We’re Called to Freedom

We, as followers of Jesus Christ, have been called to FREEDOM. We have not been called to legal bondage! We’re being reminded that we’re no longer under the law of the Old Testament, and that we should not try to live as the Pharisees did.

Not only are we free from the bondage of the Mosaic ceremonies, but we’re also free of sin and misery. The gospel of Jesus Christ calls all people into the law of love.

The truth of God’s Word and God’s salvation sets people free in every nation and culture on earth.

. . . and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (Joh 8:32 ASV)

. . . because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:2 CSB)

We live under the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus! Hallelujah!

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Gal 5:13 ESV)

We’re called, through love, to serve one another as well as the Kingdom of God.

Now ‘the Lord’ here means the spirit; and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Cor 3:17 NTE)

Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical freedom. There is health, healing, prosperity and peace wherever the spirit of the Lord reigns. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide and govern your life.

Hidden with Christ in God

How are we “hidden with Christ in God”? Let’s explore this thought.

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. (Col 3:3-4 NKJV)

As believers in and followers of Jesus Christ, we have been set free from the law of sin and death. (Rom 8:2) We are set free from the power of sin. (Rom 6:7) Since we are ‘dead’ to sin—or spiritually separated from it through salvation in Jesus—our lives are encompassed or contained in Jesus Christ.

All of this simply means that we are in union with Jesus, our Savior. We are one with Him.

On that day [when that time comes] you will know for yourselves that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. (Joh 14:20 AMP)

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20 ESV)

As you can see from the two verses shown above, it is clear that we are forever in union with Jesus, and securely enfolded by our loving heavenly Father.

After a little while, the world no longer is going to see Me, but you are going to see Me; because I live, you also will live. (Joh 14:19 NASB)

Being in union with Christ means that the past, present, and future aspects of our life are now and forever tied up and remain in union with Christ, and it began at the Cross when we died with Him. The condition of our lives may appear to contradict this truth, when difficulties rain down upon us, but no matter what life throws at us our union with Christ is 100% secure.

(Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/colossians-3-3)

All of this reassures us to realize that we are safe and secure in Jesus. He is our rock, our fortress, deliverer, strength, shield and our stronghold. (Ps 18:2) May God bless your day!

Pray for the Increase of Evangelism

As believers and followers of Jesus, we’re called to pray for the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to spread over all of the earth.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you . . . (2 Thes 3:1 NIV) Pray for your Pastor and the missionaries that your church supports that God will bless and prosper their work. Pray also for the family of your Pastor and the families of the missionaries that you support.

. . . for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. (1 Cor 16:9 NIV) Remember that there are spiritual opponents and challengers who stand against the gospel of Jesus Christ. But the Bible reminds us that God has given us the victory. It is part of our calling to pray for that victory to be manifested in every evangelistic outreach. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 15:57 NKJV)

But the word of God increased and multiplied. (Ac 12:24 NIV) By the grace and mercy of God, our prayers can turn a situation around by faith in Jesus.

. . . therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Mt 9:38 NIV) Ask the Lord in your prayers to send out more evangelists so that His good news of salvation may bring about the end-time harvest.

Of course, we should pray for our unsaved relatives and friends to be saved. It’s a measure of our love for them that we desire to pray for their salvation. Remember what the Bible tells us: If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.(Joh 15:7 NIV) Rejoice!

Reject Anger

As followers of the Lord Jesus, we have to make a decision to reject anger as an option in our dealings with one another and with the Lord.

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; do not fret—it only causes harm. For evildoers shall be cut off; but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. (Ps 37:8-9 NKJV)

Anger and wrath only cause harm and heartaches. But all who wait upon the salvation of the Lord will inherit the earth.

He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly. (Pro 14:29 NKJV)

A person who hardly ever gets angry is called understanding by the Word of God.

You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; ²⁰for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. (Jas 1:19-20 NASB)

Our human anger doesn’t bring about the righteousness of God, so it is a weapon that we need to abandon. A person’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is to his credit that he ignores an offence. (Pro 19:11 ISV)

In every way, it is best to seek the Lord and to rely upon Him to lead us and guide us in our responses and our reactions. Glory to God.

Taught by God

As followers of Jesus Christ, we can’t forget that Jesus came, in obedience to His Father, in order to save people and to reconcile them back to our Heavenly Father. God is constantly ready to forgive and to save all who believe in Jesus.

Today we’re concentrating on Scriptures that tell us that all of our children shall be taught by the Lord.

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. (Isa 54:13) We are drawn closer to the Lord by submitting to His teachings. Our relationship grows deeper and stronger the more we read, meditate upon, and study the teachings of the Bible.

It is written in the Prophets, and they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has listened to the Father and learned from Him comes to Me. (Joh 6:45 CEB) All who receive the internal, spiritual illumination concerning Jesus Christ, the Savior, is drawn to God and to the teaching that comes from God through His Word, His Spirit, and His ministers.

The Spirit will bring glory to me by taking my message and telling it to you. ¹⁵Everything that the Father has is mine. That is why I have said that the Spirit takes my message and tells it to you. (Joh 16:14-15 CEV) The Holy Spirit is our helper and our teacher. He gives us wisdom, insight, and illumination into the teachings of the Bible.

Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another . . . (1 Thes 4:9 ESV) This is a confirmation by the Scriptures that those who belong to the Lord are taught by the Lord and are influenced daily by what they have learned.

All those who are taught by God (those who accept and act upon what they learn) will always turn to Jesus and receive Him as their Savior and Lord. And once they have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, they will continue serving Him and obeying His leading and guiding through His Word and through the Holy Spirit. We are not only the servants of God, but we are the children of God. All glory to God most High!

Pleasing All Men in All Things

We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. (Rom 15:1 NIV)

Give no offense, either to the Jews or to the Greeks or to the church of God, ³³just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved. (1 Cor 10:32-33, emphasis added)

Don’t do anything for selfish purposes, but with humility think of others as better than yourselves. ⁴Instead of each person watching out for their own good, watch out for what is better for others. (Phil 2:3-4 CEB)

We’re instructed by God’s Word to watch out for what is best for others and pleasing to others. We’re also urged to avoid selfishness and encouraged to care for each other. That’s a tall order, right? The apostle Paul said that he pleased all men! Wow, he is a righteous example to us all.

So why did Paul ‘please all men’? He did it so that many people would be saved. By his pleasing and caring behavior toward others, he won many, many people to the gospel of Jesus Christ. All of those people accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Paul didn’t do it in order to be a man-pleaser but in order to win souls to the Kingdom of God. His motivation was pleasing in God’s sight.

For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ. (Gal 1:10)

. . . not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart . . . (Eph 6:6)

Our assignment as followers and servants of Jesus Christ is to please God first, but also to demonstrate God’s love to all people. That means doing top-notch work in our jobs (even those who are self-employed). It also means finding ways to cooperate kindly with our earthly neighbors whether we have a house, condo, apartment, or a tent.

We also, as servants of Jesus, represent Him in our families, with our friends and within our communities and churches. As ambassadors for God’s Kingdom, we have the honor and privilege of being ‘the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.’ (2 Cor 2:15) May our conduct and our conversation be as a pleasant perfume to the lost and the hurting as well as to the Lord Jesus. Praise the Lord!

Keep Away from Evil

As servants of the Living God and followers of Jesus Christ, we should have a sincere desire to stay away from evil in every form: evil thoughts; evil words; evil people; and even occasions to be tempted to commit evil. If we obey the Lord, and obey the Scriptural command to be holy (1 Pet 1:16), this will make sense to us.

By mercy and truth atonement is made for wrongdoing, and by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil. (Pro 16:6 NASB) If we have a respectful reverence for the Lord, it will keep us away from doing evil. If we have done evil in some way, and if there is an avenue open to us to make amends for it, God’s gifts of mercy and truth will guide us to the right path. For any sin that we may commit, we need to repent to the Lord and ask Him to forgive us and to cleanse us from unrighteousness. The GOOD news is that He always hears and answers these prayers for forgiveness and cleansing. Praise God!

I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. (Joh 17:15 ESV) I believe Jesus was praying for all who would accept Him as their Lord and Savior and follow Him all of their days. The Lord prayed for His followers (US) to be kept away from the evil one who is satan. The evil one and his works are described in John 8:44.

But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” (1 Cor 5:13) This is language similar to Deuteronomy 24:7 regarding excluding people, those who are indulging in evil, from the fellowship of believers.

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. (Eph 4:31) The Scriptures exhort us to avoid indulging in any of these activities, because they do not honor the Lord nor do they flow from the heart of God.

Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. (1 Pet 3:11) We must always choose to reject evil actions, and turn to the Lord. When we follow Jesus, the Prince of Peace, we will seek and pursue peace with all of our hearts.

Let us highly value peace in our hearts, in our relationships, and in our lives. The peace of God which passes all understanding (Phil 4:7) encompasses within it wholeness, maturity, and completeness as well as freedom from turmoil and worry. Focus upon serving Jesus and doing good, and you will be blessed. Hallelujah!

God’s Great Love for Us

Something that we, as followers of Jesus Christ, may not meditate upon enough is His great love for us. This article will help us focus on that today.

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says the Lord who has compassion on you. (Isa 54:10 NASB) The Lord is saying that even when immovable objects (like hills and mountains) start shaking and even being removed, that His loving peace and kindness will NOT leave His children. The Lord says that He has compassion upon us. What a blessed promise!

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. (Mt 18:20 NIV) When believers in Jesus come together and meet as Christians, the Lord reminds us that He is right there among us. His presence abides with us.

For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb 13:5 NKJV) This is the Lord’s promise that He will never leave us nor abandon us—under any circumstances. This is a promise that can be relied upon.

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1 Cor 6:19 NKJV) Here the Bible reminds us that all who have accepted Jesus as our Savior, have become the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within the children of God. We are children of God.

Rejoice in the precious promises that God has given to all who love Him. Take some time to reflect upon God’s great, abiding love for you, and thank Him for it. God bless you.

Esteem the Word

As followers of Jesus Christ, we should honor and respect God’s Word. The Bible gives us guidance on this topic.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts. (Jer 15:16)

God’s Word should give us joy and cause us to rejoice in His goodness, His nature, and His salvation.

I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep Your word. I have not departed from Your judgments, for You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Ps 119:101-103)

In order to observe [obey] God’s Word, we endeavor to live holy, upright lives. This is because we consider the Word of God to be sweeter and more satisfying to us than anything else in our lives.

The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver. (Ps 119:72)

The Word displays to us a right attitude through the above passage in Psalms. The psalmist said that God’s Word was more precious to him than thousands of gold and silver coins! He was saying that money paled in comparison to the value of God’s precious Word to him.

May each and every one of us agree with the psalmist in this matter. Praise the Lord!

Defend the Destitute & the Oppressed

The Lord has outlined everything in the Bible that believers need to know about life and godliness. (2 Pet 1:3)

The Scriptures appeal to followers of Jesus to defend the destitute and the oppressed—those who can’t speak for or protect themselves.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. (Pro 31:8 NIV)

This verse tells us to uphold (endorse) the rights of the destitute. Destitute means deprived, underprivileged, impoverished, or disadvantaged.

Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. ⁴Deliver the poor and needy; free them from the hand of the wicked. (Ps 82:3-4)

In the passage above, the psalmist encourages us to defend:

the poor,
the orphaned,
the afflicted and
the needy

. . . from evil, wicked people as well as from wicked factions, lobbies, programs or organizations.

He does not preserve the life of the wicked, but gives justice to the oppressed. (Job 36:6)

God will ensure that all of the oppressed [tyrannized, persecuted, repressed, tormented] people on the earth will receive His justice. We, His servants, must cooperate with and collaborate with the Lord in this undertaking.

Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. (Ps 146:7)

The Lord achieves justice for the all of the oppressed. Jesus, our Savior, feeds the hungry and liberates the prisoners from every form and every type of imprisonment. Glory to God, most High!

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