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                                                            25 Oct:                                                  Do We See God As Our Provider???

By this I mean – do we lean on Him?

Do we trust Him to provide for our care?

In Leviticus we see a ceremony which God instituted to be observed on an annual basis:

Leviticus 23:36  “For seven days present food offerings to the Lord, and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the Lord. It is the closing special assembly; do no regular work.”

God instructed His people to gather for the Feast of Tabernacles as a time to remember how He sheltered them in the wilderness and brought them safely home. For seven days, they lived in temporary shelters, celebrated with joy, and rested from their regular work. On the eighth day, they closed the feast with sacred assembly, a final gathering before returning to ordinary life.

This wasn’t just a history lesson. It was a living testimony of how God had cared for them. The Feast of Tabernacles was not a casual celebration. It was a deliberate act of remembering. God’s people built temporary shelters and lived in them for a week, reenacting their ancestors’ journey through the wilderness. They remembered the fragility of tents and the strength of God’s presence. They remembered hunger met with manna, thirst quenched by water from rock, and fear calmed by the pillar of cloud and fire.

On the eighth day, they gathered one more time. Not to work. Not rushing back into their routines. But to close the feast with reverence, gratitude, and rest. How are we doing with remembering God’s providence in OUR lives? Is our Sunday morning worship time a high priority in our lives and schedules? Is our bible study time and prayer time an adequate reflection of our love for God? Do our schedules, financial spending, and service to God and others adequately reflect our love of God and God’s children? Do we set aside time to nurture our relationship with God?

The Feast of Tabernacles wasn’t just about looking back, reflecting and remembering all that God had done for them. It was also about trusting forward. When God’s people remembered His past faithfulness, they learned to trust Him with their future. They didn’t need permanent walls or guaranteed security. They had something better. They had a God who had never left them, even in the wilderness. This reminds me of what is written in Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in my house, and test Me now in this, says the Lord of hosts, “(see) if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.”

That same God is with us now! That same challenge sits before us today. He has brought us through past struggles and do we not trust Him to do so in the future.

 John 10:10 “… I have come to bring you life, abundant life.”   And Paul tells us in   Phil 4:19 “And my God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”           James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, come down from the Father of lights”. And of course, there is the remembrance of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus tells us that God knows what we need and will provide.

In the same way that Israel had much to remember regarding God providing for them we have much to also be thankful. Col 2:12,13 “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions”.

The Lord has brought us from sinfulness and condemnation to forgiveness and salvation. Our response to this gift brings about a heart of appreciation and thankfulness and a desire to better know this God and Father who is willing to even offer up His Son on the cross for us. Subsequently, we find ourselves desiring a time set aside for the purpose of remembrance and thanksgiving. We likewise develop a need for our “sacred assembly” in the middle of ordinary life where we stop our regular work and remember with love and appreciation what has been done for us. Isn't that what is alluded to when Paul writes “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving” (Col 4:2).

The eighth day of the feast carried special meaning, much like our Sunday morning worship service. It was the closing, the final gathering before returning to normal rhythms. But it wasn’t rushed. It wasn’t a quick wrap-up. It was intentional, sacred, complete. It said, “We will not move forward without honoring what God has done.” And so likewise we come together each and every first day of the week!

This annual celebration and our weekly celebration is not the end all of our worship. In the same way that Jesus spent many evenings and mornings in prayer we too must, like Him, set aside time for reflection, study and prayer. This kind of setting, a set aside time, is what accomplishes what God would have for us: Col 3:15,16 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts…. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you”.     This is the peace which never leaves us and carries us through our darkest moments. Your set aside time brings you rest and a better understanding of the God who is working in your life and for your life. Your set aside time enables you to better set your mind on things above (Col 3:1,2)  and avoid being caught up in the passions of this world (Col 3:5).     Col 3:9,10 “Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him”.    Eph 4:23,24 “and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”

We need to take up the Word of God and the armor of God and in a regular and consistent basis bring our hearts and minds together with the Lord and Holy Spirit.

• Ephesians 5:1 says, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children” This calls us to imitate God’s nature—love, holiness, and righteousness—because we are His children.
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 describes believers as “with unveiled face beholding the glory of the Lord… transformed into the same image from glory to glory”. This is a progressive transformation by the Spirit, not just a one-time change.
• 1 Peter 1:16 reminds us, “Be holy, for I am holy”, linking our holiness directly to God’s own nature.
• John 13:15 says, “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done” This requires us to “know’ what those examples are.

 

 

 

11 Oct: “Freedom in Christ” - What is it?

Freedom is a basic human desire so it is little wonder to find out that God offers us freedom – specifically “freedom in Christ”. So what does this mean to us and for us?

First, freedom in Christ is seen in contrast to the bondage of sin. Romans 6:20-23 says, "For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." In other words, sin enslaves people for spiritual death and eternity apart from God. Knowing Christ provides freedom from the control of sin and eternal life with Him.

Second, freedom in Christ is seen as the only true form of freedom, because it provides lasting freedom beyond this life. John 8:36 notes, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." In Christ we will be free from sin and the resulting death (this world and the next). We now know the truth which sets us free as believers (John 8:31,32 “So Jesus said to those believers: If you continue in My word, then you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.).

Third, a person who has experienced true freedom in Christ is called to live as His servant John 14:15 (If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.) We are set free to serve Christ. The freedom found in Christ gives the believer a desire to live for Christ as a servant (Col 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”  This attitude reflects the attitude displayed by Jesus Himself during His time on earth (John 13:1-20; Philippians 2:5-11).

Fourth, those who find freedom in Christ also become His children. John 1:12 teaches, "But to all who did receive him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." As Galatians 4 also notes, we are now children and heirs of the inheritance of eternal life with Christ for eternity.

This freedom does not mean sin is completely removed. Paul spoke of his ongoing struggle with sin (Romans 7:15-20), yet also noted that sin no longer controlled him  (Romans 6:1,2). He was now a person who sought to live a transformed life because of his new life in Christ (Romans 12:1-2). This included putting off old habits and developing new patterns that honored God (Ephesians 4:22-32).

In short, we experience true freedom in Christ by knowing Him, walking in His ways, and engaging with the changes He makes in and through our lives as we focus on service to Him and to others (love God with your all and love your neighbor). This freedom transcends the human freedoms desired in this world, providing peace in this life and freedom with Christ forevermore.

Christ came to free us from sin through His atoning sacrifice. Hebrews 2:14-15 tells us that Jesus "shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death". The wages of sin  IS death (Romans 6:23) but Christ paid the death penalty for us, freeing us from death row through His sacrifice.

We have been set free, but, as Paul wrote, this freedom does not give us license or permission to continue to do the very things that brought on the death penalty (Romans 6:11-22). Paul wrote in Galatians 5:13, "For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13). We have been called to liberty in Christ, receiving forgiveness of sins through His shed blood, now knowing freedom from guilt, an awareness of the truth of God and, as a free gift, the hope of eternal life.

Because of Jesus and His death and resurrection on our behalf, we have these freedoms:

 

1. Freedom from guilt. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).
2. Freedom from shame. “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame” (Rom. 10:11).
3. Freedom from God’s wrath “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9).
4. Freedom from fear of death. “But has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Tim. 1:10).
5. Freedom from bondage to sin. “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).
6. Freedom from the curse of the law. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13).
7. Freedom from legalism. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1).
8. Freedom from Satan’s dominion. “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love” (Col. 1:13).
9. Freedom to approach God. “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Heb. 10:19).
10.  Freedom to relate to God as His child and His heir. “Therefore, you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal. 4:7).
11.  Freedom to partake and enjoy every spiritual blessing. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).
12.  Freedom to bring our concerns and requests to God. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God” (Phil. 4:6).
13.  Freedom to walk with God throughout life. “For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: ’I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people’” (2 Cor. 6:15–17).
14.  Freedom to authentically love others. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).
15.  Freedom to live out God’s purposes in your life. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).
16.  Freedom to enter the gates of heaven. “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2–3).