Skip to main content

Free and Willing

    From the moment we accept Jesus as our savior, not only do we receive the gift of eternal life and escape from the punishment awaiting Satan, we also gain freedom in all aspects of our lives. When Jesus' Holy Spirit resides in us, He empowers us to do the things we could not do through our flesh alone. We literally have Jesus working through us in all His perfection!

    Sadly, some "Christians" are not looking to be free of their sins like we could be with Jesus. They are simply content with having him save them from Hell. Once they get their "get out of jail free card," they continue to live their lives in the way they did before as if nothing has changed. Francis Chan has a name for these types of Christians. 

"Lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin. They don't genuinely hate sin and aren't truly sorry for it; they're merely sorry because God is going to punish them. Lukewarm people don't really believe that this new life Jesus offers is better than the old sinful one."
"Lukewarm people are moved by stories about people who do radical things for Christ, yet they do not act. They assume such action is for 'extreme' Christians, not average ones. Lukewarm people call 'radical' what Jesus expected of all His followers."
                                               Francis Chan, Crazy Love 

     I don't want to be a "lukewarm" Christian. I want to live radically free from my sins, striving to be more like Jesus each day. We do not have to live in the bondage of sin anymore. When His Spirit is alive in me, I have all the power I need to resist temptation and worldly influences. It is a process of trusting Him and learning to lean on His Spirit rather than our flesh. For the Spirit is willing to resist, but the flesh is weak to temptation.

Matthew 26:41 The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (NIV)

 Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (ESV)

    Make the decision today to live in all you have access to through Christ! Jesus has done it all for us. We do not need to be tied down by the bondage and death of sin. Jesus paid the price for our freedom and redemption. Let's start living in it.

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (NIV)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1 2 3, Count on Me

     I am thankful to say that for the first time in my life I am surrounded by friends and a community who I know will always build me up and point me in the right direction. More importantly, I know that they will always be honest with me. Honesty is a rare trait these days and I think it to be (combined with love) the most important thing to have in any relationship.    The Bible instructs us to speak life and truth into one another. To be honest and point each other to Christ when we are failing to see straight. I cannot emphasize how much I have grown since having access to that kind of community. Being in close friendships where I am able to be completely honest about my life, my struggles, my thoughts without fear of rejection or judgement is monumental alone. But take that a step further. I have been blessed to have friends that I can not only share my most intimate thoughts with, but they additionally are on their toes looking out for me and honest wh...
4 comments
Read more

Don't Read This!

     It's amazing to me how God so often uses moments in our daily lives to teach us something instead of the moments we might expect (in church, through Christian friends, etc.). I'm a big believer that God can use anything and anyone to teach us something (See Numbers 22:28 where God actually used a donkey to speak to Balaam). This last week, something a coworker said to me in casual conversation really struck my heart and has had me thinking since then. She told me that she quit smoking by buying herself cigarettes and keeping them with her and telling herself, "you can have one if you want. But do you really want it?"      I found this passing statement proved a brilliant point about human nature. I don't think anyone would disagree with me when I say that we as humans want what we are told we can't have. Tell a kid he can't have the cookies in the cookie jar and all he's going to want is those cookies. But I believe this concept is particularly...
2 comments
Read more

A Life of Servitude

   When we are living in the Kingdom of God, we have to abide by a completely different lifestyle than that of the world. The word tells us that to the world, the wisdom of God seems like foolishness. It is completely counterintuitive! Today, I think of this in the context of leadership. To the world, to be a great leader you are often taught to assert yourself and do whatever it takes to get on top. In the Kingdom we are taught that being recognized as a leader means putting yourself below others and letting God raise you up as He chooses to. Luke 14:11    For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. (NLT)          So what does that look like? Well, it looks a lot like Jesus. During His life on earth, Jesus never asserted Himself over anyone-- even though He is the true King over all!! That's crazy humble. The mere fact that He even came down to earth in the form of a man is mind-b...
2 comments
Read more