At the P31 blog today I was talking about how the power to overcome sin is rooted in the love of God. “We love Him because He first loved us.” Had He not loved us through the cross – we would have no hope of overcoming sin. We’d be enslaved to it.
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34-35). Author Jennifer Kennedy Dean writes, “We would never sin freely. If we saw things as they are and knew the reality behind the appearance, we would never choose sin. Sin doesn’t make sense. If we could see as God sees, we would not freely choose sin. So, when we sin, we are not acting freely; we are already acting as a slave to the sin that has infiltrated our core” (Life Unhindered).
Dean doesn’t mean that we don’t have any choice but to sin, or that we hold no responsibility for our choices to sin. We do – especially once we know the commands of Christ. However, those very teachings from scripture can set us free from sin. “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
"By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence." (2 Peter 1:3)
This glorious, most excellent God has loved you so totally- despite your sins and propensity to disregard Him - that He Himself died in your place to wash away your sin record. And He supplied you with the guidance of the scriptures – the truths that lead you away from the path of sin and into His arms. What’s more, He’s given you full access to His Spirit while He prepares a place for you in eternity.
This is your God. May your love for Him be stirred today.
Thankful for the love of God extended to me.
Please pray for me to be less selfish and more loving to my family.
ReplyDeletePlease lift me up in prayer sweet sister, that I can break free from the desire to judge and fix things on my own. That I may be blessed with the spirit of loving those who attack me, to see them through the eyes of our Lord Jesus.
ReplyDeleteThank you
Ever since I was a small child, I can remember having faith that God is real and that He loved me (even though I wasn't yet a Christian). I can see His hand was in my life and that He DID first love me. That pursuance by God is what eventually drew me to love Him too. I want the same for my children now, but it often seems as though they aren't aware of God's love for them--even though I pray with them and tell them He loves them. Please pray that my Children will also be aware of God's love for them.
ReplyDeleteAnd please pray that I will control my gluttony and my anger. And that I will be a good mom.
Thank you for your blog.
Rachel, I am speechless! A most excellent devotional reading and blog post! Thank you for the reminder that Jesus is there to meet us in our failings, and always welcomes us into His arms of love. And that we have, as you said, "full access to His Holy Spirit" to lead and guide us on our journey.
ReplyDeleteLove, Andrea
Hello Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThanks for you devotion it was exactly what I needed. Please pray for Glutony, Anger, unforgiveness, and patience.
Much Love
RML
One by one, God is pulling things out of me. He has delivered me from sexual immorality and I am living a pure life of integrity. The 2 things that popped into my head immediately that I need lots of prayer for is GLUTTONY and ANGER.
ReplyDeleteI love how God can change us, move us and quiet us with His Word.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your devotional today. I'm working on the dieting/overeating thing and have lost 35 pounds, but still have a ways to go. When things awry, my first instinct is to go for whatever tastes good.
God is good and I need to trust Him regardless.
Thanks, again.
arabelle
www.todhuntertastic.blogspot.com
Thank you, Rachel. Today is day 8 of sobriety. It is so shameful to be an alcoholic Christian. I functioned alright and witnessed my faith to others during the day as long as I could have my 2 or 3 or 4 glasses of wine each night to "decompress." I knew I was living a lie, if people knew that I had to drink each night they would not believe that my faith was real. I know now that I can trust God with my life but I am still struggling with this love thing. Please pray that I will make it to day 28 and then that I will make it through a lifetime of sobriety. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI have been following your blog for almost a month now. Thankyou for today's post. I felt like it was God sent.
ReplyDeleteCould you please pray that I would stop procrastinating.( My whole life is out of control because of that). And to stop me reading books which should not be read by a girl of my age.
Please pray for my struggle with smoking. I am 33 years old and only started 5 years ago when things in my marriage became extremely stressful. I am what you would call a closet smoker as i try to hide it from everyone i love but it has taken control over me. The urge at times can be overwhelming causing me to strike out at others in anger. Knowing that others still are praying for me is encouraging but it is still an addiction that i can't seem to let go. I will perservere as i know Christ has the power and only through Him can I.
ReplyDeleteThank You!!!!
Your devotion today was extra thought-provoking! Just wanted to tell you "thank you" for sharing what God laid on your heart.
ReplyDeletePlease pray for me to be others minded, to be more focused on what my actions are teaching them rather than on what they are doing to me. Please pray for freedom from the bondage of anger and rage.
ReplyDeleteHello Sister Rachel!
ReplyDeletePlease pray for me. Ohh the Lord knows I have many sins in my life. I am realizing just how lost I have been. The sins that I have been a struggle are Lust, Anger, Judgementalness, Self-Righteousness, and Splurging. Another big thing for me is surrendering to God's will and hving patience.
Thank you!- Rachel
LOVED the devotion at P31 today. My husband, a pastor, have had many conversations recently about different people we know, some family members, who claim to be saved, but struggle to break free from a pattern of sin then redemption, sin then redemption, etc. We have wondered how a person who truly struggles with a particular sin can break the pattern. Thanks for the insight!
ReplyDeleteAmanda Hayes
hayesbunch@windstream.net
Thanks for the feedback, girls.
ReplyDeletePraying for each of you today!!
Hey Rach! Thank you so much for your blogs! Well, I struggle a lot with overeating and it's really getting out of hand. You're awesome and I love your blog layout, simply beautiful! OK, bye bye! XOXO, Mel! <3 :)
ReplyDeleteMinutes before reading your P31 blog, I finished a chapter in Lysa Terkeurst's book, What Happens When Women Say Yes to God. God used you to affirm how I need to turn from my sin of worry to trusting in God's loving care over me. Your prayers are so appreciated!
ReplyDeleteRachel - You are so right about why we continue in our old habits. I never took the time to see it quite that way. Thanks for the perspective. Glad to hear you have a book coming out!
ReplyDeleteRita
Thank you for your encouragement! I'm honoured to share your name! I tend to emotional eat a lot. Please pray that I will choose to go directly to Him first instead of food. Bless you!
ReplyDeleteI love John Piper's statement based on this same thought, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." It's so true that when we delight in Him, everything else becomes week and pale.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your reading today. I needed it today so much more than usual. Please pray that the intentions of my heart will be Christ-led and my words will follow suit. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteCJ
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your words today.
I am sooooooooooo thankful that I checked in tonight before heading to bed.
I needed to hear these truths afresh.
God's Word spoke straight through your words.
Thank you!
Love,
Tammy
Please pray for me to have less anger and "explosions" at my kids. I love them and I want to give them a good legacy. Pray that I have a kind and patient heart with them but especially my 12 yr old daughter.
ReplyDeletePlease pray for me that I would gain self control in the area of spending. I've been a slave to my bad money habits far too long and I'm tired.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
"Oh, how he loves us so,
ReplyDeleteOh, how he loves us,
How he loves us all"
These lyrics by David Crowder band really say it all. He loves us with an unfathomable love. I'm thankful for his love today that surpasses anything this old world has to offer.
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteYour devotion was very powerful and meaningful in my life. My gracious Lord has delivered me from sin through showing me the scriptures, just as you said.
The Proverbs 26 quote of us returning to our own vomit like a dog was disgusting but an apt description. We are like a slave to sin. It is comparable to an addiction. We feel good for a little while, then feel horrible guilt and self-loathing.
God's strength is enough to break addiction, to conquer sin and break the patterns of sin and self-destruction that we inflict on our own spirits.
I know God's peace because He has delivered me from my sinful ways. I know I still have work to do, but He has placed my feet on the path as I have prayed so many times (Psalm 25:4).
Thank you for your offer to pray for us. I would request prayers for God's help in trying to keep my heart free of anger in dealing with my husband. It is a pattern of destruction that enslaves me to the evil one for it allows such negative feelings (and he loves that!)
Thank you, Rachel.
I love how at the end of your post you say "May your love for Him be stirred today." That's awesome.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you! Have a great day :)
- Kate
One more note! One of my favorite songs is by Nichole Nordeman and is called "Finally Free". It speaks of knowing that if we are free in Christ, we can be free of anything, even our addictions and sin. I'm hoping to sing it in church in a couple of weeks. It has great personal significance for me as I am, finally free. Here are the lyrics:
ReplyDeleteFinally Free
No chain is strong enough,
No choice is wrong enough,
No mountain high enough,
That He can't climb.
No shadow's dark enough,
No night is black enough,
No road is lost enough,
That He can't find.
And if the Son has set us free,
Then we must be free indeed.
Let the chains fall away
Starting today.
Everything has changed,
I'm finally free.
No pain is deep enough,
No heart could bleed enough,
Nothing but Jesus' love
Can make a way.
And if the Son has set us free,
Then we must be free indeed.
Let the chains fall away, starting today.
Everything has changed,
I'm finally free.
I waited to ask if I could sing this song until I knew I believed the words to core of my being. My prayer is that you will open your heart to God's saving grace and realize His forgiveness. Give Him all that binds you, and He will will take it away. Then you will know His peace. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Powerful message!!!
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteI spent time studying David today in preparation for my Bible Study lectures next year. I am learning through David's life how to recognize my sin and how important it is to TRULY repent of it. That is why God loved David's heart so much...not because it was perfect but because it was so humble and tender towards God. David sinned and sinned big sometimes, but He repented even BIGGER!! Thank you for such a great message.
Love you,
Wendy