17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
There is always danger that a free nation may imperil its freedom by a series of small choices destructive to that freedom. In the realm of religion right choices are even more critically important! --A. W. Tozer
We are watching the erosion of American liberty take place right before our very eyes. But don’t be surprised. The church has lost her freedom a long time now and has been unwittingly serving the devil. We lack any real power because our power is derived from technology and programming and not from the Spirit of God being poured forth in holy power. We watch as the world shackles the hearts of believers by the droves and can only weep as we pray for deliverance to come once again.
The key to our liberty is found in our yielding to the Spirit of the Lord. Every time I say yes to me and no to God, I am putting the shackles of bondage back on and saying yes to my old master.
God, through His word, instructs me to pray, to read my Bible and study its precepts, to faithfully assemble with believers to form the local church. He also teaches me to give and labor to bring others the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, to resist sin, to yield to the life of Jesus within, and to live my life daily in His praise. All of this, He gives me the liberty to do.
Tozer went on to say,
The casual indifference with which millions...view their God-blessed religious liberty is ominous. Being let go, they go on weekends at the lakes and mountains and beaches to play...fish and sunbathe. They go where their heart is and come back to praying company only when the bad weather drives them in. Let this continue long enough and evangelicals...will be ripe for a takeover...
There is nothing wrong with going to any of those places. But when our hearts ignore the liberty of the Spirit, and we mistake freedom in Jesus for the license to do as we please that we end up in bondage. We have the freedom to praise, the freedom to look to Jesus, and to look away from the sinful ways of the world. We do not, however, have the liberty to live as we please and expect spiritual freedom.
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
The Christian’s freedom is found in serving one another in the power of God’s love. Let’s get back to that.
The choice is fast approaching as to whether we are going to stand up for Jesus. We can be at liberty in Him, or we can be in bondage by complying with the edicts of a God-rejecting culture. Early Christians were fed to lions for refusing to acknowledge Caesar as Lord and only bowed the knee to Jesus. What will we do?
Freedom to Praise
07/04/2020
Day 186: Freedom to Praise
2 Corinthians 3:17
17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
There is always danger that a free nation may imperil its freedom by a series of small choices destructive to that freedom. In the realm of religion right choices are even more critically important! --A. W. Tozer
We are watching the erosion of American liberty take place right before our very eyes. But don’t be surprised. The church has lost her freedom a long time now and has been unwittingly serving the devil. We lack any real power because our power is derived from technology and programming and not from the Spirit of God being poured forth in holy power. We watch as the world shackles the hearts of believers by the droves and can only weep as we pray for deliverance to come once again.
The key to our liberty is found in our yielding to the Spirit of the Lord. Every time I say yes to me and no to God, I am putting the shackles of bondage back on and saying yes to my old master.
God, through His word, instructs me to pray, to read my Bible and study its precepts, to faithfully assemble with believers to form the local church. He also teaches me to give and labor to bring others the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, to resist sin, to yield to the life of Jesus within, and to live my life daily in His praise. All of this, He gives me the liberty to do.
Tozer went on to say,
The casual indifference with which millions...view their God-blessed religious liberty is ominous. Being let go, they go on weekends at the lakes and mountains and beaches to play...fish and sunbathe. They go where their heart is and come back to praying company only when the bad weather drives them in. Let this continue long enough and evangelicals...will be ripe for a takeover...
There is nothing wrong with going to any of those places. But when our hearts ignore the liberty of the Spirit, and we mistake freedom in Jesus for the license to do as we please that we end up in bondage. We have the freedom to praise, the freedom to look to Jesus, and to look away from the sinful ways of the world. We do not, however, have the liberty to live as we please and expect spiritual freedom.
Galatians 5:13
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
The Christian’s freedom is found in serving one another in the power of God’s love. Let’s get back to that.
The choice is fast approaching as to whether we are going to stand up for Jesus. We can be at liberty in Him, or we can be in bondage by complying with the edicts of a God-rejecting culture. Early Christians were fed to lions for refusing to acknowledge Caesar as Lord and only bowed the knee to Jesus. What will we do?