Over the past week I found myself pondering over many things that affect me as I journey through life. Many things can grab our attention and lead us down the road of anxiety. At the same time I became aware of the refreshing presence of the Lord. He seemed to lift me out of some besetting negative thinking patterns and put a song of thanksgiving in my heart. It was, as the Scripture describes it, as the still small voice, but unmistakably it was the voice of the Lord. Thank God He says ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.’  If ever I needed to hear God’s voice it was then. I had been reading from Romans chapter 5, and He caused me to look at certain verses in the chapter, and through them infused courage in me. The first thing I believe God said to me was that ‘I have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom I have gained access by faith into this grace in which I now stand’ (Rom. 5:1-2). I began to celebrate this amazing grace that is our resting place in God. For that moment I tasted something of the ‘rest’ that I believe God wants us to enter into. I felt powerless before Him, and yet so much under His care and protection. In that place of grace it was all okay. Even as I write this blog, His words and His presence linger on and give me courage.

What really blew me away, if what God had already spoken was not enough, was His words in Vs 10 where He says, ‘For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!’ To this very moment I am impregnated with the truth of the ‘how much more’ of God I have in my life now that I am His child. Friends, let me encourage you to meditate on the ‘how much more’ of God you have just because you are His child.

God bless and much love

Graeme

Most of us think that we are not as foolish as the Galatian believers who ‘After beginning with the Spirit, were trying to attain their goal by human effort’ (Gal. 3:3). We quote convincingly the Scriptures that affirm that we are no longer under the Law but under grace, but we struggle to live it. We are not celebrating the freedom we have in Christ by the way we live. Gal 5:1 tells us that ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.’ But that is exactly what happens. Without realizing it we default back to relating to God as a slave does to a master from whom we hope to gain favours and acceptance.

But what does the Scripture say about living the Christian life? What caught my attention and got me thinking this morning was Romans 8 and verse 15, where Paul says to the Roman believers, who were living the Christian life as if they were sucking lemons, ‘For you did not receive the spirit that makes us a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry “Abba Father.” Suddenly I hear God say to me, not in and audible voice, but I knew it was Him, that we still relate to Him as a slave which is always associated with the fear of failure. This Scripture tells us that we have received the ‘Spirit of Sonship.’ And He is our Father. I do not need to prove anything to Him. All that is require is for me to live out of the life source He has already put in me. My encouragement to you is to accept that ‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free...’ and ‘do not let yourselves be burdened by a yoke of slavery.’ Enjoy your freedom, celebrate your freedom and stop trying to earn points by jumping through the hoops.