2023-06-29 | A New Direction

Photo by Heidi Fin on Unsplash

2023-06-29    11:08

5th Day of the Week

Today's reading:

1 Kings 22

2 Chronicles 18

Psalms 30

Genesis 10-11

Romans 6

Isaiah 26:3

Highlighting Romans 6:

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,6:6 Or be rendered powerless that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in6:23 Or through Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Introspection:

So, the Lord did a new thing with me this morning. From everything that I read, I felt completely overwhelmed; so, I cried out to the LORD and asked how it would be possible for me to share everything that I have learned. He told me (essentially) to relax, and just put Romans 6 up as a highlight for this day. He said that all critical matters have been written about already, and this goes to show how important it is to read the Word of GOD regularly. I would not be able to say it as perfectly as it is written here by Paul; and it absolutely define the new direction that we should move in once we have repented and given our whole self to GOD in Jesus Christ. You see, if you want to understand, it is all there in the Bible, the library of accounts of what GOD has done and spoke. Your choice is whether you believe it. I do.

I am terrified for the sake of my fellow believers, when I hear how some think, they can now do as they please; because in Christ we are forgiven, right? Wrong. We need to make a change in direction and walk in a new direction to that which we walked in before. Now I don't mean that you must resign from your work or divorce your husband or wife. No, I mean you have to start working for the sake of GOD and others, instead of standing in selfish desires. Understand?

That means, to keep quiet, when maybe in the past you would have spoken; or even as subtle as speaking from a new perspective as you would have before. And that change comes from the assistance of the Holy Spirit that leads you on this new way. It means stopping to listen, when you would have walked away; and walking away, when you would have sat down and got drunk. I am sorry, don't mean to pick on anyone, just listing the usual and common suspects. It is a new way and a new direction; for where you were heading for a lowly and desolate place; now you are heading upward to eternity in Christ. You can't expect a different outcome from doing the very same things that lead you to a point of break-down and repentance. No! Though the law no longer has a hold on you for condemnation unto death; now it has become your standard. That which you could not do before, is now possible to do with the help of Christ. And as we fail, we repent and try again. Repentance is the beginning of a life lived right, not the end.

So instead of wasting time on things with no return, spend it in the Word of GOD. See, that is probably something you did not do before either. It means to reprioritising your activities to a newfound destination. You are now heavenly bound and no longer damned to death. Believe me, my words are still highly regulated and sensitive regarding this matter.

For too long have the people in church buildings been led to believe that going to a brick building is all there is to it. For too long has the things that GOD hates been unsaid, largely; while it is in black and white for anyone to read. Without putting attention on anyone in particular, maybe it is time to dust off that family Bible on the top shelve of your bookrack; you know, there where you would need a stepladder to get to it. 

While the LORD has called me to a time of separation and isolation; I have come to know that there is simply not enough time in a day to deal with the urgency of this matter. No! This is a work that only GOD can do. He taught me, and He will teach you if you let HIM. He knocks on the door, yes with the Bible gathering dust in your house, or the "skip" of the Bible App on your phone that is almost always in your hand. How can we then say, "Lord, I did not know?" The Truth has always been right in our view.

Let me tell you: the Gospel is offensive at first, because it scratches the surface of everything we do not want to look at or talk about. The Word of GOD will tell you, that thing you so love to do, it will kill you or get you into so much trouble that all your friends won't be able to get you out of. Yes, the Bible will convince you to stop seeing your mistress and start working on your marriage; and some relationships will be taken on with even an even more offensive tone in text. The real question is: Will you listen to good advice from someone that loved you so much that He literally died in your place? Why would you ignore such a good friend? Imagine someone paying off all your financial debt? This is worth more than even that!

So...

The best thing that I can do is to point you to Jesus Christ and remind you that He is The WORD that came to us in the flesh. He did it all. Now there is others that say things much better than I do, let's just say they have a calling on their lives and a response that glorify GOD. Do you want to know what you must do? Listen to Pastor JD Farag explain it. Four minutes and twelve seconds (04:12) to learn what can save you. Can you spare as much, to at least listen?

Remember, this is the start of a real hope for life, just the start. And as I said before, before the moment of repentance, you were really disqualified from the race.

God bless,

Shalom