07/18/2025
When I came to Jesus it was in full submission to Him, but have I served Him over all else in my life? Have I been the servant that God expects me to be, or has my commitment to Him become a convenience on my part? These are my thoughts this morning and as I seek the answers to them, I find that they often serve to convict me. I gauge my faith and belief against that of Jesus and find myself lacking. It is in moments like this that I cry out for mercy, grace, and to be covered in the blood of the perfect lamb, Jesus Christ. Will you join me in this quest for true faith, and a plea for mercy?
The greatest conversion in the Bible was that of Saul of Tarsus. He was a powerful man and a strong persecutor of Christians, but in an instant, he became a dedicated servant of our Lord Jesus Christ. The moment he asked the question "Who are you, Lord?" He humbled himself in servitude and left his old ways behind. Was our conversion this powerful? Was it complete, and without limitation?
“And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do."”
Acts 9:4-6 ESV
I work at my relationship with Jesus every day. I find it hard to stay focused on Him when my old self keeps stepping forward at every moment of decision. This might sound odd, but even though we are told that our old self was crucified with Jesus we look back at the cross only to see that he is either attempting to get down or has pulled the nails completely from his hands. Is the person you once were securely nailed to the cross? Did you leave him there completely, or i8s he still struggling against the nails?
“We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.”
Romans 6:6-8 ESV
Saul left himself on the cross and then became Paul. He became a new man and left the old one crucified with Christ, but even with this great servant of Jesus, there was a struggle going on. Paul's old self kept trying to reclaim his dominance, just as ours does. The old Saul kept trying to get down from the cross and reassume his position as master of Paul's life. Our lives are a struggle too... just as Paul's was.
“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.”
Romans 7:14-15 ESV
As we fight and win these battles of faith and righteousness, the nails that secured Jesus begin to hold our old selves more firmly to the cross. We stop finding a conflict at every decision point and begin walking with the risen Christ with much greater ease. Our servitude becomes more established and the way easier to walk, but lest we get too comfortable, we must stay on guard, because even our own religion can attempt to free the captive of the cross we left behind. Pastor Oswald Chambers spoke of this when he wrote these words concerning our practiced religion, and the danger of placing it before Jesus...
"Many a soul begins to come to God when he flings off being religious, because there is only one Master of the human heart, and that is not religion but Jesus Christ. But woe is me if when I see Him I say - I will not. He will never insist that I do, but I have begun to sign the death warrant of the Son of God in my soul." - Oswald Chambers
One of the most dangerous challenges to a good marriage is routine. A couple gets settled into a way of doing things... the kids become a focus, going to work and coming home turns into complacency, we take vacation at the same place every year because it is comfortable, and knowing how our spouse will react turns into taking one another for granted; there are so many snares in daily married life. Suddenly we realize that our focus is elsewhere... it happens so subtly that we don't even recognize the enemy until he is among us. The excitement, joy, and really seeing one another has faded away and is replaced by the very things we do in the process of building the life we thought was together and about us as a couple... but became more about the things. Our faith is in danger of such "things", the same prayers, the place on the pew that no one else will sit in because that is ours, the recitation of a creed, or the Lord’s Prayer, without thinking, all of these things and hundreds more that over time have stolen our focus away from Jesus. Religion, church, serving communion, all these things can become our focus to the detriment of the very relationship they are meant to lift and reinforce.
Yes, even those things we have put into place as aids to keep the old man on the cross can work against us if we are not careful. The wall we build, the fortress we establish, the strong towers we erect in our attempt to shield us from sin, can become the very things we place our faith in, and when that happens, we look back to an empty cross at Calvary, and wonder how that could possibly be.
Jesus is indeed new every morning, and if we search for the newness of Him as we go into our day we will never lose our focus. Just as we are instructed to do in our marital relationship, look at Him with the same eyes with which we saw Him when we first believed. Put the excitement of loving Him before all else, meet Him in places that you never saw Him before, and cast off the fears that keep you from doing something different. Jesus is not routine; He is constantly changing... He is freedom, not a set of chains... serve Him with reckless abandonment.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
Galatians 5:1 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the freedom that Jesus has brought into my life. I thank you for the sin and self-righteousness that I have left on the cross, and the newfound excitement that I now claim by serving your Son Jesus Christ with all my heart. Father, your grace has freed me from bondage and allows me to serve you willfully with abandon. Take away those things that prohibit me from seeing your glory and the glory of your Son. Don't let my own doubt and fear keep me from you, because in Christ my sin has been defeated, and in you I find unmeasurable peace and joy. In you Father I hear the rushing wind, and the clap of thunder as the excitement of living for you thrills me and keeps me from wandering into another day of stoic tedium. Thrill me Lord as you did the first day we met! Let me praise you in a shout... each day, and every moment in it. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who created me in your image, asks me to do you will, and who cradles me in your arms whenever I grow tired, or my strength dwindles away while obediently serving you. Your mercy and grace are my reassurance and healing touch against the fallen world that surrounds me Abba, and the whisper of your voice my comfort amidst the raging din of the spiritual battle against sin and evil that I find myself embroiled in. You are the sun that rises in splendid color over me each morning, the song that resonates throughout my day, and the gentle evening breeze that warms me as I drift into slumber each night. You are my comfort, my joy, my peace, and my defense against the terrors of night. You are the gifts of the Spirit that make serving you possible, and you are my every provision as I journey towards the perfection of my faith that I find in Jesus Christ your Son. Wash me in His blood Lord, and lift me up with Him in resurrection, help me to find that eternity with you which awaits me. Praised be your name Holy Father, and as I fall prostrate at your feet in worship, know that I give you all the honor and glory for every victory in my life, and that I love you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength because you are my everything and nothing holds a place above you… you are my everything.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And all will say… Amen!
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20 ESV
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV
Rich Forbes