Freedom

I was reading my e-mail the other day and I found a statement that jumped out at me.  It was written by someone that has great wisdom and walks closely with the LORD.  Look at his words:

“A man may commit a crime and be sentenced to prison. At the end of his term we may meet him on the street and because he is free, we know that he has paid the full penalty. Jesus Christ paid the full price of our sin before God that we might be free to live for His glory (Rom. 4:25; Rom. 6:4)”  These words are penned by none other than Dale A. Byers who just happens to be my second cousin.

I began to think about so many people that are caught up or bound in so many different things.  It might be money that motivates us to steal and rob others.  Maybe it is drugs and/or alcohol that causes us to live our life out of our own control.  There are countless situations that bring us into bondage.  Sometimes we can be in bondage to something or even someone and not even realize it.

The good news is that we can be free.  All we have to do is call upon the LORD in prayer and ask for forgiveness.  It is that simple.  Look at Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  To be saved is to be delivered.  We can be free.

So, how are you doing?

 

Growing Pains

As I was contemplating what to write for today’s blog post I remembered my daily Bible reading in the last of Genesis and first of Exodus.  I thought about how Pharaoh treated the children of Israel.  Look at what he said in Exodus 1:9, “And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:”

The children  of Israel are God’s chosen people.  As they lived in the land they grew and multiplied.  Eventually they grew to a place that the Egyptians felt threatened by them.  They were concerned that if a war started that they would side with the Egyptian’s enemies.

As I thought about all these things I began to think about life today as a Christian.  It is not much different.  The god of this world like the Pharaoh would love to wipe out God’s children.  At the very least he would like to render us ineffective.  Pharaoh tried that by asking the midwives to kill the male children.  That did not work.

Then they put more and more hard labor on the children of Israel.  The world around us today is putting all kinds of pressure on Christians as a whole to try to force us back into our Churches and to silence us all.

Just remember, that as the children of Israel had an exodus out of Egypt so will Christians one day have a mass exodus out of this world.  One day God will return to take us to Heaven with Him.  The question is, will you be ready to go?  Only you can answer that one for yourself.

So, how are you doing?

Think About It

As I was reading my Bible yesterday a verse jumped out at me.  I think it is the verse that the organization Voice of the Martyrs uses.  Look at Colossians 4:18, “The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.”

What jumped out at me from this verse was the three words, “Remember my bonds.”  We have no idea at the real number of Christians that are in prison all over the world for their faith.  The sad thing is that we are seeing things happen here in our beloved America to persecute Christians.

No matter what the liberals want to tell us, this nation was founded upon God and His Word.  They cannot deny it; but, they try to.  The problem is that unregenerate people are allowing their ignorance and even hate of our God to move them to attempt to wipe out that history.  Sadly, we sit by in our padded pews or recliners and allow them to do it.

These revisionists are rewriting our history right under our noses and we do not care.  On the other side the muslims just want to cut off our heads in the name of some whoremonger they follow.  If you choose to sit by and let the world pass you by then one day you will wake up and wonder where it all went.  I can tell you it will have gone to the dogs and we will be in prison and killed.  “Remember my bonds.”

So, how are you doing?

Gospel Illustration

I remember in Bible College my pulpit speech teacher, Dr. Charles Brown teaching us to use gospel illustrations (magic tricks) to communicate the gospel.  I still use them.  On trick he taught us was to thread some ropes through your shirt and have two participants pull the ropes as hard as they can when directed to.  People would think that the shirt would rip right off of you; but, it does not.

This “trick” represents how men and women are in bondage.  The sad reality of this is that people today do not see themselves as in bondage; but, according to the Word of God they are certainly in bondage.  People go through life serving their flesh, the devil and the world without even know or caring.  This is a dangerous place to be.

They could be forever free from this bondage; but, they have to first acknowledge that the bondage exists.  Then they can run to the LORD and He will set them free, forever.  He has been the One who breaks the bondage from the beginning of the world.  Take a look at Isaiah 31:11, “For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.”  It takes someone or something stronger than we are to hold us captive.  This is what this verse was talking about.

So, how are you doing?

Servant

In all of this computer stuff going on it just seems to keep getting more and more complicated.  I am an old dog and I don’t like new tricks.  It seems that these time saving devices are sucking more and more time away.  I am thankful for my friend who fixed this transistorized tormentor.  I am thankful for the heightened security now to keep the bad guys out too.

There comes a point where the machine is no longer serving me; but, I am now the servant of the machine.  You have to determine that for yourself.  This can be for anything; not just computers.  I think Jesus Himself had something to say about this in the New Testament.  Look at Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”  You cannot serve God and material possessions.  There is a whole host of people that need to get this.  They live to work and play.  They go back to work to make money so they can go play.  There is a vicious cycle here that keeps us in bondage.  We don’t like to hear that; but, it is the truth.  What does not serve us is our master.

So, how are you doing?

The Bondage Of Regret

I am sure that many of us have had the same experience.  We go to the store and we buy and buy things we do not have money to pay for them.  When we come to our senses and realize what we have done we experience “buyer’s remorse.  Merriam-Webster online dictionary describes regret as “to mourn the loss or death of; to miss very much; to be very sorry for <regrets his mistakes>”

When I was a young teenager I would stay up late on the weekends and watch TV and this always made me hungry.  I would slip very quietly into the kitchen and eat whatever I could find.  Then came the regret.  It was usually followed by acid boiling up in my throat.  Then regret came rolling in like a wave.  “If only…” became my mantra.  We cannot live in the land of “if only”.  We cannot continue to live in the land of regret either.  The enemy of our soul loves to keep us in bondage with regret.  I know because I suffer with this from time to time.

Regret can have fatal consequences if it is not dealt with according to the Word of God.  Let’s take a look at one who did not deal well with regret.  Look at Matthew 27:3-5, “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.  And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”  In verse 3 the word “repented” means to care afterwards, i.e. regret (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance).

What we see here is an extreme case, I know.  There are some people that let regret burden them down so badly that they feel that this is their only option also.  It brings me to tears to think that we have the answers Christians; but, we just don’t see the signs.  We need to pray and ask God to fill us with His Discernment to see those who need help.  He will answer that prayer for sure.

Now, you my reader.  Are you burdened down with regret?  If you are let Jesus take your regret by confessing it and forsaking it.  He would love to be your burden bearer.

So, how are you doing?