just knew that my life was a mess and that I needed help. In that helplessness, You walked in, revealing who You are and inviting me to come to You. At that point, nothing sounded better and resistance was not an issue. It is the same today. In You, there is acceptance, love, joy, peace and perfection. Because You have received me, I have absolutely nothing to grumble about.
