Winning into Freedom

If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed —John 8:36

If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.

God pays no attention to our natural individuality in the development of our spiritual life. His plan runs right through our natural life. We must see to it that we aid and assist God, and not stand against Him by saying, “I can’t do that.” God will not discipline us; we must discipline ourselves. God will not bring our “arguments . . . and every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5)— we have to do it. Don’t say, “Oh, Lord, I suffer from wandering thoughts.” Don’t suffer from wandering thoughts. Stop listening to the tyranny of your individual natural life and win freedom into the spiritual life.

“If the Son makes you free . . . .” Do not substitute Savior for Son in this passage. The Savior has set us free from sin, but this is the freedom that comes from being set free from myself by the Son. It is what Paul meant in Galatians 2:20  when he said, “I have been crucified with Christ . . . .” His individuality had been broken and his spirit had been united with his Lord; not just merged into Him, but made one with Him. “. . . you shall be free indeed”— free to the very core of your being; free from the inside to the outside. We tend to rely on our own energy, instead of being energized by the power that comes from identification with Jesus.

http://utmost.org/winning-into-freedom/

Aging Grace-fully

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16

Very few advertisements tout the benefits of growing old. In fact, an outsider studying our culture would surmise (perhaps accurately) that we are deathly afraid of growing old or, even worse, afraid of looking old. We have potions and lotions to hide wrinkles and remove spots. We have drugstores full of pills to help us feel young again, and the shelves are stocked with anti-aging creams and shampoos and rinses to fire up the follicle growth and restore our hair to its “natural” color. Plastic surgeons make a fortune attempting to, temporarily at least, keep the inevitable at bay with a nip here and a tuck there.

But it’s a losing battle. We are, on a daily basis, growing steadily older, and the creaks in our knees and the cricks in our neck don’t let us forget it. But for the follower of Jesus, that’s not bad news!

I was powerfully reminded of this recently while reading some thoughts from a professor at Cedarville University. In an article entitled, “Thank God for Aging” written for Torch Magazine, Cedarville’s campus publication, Chuck Dolph makes a powerful case for the reality that growing old effectively strips us of the distractions that rob our intimacy with God. “If we live long enough, we will lose our beauty, our strength, our wealth, our independence, the control of our bodily functions, our pride, and perhaps our very self,” Dolph writes. “These are our idols, all the things that we trust in life to make us attractive, valuable, and self-sufficient.”

That sounds an awful lot like the heart of Paul. He doesn’t sugarcoat the harsh realities of his existence as a follower of Christ. From a human standpoint it’s been a tough road: “hard pressed on every side . . . persecuted . . . struck down” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). But he doesn’t stop there. Note how he completes each one of those phrases with a note of victory: “hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; . . . persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Paul goes on to say in 2 Cor. 4:17 that these “light and momentary trials are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

The simple reality for Paul was that, “though outwardly we are wasting away,” his physical demise was not to be compared to the fact that “inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). What a great truth! If God is our focus, even though we’re getting older, we can continue to get better on the inside where it counts!

Whether you feel it today or not, you’re wasting away. But that’s not a bad thing. Viewed through the right lens, you could see yourself as day by day growing more wonderfully dependent on the grace and strength of God. Your bent toward self-reliance and pride can be replaced with dependence and humility as you learn—perhaps out of necessity—to trust Him more and more.

In his article’s conclusion, Professor Dolph writes, “If our aging is successful, we will end our lives stripped of everything but God . . . utterly dependent on Him and the love of others.”

I don’t look forward to aches and pains and the loss of what’s left of my mind, but with Paul’s mindset, I can look forward to being more alive inside than ever before in my relationship with God. And as far as aging goes, that’s about as grace-full as it gets!

YOUR JOURNEY…

• What circumstances in your life make you aware of your own mortality and the fact that you are aging?
• What has been your attitude about growing old? How does that match up with what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4: 1-18?
• How is your attitude today shaped by viewing aging as an opportunity to depend more on God’s grace and the love of others?

http://getmorestrength.org/daily/aging-grace-fully/

Better With Age

“Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.”                      2 Corinthians 4:16

Some people are obsessed with physical fitness—daily workouts, vitamins, organic food—in spite of the fact that our bodies keep ticking away in inevitable decline. In our twenties and thirties we think we’re invincible, but in the decades that follow, the eyesight starts to go, then the knees, then the mind. Let’s face it, trying to ensure long-lasting physical health is like trying to stem the tide with a pitchfork!

And while it is true that the older we get the worse we get physically, it doesn’t have to be that way spiritually. Believe it or not, it is possible to get better with age. It’s what the apostle Paul meant when he said, “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).

Many of us fear aging with all the trouble it brings. But when we are gradually stripped of everything that props us up—whether wealth, independence, health, dignity, beauty, or all of the above—we are left with more and more of God. So no matter how old you are, it’s not too late to dig deep in God’s Word and invest more and more time in your spiritual well-being. You’ll see the payoffs, now and later. The older you get, the better you can become!

Although our outward shell decays, We still can be renewed each day; Commitment to God’s Word and prayer Give strength that will not fade away. —Sper

To get better with age, get spiritually fit.

http://getmorestrength.org/daily/better-with-age/

The Changed Life

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new —2 Corinthians 5:17

What understanding do you have of the salvation of your soul? The work of salvation means that in your real life things are dramatically changed. You no longer look at things in the same way. Your desires are new and the old things have lost their power to attract you. One of the tests for determining if the work of salvation in your life is genuine is— has God changed the things that really matter to you? If you still yearn for the old things, it is absurd to talk about being born from above— you are deceiving yourself. If you are born again, the Spirit of God makes the change very evident in your real life and thought. And when a crisis comes, you are the most amazed person on earth at the wonderful difference there is in you. There is no possibility of imagining that you did it. It is this complete and amazing change that is the very evidence that you are saved.

What difference has my salvation and sanctification made? For instance, can I stand in the light of 1 Corinthians 13 , or do I squirm and evade the issue? True salvation, worked out in me by the Holy Spirit, frees me completely. And as long as I “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7), God sees nothing to rebuke because His life is working itself into every detailed part of my being, not on the conscious level, but even deeper than my consciousness.

http://utmost.org/the-changed-life/

Supporting Our Habit

“God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:7-8

A businessman buddy of mine has the proverbial “Midas” touch. It seems like every business venture he touches turns to gold. I’ll never forget the day he said to me, “Joe, do you know what really drives me?” Since he’s one of those driven, type-A personalities, I was really curious about what his answer would be.

“No, what drives you?” I replied.

“Supporting my habit!”

Now I was really curious! “Whoa . . . tell me about it. What habit is that?”

“Advancing the cause of Jesus Christ!” he said with a grin. “I figure that the more money I make, the more I can give to the work of God.”

What a great response! His joy, when it comes to his wealth, is to generously distribute as much as he can to advance the cause of Christ.

That’s the kind of attitude Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 9:8. As he talks to the Corinthian church about that most delicate subject—giving—he offers an important lesson on biblical economics. The type of giving God is looking for, Paul says, is cheerful, out-of-a-joyful heart kind of giving (2 Corinthians 9:7), not begrudging, gotta-pay-my-Jesus-tax kind of giving. And as we pursue the joy that comes from investing in God’s work, Paul reminds us that God will also “supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness” (2 Corinthians 9:10).

We need to be careful here. At this point it would be easy to say to ourselves: “Okay, God, if you give me the Midas touch too, I would be happy to give generously to your work.” Our assumption is that it would be much easier for us to give if we just had more money. But the lessons of human nature tell us otherwise.

Often our seasons of financial prosperity draw our attention to bigger homes, bigger cars, bigger mutual funds, and bigger TVs, rather than to bigger opportunities for advancing the cause of Christ. The lure of “more” is highly seductive. Giving to God’s work is not a habit that starts when we’re experiencing material success. It’s a habit best cultivated and nurtured in seasons of depending on God through lean times.

Paul points that fact out one chapter earlier when, speaking of the Macedonian church’s generosity, he writes, “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity” (2 Corinthians 8:2). Which all goes to prove that an attitude of joyful generosity starts now, right where you are, with whatever you have. What a joy it is to be addicted to proving that God and His work is worthy of the very best that we have—regardless of how much that might be!

And, speaking of being rich, viewed from a global perspective even the poorest of us have much more than most people do in this world. For reasons best known to God, Christians in our corner of the world have staggering resources by comparison. Which gives us an unusual opportunity to use our wealth to “abound in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8).

So, when was the last time you viewed your financial resources as a tool to “support your habit”? Welcome to the joy of the generous habit of advancing the cause of Christ with the resources He has generously poured out to you!

YOUR JOURNEY…

• How would you gauge your attitude toward giving? Does it tend to reflect more of a “Jesus-tax” attitude, or are you enjoying the privilege of giving with joy?
• How have you seen God’s faithfulness in providing for you and your family during seasons of less financial prosperity?
• Why is it sometimes difficult to focus on advancing the kingdom when we are prospering materially? How can our attitudes better reflect Paul’s instruction in 2 Corinthians 9:8?

http://getmorestrength.org/daily/supporting-our-habit/

The Trial of Faith

If you have faith as a mustard seed . . . nothing will be impossible for you —Matthew 17:20

We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.

Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, “I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.” The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is— “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).

http://utmost.org/the-trial-of-faith/

Substitution

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him —2 Corinthians 5:21

The modern view of the death of Jesus is that He died for our sins out of sympathy for us. Yet the New Testament view is that He took our sin on Himself not because of sympathy, but because of His identification with us. He was “made. . . to be sin. . . .” Our sins are removed because of the death of Jesus, and the only explanation for His death is His obedience to His Father, not His sympathy for us. We are acceptable to God not because we have obeyed, nor because we have promised to give up things, but because of the death of Christ, and for no other reason. We say that Jesus Christ came to reveal the fatherhood and the lovingkindness of God, but the New Testament says that He came to take “away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). And the revealing of the fatherhood of God is only to those to whom Jesus has been introduced as Savior. In speaking to the world, Jesus Christ never referred to Himself as One who revealed the Father, but He spoke instead of being a stumbling block (see John 15:22-24). John 14:9  , where Jesus said, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” was spoken to His disciples.

That Christ died for me, and therefore I am completely free from penalty, is never taught in the New Testament. What is taught in the New Testament is that “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15)— not, “He died my death”— and that through identification with His death I can be freed from sin, and have His very righteousness imparted as a gift to me. The substitution which is taught in the New Testament is twofold— “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” The teaching is not Christ for me unless I am determined to have Christ formed in me (seeGalatians 4:19).

http://utmost.org/substitution/

Justification by Faith

If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life —Romans 5:10

I am not saved by believing— I simply realize I am saved by believing. And it is not repentance that saves me— repentance is only the sign that I realize what God has done through Christ Jesus. The danger here is putting the emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause. Is it my obedience, consecration, and dedication that make me right with God? It is never that! I am made right with God because, prior to all of that, Christ died. When I turn to God and by belief accept what God reveals, the miraculous atonement by the Cross of Christ instantly places me into a right relationship with God. And as a result of the supernatural miracle of God’s grace I stand justified, not because I am sorry for my sin, or because I have repented, but because of what Jesus has done. The Spirit of God brings justification with a shattering, radiant light, and I know that I am saved, even though I don’t know how it was accomplished.

The salvation that comes from God is not based on human logic, but on the sacrificial death of Jesus. We can be born again solely because of the atonement of our Lord. Sinful men and women can be changed into new creations, not through their repentance or their belief, but through the wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus which preceded all of our experience (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). The unconquerable safety of justification and sanctification is God Himself. We do not have to accomplish these things ourselves— they have been accomplished through the atonement of the Cross of Christ. The supernatural becomes natural to us through the miracle of God, and there is the realization of what Jesus Christ has already done— “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

http://utmost.org/justification-by-faith/

The Proper Perspective

Thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ . . . —2 Corinthians 2:14

The proper perspective of a servant of God must not simply be as near to the highest as he can get, but it must be the highest. Be careful that you vigorously maintain God’s perspective, and remember that it must be done every day, little by little. Don’t think on a finite level. No outside power can touch the proper perspective.

The proper perspective to maintain is that we are here for only one purpose— to be captives marching in the procession of Christ’s triumphs. We are not on display in God’s showcase— we are here to exhibit only one thing— the “captivity [of our lives] to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). How small all the other perspectives are! For example, the ones that say, “I am standing all alone, battling for Jesus,” or, “I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold down this fort for Him.” But Paul said, in essence, “I am in the procession of a conqueror, and it doesn’t matter what the difficulties are, for I am always led in triumph.” Is this idea being worked out practically in us? Paul’s secret joy was that God took him as a blatant rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive— and that became his purpose. It was Paul’s joy to be a captive of the Lord, and he had no other interest in heaven or on earth. It is a shameful thing for a Christian to talk about getting the victory. We should belong so completely to the Victor that it is always His victory, and “we are more than conquerors through Him . . .” (Romans 8:37).

“We are to God the fragrance of Christ . . .” (2 Corinthians 2:15). We are encompassed with the sweet aroma of Jesus, and wherever we go we are a wonderful refreshment to God.

http://utmost.org/the-proper-perspective/

The Holy Spirit and the Praise of God’s Glory by Mark D. Roberts

Ephesians 1:13-14

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14

In the last few weeks, our reflections focused repeatedly on the truth revealed in Ephesians 1:12: you exist for the praise of God’s glory. Now, just when you thought we had moved on into new territory, we come upon a second instance of this truth. Ephesians 1:13-14 affirms that we have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is also God’s “earnest money” guaranteeing our future in God. All of this, we now learn, is “to the praise of his glory” (1:14).

This verse points to a close connection between the Holy Spirit and God’s glory. In fact, the Spirit helps us exist for the praise of God’s glory. If we seek to glorify God in our own strength, we will inevitably fail. Yet God has supplied us with his own strength through the Spirit. Thus, with divine help, we can live for God’s glory.

Moreover, the Spirit is helping us, not only to glorify God, but also to share in his glory. We see this most clearly in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” Did you catch that? You and I not only get to contemplate God’s glory, but also to share in his glory by becoming more like him.

Thus, with the Spirit’s help, we glorify God, not only in our actions, not only in our thoughts, not only in our feelings, but even in our very existence. As we grow more deeply in our relationship with God, we become more like him, even sharing in his glory. As this happens, we reflect God’s glory to the world, so that people might be drawn to him in faith and worship.

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION: Can you think of ways that the Holy Spirit has been transforming you to be more like God? Will you ask the Spirit to help you live this day for the praise of God’s glory in everything you do?

PRAYER: Thank you, gracious God, for the gift of your Spirit. Thank you for helping me, by the Spirit, to see your glory. Thank you for your power in me that is helping me to live for the praise of your glory. Thank you even for beginning to transform me so that I might share in your glory. How amazing!

May your Spirit have free reign in my life today, in all that I do, whether at home or at work, whether riding on the subway or driving in my car, whether I’m with friends, colleagues, neighbors, or family members. Glorify yourself through me, O God. Amen.

http://www.thehighcalling.org/reflection/holy-spirit-and-praise-gods-glory