Digging Deeper

Freedom to Choose “to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” Revelation 1: 5b

When I was in college there was a poster that hung in the bookstore with the inscription,
“If  you love something, set it free”. Christ not only loves us but he has pursued us in order to set us free from the things that separate us from his presence. As we look forward to another weekend of fellowship and worship, I want you to remember that God is pursuing you in order to make you into the very thing that he intended. It is his desire to bring you to the place of your full potential. Wow! Imagine being exactly what you were designed to be. Have a great week!

Scripture 3 John 2-4

Prayer Father, At my lowest point I turned around and you were running to my side. That is just like you! Thank you Lord!

Freedom is built in. “Live as free men” 1 Peter 2: 16

In Peters day, being a slave for some was a career choice. For certain work for a benefactor, a person would be taken care of( by the whim of your owner) for the rest of your natural life but you were always under the watchful eye of your owner. Some were loving, others were not. Peter here chastises those who were set free from the sin in their life but still owned by a benefactor. They were encouraged to be great employees in order that the benefactor would see the change in their lives and therefore lead them to Christ. A great example of this was when Paul and Silas were in jail and a great earthquake set them free but knowing that the jailer and his family would be put to death, they stayed put and thus lead the whole family to Christ that night. We all have a higher calling. We are the arms and faces of Christ in this world to those we work with and associate. Make Him look as good as He is and lift Him up through our witness. Have a great week!

Scripture I Peter 2: 13-17

Prayer Father, help me to show You to all those around me and forgive  me when they see more of me than you. I love you!

Freedom and Bondage “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom”

II Corinthians 3: 17

One of the tell-tale signs of a Christ-follower who is in trouble spiritually is that they begin to struggle with bondage issues. Old habits, ways of talking, and old friends begin to surface and they are not making getting together with others of the Faith a priority. I have been arrested once for fighting and assault when I was a teenager. After spending the night in jail, my Dad allowed me to walk home from downtown Piqua. It was never spoken of again and it never happened again. Bondage for an evening was absolutely the worst day of my life. Knowing that I could not walk out on my own without the help of another was almost more than I could bear. Yet, I see people set free by the blood of Christ and regardless of what they had been saved from, they start to fall back in to old patterns of behavior. A suggestion for all of us; practice the presence of Christ in your life. Would this be where Christ would want me, are there other things I could do to follow Christ more closely, am I serving where God would have me serve? We have to check ourselves everyday but remember, wherever the Spirit is, there is freedom.

Scripture II Corinthians 3:12-18

Prayer: Father, help me always be mindful that you are with me always, even when I fall, you are there to pick me up.

I choose Freedom! Romans 6:12 “Therefore do not let sin reign”

Top Ten Reasons to Choose Freedom

#10 The jewelry is better(shackles versus bracelets)

#9 Sleep better tonight without a sleep number bed

#8 Makes your face younger

#7 You don’t always have to keep your stories straight

#6 If you have moved from the darkness to the light, why go back to the dark?

#5 Happiness is contagious

#4 Being a Christ-follower is better than a poke in the eye

#3 You could like it!

#2 Life is better, longer, and a higher quality

#1 You will live forever with God!

Scripture Galatians 5: 1-6

Prayer Father, thank you for setting me free from sin, help me to stay in the light and follow you….

In your anger, do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your heart and be silent. Selah

Psalm 4:4

I used to be one of the angriest people you’d ever want to meet.   I used my anger as a wall, to keep people away from me.  I used it as a weapon to hurt others, and as a camoflage to hide behind.

I am no longer that person, thankfully.  Looking back, I’m quite embarrassed of all that bitterness.  I thank God daily for delivering me from that place.

That’s not to say that I never get angry though.  As hard as I try, there are still a few “buttons” that  when pushed, make me a big, fat, seething ball of ugly.   

I find that when I’m mad like that, my old nature tries to creep back in.  I want to say hurtful things, I want to be spiteful, I want to kick stuff.  Ephesians 4:27  warns us not to give the devil a foothold in our anger.

I’ve started working through reading the Psalms.  Before now, I’ve never read them aside from looking to specific ones for a reference.  As I read through them now, I see how emotional the psalmists were.  They didn’t hold back in their writing to God.  In Psalm 59, David’s anger against Saul was clear, but he poured himself out to God, he did not look to quench his anger with his own hand.  This struck me because, when I become angry, I often try to hide my anger from God.  When I do that, I find that I’m more likely to sin in my anger, an attempt to some way bring  about justice by my own will.  How easy it is to forget that God knows my heart better than I know it myself!  Who better to pour out my anger, my sadness, my joy to than my God!

Father, thank You for leading me to scripture in my time of anger, when my resolve is weakest.  Help me to pour my emotions out to You, Lord, so that I may not allow the devil a foothold.

Read: Psalm 142

Jeanne Roberts

Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. 

Romans 6:13-14

We’ve all seen a movie or read a book about one person saving another’s life.  The rescued person, out of gratitude, becomes the slave of he who saved him.

Becoming the slave of one who has saved your life doesn’t come close to making things “even”, but it is a gesture of appreciation.   The words ’slave’ and ’submission’ carry with them negative connotations, but  in the truer sense of the words, becoming a slave means submitting yourself to the sole influence of another (the master). 

Christ has saved our lives.  He absorbed the sins of all man and took the punishment meant for us.  Because of Christ, I am alive.  Because of Him, I know one day I’ll be in heaven.  Submitting myself to the sole influence of Jesus is the most I can do, but doesn’t even come close to what He’s done for me.

When I choose to sin, I am turning my back on Him.  I am choosing my old sin nature – which promised me only death and emptiness; instead of choosing Him – who guarantees my everlasting life.

Jesus, thank You for saving my life.  All I can do in thanks is devote to You the life You saved.  Help me as I strive to live my life bound to You.

Read: Hebrews 12:1-12 

Jeanne Roberts

 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 5:20-21 

The addition of the law led to the increase of lawlessness.  

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. Romans 5:20, [MSG]

I didn’t quite understand how that could be, until I really started to study that verse.  I can see the same phenomenon occur in my daily life:

I need to lose 20 lbs.  In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t seem to be a big deal until I try to exercise and eat right. 20 minutes on the treadmill and I’ve all but given up, ready to accept that I’ll just buy bigger clothes.  Besides, it’s easier to go shopping and eat cookies!

I need to develop a savings plan.  It’s not impossible.  However, once I start to work on the household budget, things start to look bleak.   There’s no sense in even trying.  So I order a pizza and rent a movie on pay-per-view. 

I imagine it was the same when the law was put into effect.     A standard to live up to.  The wide path of sin becomes wider and more inviting than the narrow walk to righteousness.  ”I can’t live up to all that.  I may as well give up.”  

Paul explains that it’s not the law that leads to salvation, thankfully.  The law shows us our sin and our responsibility only.  It cannot grant us pardon.  That only comes to us through God’s grace, which we are driven to by seeing the seriousness of our sin and desiring to make ourselves right in the eyes of God.

Lord, I am thankful for Your eternal presence.  Surely I will stumble in my attempts to stay on the narrow path. Knowing You have delivered me from darkness keeps me from giving up.  

Read: Galatians 2:17-21

Jeanne Roberts

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.

Romans 6:16-17

Somewhere around 4th grade, I discovered the  ”Choose Your Own Adventure” books.  Anyone remember these?  I loved them.  Every few pages, there would be a choice to make.  Depending on the choice made, the book would direct you to another page.  ”If you choose to face the dragon, go to page 77.  If you choose to flee, turn to page 56.”  

There were some abrupt endings,  ”You chose to face the dragon.  You have no weapons.  The dragon ate you.  The End.”   but if the right choices were made, the adventure continued and the reader was usually victorious.

This series makes me think of those old books.  Every day, I come upon choices that surely have an impact on how my own adventure is going to end.    

It isn’t the monumental choices that get me stumped.  It’s the small forks in the road.  It’s the choices I make privately, the choices I make when no one’s around.

- Should I forgive someone who has hurt me, or should I snub them just long enough to make them feel really, really bad?

- Should I tell the person who just walked away from the self-checkout that they left their $3.00 change in the bill dispenser, or decide that they should have been paying closer attention?

- I got a raise at work, do I increase my tithe this week or just wait a little while…?

I don’t think any one of these situations would be a life-altering decision.  However, as a Christ follower, I have the conviction of the Holy Spirit in my heart.  When faced with the opportunity to sin, I feel the impact I’m about to have on my relationship with God.  When I’ve justified sinful thoughts or deeds and given into my selfish human nature, I am immediately and deeply rebuked.  

My joy is in the fact that I have taken my adventure and started over.  I don’t always make the right decision, and I’ve not yet been successful in avoiding every sin.  God keeps giving me the opportunity to make the next choice the right choice.

Father, thank You for continuing to work in my life.  My desire is that each choice I make brings me closer to You.

Read: Genesis 4:7

Jeanne Roberts

What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!

-Romans  6:21

This verse reminds me of a time with my then-sister-in-law.

I’ve just turned 18.  She is standing behind me, laughing.

I’m in her bathroom, on my knees, hanging onto the – um – throne like it’s a life preserver.

In her brash voice with a thick Kentucky edge she says “This is called having a good time!”

It sounded like she was saying “taahm”.

“What’s’a matter, Jeanne?  Ain’t you havin’ a good taahm?  Ah’m havin’ a good taahm!”  She emphasized her point by administering a kick to my behind at the end of each sentence.

My sister in law was not known for being overly sympathetic.

I like the way this verse is worded: “What benefit did you reap at that time…” .

In my old life, in the midst of my slavery to sin, I thought that I was really living.  I was making the most of my life, I thought.   My life – I thought – was overflowing with benefits!

Now I know that that wasn’t living.  Now I know why I felt so empty if I wasn’t out having a “good taahm”.

“Those things result in death!”  How true!  I experienced much death during that time of my life.

Friendships.

Opportunities.

Self Respect.

Brain Cells.

At that time, when I would meet a Christian, I would think “How boring would that life be?  Christians don’t have any fun!”

My life is anything but boring since accepting Christ as my savior!  I’ve learned what it feels like to truly live life, to be filled, to no longer search for worldly things to fill the emptiness I once had.

After just five years at the Ridge, I’ve had more fun, laughed more, and truly connected with more people than I had in the 32 years prior.

Father, thank You for waiting patiently all that time for me to open my heart to You.   I know I am not perfect, Father, and every day brings another challenge to overcome.  Help me to continue to look to You for guidance.

Read: 1 Peter 4:2-4

Jeanne Roberts

A wondrous Exchange “a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith” Romans 1: 17b

Righteousness is the state of being “in the right” with God. Basically, all of us are guilty but yet through Christ Jesus, we have the ability, through his blood shed on our behalf as payment for our sin, to stand before Almighty God totally acquitted of all charges on our record. This right standing did not come cheap. It cost Jesus his royal standing in heaven, he became human, suffered and died on a cruel cross. In Henry Blackabee’s book “Experiencing the Cross”, he shares that we have no idea the cost that has been paid. I wonder as I think back on our wonderful Easter services that we just participated in, did we stop to think about the cross and the eternal price that was paid to make us right with God. Does it ever occur to us as we live the greatest life on planet earth and beyond all that He sacrificed for us? Do we even grasp in part what that is all about? I don’t think we could ever fully understand this side of eternity what Christ exchanged. His life for ours. It was a wondrous exchange. A transaction never seen before and will never be seen again. This week in the news we have been riveted to our TV’s as we watched the hostage situation unfold near the coast of Somalia. In essence, the captain exchanged his life for the lives of his crew. They were all tremendously grateful to him for saving their lives as they should be. That’s what Jesus did for us. It was either us or Him and He chose to stand in for us. His life for our “right standing” before Almighty God. As the “shamwow” guy says what a deal. What a deal indeed! I didn’t deserve what He offered but I am so glad He did. Have a great weekend!

Scripture Romans 2: 1-11

Prayer: Father, thank you for giving me the opportunity to stand before God as a clean person. I love you Father!