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"Freedom Abounds" by Tara Beth Leach
Romans 7:14 For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit; but as for me, I am bound to the old nature, sold to sin as a slave. 15 I don’t understand my own behavior — I don’t do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate! 16 Now if I am doing what I don’t want to do, I am agreeing that the Torah is good. 17 But now it is no longer “the real me” doing it, but the sin housed inside me. 18 For I know that there is nothing good housed inside me — that is, inside my old nature. I can want what is good, but I can’t do it! 19 For I don’t do the good I want; instead, the evil that I don’t want is what I do! 20 But if I am doing what “the real me” doesn’t want, it is no longer “the real me” doing it but the sin housed inside me. 21 So I find it to be the rule, a kind of perverse “torah,” that although I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me! 22 For in my inner self I completely agree with God’s Torah; 23 but in my various parts, I see a different “torah,” one that battles with the Torah in my mind and makes me a prisoner of sin’s “torah,” which is operating in my various parts. 24 What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this body bound for death? 25 Thanks be to God [, he will]! — through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord!
To sum up: with my mind, I am a slave of God’s Torah; but with my old nature, I am a slave of sin’s “Torah.”
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“Blameless,” “Free,” “Not guilty,” “Free from condemnation,” “Delivered”: Allow those words to soak into your heart and mind on this day. When you read these words, say your name in front of these words. You, dear friend in Christ, have been delivered, set free; in Christ you are blameless. It is because of the life, death, resurrection and ascension of King Jesus that all who are in Christ are forgiven. Jesus stands in the gap!
Nevertheless, just as the apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 6:1-2, this does not give us the freedom to live as we choose just because His grace abounds! We are called to choose a daily life of obedience to the teachings of Jesus. Does your life reflect a life of gratitude and praise to Jesus?
Take a few moments to reflect on the ways that you have fallen short of God’s intentions for your life. Have your thoughts been God-honoring? Have you hurt friends and family members around you? Turn your heart and mind to God and ask for His deliverance and freedom. Pray for the Holy Spirit to empower you to live a life of praise and sacrifice to the Triune God.-------
Hymn for Today: "Cleanse Me" by J. Edwin Orr
1. Search me, O God, and know my heart today,
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.
2. I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within;
Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.
3. Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine;
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord, in me abide.
4. O Holy Ghost, revival comes from Thee;
Send a revival, start the work in me;
Thy Word declares Thou wilt supply our need;
For blessings now, O Lord, I humbly plead.
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Thought for Today: Psalm 139:23 Examine me, God, and know my heart;test me, and know my thoughts.
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Please Pray: That many people in Russia will come to know Yeshua the Messiah and receive the fullness of the Ruach Haodesh.
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