Freedom in Christ

Satan plants lies in the trauma of our past to keep us in bondage to the negative emotions of that incident. This fear, dread, shame, depression, deprivation, anger, revenge, etc. all influence our life every day. ( www.theophostic.com )

These negative feelings filter into our conscious mind from our subconscious mind and intensify our current mood. They program us for failure, addictions, broken relationships and stress. They control our life and we often do not even realize that they are there.

Satan blinds us to their existence and has a field day with our emotions. The solution to this Pandora’s Box is to submit our thoughts to God and to ask Him to show us these lies and His truth about them (Galatians 5:1).

Start with the manifesting negative emotion and consciously concentrate on the words in your mind fueling that emotion. Those are Satan's lies. Then ask God to show you His truth about these lies.

Sometimes, the negative emotion will lead us to an idol in our life. We relinquish to God our expectations and pet peeves, which fuel our negative emotions and cause us to feel frustrated, irritated and angry.

God frees us from the tyranny of these emotions. This freedom is our inheritance as children of God (John 8:36). There is no reason for us to remain in bondage to these past issues, when we are guaranteed this liberty through Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary’s cross (Galatians 5:1).

It may take a while for us to walk in total freedom from the past, but little by little and day by day, God delivers us from Satan’s lies and bathes us in His peace, joy and love.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that pride and rebellion restrict our freedom in You. We cannot walk in Your Truth (Psalm 119:160) without walking in Your righteousness as well. You desire our total devotion and worship (Mark 12:30). That is why You created mankind in the first place.

As we completely surrender to Your will for our life and exalt You above all else, we will decrease as You increase in our soul (John 3:30). We will feel fewer negative thoughts and emotions and find Your joy, which is beyond description and full of Your glorious presence (1 Peter 1:7-9).

Thought for the Day:

Unbelief, the flesh and disobedience will keep us in bondage to Satan’s lies. - Deuteronomy 7:17; James 4:3; Titus 3:3

Hope for Tomorrow

 

If the Gospel of Christ is not true, then there is no forgiveness or reconciliation for our sins and we have no resurrection to look forward to. We have no joy for our current life or for the next, and there is no expectation of living in the Father's house in the future (Romans 10:9; I Corinthians 15:17-19; John 14:1-2, 12). Life without Christ is a life without hope.

There are countless people experiencing depression and mid-life insecurities because they place their hope in our culture, a bank account, a philosophy, their employment or worldly religions. This house of cards is shaky at best, and the ensuing insecurity drives people insane, gives them heart attacks or destroys their relationships.

However, the Gospel of Christ is gloriously true. Jesus suffered and died to set us free from Satan, the flesh, sin and death. We now have hope for tomorrow. As we walk in the light of God's Truth, we have no fear of darkness or evil, because Christ in the authentic Believer overcame Satan and evil on Calvary's cross. Even negative aspects of life now work out for our good (Romans 8:28).

A life based on God's Word has a stable and firm foundation (2 Timothy 2:19). As we walk by the direction and power of God's Spirit, we will not fulfill the dictates of the devil or the flesh, but we will luxuriate in the continual blessings of God (Galatians 5:15-26). As we focus on His plans for our life with a pure heart, He uses us according to His will (Psalm 51:10; Ephesians 2:10).

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for giving us the opportunity to live in Christ and to become a new creation. We rejoice that our old habits, sins, negative emotions and personality are made new by Your Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17). When we trust You with our life, You destroy the deprivation, which devastated us and You mature us in the likeness of Your Son (Romans 8:29). Thank You for claiming us as Your own and for making it possible for us to spend eternity with You.

Thought for the Day:

Therefore, even when we are simply eating or drinking, or whatever we decide God wants us to do, we do it all for His glory.

- 1 Corinthians 10:31

Overcoming Sin

 

The more often we surrender our thoughts, choice and feelings to temptations from the flesh, the devil and the world, the stronger the temptation is the next time it comes. When we shut out the warning from our conscience and God’s Spirit, we arrive at the place where we can no longer hear from God at all (Hebrews 10:35-38).

Our sin separates us from Him and diminishes our resistance to sin. We lose our peace and joy. We no longer experience God’s pleasure in us. We feel the conviction of God’s Spirit and struggle with our decisions and their consequences. The Holy Spirit within us is always ready to empower us to break the cycle of sin so that we can walk in God’s righteousness (Philippians 2:13).

When we stop expecting our self to overcome sin, and focus on the fact that Jesus already won the victory over sin and death (1 Corinthians 15: 56-57), we have stronger will power to resist the temptation in the first place. Jesus walked in sinless perfection, and He abides in every authentic, Born Again Believer.

He helps us to remember the promises of God and to trust Him to provide us with everything we need to live a successful and fulfilled life (1 John 2:17). We no longer feel the need to protect our self, because God works miracles from the seed of every trial. We lose all desire to defend our self, because God’s opinion of us is the only one which matters. We live in freedom from sin through God’s Spirit in us.

Prayer:
Father God, give us Your eyes to judge between right and wrong, so that we never lose the joy of our salvation or the comfort of abiding in Your presence. May we always see sin for the degradation it brings and desire less of the comforts of the flesh and more of the ecstasy of the spirit, which comes from walking in your presence.

Thought for the Day:

May we never become so accustomed to sin that we consider it normal behavior.

 

 

In Times of Trouble

 

In this life full of trials and tribulation, we often adopt an angry attitude and walk around with a huge chip on our shoulder. We had noble and worthy expectations coming out of high school; plans and dreams and aspirations of health, wealth and success. How dare life stand in our way? We often blame God for our failures, never realizing the magnitude of blessings He actually, already provided for us. 

We struggle on, hoping that tomorrow will be different; that we get our bonus, raise or promotion soon. We pray for a baby; and when God answers, we wish He’d take it back – sleepless nights and a mountain of dirty diapers were not in our original bargain. Humans are never satisfied, always upset and rarely ever happy. We take out our disappointment on those we love, expecting them to forgive us.

God’s antidote for this poisonous existence is for us to search for Him and His strength, to seek Him in every area of our life (1 Chronicles 16:11). He allows us to struggle and to attempt to succeed on our own. However, He patiently waits for us to call out to Him in our times of trouble. He is anticipating that we will need Him to rescue us. When He comes, we are filled with praise and we give Him all the glory (Psalm 50:15).

There are so many people in other countries that are not reaping the blessings provided for them, which our ancestors guaranteed for us in America (Exodus 20:6). If you think that your life is poor and miserable, take a trip to a third world country. I guarantee that you will return with the high praises of God on your lips. Remember, in the times of blessings in your life, that many people need your help in theirs.

Prayer:

Father God, You reign forever. You established Your throne and You judge the world by Your righteous standards. You govern us with justice and mercy and provide for all of our needs. You are a refuge for the abused and neglected. You are a fortress and you protect us in our times of trouble. Anyone who knows You will put their trust in You, because You have never, ever, not one single time, by no means at all, forsaken those who seek Your will for their life (Psalm 9:7-10).

Thought for the Day:

The Bible has the answers for us, if we only take the time to ferret them out.

Never Give Up

 

During a time of war, King David found himself in a precarious situation because his men were talking of stoning him. Each of them was bitterly vindictive in their spirit because of the loss of their sons and daughters in an ambush. They wanted to take their revenge out on David. David lost family members in this raid too. He was in as much grief as they were. So, David waited on the Lord, prayed for direction and found strength in the Lord our God (1 Samuel 30:6). In His own timing and way, God always exalts those who wait on Him (Psalm 37:34, 40:1; Lamentations 3:25; Isaiah 40:30-33).

There are so many hectic demands on our life in today’s society. Working long hours, children’s activities, the needs of a spouse, a fulltime career as well as a home to keep clean and organized, extended family obligations, church expectations and all of our friends want our attention all at the same time. We stand the chance of offending someone if we say, “No” to a request. However, if we have the courage to stop the frenzied demands and to take time to wait on the Lord, He will always strengthen our heart.

It is so important to stop the frantic pace we usually maintain; and, instead, to wait on the Lord for the leading of His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day (Psalm 27:14). No one who puts his/her hope in the Lord will ever be put to shame. Instead, God will place that shame on our enemies when they deal treacherously with us without any grounds or reason (Psalm 31:24, 25:3: Proverbs 20:22). Our soul – our mind, will and emotions - finds rest in God alone, because our hope comes from Him as we rely on His Word (Psalm 62:1,5, 130:5).

When we gladly accept God’s salvation for our self, we have so much to rejoice in (Isaiah 25:9; Psalm 119:81). In our quiet times, we lay our requests before God and then wait in expectation. The Lord always hears our voice and answers us, even if it is not in the way we imagined (Psalm 5:3; Micah 7:7).  Even when the Lord chooses to be silent, to hide His face from us, if we wait on Him and put our trust in His faithfulness, He will never let us down (Isaiah 8:17).

Do not grow weary and give up, because we will indeed reap the fruit of our labors if we do not quit (Galatians 6:9). Our health may fail, our eyesight grows dim and our soul may grow weak, but God remains the strength of our soul and He is ours forevermore (Psalm 73:6). Numerous troubles my surround us on every side, our sins and our flesh may overwhelm us, we may be overcome with depression, stress and anxiety; but the Lord quickly comes to rescue us when we call upon Him (Psalm 40:12-13).

So, do not lose heart. Paul calls these hardships momentary and light affliction when compared the eternal weight of glory God prepared for us. Do not look at the temporal, earthly life you are living; but look to the eternal, everlasting promises that God has for us both now and in Heaven. These earthly trials are fleeting, but the attributes that God is working in your life through this tribulation are perpetual (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). Our citizenship is in heaven, and we await the coming of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, from Heaven (Philippians 3:20).

Prayer:

Father God, my soul waits for You more anxiously than the night watchmen who wait for the first morning light (Psalm 119:148, 130:6). Even as I fall asleep and wake again the next day, I remember You. I think of You all through the watches of the night (Psalm 63:6: Isaiah 26:9). I rise before dawn and cry to You for help. I put my hope in Your Word and I delight myself in You (Psalm 119:55, 147). I will constantly praise You for Your wise counsel. Even at night You instruct my heart (Psalm 16:7, 72:2). During the day, You shower me with Your love. At night, Your songs of praise fill my soul as a prayer to the You, the God of my life (Psalm 42:8).

Thought for the Day:

Don’t quit just before the miracle happens. Wait on the Lord.