Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. 35 A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free. 37 Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message. 38 I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of your father.” John 8:34-38
Yesterday day I started this new bible study with the women in the work release center where I do studies and it referred to these verses above. I just want to share with you this one paragraph from the study.
We’ve heard and gained hope from this verse: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Why, then, do many of us-even though we know the truth-not walk in the freedom that is available to us? Later in the passage, Jesus tells us why: “I know that ye are Abraham’s seed [those entrusted with God’s Word]; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you” (John 8:38, italics added). When we know the truth (His Word), but it has no place in us, we are not set free by it. We must apply the truth to our lives, taking it into ourselves. We’ll be set free only as completely as the truth is applied in our lives. (Exert from Uprooting Anger- by Kay W. Camenisch)
These verses and this paragraph above ministered to my heart deeply because of certain struggles that I am seeing other believers go through, as well as myself. These verses remind me that no matter what we are facing, no matter what our struggle or vices are as children of God we have been set free. We are no longer slaves to sin or our old sin nature. However, many of us have not allowed the Word of God to truly have a place in our heart regarding whatever that struggle or hindrance is. Therefore we can not experience the freedom from that bondage because we have not applied the Word of God to our situation. So we continue to be dominated or enslaved by it.
What I find awesome about serving Christ and overcoming the battle against my fleshly sin nature and the battle in my mind is that I do not have to do it on my own and neither do you. God is working in us, giving us the desire AND the power to do what pleases Him. He equips us with everything we need to do His will and produces in us everything good that is pleasing to Him through the power of Christ Jesus. Our heavenly Father is faithful! He will not ever allow the temptations and struggles in our life to be more than we can stand. When we are tempted, He WILL show us a way out so that we can endure through the power of the Holy Spirit and the application of the truth of God’s Word in our life. The choice is ours daily, to abide in Christ or to go it alone. (Philippians 2:13, Hebrews 13:21, 1 Corinthians 10:13)
As I sat preparing and studying for lasts night’s study with my sister in the Lord and dear friend she said, “As we go over this I am reminded again that Christianity is a choice.” She’s right! Our daily Christian walk is a choice to walk on the narrow road that leads to life and freedom or on the broad road that leads to bondage, destruction, and death. Will we serve our selfish and sinful desires or will we chose to be doers of the Word, applying the truth of God’s Word to every area of our lives? Every area? Yes...especially the ones that we want to keep control of. We have to choose to allow God’s Word to have dominion in our hearts and life.
We are foolish if we ignore the Holy Spirit when He ministers to us about specific concerns that He has about our lives. He will gently, patiently, and lovingly prompt us to change or leave something behind that will hinder our walk and chip away at our testimony. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to set us free. The Word of God was given to us as a gift from God to help teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepares and equip His people to do every good work. However, it’s not enough for us to know the Word or hear the Word, we MUST DO whatever the Word says if we are going to live our life more abundantly here and now. (2 Timothy 3:16)
James 1: 22-25 “But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.”
My prayer for us…
Lord, as we draw closer to you through reading your Word and prayer help us to not just read or listen but to apply the truth of Your Word to our lives. We want to live free from anything that will prevent our light from shining bright for You. Let us always remember that we can do nothing of fruitful eternal value apart from the Word of God. We need you now more than ever in this world full of sin and evil. Thank you for your power and grace which is sufficient to help us in our time of need. We will run to you daily not just in our times of crisis. In Jesus name…Amen
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