August 13 - True Freedom

"I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.  For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

Romans 7:21-25a (NKJV)

Thought for Today: We often find ourselves crucified between two crosses: one of guilt over what we have done, the other of regret over what we have not done.  The Apostle Paul writes in the passage above that he does the things that he does not want to do. How often, we think or do things that go against God’s word and His will for our lives.  We carry this guilt around for years, even though, if we have received Jesus as Lord and Savior, all our sins, past, present and future are forgiven.  Paul goes on to write in Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. “ 
So, if we walk with the Lord, we can trust that our sins are forgiven.

What burden of guilt are you carrying today?  Perhaps you have done some things that have not made you proud and, even after confessing them to the Lord, still feel guilty and condemned.  Know that He who rules the Earth in righteousness has broken the chains of sin once and for all.  Feel His forgiveness and be free.

God liveth ever!
Wherefore, Soul, despair thou never!
When sins and follies long forgot
Upon thy tortured conscience prey,
Oh come to God, and fear Him not,
His love shall sweep them all away;
Pains of hell at look of His,
Change to calm content and bliss.
Soul, remember, in thy pains,
God o’er all forever reigns.

(From Lyra Germanica - translated German hymns by Catherine Winkworth)