God gave us His law to prove to
us that we cannot save our self. To reach holiness through the law, we must
keep every word of it (Matthew 5:18; James 2:10).
When we trust in Christ, who did
keep every letter of the law, as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, His Holy
Spirit takes up residence in our body (Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 6:19).
Christ in us satisfied the law
for us (Galatians 5:18). As we surrender to the leading of God's Spirit, we are free to live in His righteousness (Roman 1:17,
8:14).
God's Spirit never leads us into
permissive living (Galatians 5:18). We grieve God's Spirit when we use His
temple for sinful purposes (1 Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 4:30-31).
Our relationship with God is
more important than any other aspect of our life. He fills us with His presence
and we follow God's Spirit moment by moment.
Increasing our intimacy with God
is the best use of our time and efforts. His living water flows through us and
out to the world around us (John 7:38).
As we love Him with our whole
heart, soul and strength, He quenches our thirsty soul (Deuteronomy 6:5; Psalm
42:1-2, 143:6). Then we love our neighbors as our self and fulfill the second
greatest commandment (Matthew 22:39-40).
We love each other as God loves us, and we serve one another and
lay down our preferences, feelings and opinions for one another (John
15:12-13).
God's precepts are for our protection and are only restrictive
if we want to continue to sin. When we
choose to live in God's freedom in righteousness, we are no longer under the oppression of Satan's abuse.
Prayer:
Father God, prior to our salvation through Christ, we served the
devil and His will for our life. We may not have committed evil, but even our
responsible, ethical life was inspired by his desire to keep us from coming to
Christ.
If we return to the bondage to Satan's lies (Galatians 5:1), we
forfeit our freedom from sin. You can no
longer bless us, although Your desire is always to give us all good things (Psalm
84:11; James 1:17). Draw us to completely surrender our life to
You.
Thought for the Day:
When the righteous return to a
sinful lifestyle, we muddy the springs of living water within us.
- Proverbs 25:26; John 4:14, 7:38
