SET FREE!

In one of the greatest wildlife movies of all time, the story of a particular killer whale is examined named Willy. The movie plot focuses around a particular plan with the potential outcome of freeing Willy from captivity so that he might return back into the wild from where he came from.

The Bible tells us that each and everyone of us are slaves to sin. We have become captives of our own actions that we have done against God.

In order for us to be "set free" we have to realize that we cannot set ourselves free. No slave ever set themselves free from slavery. Certainly they could run from slavery often times with a bounty upon their heads, but even in areas where they were considered "Free" they were still slaves.

As individuals that are slaves to our own sins, no matter how hard we try, we ourselves can never separate ourselves from our sins. The only way that a slave could ever be set free was if their slave owner allowed them to go free. By a slave owner doing so, no longer was the slave indentured or "owned" by another individual. It was the only way that a slave could truly be set free.

You and I as slaves can only be set free by our owner, and our owner Sin is definetly not going to set us free. Sin wants to keep us, and not let us go at any cost. Yet, it was 2,000 years ago, that a special individual stepped onto this earth. We celebrate his birth at Christmas time, and remember his death and resurrection at Easter. His name is Jesus. The Bible says in Romans 5:8 that "God showed us his love towards us in the while we were yet sinners Christ came and died for us." You see God loved his creation so much, particularly that of the human race, that although they had turned their back on Him, he still loved them. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son (Jesus) that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

God loves you and me so much, that he sent his only son to come to earth to die upon a cross for us. The Bible says that a sacrifice had to be offered so that our sins could be forgiven. No amount of money could be paid, or good works could have been accomplished for us to go to heaven. Only the blood of the perfect lamb of God could set us free.

When Jesus died for us, he bought us from sin with His own blood. We quickly found ourselves no longer owned by Sin but by Christ! And since we had a new owner, our new owner could willingly set us free from our sins.

The Bible clearly shows us that no matter who you are, we are all sinners.
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." None of us are perfect.
Romans 3:10 "As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;" None of us are righteous, but we have to be righteous in order to go to heaven!

Romans 5:12 "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.." Because we have all sinned we are all destined to die.

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." You see we deserve to die and spend eternity apart from God forever, but God sent a special gift His son Jesus

Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God showed us just how much he loves us by sending Jesus, long before we were even born! Before we were born God knew we were going to need our sins forgiven!

Romans 10:9-10 "That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." We are told in God's word that if we believe that Jesus died and rose again for us we can be saved! Our ability to have our sins forgiven and be able to go to heaven does not come from anything that we do, it doesn't matter how many times we go to church, how much money we put in the offering plate, how many "Hail Mary's" or saying of the Rosaries that we do. It matters whether or not we believe that Jesus came and died for you and for me.

Romans 10:13 "For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." All you have to do is believe and accept. Its a free gift. The only way that you get a gift is to accept it, and claim it as yours.

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Don't you think that if there was any other way that we could get to heaven, Jesus would have told us so that he didn't have to go through that horrific death upon the cross? If we could get to heaven by attending church, putting money in red kettles at Christmas time, being kind to others, or helping old ladies across the street, certainly Jesus would have told us rather than go through the torture that he did upon the cross.

Maybe as you read this you have begun to realize that you are still stuck in your chains, and that you are still a slave to sin.

The author of Amazing Grace (John Newton) , knew exactly what he was writing about. One of the most well known hymns ever written, and still today one of the most misunderstood.

"Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found was blind but now I see."

We are lost in our sins, and we don't even realize it, but what Jesus did was come so that we might see the truth and be set free.

If you have any questions about being set free from your sins we would love to talk to you! Feel free to email or call!

"If the Son (Jesus Christ) therefore shall set you free, you shall be free indeed!" John 8:36

Confused By The World

As I sit here at my desk this afternoon, the weather outside is dangerously chilly with negative temperatures for highs, and even colder wind chills.

One might almost think that all the warmth and glow of not only the weather, but also society itself has been sucked into a void of darkness, coldness and nothingness as we contemplate the most recent events in our society. 

Just two days ago, the state of New York passed a bill that permitted abortions all the way up until the day of birth to be performed. The passage of the bill was accompanied by a standing ovation of those in the chambers both congressmen and visitors alike. 
(https://www.baptistmessenger.com/n-y-abortion-bill-alarming-in-every-sense/)

Today it was announced that the government shut down that was in its 35th day has now ended, as a deal was struck funding the government until February 8th and back paying all non-paid furloughed employees. I'm thankful for the shut down being over, but dread what will come February 9th. 
(https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/22/us/politics/government-shutdown.html)

The Dooms Day Clock which is in reality a farce in itself was set just several days ago to just two minutes before mid-night which represented that the world was on the brink of self destruction. Never before had the clock been this close to midnight since the cold war. 
(https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/01/24/doomsday-clock-how-close-we-midnight/2666319002/)

In Iowa, the heartbeat bill was recently declared unconstitutional by a local county judge, even though it had been passed by our state legislature a year ago. Lawyers of the bill were fully anticipating this, but soon it will move on to the state supreme court and then hopefully onto the federal supreme court where the vote will go in favor of stopping the legal murder of unborn children. 
(https://www.foxnews.com/politics/judge)

Immigrant caravans are entering our southern border, and an argument about a 30 foot wall has ensued. 
(https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-migrant-caravan-waits-to-cross-into-mexico-with-hopes-of-reaching-us/)

I look around and just have to wonder, "What in the world has happened to our society?" 
Parents torturing or killing their children, witch-hunts in our government, robberies and thefts, violence and wickedness, critics and complainers, and so much more. 

The Bible says, 
"But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth."
2 Timothy 3:1-7.

Uffdah. I love how Paul writes, "...Avoid such people..." 
If there was ever a time that I wish I could be a hermit and live off in the woods somewhere, now would be the time. 

It is extremely hard to "avoid such people" when "such people" seem to be EVERYWHERE.

But as I type this, I'm also moved to remember that it was for "such people" that God sent His Son Jesus Christ to earth to die in our place. It was for "such people" that my Savior was crucified upon a cross. It was for "such people" that my Jesus bled and took his last breath, even though his death was a murder of an innocent man. 

Its a reminder to me, that at one time I also walked among "such people". 

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"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." Ephesians 2:13

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"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator."

Colossians 3:1-10

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"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith."

Ephesians 2:1-8

There was a time that I was not much different than the rest of the world, and from time to time, I can find myself slipping back into walking the way of the world. 

I find myself forgetting that I have been bought with a price, for a debt that I could not pay myself. 

I forget that I had been a slave to sin, but only through the Savior's blood could I find redemption and freedom. 

Although the world around me may look like its falling, and it may look like its descending into chaos, the same God that created these individuals are is the same one that made a way of salvation for them, if they will only but hear and believe. 

In closing I say a post earlier today that I really appreciated. 

"When it seems like the chaos of the world is surrounding you, remember it is Christ who is surrounding you." - source unknown.