Skip to main content

Slave...

For by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.  2 Peter 2:19b

I'm positive I've read this verse before, but it struck me this time...right between the eyes.  All of us are slaves to something or someone.  To whom or what am I enslaved?

It's so easy to say we're slaves of sin or righteousness, but how often does my life display both?  How is that possible?  I'm reminded of what we're told in James, "Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water?  Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring."

But a justified believer is always in the process of being sanctified, right?  If so, don't we have both bitter and fresh water coming out of us or is it all bitter until the fresh completely flushes the bitter out?  No!  Evidence of the Spirit's fresh waters are in me while at the same time He is removing the bitter from me.

Which brings me back to the heart.  Whatever is in my heart will come out of me in words and actions.  I have been given a new heart and the Spirit of the Living God lives in me.  I live by His Spirit.  But, I don't have to walk by His Spirit or else Paul wouldn't have written, "If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit," in Galatians.

Being overcome, controlled, by the Spirit is a choice on my part.  It requires a yielding.  The decision to give the Holy Spirit control of me...thoughts, words, actions.

If I hold onto the control, I am not a slave to righteousness.  If I'm not a slave to righteousness, I'm a slave to sin.  I am a slave!  I will always be a slave!  I'm back to, "Choose you this day whom you will serve."  Maybe there is a reason it was phrased, "This day."  I've always focused on the "Choose" without putting it into context..."This day."

Lord, I choose to serve you.  I want to be your slave in everything.  Thank you for removing my heart of stone and giving me a heart of flesh. Holy Spirit, I give you control.  I want to be totally overcome by you.  I pray that you will give me a deeper understanding of what it means to be a slave of Righteousness.  Amen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2 Peter 1:2 - May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

I've been away, but I've not been idle. I've been healing and learning. Healing from all the grief our family has experienced in these last few years, and learning from the LORD during the healing process. No! I didn't quit life, but I did spend most of my time in our Heavenly Father's lap surrounded by His love and comfort. The problem was, I was a hot mess whenever I crawled out and tried to get back to living life as usual. Believe me when I tell you I've cried a lot of tears, but God was there to capture each one and continued to love and comfort me. He was also there to pick up the pieces when I unexplectedly boiled over like oatmeal. Believe me, it was just as messy and just as hard to clean up.  Please don't misunderstand, it wasn't because the people in my life weren't there for me, but many of them were grieving too. Each death brought more grief, bringing me to a place where I finally realized I needed someone to help me see my way forward....
2 comments
Read more

1 Corinthians 12:27 - Now you are the body of Christ, and individual members of it.

Okay, call me crazy, but this is where my mind is today.  Everyone of us who has confessed with our mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in our hearts God raised Jesus from the dead, are saved (Romans 10:9). All believers are IN Christ. We are IN Him, He is IN us, and He is IN the Father. You can check it out for yourself in John 14:20. Every believer is IN Christ. Thinking about being IN Christ and a part of His body got me thinking about how a body is filled with cells. Well, you know me, I had to do a Bing search and find out what I could about the anatomy of a human cell and its function. This is what I found: "The human cell is the basic unit of life that can replicate itself." There are trillions of cells in one human body and they don't all have the same purpose or function within the body. But no matter what the purpose or function, every cell must replicate. No exceptions! Okay, translate that into us being cells in the body of Christ. We are not all th...
Post a Comment
Read more

James 4:2b - You do not have because you do not ask.

  Prayer is having a conversation with our Heavenly Father. Talking to Him is giving Him our time and attention. It's acknowledging Him as our Father, our Creator, our Provider, our Protector, and the Lover of our souls. One way Father speaks to us is through His written word, the Bible, and He doesn't beat around the bush when it comes to the subject of asking. Nope! He clearly tells us to ask, and when we ask we will receive (Matthew 7:7). And then in today's verse, He tells us we don't have because we don't ask.  So why don't we ask?  I spent all week pondering that question. Short answer? Lack of confidence. Yep! I'm pretty sure that's why I don't ask as often as I should. And I especially have trouble asking for myself. Anyone else? My lack of confidence breaks down into three categories.  A lack of confidence in His desire to give me what I want. Which is totally silly! I know He delights in giving good things to His children, and He would neve...
Post a Comment
Read more