In today’s devotion I will share four more special insights from the Word of God.
Insight 1 – Submission to God brings freedom and victory.
We read in (John 8:31-32): “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.’” When we abide in God’s word we will not only know the truth but this truth will set us free from the bondage that so many people live in today. This freedom means we will be free to experience the joy and peace that Christ offers all of His children. Not only that but when we abide in God’s word and are in submission to Him we can experience great victory over sin and Satan. (James 4:7) says: “Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, He refused to give in to Satan’s temptations but instead stayed in submission to God. The result was Satan had to flee. And it is no different for us. When we abide in God’s word and submit to His will Satan will have to flee. Thus, we can experience freedom and victory over sin and Satan by staying close to Jesus!
Insight 2 – We can overcome sin by reverencing God.
The more we reverence God, I believe, the more we can stay clear of sinning. (Proverbs 16:6) is one of the greatest verses in the Bible and it provides us an antidote for sin. It reads: “In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity; and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.” Yes, fear in the sense of being scared of the negative consequences of sinning against God can help us in our battle with sin, but fear in the sense of holy reference for our awesome God can help us even more in our battle with sin. The more we fall in love with Jesus and begin to have reverence for His holiness, I believe, we won’t want to sin and disappoint our great God. Think of it this way when we begin to mediate on how much God loves us, how holy His nature is, and how awesome our eternal relationship with Jesus will be when we get to heaven, the last thing we will want to do is disappoint God by sinning. Deep reverence for God will lead us to deep hatred and avoidance of sin.
Insight 3 – Persecution for the sake of Christ brings great joy.
No one likes to be persecuted and have evil things said about them. But when this happens because we are taking a stand for Christ, God promises to fill us with great joy. (Matthew 5:11-12) is a promise from God and says: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” These verses promise us exceedingly great joy because when we are persecuted for Christ’s sake we bring great glory to God. And this joy we can experience now in the present because we are putting a smile on God’s face because of our actions. And we can also experience this joy in the future because we are storing up blessings for ourselves in heaven. And just what is joy? It is that calm assurance that we are doing things that are pleasing in the sight of the Lord. So, the next time you experience persecution for standing up for Christ get set for an abundance of joy!
Insight 4 – The Word of God should always be cherished.
Just what is the Bible? I believe it is God’s great love letter to us. It is our manual and guidebook on how to live the abundant life. It is the book that gives us comfort when we are down. The Bible also gives us the key to obtaining eternal life. And this book has all the answers to life’s big questions. The psalmist says it so wonderfully when he proclaims: “Princes persecute me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of Your word. I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure.” (Psalm 119:161-162). The Bible is our great treasure chest of promises and blessings. Just as God says we are His treasured possession (Deuteronomy 14:2 NIV), we should treat His Word as our treasured possession. There is just no book in the world like the Bible!
I agree!