Tag Archives: Devotion

January 29, 2013 · 7:41 AM

When You Can’t Hear God

I heard a joke last night that I want to share. There was an older man who went to the doctor. He told the doctor that he thought his wife was going deaf. The doctor thought for a minute and then told him how to test it. So the man went home eager to try what the doctor had told him. He got about 20 feet away from his wife with her back to him and asked, “Honey, what’s for dinner?” She didn’t reply so he moved closer. He asked again and got the same result. He moved closer still and asked again. With no reply again, he moved about 5 feet away from her and asked. This time she answered in an agitated voice and said, “For the fourth time, we’re having lasagne!”

I think that’s how we are with God a lot of the time. We keep asking questions and think he is deaf to our prayers. We ask over and over again with no reply. We start to believe that God doesn’t hear us or that He doesn’t care. Neither is the case. Too often, we are the ones who are deaf (or blind) to His answers. We are the ones who are too far away to hear Him speaking to us. The problem is we don’t move closer to hear Him. We end up moving further away because we think He doesn’t care.

If you think God is deaf to your prayers or isn’t answering you, move closer and ask again. James 4:8 tells us, “Come close to God and God will come close to you.” It doesn’t say, “When God comes close to you, you come close to God.” The first move is yours. We are the ones who have to take a step closer to God first. So how do you do that? It’s the same way you would get closer to anyone else you have a relationship with.

The first thing you need to do is make time for Him and then spend time with Him. Anyone that you are close friends with, you spend time with. That’s how you get close with someone. You carve out time from your busy schedule according to how important they are to you. The more important it is to spend time getting to know them, the more time you will create for them. How important is God to you based on that? Have you given Him much time lately? The good news is you can start carving out time today.

Another thing you do with someone you want to be closer to is communicate with them. Communication with Him is as simple as talking. He’s with you wherever you are waiting to Hear from you. He doesn’t want to just hear all your requests. He wants you to open up and talk to Him. Share with Him your darkest secrets, hidden fears and unrealistic hopes. That’s a sign of being close with someone. He wants to listen and reply, but you need to move closer to hear Him.

I know these aren’t the only steps to moving closer to God, but if you do them, they will get you closer than you are now. The good news is that your moves toward God are doubled because He is moving closer to you. I like that. It’s a two for one deal and all you have to do is take a step. Soon enough you will hear (or see) His replies. He’s been talking this whole time, you just haven’t been close enough to hear.

What steps have you taken that others can take to move closer to God? I’d love to hear about them.

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December 11, 2012 · 7:56 AM

God is With You

I think it’s important to stop and remember what we are celebrating this time of year. People can argue that Christmas is commercialized, that some of the traditions have pagan roots or that Jesus wasn’t born in December. Honestly, what we are celebrating now, should be celebrated all through the year. God wrapped Himself in flesh and lived among us. The prophet Isaiah said He would be called Emmanuel which is God with us.

I’ve always loved the meaning of that name. God is with us. It’s present tense. It’s not He was with us or He will be with us. He is with us! There are times we all face where we feel alone. We feel the world is against us. Our friends are scarce. Our troubles are compounded. Our stress is through the roof. Our bills are too many and too high. We feel abandoned and are afraid. How we feel and what circumstances look like don’t change the fact that God is with us.

I’ve always heard it said that you plus God equals a majority. It’s important to remember that when you’re overwhelmed or feel alone. You have the Creator of the universe standing beside you, fighting for you and working things out for your good. When I look back at the hardest times in my life, I can see now that He was working things for my good. I had to go through the fires and the difficult times to be who I am now and to get where I am. It never feels like it during the struggle though.

When we’re surrounded by the storm and the waves are crashing into us and we feel like we’re sinking, He is with us. He isn’t panicking like we are. He knows that things are under control even when they appear not to be. The disciples found themselves in this same situation. They were on a boat in the middle of a fierce storm and they were taking on water. They were terrified until they remember Emmanuel. God is with us. They woke Jesus up and He calmed the storm.

Maybe that’s you today. You find yourself in the middle of a storm. Your mind is occupied by all the “what if’s”. You feel as though your life is sinking. Nothing is going as planned. If that’s the case, remember there is no storm He can’t calm. There is nothing that life can throw at you that He can’t turn into good for you. Even if you can’t see it, have faith. It’s now that you need to remember Emmanuel. God is with YOU. And if God is for you, who can be against you? In all things, we are more than conquerors through Him.

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October 24, 2012 · 7:02 AM

God’s Love Language

If you’ve ever read “The Five Love Languages” by Gary chapman then you know we each give and receive love in different ways. The ways described in this book that we each receive love are words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch. While you can have several, you typically have a main one. After reading this book, we found that my wife’s love language is quality time. For her to have her “love tank” full, I need to spend quality time with her.

With busy schedules, a kid and life’s distractions it can be hard to carve out quality time. Every once in a while she says, “You’re taking me on a date.” The translation of that is, “We’ve had no quality time together. It’s time to shut everything out and go somewhere where we can be alone and spend time together without distractions.” If we don’t spend that time together, our relationship suffers.

I think one of God’s main love languages is quality time too. He desires to spend quality time with us, but we get busy with life, work, family and obligations. We throw quick prayers up to heaven every so often when we really need something and rarely carve out that time that He desires with us. We then wonder why God feels so distant. We can’t figure out why we stumble in our daily walk. When we fail to show God love, we fail to fulfill our purpose.

Jesus was very busy when He walked the earth. Everywhere He went, people followed Him. They pressed in on Him. They wouldn’t leave Him alone. While He was down here showing us God’s love, He still had to go away and spend quality time with the Father. In Mark 1:35, it says that in the early morning Jesus got up, left the house and went to a secluded place to pray. He did this often because He knew the importance of spending quality time with the Father.

God asks the same of you and me. He wants us to find that time to put away the distractions of this life and to go be with Him. He wants us to turn off our cell phones, to turn off the TV, to get away from anything that would distract us and to pray. He doesn’t need it all the time, but He does need it. He needs those moments where He has your undivided attention where He can speak to you and you can speak with Him.

In Matthew 6:6, Jesus said, “When you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.” He wants to be alone with you so you can have an intimate conversation. He said to shut the door behind you so you can shut out all distractions. Build a perimeter around your prayer time so that you won’t be distracted by other things. Shutting the door keeps the things that would like to barge in on your time together outside. They’ll be there when you’re done praying and you can handle them then.

If you want to show God love in His love language, spend some alone time with Him. If you are feeling distant from God, carve out some time where the two of you can be together without distractions. As an example, I’ve given Him my commute time. I turn off the radio and put the phone on vibrate. Each morning and afternoon, I set that time aside to pray and to spend time with Him. Where and when do you have time in your schedule for God? What can you do to spend consistent quality time with Him? If you make the time, He’ll show up and you’ll be thankful you made the time.

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September 17, 2012 · 9:11 AM

The Debt

In September 2003, I incurred a debt that I have been unable to pay. I was unable to keep my promise and people who depended on me paid the price. My goal is to pay that debt one day. In fact, I keep a paper in my wallet with that debt on it so that every time I open it to spend money, I see it. It is faded, worn out and tattered. Even though it is nine years old, it still weighs on me and will until it is paid.

Each one of us also has a debt we must pay. We incurred it on the day we were born. I like how King David put it in Psalm 51:5. He said, “I was born a sinner- yes, from the moment my mother conceived me (NLT).” Because Adam was unable to keep his promise to God in the Garden of Eden, we are all born with sin and owe the price of that sin. Romans 5:12 tells us that sin entered the world through one man and spread to all men.

Sin is what separates us from God. Isaiah 59:2 says that it is your sin that has cut you off from God. Just as Adam was cut off from daily fellowship with God, so too our sin cuts us off from having a relationship with Him. When someone has offended you, the last thing you want to do is hang out with them. When Adam sinned against God, he hid himself from God because he knew he had offended God. He didn’t want to face the consequences of his actions and neither do we.

The consequences for that sin and for our sin is separation from God for eternity. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is death. Each of us will die one day. At that point, we receive the payment for sin which is spiritual death or separation from God for eternity. We owe a debt to sin. Our wage that we collect at death is the payment for that debt. No matter how long we live with that debt, it will always weigh on us until it is paid. There is nothing we can do on our own to pay for that debt. Ephesians 2:9 says that salvation (having our debt paid) is not a reward for doing good deeds or being a good person.

The good news is that your debt has been paid. Jesus came to the earth as God’s only son in order to die on the cross to pay that debt for you. Romans 5:8 says that God demonstrated His love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. It is not in God to leave us with a huge debt like that. He wants you to live debt free so He paid the price for you. All you have to do is claim it.

Romans 10:13 says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. In order to claim His payment for your spiritual debt, you just have to pray. In Romans 10:9,10 it tells us how. It says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

I know a lot of people who think they have sinned so much or so badly that God wouldn’t want them or that He wouldn’t forgive them. That is the farthest thing from the truth. II Peter 3:9 says that the Lord is not slow in keeping His promise. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish (including you), but everyone to come to repentance. Your sin is no worse than anyone else’s and He wants to forgive your debt.

To prove that your sin is not too great or that He wants you no matter what, we have to look no farther than the cross. While Jesus was hanging on the cross and the men who beat Him, mocked Him and drove the nails into His hands and feet stood there watching Him die, Jesus looked up into Heaven and said, “Father, forgive them.” I’m sure you haven’t done anything worse than killing God’s only son. If He can forgive them and make a way for them to go to Heaven, He can forgive you and pay your debt.

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August 24, 2012 · 11:24 AM

Why should you go to church?

Why do you go to church? Seriously. Think about why you go. Is it so you can be seen by others? Is it because it’s what you were taught to do? Maybe you go because you have kids and want them to learn the right way. Too many people use these as why they go to church. Going to church doesn’t get you into Heaven and it’s not the church’s responsibility to teach your child about Jesus. It’s yours.

Let’s change the question then. Why should you go to church? If it’s not to be seen or to teach your kids about Jesus, why go? I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t go. I just want you to think through your motives for going. If your motives are wrong, church will become a drudge to get through. When something else comes up, you’ll quickly take the other option because church is not a priority.

When church is a priority you go there each week no matter what and you expect to hear from God. I love it when I go to a service and it’s as if the entire sermon was just for me. Have you ever had that happen? Every song was written and sung for you and your situation. Every scripture read met your personal need. When it came time to pray, it was as if there was a spotlight on you and God was speaking through the preacher for you to come down and to be prayed for.

God wants us to go each time with the expectation that He will meet us there. If you don’t expect to meet Him, why go? The expectation you have for God at church will always be met. If you go expecting to sit through the ritual of a service, you will walk away empty handed. If you go expecting to hear from God, He will speak to you.

When we hear the Word of God, it builds our faith. Romans 10:17 in the Amplified Version says that faith comes by hearing what is told, and what is heard comes by the preaching of the message that came from the lips of Christ. When your faith is running low (and that happens to all of us), that is the time to go to church. Too many of us use that as an excuse not to go to church.

God’s Word is quick and powerful according to Hebrews 4:12. It doesn’t take long for it to start working in your life. If you want to live better, put God’s Word in you. What goes in will come out. If you want to think and speak differently, put in more of God’s Word. It changes us from the inside out. We shouldn’t just hear God’s Word on sunday though. We need to be consuming it all week long to combat all the other stuff that is going in our minds.

Church is also a great place for connection. We all have a need to be connected to others and what better way than to be connected with fellow believers? Hebrews 10:24,25 says we should think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. It also says we shouldn’t forsake our assembling with fellow believers. At church, we have the opportunity to connect with like minded people and challenge them to do more for God.

Connecting is about more than shaking hands with people you barely know. It’s about getting to know others and making yourself known to them. Connecting is about forming friendships and relationships that last. It’s about communicating with someone and building a relationship. We are one body and we need to be together to connect the parts so we can move and act as one.

There are many reasons to go to church. There are right reasons and wrong reasons. It’s up to you to decide why you go. It’s not enough just to go. You don’t go to a restaurant, sit down, look at the menu, watch other people eat and then leave. So why would you go to church, sit down, look at the bulletin, watch other people engage in the service and leave without getting something? It makes no sense. Go this week with purpose. Expect God to speak to you. Expect your faith to grow. Expect to meet with other believers who can help you on this journey of faith.

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August 22, 2012 · 7:40 AM

Looking for Zacchaeus

I love the story of Zacchaeus. Here was a man who wasn’t as tall as everyone else. He wanted to get a glimpse of this Jesus that everyone was talking about. He couldn’t see over anyone and the crowd around Jesus was huge. He decided to run down the road where Jesus was heading and to climb up a tree so he could see over everyone. When Jesus got there, he looked up, called him by name and told him He wanted to go to his house. The people around Jesus grumbled that Jesus had gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner.

There are a lot of great things in this story that too often we read for our children, but rarely do we look into what’s actually happening. First, you have a notorious sinner trying to just get a glimpse of Jesus. He was desperately trying to see Him. How many of our friends, who are notoriously sinners, can see Jesus in our lives? Have we given them a reason to look? Zacchaeus was determined just to see Jesus and went out of his way to get in His way.

When Jesus got to where Zacchaeus was, he noticed him and called him by name. Each one of us who are Christians were called by name at some point in our lives and salvation was extended to us. We may or may not have been as notorious in our sin as Zacchaeus was, but that doesn’t matter to Him. What matters to Him is if you are willing to accept His invitation to be your guest today.

When Jesus entered the home of Zacchaeus as his guest, He changed who Zacchaeus was. Jesus didn’t demand that he change, Zacchaeus realized that he needed to change. He offered to give away half of what he had and to repay those he stole from. Jesus’ response was that salvation had come to that house. It wasn’t because he decided to give away his belongings, but because he accepted the invitation to let Jesus in. Jesus doesn’t care how bad of a sinner we are, He only cares that we invite Him in when He asks.

While Jesus was inside with Zacchaeus, the people who had been following Jesus all the while began to get upset. “Can you believe He went into the home of that sinner,” they asked each other. I find it difficult to find more than one or two instances when Jesus went to the home of someone who wasn’t a notorious sinner. Even in those times, it was interrupted by a notorious sinner that Jesus had compassion on. Jesus came for the sinner. It doesn’t matter how bad a person is or how good a person is without Him. He wants to come into your life and make it better.

Jesus didn’t care what others thought about going into the homes or hanging out with sinners. What He cared about was their soul. We are not so different than those who grumbled. When we see people trying to reach the lost differently than we would or having church somewhere without a steeple, we claim they must not be true believers. The truth is that we as the body need to reflect Christ in all we do so that when the world is looking for Jesus they can find Him, even if it means hanging out with notorious sinners. That’s what Jesus did to reach them.

Here is a prayer you can pray written by Michael Moak
Jesus, today I’m reminded of all the brokenness in our world and the broken people that continue to struggle to find true meaning and purpose in life.
However, I also realize that through Your mercy I have found complete healing and freedom from the brokenness of my our sin. So, why do I struggle so hard with giving away that which you so freely gave me?
I don’t want to be selfish or stingy with your love, grace, and mercy. Actually I want to have the spiritual courage to share my testimony with the dirtiest and most hard core sinners. So, today Lord help me to pause before judging my neighbor to consider their need for spiritual healing and hope. Bring me face to face with someone who is truly broken, no matter how uncomfortable and out of my comfort zone it could take and make me. I want to represent you to the Zacchaeus’ of this world who just need someone to recognize their broken and battered heart inside a shell of false self-confidence and pride. I ask you to give me divine opportunities today to share YOU with this broken world. Amen.

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August 8, 2012 · 7:43 AM

Knocked Down, but Not Out

A few years ago, life knocked me down. It took the wind out of me when it did. It was hard to do things that were once normal. Everything took effort. An effort that I didn’t have the strength to give. Sometimes just breathing took every ounce of energy I had. It was a tough place to be. I was lying flat on my back wondering how to go on, if I should go on. The easiest thing to do was to give up and stay down.

Have you ever been there? Maybe you’re there now. Sometimes life throws some pretty hard hits. It doesn’t seem fair how, why or when things come our way to knock us down and off the path we were on. You didn’t ask for it or deserve it, but it happened anyway. You have to make some pretty tough choices when you’ve been knocked down. Life changing choices.

Here are some choices I made that helped me.

1. Don’t lose heart

The first thing you want to do is to give up. That’s because that’s the easiest choice, but it’s not the right choice. When the wind is knocked out of you, it gets hard to breathe. Life comes crashing down on you and you’re left wondering if you have anything left. You do. It’s in these times that you have to reach down inside you and find who you really are.

In John 14:1, Jesus told the disciples not to lose heart. He told them to believe in and to rely on Him. When we get knocked down, it is a chance for our faith to grow. When you can’t rely on anyone else, rely on God. He’s the one who is there with you even when you can’t see Him. He’s there to give you heart and strength to move on from where you think you will be forever.

2. Stand back up

One of the hardest things to do when you’ve been knocked down is to stand back up. You may not feel like you have the strength to do it, but you do. It’s inside you. You just have to dig deep to find it. Standing back up is an act of courage. It tells life that it may knock you down, but you will not be counted out. You are here to fight. You are here o win.

Proverbs 24:16 says even if you are knocked down 7 times, the godly get back up. No matter how many times you get knocked down, get up one more time. You are able to do it and each time you get up, you are stronger for it. I kept telling myself, ” What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. If I can survive this, I can survive anything.” You can survive this, but you gotta get back up!

3. Move forward

It’s not enough just to stand back up though. You have to take a step forward even if you don’t know what way “forward” is. Staying still can’t be an option. Where you were is where you were knocked down. You have to move past that area of your life o you can recover. There is hope, there is help and there is healing; but you must move forward to get it.

Philippians 3:14 and 4:13 are your new best friends. Read them, repeat them and cling to them. They say, “I press on toward the goal” and “I can do all things through Christ.” Your goal right now is to press on (forward). You can do it by the power and strength of Jesus. Your faith is what will carry you on. Find someone who can help along the way. You are not supposed to do this alone. They may not understand what you’ve been through, but that’s ok. They have the strength you need to move forward.

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August 2, 2012 · 7:58 AM

Withholding things from God

Last night as our church group sat around talking and eating, the debate of waffle fries or McDonald’s fries came up. During the debate, it came up that I love McDonald’s fries so much that I won’t even share one with my wife. If she wants just one, I’ll go buy her a bag of fries rather than give her one of mine. Someone told me that if I loved her like Christ loved the Church, I would give her one. I jokingly said back, “I don’t know if He loved the Church that much!”

The truth is that He loves the Church infinitely more than that and he has called us to love our wives that much. Is there something you hold back from your spouse? It could be something silly like a French fry or it could be a compliment, a thank you or the words I love you. Beyond that, what is it you withhold from God?

Here are something’s that I’ve found I withhold from Him sometimes.

1. My time

There are 1440 minutes in each day. If I were to tithe on my time, I should give Him 144 minutes each day. That’s 2 hours and 24 minutes each day to put it into perspective. When you think of all he has given to us, 10% is not much. Time is something that is very valuable to all of us. We only have so much of it and it seems everyone wants some of it.

I was reading yesterday in Genesis about the death of Abraham’s wife Sarah. He needed a place to bury her and someone offered a field with a cave in it for free. He wouldn’t take it because he wanted to give his wife something that was valuable and cost him something. If time is your most valuable asset, God will honor you for giving more of it to him.

2. My problems

I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes I don’t want to bother God with what is bothering me. He has enough on His plate with everything going on in the world without having to worry or spend time helping me with my problems. Sure, I go to him with the big things, but I try to handle the little things on my own. I heard someone say this week that they only take God their big problems and someone responded, “With God, there are no “big” problems.”

God never intended us to carry the load ourselves. He told us to cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us. We don’t have to shoulder the burden ourselves. He wants to help, but we keep Him from it and wear ourselves out. In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus told all who were weary and had heavy burdens to come to Him and take his burdens because they were light.

3. My gratitude

When I look back at my life and think of all the things I have prayed for, I can see that more were answered than not. I also see that once it has been answered, I rarely go back to say “thank you”. It’s not that I’m ungrateful. It’s that a new problem has come up and I’ve started asking for it. I think it’s important to keep a prayer journal where you write down all your requests of God. When you go back in a month, year or decade and see what your problems were and how God answered them, you’ll be grateful and amazed.

I wrote recently about being thankful here. Being thankful and showing gratitude changes your perspective and builds your faith. When you see all the little things that God has done for you, it’s easy to trust Him with the big things. Everyone likes to be appreciated for things they do. We were made in God’s image. I think He likes to be thanked every now and then too.

Have you found that these are some areas that you withhold from God too? Maybe you haven’t withheld all of them or you’ve withheld other things that are important to you. God loves you so much that the Bible says he will not withhold any good thing from you. In fact, He has proven it by sending His son to die for our sins. Even when we are ungrateful for that at times, He still gives us good things. We can make that change today. We can choose to quit withholding things from Him now. What are you going to quit withholding?

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July 6, 2012 · 10:59 AM

The miracle of obedience

How often do we look at what we have and say, “I don’t have enough. I can’t give God any because I won’t have anything left over”? It could be your time, money or talents that you say that about. We look at what we have and see what we don’t have. God looks at what we have and sees the potential.

His ways are not our ways and His perspective is a lot different too. He can take what’s broken in your life and fix it. He can take your little bit of talent and magnify it. He can take even what little money you may have and make it stretch. It all depends on your obedience though. Obedience is where miracles begin.

In I Kings 17, God illustrates this principle of obedience yielding miracles.

1. Give what you have to God first

In this story, a widow was gathering sticks to prepare the last bit of food she had for herself and her son. Elijah, the prophet of God, walked up and told her that he was hungry and that she should use what she had to prepare a meal for him first. She could then use what was leftover to prepare food for herself.

If we are honest, most of us wouldn’t have given up our last meal to a stranger. That is where we miss our blessings though. Giving up what little we have to God first opens the windows of blessing on our lives. If God asks for it, trust Him to provide a way. Scripture is full of examples of this principle.

2. Take care of yourself too

God did not leave her hungry. In the very beginning of the conversation, she was told that she would have enough to prepare for herself after. Even though she knew that there wasn’t enough, she trusted any way. She was able to feed herself and her son with that little bit until the drought ended.

We think that God is taking everything when He asks for the little we have, but in reality, He will not leave you without. He leaves enough to take care of yourself too. On the first time I decided to regularly give God 10% of my income, I sat down and did a budget. After paying Him and all my bills, I had $4.30 left over. I gave my tithe anyway. I didn’t go hungry even though I didn’t get paid for 2 weeks. God provided.

3. God will refill your supply

God refilled her oil and flour until the drought ended just as He promised. God cannot fail or go back on what He has promised. He will always refill your supply if you will trust Him with it. It’s the letting go that is hard for us. We live in a world of tangible things and God’s miracles are not always immediately tangible.

I’ve heard it said many times that if God can get it through you, He will get it to you. The reason that most of us don’t see miracles like that is because He can’t get things through us. We forget that what we have (time, money or talent) is not ours. We are just stewards. He wants to do more through you, but it takes you letting go in faith.

What has God asked you to give up? What do you have that you feel is too little to give Him? God doesn’t look at the amount you give Him. He looks at the percentage of what you give Him in comparison to what you have. Remember the widow with the two pennies? Don’t be afraid to let go when He asks. He will perform miracles through your obedience.

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July 4, 2012 · 8:55 AM

Spiritual Independence

Today, the USA celebrates its independence from Britain. All across this country families and friends will gather to cook, pop fireworks and to enjoy the freedom that this country offers. It is a holiday that we all, as Americans, cherish and hold dear as we should.

As Christians, we should also celebrate our independence from sin. Many believers can point to the day where they recognized that Jesus paid the price for their spiritual freedom. Galatians 5:1 says that it was for freedom that Christ set us free. We should celebrate that freedom too.

Here are three things I’m thankful to be free of spiritually.

1. Free from the cost of sin

The cost of sin is high. Romans 6:23 says that the wages of sin is (spiritual) death. That death is separation from God for all of eternity. We are born into sin and follow after its desires. It is natural for us to do what is wrong because it is innate in us. We are bound by it from birth.

Jesus said that He came to bring (spiritual) life abundantly. His death on the cross paid the penalty (death) for our sins. God’s love for us is so great that He did not spare even His own Son so that we could be with Him and would not have to be separated from Him for eternity. Colossians 1:14 says that He purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.

2. The effects of sin

Many people live their lives in regret of what they did while they were sinners. They allow their past to keep them from the future God has for them. There is no one without a past. There is no one, except Jesus, who has not sinned and had to deal with the effects of that sin.

While we are still bound to the physical consequences of our sin, Jesus has freed us from the spiritual effects of it. Hebrews 8:12 tells us that God will forgive our sins and will never remember them again. If he doesn’t remember them, neither should we once we are forgiven. Don’t let regret over forgiven sins hold you down.

3. The chains of sin

Sin wants to bind you up and keep you from living how you were supposed to live. It desires to tie you up and to create strongholds in your life. It wants to make you a slave to its desires and will. Once Christ has freed you, don’t go back to that life again. Galatians 5:1 also says to make sure you stay free and don’t get tied up again.

We have been freed of the chains of sin that bind us. We have the power, through Christ, to not go back into that life that bound us up. Hebrews 12:1 says we are to strip off any unnecessary weight and the sin that so readily clings to us and entangles us. It wouldn’t tell us to get rid of it if we couldn’t do it! We can be free from those chains of sin.

When you think about freedom, don’t just think of your physical freedom. Think about your spiritual freedom. That price wasn’t cheap either and that freedom lasts for eternity. We can be thankful to be free from the price, effects and chains that sin brings. What’s holding you back from walking in that freedom?

This is a prayer provided by Michael Moak to help us walk in that freedom.

Dear Lord,
Today is the day we celebrate our independence in the United States of America. So, today I find myself thinking about the spiritual independence that you have given to us because of Your death on a brutal cross. Thank you for obeying Your heavenly father and placing Yourself in the role as the sacrifice for the sins of all mankind!

I’m so thankful today for your amazing and wonderful love for me and for every person that calls upon Your name! Just as America’s freedom came at a very high price, so did my spiritual freedom! It was bought by Your blood, as it flowed from your broken body, which hung on a cross of pain, suffering and torture. I am so humbled as I think that you not only knew me on that day, but you willingly chose to subject yourself to death by crucifixion because You loved me with an unmeasurable love.

Help me to live my life worthy of the price that you paid for it. And I pray that you would bring America back to the realization that the freedom within its borders is directly attributed to the blessings that You have poured out upon us throughout history because Your favor and grace is so deep and vast. I pray for my heart to fully rely on the incredible faith that comes from You alone. I also ask that you would allow me to leave a proud legacy of spiritual depth and dependence in You so that my children will grow to become men and women of God. For they are the future leaders of the United States of America.

Your love for this great nation has not ceased; therefore, once again, restore America to be the land that honors, glorifies and represents Your name and kingdom with love, obedience, and reverence. I ask all these things in the name of Your almighty and only son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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