Lenten Series: In Need of The Helper
Lent is a liturgical observance and season of reflection; not a biblical mandate. It is simply a time to remind ourselves and appreciate the abundant grace of Christ’s saving work on the cross. It is a time to press in deeper in submission to Christ’s authority as we prepare our hearts to celebrate, with exceedingly great joy, the resurrection that awaits every believer and follower.
In our Lenten daily devotionals, we will focus on our spiritual needs and desires and how the Helper is our Gift for strength and success if we will bow in greater submission to the authority of our King and the terms of His Kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Spirit.
Reflection: Liberty and Free WillDigging for Truth: Solomon reminds us, in one of the Books of Wisdom, that “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our step.” (Proverbs 16:9) God gave you and I free will, and that is what Solomon was referring to when he said, “we can make our plans”; yes, God allows us the choice of either being liberated and free through our connection to Christ or being bound and enslaved through our connection to Satan. The world that is separated from Jesus believes that sounds ridiculous, and that God is punitive, He is controlling, and living by His standards is unrealistic and narrow minded. A heart that is hard, that has never allowed Jesus in or has turned away from Jesus, will read the second part of Solomon’s Truth as God (the Lord) “requires or demands” that He determines a believer’s step all because “He is a controlling God”. Friends, that cannot be further from the Truth. The Apostle Paul tells us that through our salvation, and when we used our free will to hand over our hearts to Jesus, that we were set free (Galatians 5). Free from the bondage of our sins, free from our souls (minds, wills, and emotions) being trapped by the darkness of this world, and free from Satan who wants to destroy our spirit that was created by God and longs to be connected to the living Word of God, Who is Jesus.
Grace for the Heart: Only by knowing Jesus and living a life for Him can we begin to allow the Holy Spirit the room to move within us so that we can truly see with our spiritual eyes the Truth. Friends, Jesus wants to connect to us all of the time and He does that through the Holy Spirit. So, we must use our free will and choose to get closer to Him, He tells us, ‘You are my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free’ (John 8:31-32). Jesus wants to liberate you and me, He wants to set us free all of the time, we are the ones who use our free will to quiet the voice of the Holy Spirit, to dim the Spirit’s Light of Truth that shines within and through us, and thus our hearts turn away from Jesus and His grace that He wants to pour out onto us.
2 Corinthians 3:17 (NLT)
17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Challenge: The Apostle Paul tells the Church, ALL of the CHURCH, not just those who attended and were listening back in Galatia or in Corinth, but each any every member of Jesus’s Church, His Family, so that means that he’s talking to YOU and ME when he said that Jesus is the Spirit, He is in the Father and the Father is in Him, and so wherever the Spirit is…that means in YOU and ME…that there is freedom! “So, Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law” (Galatians 5:1) or in slavery to our old sin. Stay the course with Christ, stay in His Word, and share with others about His liberating love.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for allowing us to choose You. Holy Spirit, thank You for never giving up on us. For knocking on the doors to our hearts, for giving us spiritual eyes to see the Truth, and spiritual ears to hear the Truth. Please keep drawing us closer and closer to Jesus. Use our testimonies to share about our freedom in Christ and how we are eternally connected to His love. We ask all of this in Your Name, Jesus. Amen.