Slaves yet free

 
The phrase "freedom in bondage (slaves) to Christ" appeared in something I read recently. For those who've been around church for a while, this might make sense but to many it will seem confusing, even a bit daft. You'd think the terms "free" and "slaves" don't belong together. 

Definition of a slave: (i)A person who is the property of and wholly subject to another and forced to provide unpaid labour. (ii)A person entirely under the domination of some influence or person.

I felt the need to sit and consider this matter further, to be able to break this phrase down into something which might make more sense. 

So the word "slave" generally has negative connotations in the usually accepted sense since it implies coercion. However the quality of life of a slave necessarily depends on the character of the owner. Let's ask a few questions about being a slave to Christ. .

Q: If I am a slave, who owns me?

A: Jesus

Q: There is a cost to buying a slave - what did I cost? 

A: He paid with His life - nothing else was valuable enough. 

Q: Why did He do that?

A: Because He has loved me since before time began

Q: Again, Why?

A: Because otherwise my sin would condemn me to death unless the penalty, price, cost was paid. Jesus paid for that - a life for a life, so that I can spend eternity with him. (Another strange concept - He died, yet lives for ever. The tomb was empty because He had risen)

Q: So He says He owns me - what if I don't want to be owned by anyone but myself?

A: That's where the freedom bit comes in - despite the fact that I cost Him His life, He still allows me to choose whether or not to submit to that, whether or not to accept that I belong to Him. 

Q: If I decide that it's OK for Jesus to own me, is there then a set of rules to obey? And what's the punishment for not obeying?

A: The only rules Jesus ever said were (i) that we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, and (ii) that we love our neighbour as ourselves. There is no direct penalty for failing, only that we move ourselves out of close fellowship with Him. We only need to repent and turn back to find Him waiting for us. 

Q: What are the benefits for me here and now?

A: Freedom! Freedom from the enemy of our souls (Satan), freedom from the bondage of sin, freedom to be who I am created to be. 

So I conclude that I am bought with the blood of Jesus who sacrificed Himself to purchase my freedom - before that I was a slave to the prince of this world (Satan) whether or not I was aware of that fact. There is no middle ground. It's one or the other. Denying the existence of God and of Satan doesn't make either of them go away. Because of what He did, Jesus technically owns me but leaves me free to choose whether or not to submit to that fact. 

As for me, I chose Him a long time ago and have never regretted it. I look forward to spending eternity in the presence of my Lord, Master, Saviour, Brother, Friend - starting now

Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God".

I thought of this verse whilst meditating on the Verse of the Day from my phone app. The verse was 1 Peter 5:6 

"If you bow low in God’s awesome presence, he will eventually exalt you as you leave the timing in his hands".

These verses demand some self-examination regarding our attitude towards God. For example, how often have we prayed,"God, if you will do.......... for me, then I will ............" (You can fill in the blanks).

Please know that our Sovereign Lord, gracious, merciful and loving God does not perform for favours. Oh we might dress it up as laying out a fleece (as in Giddeon), or looking for guidance, but let us be very careful we are not trying to bargain with God. 

Another worldly thought that can result in a creeping resentment towards God might be, "God I've been really good at/faithful in.........so surely I deserve ..............When do I get my reward?"

We must be very careful to understand that our salvation is through Jesus alone, His death in our place, His resurrection and His eventual return. We can do nothing to earn it, God can't love us anymore than He does. It doesn't depend on what we do or don't do. Our service to Him must be as a response to His love for us, not a means of earning it. But oh how the world's way of thinking creeps in if we're not careful!

How about this one:"My leadership team doesn't recognise me for all the hard work I put in. Why hasn't God prompted them to elevate me to a higher position? Are they not listening to Him?"

Jesus talked often of obedience, and the verse from Micah sums that up. What God desires from us is humble obedience to Him, and that we share His love, mercy and grace with those around us. Not so we gain reward, not as a tit-for-tat bargain. 

Though things might be difficult for us at present we have the promise that He will lift us up at the right time. Sometimes there is stuff we must endure - if it's not through our own disobedience, it will be to strengthen and refine us. 

We have the promised Holy Spirit within us - the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead! He will never leave us or forsake us, we are not abandoned or unrecognised in His Kingdom. He knows what we need, where we often only know what we want. He is faithful, trustworthy, compassionate, all-seeing, all-knowing, eternally loving. 

So let us make sure to check our response to Him. 

Have a blessed day. 💖

A Prayer

Jesus

Thank you for overcoming the world. Because of that we can experience unity with you, and because we can be unified with you we can experience unity with eachother - in fact, you command it.  

It is by you that all things hold together. As we seek to centre or lives around you, help us to see all the ways you are at work in the world. 

Draw us close to your heart so that we begin to see others the way you see them, so that we look out for their interests above our own. 

We want your Kingdom to come here on earth as it is in Heaven, so we pray you will unite us in purpose so that nothing prevents people searching for you and believing in you. May we know such unity that the world will know you sent us and that we love them unconditionally, as you do. 

Come Lord Jesus and do in our lives what only you can do.

Amen

Become like the one you live with

 

Do you ever watch people sitting around a table engaged in conversation? Do you notice the way they unconsciously mimic each other’s posture? This is just a minor example of how we become like those with whom we pass the time of day. During our lifetime among family and friends we pick up mannerisms, habits, patterns of speech and ideologies without even knowing.

 Jesus said “Abide in me and I will abide in you”. Live with me He says, know my thoughts, pick up my mannerisms, be with me, become like me.

 This is more, much more than a daily bible reading (which is, clearly, a good thing to do). It's more than just learning about Jesus so you can imitate him, (though Paul says “Imitate me even as I imitate Christ”). It's more than spending time with other Christians where you can learn how to do church. All these things are good but living with Jesus is so much more. We can practice the behaviour which we know is right as Peter instructs in his 2^nd letter, and there is an element of doing it until you become it. But it is the constant presence of the Living God that we need. 

To live with Jesus means having God in the person of the Holy Spirit as a constant companion, a friend, always there to talk to, always there to help, guide, comfort, support, encourage, empower, and to correct. Then sometimes we just need to simply BE with him. 

On the other hand, Psalm 1:1 reminds us: “Blessed is the one who does not walk with the wicked or stand with sinners or sit in the company of mockers”.

 So, brothers and sisters in the Lord, let us decide today who’s company we will keep. Let us decide to live with Jesus – after all, just think what he went through to make it possible. 

“May grace and peace cascade over you as you live in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” (2 Peter 1:2)

Precious Gift of Faith

 My thoughts have been taken up recently by studied in Peter's 2nd letter, chapter 1. 

It's around 65AD, he's in prison and facing execution for his faith, but still he writes to the Hebrew believers (Paul's mission was to the Gentiles, Peter's more to the Hebrews) about the precious faith given to us as Christians when we come to believe in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. 

Precious faith - a gift from God. 

If something is precious we nurture it, care for it, don't let it out of our sight, protect it. 

Peter talks about how to do this. He instruct us to make every effort to add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love - suggesting we add them in a cumulative way, starting with goodness and working through until we get to love.

This all suggests that we can't rely on Agape love (God's sort of love) being a feeling. We can't sit around until we feel like doing the right thing. We can't treat others according to whether or no we like them. We can't expect to know about God unless we study His Word. 

Why do we do this? Is there any help or do we sink or swim by our own efforts?

We read in this chapter that:

Everything we could ever need for life and complete devotion to God has already been deposited in us by his divine power. For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of knowing him who has called us by name and invited us to come to him through a glorious manifestation of his goodness. As a result of this, he has given you magnificent promises that are beyond all price, so that through the power of these tremendous promises you can experience partnership with the divine nature, by which you have escaped the corrupt desires that are of the world.

But we still must make the effort as Peter says' "Because of all this make every effort..........."

We have a precious faith given to us freely by our incredible, awesome God. Let us not waste it. 

I close with the blessing:

May grace and perfect peace cascade over you as you live in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 

When you come

 

When you visit Lord, what will it be like?

When you descend like a flood, will I drown?

When you blow like the wind will I be swept away? 

Where is the pattern for what I should do, how I should be?

There is no TV documentary

   No TV soap

      No comic strip

          No one I know

              To tell me what to do, how to be. 

My life is full of learned behaviours.

Which do I choose when the Lord Almighty visits?

If I choose wrongly will he pass by?

Surely not - he’s bigger than that, more holy………… 

So, how will I be afterwards?

Knowing that this shouldn’t matter doesn’t answer the question or quiet my heart. 

So what happens now? 

Do I pray that that you will come? 

When you come all the lies will be revealed ......and I don’t know how much of me is made up of lies.

                          But I don’t want to miss you

I yearn for you 

I long for you........... when I remember you and give you the time… 

But how does one stand in awe? How does that happen? 

Where does wanting to bow down, lie down, kneel down stop being something that I choose to do and start being something that you make me do? 

How much of my reaction will be driven by the human spirit and how much by you?

 I know that when you come your nature will be revealed and,  if the greatest thing is love and love is who you are, then love will prevail when you come. 

You are the light and light dispels darkness – so the enemy might put up a fight but will not prevail when you come. 

You are pure and healing power surrounds you – the sick will be healed when you come. 

You created the laws of nature and you are in control of them - you can change things with a mere thought and cause the miraculous to happen when you come. 

But I hear of the counterfeit… the unholy… the human emotions… things that are not bowed down to you but, instead, are defying your presence. 

I worry that I will be in that crowd and not, genuinely in you. 

So, how should I pray?

          Do I want you or not?

                   Do I need you or not? 

My heart cries out ………………

 

 YES LORD COME QUICKLY

 

 

Worship

 

Worship

Worship is what we do because of who we are, wherever we are....... how do we do it?

It comes from deep down, from the depths of our being.

It’s not something we can study, can’t learn the technique. 

It’s the required response of the redeemed to the redeemer.

It’s the pull of the heart towards the healer.

It’s a raise of the hands towards the risen Lord, it’s the bow of the head and the bend of the knee to our Creator and Sustainer.

It’s the recognition of the One who flung stars into the space He created, and to the one who lit the sun.

It’s stopping to wonder at the intricacies and at the infinite expanses of creation.

It’s bowing before Him

It’s running to Him

It’s dancing with Him

It’s singing to Him

It’s sitting with Him

It’s saying here I am, all of me, I’ve always been yours from the instant you first thought of my design.

It’s being with the One who has always wanted to be with me.

It’s coming home to the One who made it possible. 

Jesus