“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Romans 7:15 NIV
A few years ago, I was trapped in a sinful thought pattern. It was destroying me. I couldn’t understand what I was doing and I was doing the very thing that I did not want to do. I had absolutely no peace inside of my mind.
During that time, God led me to a Bible study group where I met a woman who I told my struggles to. I asked her if my thought pattern was sin, even though it was clearly listed in the Bible as sin. She asked me why I thought it was not a sin. Then I said words that have been etched in my mind ever since: “Because I cannot control it.”
Make no mistake about it… Sin is a taskmaster! Sin controls us. It is addictive in nature. Addiction/ Sin will rule over you. Whether it is a chemical addiction, an addiction to lust, an addiction to worrisome thoughts, an addiction to food, an addiction to your phone, etc… our choices to run to the sin over and over and over proves it’s addictive nature. I wholeheartedly agree with Paul when trapped in sin, “what I hate I do.”
BUT Jesus!
Jesus has the power to break the chains of addiction! He can set us free from sin! I can testify that Jesus has set me free and I now dwell with peace in my mind and in my heart.
The first step to freedom was for me to recognize that sin had a grip on me or as Paul writes, “it is sin living in me that does it.” When we see what the problem is — SIN — we are in a very good place! Because Jesus has provided the solution for sin — repentance.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 NIV
We are assured that He will cleanse us from sin, and Holy Spirit will empower us to live free! Praise God!
“What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” Romans 6:1-2 NIV
(Today we start Romans 6)
Baptism symbolizes a very important fact in the life of a follower of Jesus. We follow Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection. Our old sinful life that we all lived before Christ is to die. It is “buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised form the dead… we too may live a new life.” Being “dead to sin” enables us to live the “new life” that God has given us.
If I were physically dead — at the funeral home, lying in a casket — it would be impossible for me to sit up and eat a donut that you may bring and pass before my nose and my mouth (even the cream filled ones…). I will not take a bite. I am dead to that donut. Our enemy will bring temptation to sin into our lives, but through Jesus we do not have to take a bite. We can live our lives dead to sin!
How can this be? I have this nature, a sinful one, that desires to do things that are wrong all the time… We cannot forget that WE HAVE NEW LIFE! This life is the Holy Spirit living in us. He comes as our Helper to help us to say “no” to the temptations. He comes as the Power to enable us to live our lives “dead to sin.”
We can live free of the patterns of sin that we have been chained to i.e. addictions, bad habits, sinful thought patterns, etc. We don’t have to “live in it any longer.”
As a Christian, it is one thing to slip up and say a hateful thing, do a sinful action, or make a wrong choice, chose to do a sinful act…God has given us a remedy for such a scenario…
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 NIV
It is a whole other thing to embrace our sinful choice, sit down for coffee with it, and indulge in it day in and day out… that is not being dead to it… That is preferring the sinful choice over obedience to God and His word. It is loving God less and our sin more… In this case, we are not dead to sin, we have chosen to let it grow, fester, and consume our lives.
Thank you God that You have provided all that we need to die to sin! We cannot die to sin on our own. The Holy Spirit is very willing to fill us with His life so that there is no room for sinful patterns to grow. God has given us His Word so we can keep our way pure. (Psalm 119:9) As we read His Word, live according to what the Word says, and ask the Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness, “we too may live a new life” that is dead to sin!
About a year ago, God pointed out to me my phone addiction… God: “Janet, what do you do when you first wake up?” Me: “Uh…grab my phone and check Facebook… then the weather.”
I wasn’t exactly walking in obedience to what Jesus said…
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 NIV
I came across this video last night and it has been very impactful to me. Take few moments and watch.
Jesus told us:
““Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more.” Mark 4:24 NIV
We are to pay attention to the Word. “Consider carefully.” Relationship with God doesn’t just happen. If we want to be close to God and experience Him in a close friendship. We have to invest our TIME! The measure of the time we spend seeking Him. Is what we receive. If we are investing in our relationship we will receive from Him and then some!
He’s waiting on us to respond to His invitation to “Know Him.”
This is where true life is!
“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” John 17:3 NIV
What are we seeking first, to KNOW Him or to KNOW our social media feed…? Only one option gives eternal life!
Today’s reading is the account of a man possessed by demons, a whole legion of them. No matter what was tried he could not be subdued.
He ran around in a graveyard naked. He beat up anyone who tried to help him. “He was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.” But deep within him, he wanted to be free. “..when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.”
Jesus did the impossible. He cast the demons out of the man. He set the man free! The people of the nearby city heard of what had happened.
“And they came to Jesus and saw the demon possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there , clothed and in his right mind…” (verse 15)
Our Heavenly Father still sets the captives free and He is able to restore a person to “his right mind…” Depression, anxiety, anger issues, compulsions, addictions,etc. are not too big for Him!
In our society, it is almost taboo to make such a statement. But I can confidently say that I have experienced going from torment of mind to sitting close to Jesus and “in my right mind.” He set me free! He is not a respecter of persons. What He did for the demoniac in the Bible, and for me in a small Missouri town. He will do for you!
Jesus showed us the Father who restores and heals the troubled mind when He stepped out of the boat at Gerasenes.
He is able to show us that same God as we allow Him to step into our lives! The demoniac ran up to Jesus. May we run to Him as well!
I can vividly remember the weight of my sin. I have known the emptiness of being separated from God. I can imagine how those who encountered Jesus in this chapter (the paralyzed man and Levi) must have felt, under the weight of their sin.
Jesus came to reconcile us to God. He “has authority on earth to forgive sins.” (Verse 10) Jesus, God with us, ate with sinners.
He told the self righteous religious leaders, who thought they had it together, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” These leaders disliked Jesus all the more. In their preoccupation with how they looked, acted, and lived, they lived consumed with themselves. They couldn’t see the one truth that we all need to realize…we are all sinners too. They too were carrying the weight of sin as the ones they so quickly judged. Had they seen it and received God’s forgiveness, they would have had opportunity to experience God in truth. The God they thought they knew all about…
Jesus told them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus came so He could call the sinners to Himself. He came so we could be forgiven. Our Heavenly Father desires for sinners to come! He is still calling us, sinners, today!
“…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:10, 23 ESV
Jesus knew this truth! He came, He forgave sinners, and He ate with them! He has calls us His friends.
The ones who think they don’t need forgiveness of sins miss what Jesus was trying to show us about the Heavenly Father. He desires to be the sinner’s greatest friend!
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” 1 Timothy 1:15 ESV
““Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.” Acts 14:15 NIV
Today is Acts 14.
Paul and Barnabas continue on their missionary journey “speaking boldly for the Lord.” God “confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.” (Verse 3)
When they got to Lystra they prayed for a man who had never walked and that man was healed. This caused the crowds to want to worship Paul and Barnabas. They said the Paul was Hermes and Barnabas was Zeus. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and ran into the crowd telling them loudly to not do this. They were only men. Then Paul said, “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God.” The crowd worshipped idols. In our world today, we may think we are a little more educated and sophisticated because we don’t worship Ancient Greek Gods. But, ANYTHING that we put before God is an idol. In America, we worship: money, careers, our kids sports programs, music, education — (our own knowledge or we know better than what the Scripture says), psychology and science, possessions, our phones (social media), dating, politics, etc. The list could go on and on. We choose to exalt things in our lives above the “living God.” What is our focus on throughout the day? This may very well be an idol.
All these pursuits and passions are dead… But there is good news just as there was in Paul’s time. There is a living God! He longs to “fill your hearts with joy.” (Verse 17) But we must turn from the “worthless things to the living God.”
What are you pursuing and passionate about? God longs to be the center of our lives!
“I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Romans 6:19-22 NIV
For several years, I lived my life subjected to the cruel taskmaster of anxiety. It ruled over my life. Anxiety dictated my daily routine: Get out of bed. Take your first anxiety pill of the day: Do your daily exercise of Eastern Meditation on Headspace. Now start your day. Throughout the day anxiety would exercise its control over my feelings and emotions. Time to do breathing techniques, practice mindfulness, engage in the 5,4,3,2,1 method, then repeat. Often, I could not shake the feelings of a tight throat and a tight chest. Then it was time for my evening anxiety pill. I crawled into bed. I hoped for a night free of an anxious awakening at 2 am, lying awake for hours, and experiencing what I did in the day. This scenario was repeated day after day, night after night. I was a slave to my sin of anxiety. I was subject to its control, and it was producing death, darkness, and destruction inside of me.
Our verses this week are once again about holiness. This holiness is a benefit as we live our lives as “slaves to righteousness.” It is a life of freedom from sin as we live our lives set apart for His sacred use – a life of love, faith, holiness, and prayer. In this life, we are “slaves to God,” under His control and His rule. This submission to Him is always for our benefit, because He is a good Lord and Master. Being His slave results in more than holiness. Through it we experience “eternal life.”
Three years ago, I learned that we were created to serve someone. The words of this verse were proved true in my life. I came to understand that I had a choice. I could continue to “offer the parts of my body in slavery to impurity and ever-increasing wickedness” that the sin of anxiety was producing, or I could become a “slave to God.” I would either serve an evil master of sin or our loving and Holy God. I could not serve them both. I had to choose. This is the truth for each and every one of us. To not choose God is to choose the enemy.
God is holy. He is perfectly and impeccably pure, completely immaculate, and uncompromisingly righteous and just. He desires for us to be in relationship with Him, but in order for us to be close to Him, we must be holy as He is holy. To do so, we must “offer ourselves as slaves to righteousness.” The benefit we receive is a pure heart and freedom from sin and sinful affections, conformed to the image of God. We will be holy and the “result will be eternal life” with Him.
As you have read the words above, have you become aware that you are a “slave to impurity?” Is there an addiction or a sin that keeps you from experiencing a close relationship with God and the freedom from sin that He alone gives? God desires for us to live our lives surrendered to Him as a “slave to righteousness” that will lead to holiness. He desires us to be close to Him in a relationship of intimacy filled with His goodness, joy, peace, and love. We can only experience this when we live our lives fully surrendered to Him!
Our song this week is once again by Charity Gayle, “Because of Jesus.” Because of what Jesus has done, we can know that we are finally free of the sin that destroys! He has redeemed us and made us holy as He is holy. May our hearts desire to serve Him in complete obedience to His Word. May we live as His “slaves to righteousness” which leads to holiness – holiness in heart and in everything we do!
Your Love 