Good Morning All!!
Romans 8:15;
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you
have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
It is always fascinating how animals are
trained. How do they train those huge
elephants? They start when they are
babies and then tie a rope to their leg and then attach the rope to a stake in
the ground. As the baby elephant pulls
on the rope, it cannot break the rope or pull away. It thinks it cannot get away so it quits
fighting. Anytime a rope is tied to its
leg, it “thinks” it is still tied to the post and will just stand there.
The devil does the same thing to us. He wants us to think we are still tied to
him. The devil wants to keep us as
slaves and for us to live in fear. He
does this by taking the events that occur in a broken creation and making us fear
what we do not know and what we do not understand. We can see that throughout our life. Our fears lead us to think and advocate
actions which are not useful or helpful.
Perhaps you have faced a time when fear
made you feel tied down as a slave of the devil. The devil loves to sit on our shoulder and
talk to us. He loves to remind you of
your failures and sometimes he convinces others that they can build themselves
up by reminding you of those failures.
The devil wants you to think that the string he tries to tie to your leg
to keep you tied down as his slave. When
we are his slave, he torments us and makes us to live in fear. It might be an illness in the family; it
might be rumors at work; it might be an uneasy feeling in a relationship; it
might be anything but the devil whispers to us and tries to make us slaves to
sin by pointing out our weaknesses.
Maybe you didn’t live as healthily as you should have, the devil
whispers it is your fault that you are sick.
The devil will tell you that you are the weakest employee and you will
soon be out. The devil will tell you
that you do not deserve a healthy relationship.
The whispers are designed to make you live in fear.
It is this fear that Christ came to free us
from. Jesus freed us from sin so that we
are no longer slaves to sin. We are now
co-heirs with Jesus in God’s kingdom; we are part of God’s family. Now, rather than be afraid of God, we can
call out “Abba!” “Father!” We can approach his holy throne as dear
children approach their father. We know
God’s love for us by looking at the vacant cross and the empty tomb. We are free from the devil; we are no longer
tied to him; he no longer rules our life.
We are free to live in God’s kingdom knowing God’s love and grace. We can leave the past behind us and strain
forward for what is ahead; eternal life with Christ.
Father, you free us from the
devil’s noose because of Jesus. Give us
strength to resist the devil’s lies and to live in your peaceful grace. Be with those who are especially troubled by
Satan’s treachery. Bring them to know
the certainty of your mercy and the end of their terrors. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.
God’s
Peace,
Pastor
Bret
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