I am dead to sin. Romans 6:2. 11 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 1 Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. Being dead to sin means I am not controlled by it. I have authority to stand and walk in righteousness. Does it mean that I will not sin? No. But, I am not ruled by sin, and I have forgiveness in the blood of Yeshua. The sin that ripped into my body leaving jagged, gaping wounds are healed by His blood. He took them upon himself when He chose to die for me. All the ones before and all the ones to come, have been erased by His love. My sins, horrible, jarring Jagged lines, stripe my body Gaping, weeping, seeping Infection poisoning my soul. In one porentious moment Faded, vanished Erased As Yeshua stretched out His arms On a plank of ragged wood To die For me I look and see my wounds Appear On his perfect body Scarring, tearing Killing Him. I died that day – my sin I arose that day – free Dead to sin Alive in Him. Whole, healed, strong Free!
I am free! John 8:31-32 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” Soak in the Word, snuggle into its depths, and be secure in its shelter. Continue is, walk in, run to, learn, memorize, know the depths of His Word. Truth is so powerful! To know the Truth of who He IS and the Truth of who I AM because of Him. To know what HE created me to do and be. To know the Truth of what He says and where I stand in His eyes. This is freedom. It is for this that I pray. Lord, make me FREE indeed!
I am delivered from the power of darkness and translated in God’s kingdom. Colossians 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, I am just beginning to realize the enormity of being delivered from the power of darkness. In our society today darkness is a game, a movie, an unreality. It’s not scary, it’s not even real to most people. At least not in a way that isn’t confined to the pages of a fairy tale. To be rescued from darkness takes on new meaning when the creatures of the fairy tale worlds turn out to be real. Being in God’s kingdom is a welcome relief and a wonderful freedom! It comes with responsibilities, like obedience and following His rules (Torah anyone?), but it’s so worth it! I am no longer bound and subject to the darkness. I am a child of the King of kings living in His kingdom! Hallelujah!
Daniel 6:26-27 ”For He is the living God and enduring forever, And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, And His dominion will be forever. He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders In heaven and on earth, Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” God does amazing things in our lives, and even those who believe in different things and different gods must acknowledge that He is mighty and powerful, faithful forever, and reigning over all the earth. Darius, a foreign king who worshiped idols of rock and stone understood that Daniel’s God was alive and eternal. What his god was powerless to do, the True and Living God, YHWH, was pleased to do. And as Daniel was delivered from the power of literal lions, I declare that I and my family are delivered from the power of metaphorical and spiritual lions, to the glory of God who rescues and performs signs and wonders in heaven and on earth! He is faithful, kind, and loving, and I am just scratching the surface of knowing who He is! Amen, amen! ps. I love this picture because Daniel’s focus is not on his peril, but on his God. Turn away from the lions and look toward your Light!
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer. Words lay heavy on my heart this morning. I made an off-hand comment, not even dreaming that it could be taken in a way that was hurtful, but unfortunately the one to whom I was speaking was deeply wounded by what I said. Even though what I said was meant to be funny, and even though in my mind it was about something that was sweet, it was taken completely differently. I had absolutely no idea about the effect these words had until hours later when I finally dragged it out into the open. Unfortunately, they had rubbed against old wounds from years ago that have been festering all this time (made even worse because of some recent events in the job arena). I suspect God is answering a prayer that I prayed several weeks ago about bringing to light the darkest parts that are most often avoided out of fear, pain, and anger. I just didn’t think it would be so dramatic. The events recently have pulled up some deeply-rooted insecurities and lies that have been believed for years and years (for longer than I’ve been in the picture, even). When those kinds of things are disturbed, it’s pain and chaos and panic and frantic scrambling to “fix it” all at once. But, lies must be dealt with. Especially these lies. They are malicious. They are cold. They are like a slow rot, eating its way through the heart and mind. There’s a lot of this in the family. And a lot of it is just now coming to the surface. Perhaps this will be a year of freedom! YHWH free Your children from the lies they have believed and the darkness they have allowed to control their minds!
Psalm 119:32 (NIV) I run in the path of your commands for you have set my heart free. I think the tendency is to think of commands (laws) as binding and restrictive, but they are meant to give freedom. When the boundaries are well defined I can run freely within then, and I am not frozen in one place out of fear of overstepping an invisible line. To have no laws, no guides for living, is terrifying, because then it’s all up the individual, and individuals in our Greek-minded world tend to look out for self first. The commands in Torah are not to restrict, but to set apart. That’s what holy means. Holy is set apart, different. When God says to be holy like He is holy, He isn’t asking us to live in a commune, He’s asking us to be different from the world around us. And that’s what His commands, His Torah, do. I was listening to a commentary by Skip Moen and he told a story of a young missionary or minister in England. This man lived within walking distance of a church, a synagogue, and a mosque. He noticed that whenever there were young men who were disillusioned with life and searching for… satisfaction, I guess… they almost always turned to Islam. Why? Because Muslims are different. They are set apart by the way they live. They have boundaries written out in the Koran. They live according to a very distinct set of guidelines that regulate how they dress, how they act, what they eat, how they worship, etc. These men were looking for something different, and Islam offered it to them. We naturally desire these things, because God is a god of order. Imagine if God’s people, Israel and the followers of His Way, were set apart (different from the world) the way that God commands, by living by Torah but also by reflecting the heart and love of God! Yes, we live in the world, but it should be clear by our actions where the world ends and where we begin. Perhaps then, given the choice, these lost ones would choose to find hope and peace in the love, rule, and reign of Yeshua – because it is set apart, because it is different, because it offers freedom from the world’s chaos. God provides commands for living that free us from constantly asking what we should do next. It’s there. laws that bring peace and rest and laws that set out hearts free to truly live.
There was a question someone asked on a blog about predestination vs. free choice. I don’t think I have all the answers, but I thought I’d share the way I think of it. First, let me preface with saying that this is my opinion. You may not agree and that’s okay. Also, I think that my/our idea of what it means for God to be omniscient is too small (I used to think he just knows one branch and that’s all there was). I think of my life like a really HUGE tree (we each have one, but if you try to imagine knowing all of them it’ll make your head hurt). Each choice represents a place where the current branch splits and I can choose another branch. My life starts at the base of the tree and as I age I move closer and closer to the outside of the tree. G-d sees the entire tree. He knows every branch the tree makes, so no matter what choice or branch I choose, He’s been there and has seen every contingency/choice I could make from that point, too. And, since He made the tree, He can make new branches grow to suit His purpose. Are you still following me? It’s not, in my view, that I only have one path from the bottom of the tree to the edge, but many, and no matter what I choose, God already knows all the options from that point and knows how to make things work for Him purposes. So, yes, I have a choice which branch to take, but no matter what branch I take, G-d already know all my options from that point out. He sees every option/choice for every situation I encounter. As I make decisions, the ones I don’t take fall away. It’s kind of complicated to try and explain. I can see it in my head. It’s predestination and choice all mixed up in one, sort of. But explaining it is like explaining eternity (I’ve tried to do that before… to explain the vision I had of it, but it’s pretty darn hard to put into words). What about pharoah or Judas? I don’t know. Obviously, someone had to be the “bad guy.” It could be that God knew their hearts and because they had chosen to become greedy or bitter their choices narrowed to a more predictable point. I believe that if Judas, for example, had made a different choice – chosen to do the right thing – then someone else would have been the betrayer because God’s purposes needed to be fulfilled. Sadly for Judas he made his choice and the rest is history. Does that mean God can’t direct people or harden their hearts or whatever? Nope. He’s God. Maybe He directs some lives more than others. Maybe I’m off my rocker a mile and a half in my view. Ultimately, how I think of God’s omniscience or predestination or free choice is pretty darn irrelevant. It is what it is, even if I don’t understand it. That’s God’s job. I just live and seek and obey. Maybe it’s me, but that’s enough. I don’t have to know it all. Knowing isn’t going to change anything. Does your head hurt? Mine sometimes feels like it’ll explode. I get these images in my head, or impressions, and it’s hard to put them into words (like this one or like eternity). Why must they always be the concepts that are so big? But that’s okay. It’s still an interesting thought. Blessings!