The Battle Plan of Jesus: Fighting with Love

I started November with a plan to write about something for which I was thankful every day. The turmoil of the election derailed that plan. It has felt as if  we are in a battle of anger and words. 

Today, I'm turning my attention away from the Great Divide and toward the battle plan of God. Admittedly, it's not a typical battle plan, but it's no less effective for it's unusual nature. We'd do well to adopt the strategy for our own.

Jesus was in Capernaum, just starting out his public ministry. He had been invited to read from the Scriptures. The book of Isaiah was handed to Him, and He chose to read from Isaiah 61. The passage was His mission statement, He told the listeners. It was the reason He came.

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor... " (Luke 4:18 NASB)

Matthew Henry, a late 1600's theologian, wrote: "having defended himself against the devil’s assaults, he now begins to act offensively, and to make those attacks upon him, by his preaching and miracles, which he could not resist or repel." 

Jesus defended himself successfully against the devil's temptations, but a battle is not won with defense alone. Defeating an enemy requires a strong and effective offense as well. 

In this passage, we see Jesus' offensive plan against the kingdom of darkness begin to unfold. His five-pronged approach was one of the most unlikely offenses imaginable.

The first prong was to preach the gospel to the poor.  It's not likely Jesus meant only the poor in money. He is also poor who has mountains of money but is estranged from our Lord. Jesus came for those who are poor spiritually, as well as those who are financially poor.

Jesus came to release those held captive to sin, held in bondage from poor choices and the power of evil. He offered freedom for all those who would accept Him as Savior. 

In order to accept that freedom, a recognition of the need for a Savior must come first, so Jesus included an attack against spiritual blindness in His battle plan. 

Jesus came for sinners, of which I am chief. It's what the apostle Paul said, and it's true of me. If we're honest, it's true of all of us. 

Today, let's turn our eyes away from the turmoil, away from the Great Divide, and toward our Savior. Ask Him for the sight to see our own hearts as He sees them, then allow Him to make whatever changes are necessary. 

If we're going to fight, let fight as Jesus did, who chose love as His weapon and freedom from sin as His objective. He out-loved His enemy, and we should, too.
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In case you missed yesterday's post, here's the link: If We Know Better, We Should Do Better
If you'd like to help support this ministry outreach, here's the link to give: Global Outreach Acct 4841
photo above is sunrise over the Sea of Galilee
#Jesus #loveothers

Choosing Freedom

"And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, 'Woman, you are freed from your sickness.' And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, 'There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day." Luke 13: 10-14 NASB

Our current series began with Jesus Sees Us As We Are , then Freed by Obedience, Before We Call, He Answers, and yesterday's God Always Keeps His Promises. (in case you want to get caught up, you can follow the links) 

The word study for today provides a shocking truth, and one we do well to understand and embrace. When Jesus spoke those beautiful words, "Woman, you are freed," the word He used was apolyō. This word indicates the liberty to depart from captivity has been given. Jesus told the woman she could be free if she wanted to be free. 

Freedom was hers for the taking.

This is a profound truth and one we need to embrace. We can be free if we choose to be free. Jesus offered her freedom, but she had the option not to accept freedom.

We, too, have the option for freedom as well as the freedom to decline our release from the captivity of sin.

It's all too easy to develop a kind of moral Stockholm Syndrome, whereby we become so enamored of our captor (Sin) that we choose to remain in bondage rather than accept the freedom only Christ can give. It's spiritual madness to choose our prison of sin, but we do it, don't we?

We do not have to remain in bondage to those sins that hold us. Jesus died and rose again to set us free from the penalty of sin we could never pay. If, then, we have been set free, why do we continue in such sin?

If we want to be free, our Lord will grant us liberty. 

Our freedom is a gift, but it is also a choice. Since Freedom in Christ has been bought and given, let us accept this free gift of God, embrace the dearly-bought liberty, and live as those who have been redeemed.

How can we live free? We must refuse to return to the sin that has held us, relying on the power of God to give us the will to overcome. He will help us. He will see us through. We can live free. If we will.

We have a choice. Do we want to continue in bondage to Sin? Do we want to live in the freedom from Sin Christ has purchased for us? 

May we choose freedom so that others can see the power and love of Christ in us.

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Our Father, help us to choose the freedom only you can give. Help us to relinquish our desire for sin and choose righteousness. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#thechoice #freedfromsin #disciple #JesusChrist #Biblestudy