A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is sovereign

“Because God is sovereign, I will joyfully submit to His Will.”–Bill Bright

God’s sovereignty is always a sticky point theologically. It also is an abrupt challenge to our “independence” as people. We in America particularly have a problem with this thinking: “What do you mean I can’t do whatever I want? Where’s the freedom in that?”

Romans 6 directly addresses this “free, but not free” lifestyle of Christianity. “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey–whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” (Romans 6:16-18)

It is a strange life that we live. We never actually get to be free! Without venturing too far down the road of contemplation, consider that we are always under the influence and guidance of another. We are, metaphorically, soldiers under the command of one of two sides in a war. There is no neutral ground; there are none who can abstain. Jesus himself says, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30)

So how is that we talk about “freedom in Christ”? First of all, in Christ, we have the ability (read: freedom) to be who God intends us to be. We are, in a sense, restored to the state of Man before the Fall, again in communion with God. Second, we are freed from sin and its consequence, death. Being united in Christ through His forgiveness grants us eternal life. We then are forever freed from the punishment we deserve, but which He took upon Himself on the cross.

Now I’m about to get all mystical: How is it then that we offer ourselves into slavery (verse 16) if we are already slaves to one or the other? This is because obedience is the mark of who masters us. We who are redeemed are said to have two natures: the sinful flesh and the righteous spirit. Whichever voice we listen to and obey, that is the voice that controls us. Jesus spoke on this as well: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6:24)

Your challenge from this lesson is to submit. Take a step back from your life. Look at what you do and why you do it. Are you obeying God or are you trying to do things on your own? Are you trying to “have your cake and eat it too”? Even the good that you do, is it because of God’s direction or is it because it’s “the right thing” or “what God wants me to do”? Sovereignty is not about force and control as it is about leadership and guidance. So who’s steering your boat today?

A Goodie from the Devo-file: God is omniscient

“Because God knows everything, I will go to Him with all my questions and concerns.”–Bill Bright

Some of us are working hard at summer employment. I have lived in Athens for about two years now and I am still finding that more money goes out of my bank account than seems to come in! Summer is especially hard since I have to stretch those last few dollars until the next installment comes in August. I’m not sharing this for sympathy, but if you feel like sending me a check, don’t resist!

Life is filled with difficulty and confusion. It seems like we are always lost in the fog, never sure of which way to turn. Psalm 121 gives us comfort in these times. (If you have ever seen “The Sound of Music” , the opening verse will be familiar.) “He will not let your foot slip.”–the image here is of a high mountain pass.

My brother spent the first weeks of August last year high in the Andes of Peru. The people group he worked with live in small houses built into the cliffs. Just off the paths, walked daily by these people, are drops of several thousand feet! Clouds may sweep in and obstruct the view of the path ahead.

This is how I think our lives should be considered. We can only see where the next few steps will be. God (in the cloud) sees the whole path. He doesn’t tell us every detail of the journey, only what we need to know right now. This is why prayer is so important.

Rote, memorized, formulaic prayer won’t cut it here. Reciting a long list of prayer requests and dried-up, token promises to do better won’t show us the way to go. They interrupt God and keep him from telling us what to do. Remember prayer is supposed to be a two-way conversation!

Fervent, conversational, daily prayer is how we ask God the small questions, how we burden Him with our little problems, how we find out where our next step should be.
God wants to hear about every detail of our lives–He already knows it, but He wants us to share it with Him. He wants us to admit we can’t handle it and to ask him to do something about it!

This week, seek a life of supplication. Ask God to help you deal with people you really can’t stand, with bad situations that aren’t helping, with the quagmire of sin you are trapped in. Ask Him, then shut your mouth and let Him speak. You will be amazed by the changes you’ll see.