TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 11TH JANUARY 2023)
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:31-36 NKJV
WELCOME TO THE 11TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF SIGNS AND WONDERS!
The Bible numerology the number eleven among other things means extra measure. May the extra measure of God’s blessings be our portion today in Jesus precious name.
May the extra measure of His mercies, grace, truth, purity and freedom from the works of the flesh and the works of the devil be upon us, in Jesus precious name.
Today is the 11th day of a 31- day journey of faith with the Cry of the Holy Spirit on visionary living. We have seen quite a few things on the subject, including very powerful laws of visionary living. We have seen three of them, today we will be looking at the fourth.
The Bible says;
“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;” Psalm 19:7 NKJV
The Christian life is a life govern by the laws of the LORD; not do’s and don’ts but principles created by the LORD for us to live by. If you want to succeed with God and man you must understand the mystery of principles, because life is created to be run on principles.
I have come to discover that if there is a thing to respect a principle to get or succeed in, you will never get it or succeed in that thing, no matter how righteous or how prayerful you are. You may even be sleeping in the Church, it will never come. You must study the principle that governs that thing carefully and live by it to get the thing or succeed in it.
No one will live a successful visionary life without respecting the laws or principles that govern visionary living.
The laws of the LORD must be respected for our lives to be blessed on earth. And as earlier stated, when we say laws, we are not referring to a set of do’s and don’ts but divine principles to live by as a Christian.
The word principle has been defined as a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of beliefs, behavior, or chain of reasoning. God has principles in His kingdom that serves as the foundation on which His kingdom runs and its citizens behave. It is those principles that should form the chain of reasoning of His Kingdom Citizens.
We call the principles “the laws of the LORD” and the Bible says they are perfect, making wise the simple. We have seen three of them, so long as visionary living is concerned; we have seen the law or principle of visionary residency, the law or principle of accurate hearing, and the law or principle of visionary relations.
TODAY WE WILL BE LOOKING AT THE LAW OR PRINCIPLE OF FREEDOM.
Talking about freedom, understand that freedom is a common manifestation in God’s kingdom. It all depends on each person’s captivity. There is a law of freedom which is associated with visionary living. It is important that we understand it.
You see, the word freedom means different things to different men and women of our generation. To some it means to be gay, lesbian, or free to do whatever will make you happy, even if setting a house on fire is that thing, killing a friend, taking another person’s wife or husband, or dropping out of school. The word means many things to different people.
In fact, freedom to many in our generation means to be without restriction or accountability in life. And that is very dangerous because a life without restrictions or accountability is a very dangerous life. It is a life heading for disaster both in time and eternity. That is why many don’t want to be under authority these days. A lot of us hate restrictions and accountability.
You see, God created man to prosper both in time and eternity through restrictions imposed by His word and Holy Spirit and accountability to delegated authorities. If we are not guided by His restrictions and the need to be accountable, we will ruin our lives.
For instance, when it comes to restrictions from the LORD there is a restriction God place on sexual desires or relations.
He restricted sexual intercourse to those we are married to. If we, therefore become without restriction in our sexual desires, those of us who are married will become unfaithful to our spouses and those who are single promiscuous.
CONSEQUENTLY, WE WILL BE HELL BOUND ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURES.
The Bible says;
“Let marriage be held in honor (esteemed worthy, precious, of great price, and especially dear) in all things. And thus let the marriage bed be undefiled (kept un-dishonored); for God will judge and punish the unchaste [all guilty of sexual vice] and adulterous.” Hebrews 13:4 AMPC
“Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality,
Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 AMPC
From this scripture it is clear that if one becomes unrestricted in sexual desires or enjoys the freedom of having sexual intercourse with anyone they see, they are hell bound.
That is why once we come into Christ, He takes away that freedom by first washing us of our sins, and cleansing our souls and Spirits, and then empowering us with His Holy Spirit to live lives within the restrictions of the almighty on all matters of morality, including matters of sexual morality.
A true encounter with Christ will take away the liberty to live a life of sin by making sure we are convicted and propelled to repentance each time we sin.
Any freedom that allows us to follow the carnal desires of our sinful flesh without fear of consequences, giving it anything it wants, is an infection from hell; an infection with eternal consequences. It is a freedom with captivity buried in it.
NO ONE WITH CHRIST ON THEIR INSIDE ENJOYS THE FREEDOM THAT HAS CAPTIVITY IN IT. THEY DETEST IT.
That is why genuine salvation will give you the Holy Spirit and plant God’s Holy fear in you. When the Holy Spirit and God’s holy fear is planted in your heart, you will begin to restrict your life to God’s will and ways only. It will begin to give you a kind of freedom with restrictions from the LORD.
Understand that, the best freedom is freedom with restrictions from the LORD, and accountability to His delegated authorities on earth, and the worst freedom is freedom without restrictions from the LORD and accountability to delegated authorities. That is why one of the most important words in the Bible is the word submit.
The law of freedom has so many components. One of it states that any freedom that lacks submission to divine restrictions and righteous authority is captivity in disguise. It is an infection from hell that means no man good.
Freedom with restrictions from the LORD and accountability to delegated authorities are the secret of rest on every side. It is such freedom that brings deliverance, restoration, recovery, refreshing of the Spirit, healing of our spirits souls or bodies, breakthroughs, financial blessings, peace of mind, marital bliss, name it. It is a freedom that comes by knowing Jesus as the truth and submitting to His truth. A successful visionary living is not possible without it.
Our devotional text says;
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. John 8:31-36 NKJV
THE FREEDOM JESUS PROMISED WILL HAPPEN IN OUR LIVES IF WE ABIDE IN HIS WORD, IS NOT THE TYPE THAT HAS NO RESTRICTIONS.
It is freedom with restrictions and accountability. Freedom from the power, penalty and practice of sin, and accountability to GOD and His sanctified authorities on earth; which includes authority of His Word, Spirit, Person and etc. That is the true freedom that exist in Christ. It is a freedom full of blessings, much more than we can exhaust in a life time.
If you want to live a visionary life and fulfill your God given dreams, goals, or purposes in life, you must embrace it. You must embrace the law of freedom. Freedom to live as God chose for you not as you chose for yourself. Freedom to live as led by the Spirit not as led by the flesh. Freedom to do all of God’s will and follow all of His ways.
It is a freedom that will be fought by even your friends, family, foes and all you can think of. It is a freedom that the gates of hell will never let you have.
It is my prayer that this freedom that the Son of God gives, the Jesus kind of freedom, will become the characteristics of our lives in Jesus precious name. Amen!
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR US TODAY!
“For those who are according to the flesh and are controlled by its unholy desires set their minds on and pursue those things which gratify the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit and are controlled by the desires of the Spirit set their minds on and seek those things which gratify the [Holy] Spirit”. Romans 8: 5 AMPC