THE STORY OF JESUS: John 8:31-41
“Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)
If I still sin, what does that say about my relationship to Jesus?
Have I been “set free indeed” (v.36) if I still sin?
The issue here is between who I am, and what I do.
Jesus has made it possible for my identity to be restored.
I am like Paul, still trapped within this body of death (Romans 7:24).
Like Paul, I am set free “through Jesus my Lord” (Romans 7:25).
Jesus changes my identity immediately by this death and resurrection.
Jesus changes my behaviour over time through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Do you define yourself as God’s child, and as a Jesus follower?
Then make every effort to live a life that reflects that identity.
If you are God’s child, and Jesus’ follower, then strive to do what they do.
You will fail, but if you persist, you will slowly become more like Jesus.
“Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, help me to make Your way my way. When I fail, help me not to give up, but to persevere because I know that You will complete this work You’ve started in me!

THE STORY OF JESUS: Psalm 115
“Those who make idols will be like them… all who trust in them.” (Psalm 115:8)
We don’t think about idols much today, but we have them too.
An idol is something that we look to as worthy of our devotion.
Our idols are things (or people) we love and serve – money, success, pleasure.
Usually it’s the idea behind the idol: what it does for us, how it makes us feel.
The psalmist describes peoples’ idols as lifeless, powerless, useless.
They also say that we become like the idol we seek and serve.
We become like what we pursue, we are shaped by our desires.
Our love for work makes us workaholics; our love for alcohol… alcoholics.
Our love for a celebrity leads us to dress and act and think like them.
We were made to seek and to serve God, and to be like God.
Anything less, and we become less than we were meant to be.
What (or who) is your life becoming like, and how is that like God?
Our idols and ideas cannot bring us the LIFE we desire.
Only as we seek God can we flourish (115:14), as we become more like God.
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, I don’t think I have idols, but I certainly have things I value and pursue. Help me to see that these are my idols, and that they CANNOT give me the life I am looking for.

THE STORY OF JESUS: Daniel 4-6
“For he is the living God and he endures forever.” (Daniel 6:26)
Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and Darius each needed to learn the same lesson.
There is only one God that stands over all powers and authorities.
This is a lesson we all need to learn, and God keeps reminding us too.
We don’t use ‘god’ language as much anymore, but we still try to act that way.
As if we are the masters of our lives, as if we can choose right from wrong.
As if we hold the power of life and death, as if we are accountable to no one.
The problem is, life has a way of showing us that this is not true.
Try as we might, we cannot manage life or creation or human nature.
Rulers and nations rise up for a time, but eventually they crumble.
Our world without God is not getting better and better.
Are you trying to do life without God, or keeping God at a distance?
God does not go away so easily, and life does not work so well without God.
These stories from Daniel all have the same message: acknowledge God!
“Honor the God who holds in His hand your life and all your ways.” (Daniel 5:23)
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for reconnecting us to God. May I never forget that my life only works, when it works with You!