John 8:36. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be indeed.
A Good Friday Morning to all you my faithful Scrip-Bits friends and families. And as Bruh Paul would say, ‘Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now.’ (Phil. 1:2-5)
And that’s the truth, friends. I thank the Lord for your journey with me every time I remember you, for I could not have done it without your continued faithfulness and God’s awesome help. Thank you ever so much for sticking with me through thick and thin. Your faithfulness will not go unrewarded, the Lord will bless you in His own way and time.
So, on this bright, sunshiny, cold winter’s day, after all the shouts of ‘TGIF! Thank God it’s Friday and the weekend is here at last!’ have gone up to high heaven, down here on earth there’s something I want to share with you from the February In Touch Devotional, it’s titled ‘Consider this:’ Please read with me. ‘As believers, we know that whatever we’ve done or left undone does not impact God’s LOVE at all. There is no achieving our way to God. Our peace and communion with Him simply are. So why do we sometimes still feel as if we’re falling short?
Maybe it’s easier to feel guilty than to be truly free. Or perhaps condemning ourselves feels more familiar. It could even be that Jesus’ freedom seems too good to be true. There must be a catch somewhere, right? But there is no catch. By choosing the cross, Jesus declared our striving is over, so take Him at His word. Anytime you feel inadequate, ashamed, or burdened, remind yourself, “In Christ, I am enough” or “It is finished.” Inhabit God’s rest – that’s what He wants for you.’
What wisdom my fellow believers! Because all of us feel at some time or the other that we’re not worthy, etc., etc., and some of us don’t feel right unless we feel guilty, and as they say, some of us feel it’s too good to be true. But friends, this is one time when it feels like it’s too good to be true, that IT IS TRUE! Christ died to free us, to relieve us of our earthly burdens and give us a heavenly attitude and concept. Why therefore these scriptures.
Jesus spoke to the people saying: ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant (slave) to sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: But the Son abideth ever (forever). If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be indeed.’ (John 8:34-36) And it’s the gospel truth friends, because whom the Son sets free is indeed free, for Jesus died to free us from the slavery of sin.
As this commentary tells us: ‘Jesus is explaining the enslaving nature of sin, as compared to the freedom He offers in salvation. Jesus has already claimed to be the one and only source of spiritual truth (John 8:12), and that accepting this truth would rescue a person from sin and spiritual slavery (John 8:31–32).’
So why can’t we simply accept it and be done with all of our doubts, anxieties and fears eh? Because we’re still somewhat enslaved to sin and the foolishness of this ungodly world! And the only way to successfully let that go, is by growing in faith in Christ Jesus, which means plenty meditating on His Word and then putting it into practice in our lives. And as per the burdens of this world, please remember Christ’s Great Invitation, where He offers solace and peace to one and all.
‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of (from) me; for I am meek and lowly in heart (gentle and humble): and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ (Matt. 11:28-30) Yes mih people, that’s what Christ offers if you take Him seriously, take Him at His word! And the only way to find out if it’s true is by accepting him as Lord and Saviour! For all that’s promised in the Lord’s word depends on accepting Christ!
If you don’t accept him as the pre-eminent person in your life, then none of what He says will apply to you. It’s like some of the slangs we have in the world; like ‘the taste of the pudding is the eating,’ ‘if you don’t jump in at the deep end you’ll never learn how to swim,’ and how can you know if the water is hot, unless you feel it.’ It’s the same way with Jesus ; if you don’t check him out seriously, you’ll never know what He’s really about, and won’t know how very much you’re missing. It all comes down, like most things in life, to personal experience!
Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Friday Chant, seeking God’s aid in these turbulent and ungodly times. Altogether: ‘Oh Lord, thanks for getting me safely through this past week. You know it’s been rough… because our many serious problems are escalating instead of improving. And it’s obvious we can’t fix them on our own, so Lord, we’re desperately crying out for your help.
Oh heavenly Father, with your omnipotent help, and our trusting faith, we know that we can stand strong and steadfast and defeat the simmering unrest in our land. We therefore ask you Lord to give our leaders the wise guidance to handle these unexpected storms properly. And please help the rest of us to be responsible and to stay safe amidst all the anxiety and confusion of these ungodly times.
We fervently pray too Lord that you’ll use the discontent and dissatisfaction in our land as a means of restoring faith in you. Return backsliders to your fold. Show them the error of their ways. And please introduce a new flock of believers, who will embrace your LOVE and compassion by the example, we, your faithful believers set. So that our sinful world can wake up and smell the coffee, wake up and smell it sweet and strong! We pray this in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Amen!’
Oh friends, it certainly is time that we all come to the realization of how sinful and ungodly our world has become and be convicted that we do something serious about turning it around! That is, if we truly desire divine aid! Much LOVE!
…when Jesus said, “It is finished,” (John 19:30)…he meant there was nothing else to do, nothing left to pay…He paid it all—totally, completely, permanently…
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