“God’s grace shields you from sin once His love has delivered you from it.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – March 31, 2021
And God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Exodus 20:1-2
There is a preface right before God gave the Ten Commandments to His servant Moses and to His people Israel. I delivered you from slavery. The Lord’s loving salvation from bondage in a foreign land preceded the declaration of His commands of how to love and obey Him. As I ponder God’s work of grace and deliverance I can’t help but conclude that He wants me to always remember His loving work of delivering His people from the sin of slavery and His generous work of delivering me from my bondage from sin, self and death. Love delivers!
The insidious sin of slavery is ever seeking to trap people in physical bondage, emotional entrapment and seize souls as spiritual hostages. But God! But God’s great love grinds slavery to a standstill. The Lord in His infinite love provides a way out of being held captive by anything other than Christ’s generous salvation and loving abundant life. When a society of individuals first encounters the love of Jesus—there follows an internal heart’s desire to obey the laws of the land that reflect the Lord. The only hope for this world is: deliverance by union with God’s love.
“I [Jesus] pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21).
Do you feel trapped by circumstances? Are you in bondage to financial overcommitments? Has society unfairly defined you because of your race, gender or socio economic condition? The good news is God’s love is your salvation. And He decided it is not enough to be delivered—He then provides protection for us by following the Lord’s principles for living. God’s grace shields you from sin once His love has delivered you from sin. The laws of the Lord are perfect—protecting the soul. Love delivers, so you can stand strong in love—freed from anxiety and anger to peace and forgiveness.
I still have my days of feeling unloved—like the ancient days of Israel forgetting how God’s love brought them out of 430 years of bondage. But, when I do experience the unfailing love of heaven, I remember how eternal love leads me to obey the Lord on earth. God’s love delivers me from fear of the future to living secure in the present. Love delivers me from the shortcut of dishonesty to the long-term benefit of honesty. Love delivers me from using a relationship to reach my goals to serving another to support her vision. Love delivers me to obey God!
“But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did” (1 John 2:5-6).
Prayer
Heavenly Father, deliver me from sin’s influence so I am free to love and obey you, in Jesus’ name, amen.
Application
What area of my life do I need to be delivered from by God’s love, so I am freed up to love others?
Related Reading
Deuteronomy 11:13; Psalm 119:88, 167; John 14:23-24; 1 Peter 1:22
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