SCRIPTURE: Romans 8:2
(TM)
The Spirit of life
in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you
from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
STORY:
It is said that
on the evening of June 18, 1815 a man stood in the tower of England’s
Winchester Cathedral gazing anxiously out to sea. At last he found what he was
looking for - a ship sending a signal by use of lights. He strained to see the
message. All of England held its breath with him, wanting to know the outcome
of the war between their military leader, the Duke of Wellington, and the
French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte. Bonaparte, who had once ruled all of Europe
bar England remained a threat, and now the decisive Battle of Waterloo had been
fought. So, as he stood in the tower of Winchester Cathedral our man waited to
relay the news that would determine England’s future. The signal came just as a
heavy fog was rolling in. It only just got through, but how he wished it
hadn’t, for the signal read: "Wellington defeated” The man signaled to
other stations and the news spread across the countryside, bringing great gloom
and sadness. But then a great reversal. The fog lifted, and the message was sent
again, this time in full: "Wellington defeated the enemy"
OBSERVATION:
We’ve been freed from the dictatorship and tyranny of the
brutal evil forces of this world. The enemy has been defeated! But, evidently,
that message has been clouded over by a fog in our spirit because we live as if
we are still under Satan’s control.
If there is one message from within the Good News, one
message that we should proclaimer louder than any other message is that Satan
no longer has any power … he lost the final battle. That is a clear and strong
message from Calvary and the Resurrection. Christ emerged from those three days
with the keys of death firmly in his grasp. What part of James 4:7 don’t we
understand. It reads: So let God work
his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper (TM). And yet, here we are still fighting
those defeating battles by giving over to Satan the very power that Christ won
for us on Calvary.
It would appear that some kind of fog has rolled in clouding out the
great message … the enemy has been defeated! Jesus is the victor. We longer
have to be the victim. If we are no longer the victim, then why the long faces?
Why are walking around as if we have lost our last friend? Why are living life
as if there is no hope and no real future?
The bogyman is just a myth. The things that bump-in-the-night are just
our imagination. The “monsters” under our bed have been turned into
dust-bunnies. And as FDR once said, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
If we really believe that we have been set free then why do we
constantly choose to return to slavery? Hmmm, now that is the real question
isn’t it1
PRAYER:
We’ve been freed. We get that. Just help us to live as freed
people!
QUOTE:
"Until your sold out to Jesus you'll
always be for sale to the highest bidding temptation." Rick Warren
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