2 Timothy 2:26 “And that they may
recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him
at his will.”
On vacation, I was reading a daily devotional written by my dad’s favorite Pastor on TV - the late Adrian Rogers, where he told how they catch monkeys in the
Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit
of the Lord is upon Me, because
He has anointed Me
to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
Do not try to fool yourself; you cannot
have it both ways (keeping one foot in the world of sin and rebellion against
God)… as many think and attempt to justify. You only end up being as that “foolish
monkey”. You cannot be a friend of Jesus and an enemy of Jesus at the same
time, continuing to willfully sin against God’s holy Word, Will and Way. Wrong
is wrong, and sin is sin. Common logic tells us that, you cannot walk in enmity
with God and walk with the Lord, your Creator and Master. Don’t be captive! In the
parable told by Jesus, the prodigal son got into the pig pen of sin and
rebellion, but didn't stay there. Who, by our thoughts, words and actions, do
we prove is really Lord of our lives? Our desires of our sinful flesh? the God
rejecting world system around us today, with it’s sensual allure and peer
pressure? The subtle traps of damning half-truths and lies and empty promises
of Satan? Or our Almighty Creator, the living God of heaven and earth, who
knocks at the door of our heart? Our loving Lord, who offers us life abundant
and life eternal … and that’s no monkey business.
John 8:31-32 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my
disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
In Christ, Brian
6 comments:
Great story and contrast Brian; I am so thankful for a God who opens my eyes and responds with loving forgiveness to my sinful character! Although I know that my day cannot be without sin, my choice is to be a humble follower of Christ throughout every minute of the day before me.
Blessings and His amazing grace,
Denise
Thanks Denise for the great point. The purpose for brothers and sisters in Christ to speak the TRUTH in love, is to open the mind's eye of understanding, to gain more knowledge of God, to replace ignorance of the truth with godly knowledge and expel the lies against God's truth in order to bring the sinner back to an upright position before the Lord in restoration in righteousness. To help us as that humble follower of Christ daily, as you so rightfully stated. By this light, we see and are thankful for a God who opens my eyes and responds with loving forgiveness. Praise be to God!
Great analogy. I was that dumb monkey and oftentimes still am. Thank God for His Grace through Christ - for teaching me, through much of His patience, mercy and grace, to let go of that darn rice - for delivering me from the snare of the fowler and his fatal fire.
Wishing you a blessed Sunday and thank you for visiting my blog.
What a wonderful way to understand why we cannot cling to sin. I am, sadly, still quite the dumb monkey at times. Thanking Him for His grace as I stumble to meet Him. Happy Sunday, Brian! Truly loved this post.
This is another very good point Petra. Galatians 5:18-24 states clearly that all of us have the sin nature in our flesh (acting like those foolish monkeys) from the fall in the Garden of Eden that we deal with daily by walking in the spirit, aligning our heart, mind and soul with God's holy Word, will and way through the indwelling Holy Spirit, who battles for us. All of this is not done on our own, but by the Lord God's patience, mercy and grace delivering us from the bondage of sin and the snare of the adversary, as you said. The key is to see, recognize and understand this truth then "walk in the Spirit". Thank you for writing.
Hi Larri, so glad to see you back after your short break. The whole foolish monkey analogy gets me to thinking about the power lure of sin and how lightly we sometimes take this issue, which was important enough for God the Father to send His Son to die for in our place. We stumble, but like the prodigal son, we get back up, get out of the pig pen go go back home to our Heavenly Father ... a little stronger, a little wiser, and a little more mature, growing int the likeness for Jesus. I'm so happy that you enjoyed this post, and glad that you stopped by to comment. Blessings sister.
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