Tag: Daily Bread

Free To Choose

³In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. ⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. ⁶And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. ~ Galatians 4:3-7

The whole human race was enslaved to the principles of this world. In other words, we were slaves to sin. When the right time had come, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be born into this world with the goal of overcoming this world in order to set us free from this world. Now we are no longer slaves to sin and to this world, but now we are sons and daughters of the LORD God Most High.

We have been liberated from the world and from our sins. In other words, we have been liberated. We are free to serve the LORD God in all of His glory. It is our Independence Day, for now, the Spirit of Jesus lives in our hearts and gives us not only the ability but the authority to cry Abba Father, which would be the English equivalent of saying, Daddy.

God is now our daddy, and we are His children, free to worship. Free to praise. Free to choose whatever we feel to choose. Happy Independence Day week.

Father, thank you for Your love and Your concern for me. So much so that you died on the cross to free me from sin and from the grasp of this world. Help me not to take advantage of Your love and take Your grace for granted. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

True Freedom

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. ~ Galatians 5:13

Paul writes, “you were called to freedom.” My question is, why are we choosing bondage? Do you not know? Do you not understand that the one you serve is your master? If you serve the sin and the forces of darkness, you are a slave to the darkness. But if you choose Jesus and serve Him, He will break the chains and liberate you.

All you have to do is to ask, and Jesus will free you whatever is binding you or holding you from your freedom. This Independence Day, let us think about real freedom. Consider what it really means to be free and choose the free life.

Father, please help us to understand true freedom and to choose and live in that freedom. Open our spiritual eyes to see and understand. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.

Independence Day

³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³They answered Him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” ~ John 8:31–36

Did you notice their reply to Jesus’ statement about the truth setting them free?

We have never been enslaved to anyone.
John 8:33

I want to remind you that at the time of this saying, the Jews were under Roman occupation. They had a form of self-government, but they were not autonomous. Not only that but their ancestors were enslaved for 400 years in Egypt. The Assyrians had conquered and dispersed them out of the Northern Kingdom, and Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian army had conquered and dispersed the Southern Kingdom. They hadn’t had their own king for hundreds of years. Not only that but during the time of the judges, before Israel had a king, they were always being oppressed by some other country because of their idolatry.

But they did not let their past define who they were. They did not let circumstances dictate their self-worth or how they saw themselves. They were free men and had never been enslaved. It was not their past. They would not let it affect their future.

In his song Redemption Song, Bob Marley says:

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Redemption Song

So, let us have this mindset about ourselves. We are children of the Most High God, and we have never been enslaved to anyone, not even the devil because once you accept Jesus, you are no longer the same; the old has passed away, and the new has come, and you are now a new creation in Christ.

Therefore, if the old has passed and the new has come, you are not a sinner saved by grace. You are now a saint of the LORD God Most High. You are a child of God. This is your Independence Day so live like it.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Live Free.

Choose Freedom

¹ Now the Angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And He said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you,’” ~ Judges 2:1^ESV

The Angel of the LORD (Jesus) went before the people of Israel and brought them out of the land of Egypt. He brought them out of the house of slavery and into a land He had promised them. He led them to a land that He would cleanse on their behalf so that they might be free, but the people became complacent in their own sin and the sin of the land. They became comfortable in the darkness and no longer sought the light. Today, we are no different.

Jesus brought us out of the house of slavery and freed us from all sin, yet we choose to dwell in certain strongholds. And just like the Israelites of old, the strongholds pull us back into spiritual, mental, and emotional slavery. Sure whom the Son sets free is free indeed, but whom the Son sets free must not freely return to a yoke of slavery, or he will no longer be free. Don’t allow the strongholds of this world to keep you from the freedom Christ Jesus is offering you.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Choose Freedom.

Defy Culture

⁵ Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. ⁶ When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” ⁷ Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” ⁸ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. ⁹ And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. ¹⁰ When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” ~ Exodus 2:5-10^ESV

The Devil planned evil for Moses. He sent a Pharaoh that would commit a mass genocide of the Hebrew boys so that they (the Hebrews) would have no deliverer to save them from their slavery. But God had a different plan. God had a will not only for Moses but for all of the people of Israel. His will was that they might be saved. If Moses’ mother had not had faith to hide her baby boy and defy the Egyptians, Moses would not have been saved, and the Hebrews would not have had a deliverer.

Today, there is a mass consensus that the Word of the LORD is hate speech. That if we speak truth, we are speaking hate. The fear of man has overtaken us, and we’ve lost the fear of God. Instead of preaching life and truth, we preach death and lies that we might fit into the world. If we defy culture and stand with God’s word, we will see a change in our culture. We’ll see a shift in the atmosphere as Paul, Peter, and all the other apostles saw. Fear over faith will only keep the world a slave to sin, but faith over fear will free many from chains and bondage.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Defy Culture.

Back to Fear?

Play For Keeps

⁵As soon as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave a mighty shout, so that the earth resounded. ⁶And when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, they said, “What does this great shouting in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” And when they learned that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, ⁷the Philistines were afraid, for they said, “A god has come into the camp.” And they said, “Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. ⁸Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. ⁹Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.” ~ 1 Samuel 4:5–9

The Israelites were so excited to have the Ark of the Covenant come into their camp because they knew it represented the presence of the LORD, and where the presence of the LORD is, there is victory. But they were only going through a religious phase. They were using it as a lucky charm, but they didn’t have a relationship with Him. God will not let His great name be used as a talisman. He desires to have a relationship with His people.

You cannot side with the kingdom of God, and then when the enemy attacks you with sickness, disease, cancer, poverty, or some kind of pestilence and you cannot now expect to just run out and begin to call upon the name of the LORD as aa incantation expecting the magic to just bust forth like fireworks. It doesn’t work that way. God expects you to foster your relationship with Him.

The enemy will begin to fight even harder, and like the philistines fighting the Israelites, he will overcome you, and you will lose the battle. He does not desire to be obedient to your words, but his wish is to enslave you, and he will if you don’t have the presence of God with you.

You cannot separate who you are, neither in work, nor in play, nor in politics. If God hates it, so should we. It is not a matter of choice or our way. It is God’s way or the highway. So, let us get our priorities straight and begin to serve the one true God, and not man or culture or popularity. The enemy is playing for keeps. So should we.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Play For Keeps.

Love Him With Your Actions

¹⁴ Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. ~ Psalms 91:14

Many of us go through spiritual attacks that feel as if there is no deliverance. In fact, many of us go through seasons of drought in our lives that we blame God for when actuality it’s because of our own lack of love for God. So many of us believe that if we say we love God, that’s enough, but according to Jesus Himself we love God with our actions.

God said to the people that they love Him only in speech, but their heart is far from Him. Could this be what has happened to the Church today? We honor God with our lips but our hearts are far from Him? We seek the acceptance of the world instead of God. We support and promote sin, yet we expect God to deliver us from our trials and heal our sickness and disease.

The LORD said He will deliver those who love Him and protect those who know His name. So, this begs the question, do you love Him? Is your lack of love for God the reason for your continued trials, illnesses, troubles, etc.?

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Love Him With Your Actions.

Minister

⁴⁴ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. ~ Matthew 25:44-46

Today is the day that we remember victims of torture. This day should be especially important to us as Christians because, according to Jesus, unless we minister to those (other Christians) in prison, then there will be no room for us in the sheepfold. How do we minister to them? We pray for them.

We bring them up before the LORD in prayer and supplication. We pray for their peace, patience, love, and endurance not to run dry. We pray for their physical body to receive supernatural healing and that they might be strengthened to endure all that is laid before them. We pray that they might lead as many to Christ as possible by their words and actions. We pray for our fellow Christians.

When we begin to pray, it may not even be out of love, but the more we do it, the more our flesh weakens, and our spirit is strengthened. Then after a time, our hearts will be filled with love for them, and our prayers will become more powerful and more discerning of what they need for prayer specifically. This praying isn’t just for them; it’s for us (the ones praying) as well because what we sow, that we shall also reap.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Minister.

Speak Up For Life

⁵ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. ~ Jeremiah 1:5

Yesterday, June 24th, 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned. This was something that many said would never be done, but by the grace of God, the LORD is raising up a new generation of men and women ready to stand up for life. We are called to speak up for those who can’t speak up for themselves. We’re called to be a voice of the LORD in the world. A light in the darkness.

So, let this be the beginning of the Church standing up for what is right. The beginning of the Church saying that a life is a life regardless of how small. Let this be the beginning of the Church taking its rightful place as the light of the world.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Speak Up For Life.