Originally Written on February 26, 2009
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:1-4
Could you imagine living in a prison cell for 8 years? Everyday, you wake up and put on the same clothes as everyone else. There are three meals a day prepared for you, and during visits, a vending machine is prized like a steak from Outback. Visitors come for weekly visits, but other than the guards and staff, there is little contact with the “free world.” Not to mention, there is a great separation between the two worlds. Actually, two 12-foot-tall fences with razor, barbed-wire defeat any hopes of escape.
About 4 and a half years ago, I was privileged to be connected with a man inside the prison through the Men of Valor prison ministry in Nashville, Tennessee. I did not know what to expect when I walked into the prison for the first time. Actually, I was claustrophobic, and the guards, metal detector, and sound of the two heavy-weight, metal doors frightened me. I knew I was on foreign soil even though still in Nashville. As I walked to the table where I was matched up with a numbered inmate, I realized the guy across the table looked so much like me. He was 25, and I was 24. Other than his clothes, I would have never pictured him as “one of them.”
He had made a mistake in his life. He sinned against God and man and was doing his time to pay for the consequences of his actions. Just this Tuesday, his sentence was up. After visiting him weekly over the past few years, I stood behind the barbed-wire fence and watched him walk into the building. With guards on both sides of him, I saw the radiance of his smile, the joy of his heart, and the first step in the newness of life. He even had brand-new clothes on. He left all the old ones behind. I waited as he cleared the portal, and we embraced for the first time as a free men. He had not seen a world without fences or guards. He had been confined but could now run free through the parking lot. He had been separated from family and friends, and now they could freely embrace and shed tears of joy and laughter.
The first thing he wanted was real food. His family and mine celebrated this amazing day, and I sat back and laughed within as I saw him devour an appetizer, gourmet burger and fries, and a huge piece of chocolate cake. It was a joyful day that I will never forget. I believe he has learned his lesson and will never return back to prison. There will always be risks involved, and the consequences of sin should never be diminished. However, every man needs hope.
There are so many people simply “doing time” these days. They are easy to recognize. They are confined only to this world in which we live, and they never give thought to eternity. They are entrapped and enslaved by sin without any hope in the world.
Unless… Jesus, who entered our world, lived a righteous life and died an atoning death, rescues them. I am thankful today that I am more than a number within the 6 billion-plus people in the world. The Lord knows them that are his (2 Timothy 2:19c). I am thankful Jesus and men who have preached the gospel didn’t overlook me as “one of them.” I am thankful that God initiates contact with sinners and delivers them from sin. I am thankful that Jesus wasn’t afraid of the shame and reproach He would bear on the sinner’s behalf, although he despised it (Hebrews 12:2). I am thankful He fulfilled Proverbs 17:15 which says, “He that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.” I am thankful that Jesus is the door of salvation. I am thankful for the new clothes of salvation. May we ever wear a garment of praise to Jesus. I am thankful for His forgiveness and warm embrace which is peace to the soul. I am thankful for the good things God has given us to explore. I am thankful to be free…
Charles Wesley eloquently portrayed the joy of salvation and the newness of life in the last three stanzas of his hymn, “And Can It Be that I Should Gain:”
He left His Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace,
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race:'
Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me!
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth and followed Thee.
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Walking in Newness of Life,
Brian Johnson
Showing posts with label Making a Difference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Making a Difference. Show all posts
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Let us reason together…
Isaiah 1:18-20 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
Malachi 4:4-6 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
How many times when you were growing up did your dad tell you “I told you so?” For some reason, it always seemed that your parents had the ability to look beyond what you could see and point out the good and bad in your decisions. It almost never failed, our parents were almost all of the time right, and you hated that at the time. With a rebellious heart, a child wants to be right and know everything. Do you think we carry this same attitude into the way we live our Christian life?
Today, I met a young man who was raised in the church, attended youth groups, went to conferences and tried to live as a Christian through high school. He was now 21 years old and told me that he had really experience the grace of God and had been saved. However, he allowed a few things to creep in that began leading him astray from the right path. From a few sips of alcohol, a few puffs of marijuana and a few moves, he now finds himself in rehab trying to make things right with God and hopefully will be restored to his family. How can a child get in this predicament? Are parent’s loving their children like they should and holding them accountable for their actions or are many afraid to hurt their feelings and disregard correction. Recently, I heard the quote, “Who ever tells you the most truth is your greatest friend.” Could this brief lapse have been stopped if someone would have paid close attention and showed that they cared? I think so…
Another man that I would like to describe to you was about 50+. For the sake of this devotion, I will call him the professor. He is now carrying around a dictionary and using words that I have never heard of. With laughter and joy in his heart, he is being easily amused by the taste of food, the uniqueness of the English language and most importantly growing in a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is a rare find. Simple joys fill his heart. He told me that it is amazing what God has provided His children. With excitement, he told me that he has just sobered up after being in bondage to drugs for 30 years. He said that the world never seemed brighter than it does today. He said he had a lot of catching up to do, since he wasted possibly two-thirds of his life. Though he paid the consequences for his actions, I wonder if the influences of a few people who cared could have made a difference.
With these two scenarios in mind, can you think of someone that you could reach out to and try to help? With divorce rates as they are, both parents working to keep up with the Jones’, and the influence of an irresponsible culture, it is vitally important to build strong homes and provide stability for your children and others to see. Just going to church, having a family Bible, and providing for the family’s needs is not enough, everyone needs to be connected, accountable and growing deeper in God’s love.
In our Christian life, it is so easy to go astray when not in connection with God in prayer, worship and in fellowship with His people. Jesus is the vitality of your life and the only Rock on which to stand. Knowing Him brings conviction, correction, courage and comfort through all of life. God loves his children so much that His watchful eye is always on us. He is always looking ahead because He knows your present and future. If you give Him your present today, you won’t have to wake up weeks, months or years later and hear, “I told you so!” Let us come together with God. Let us draw near with a heart full of assurance and seek His face today that we might know how to live by His word and help some lost or straying soul in need. When you are close to God, you begin to hate sin and love the sinner even more. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
Malachi 4:4-6 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
How many times when you were growing up did your dad tell you “I told you so?” For some reason, it always seemed that your parents had the ability to look beyond what you could see and point out the good and bad in your decisions. It almost never failed, our parents were almost all of the time right, and you hated that at the time. With a rebellious heart, a child wants to be right and know everything. Do you think we carry this same attitude into the way we live our Christian life?
Today, I met a young man who was raised in the church, attended youth groups, went to conferences and tried to live as a Christian through high school. He was now 21 years old and told me that he had really experience the grace of God and had been saved. However, he allowed a few things to creep in that began leading him astray from the right path. From a few sips of alcohol, a few puffs of marijuana and a few moves, he now finds himself in rehab trying to make things right with God and hopefully will be restored to his family. How can a child get in this predicament? Are parent’s loving their children like they should and holding them accountable for their actions or are many afraid to hurt their feelings and disregard correction. Recently, I heard the quote, “Who ever tells you the most truth is your greatest friend.” Could this brief lapse have been stopped if someone would have paid close attention and showed that they cared? I think so…
Another man that I would like to describe to you was about 50+. For the sake of this devotion, I will call him the professor. He is now carrying around a dictionary and using words that I have never heard of. With laughter and joy in his heart, he is being easily amused by the taste of food, the uniqueness of the English language and most importantly growing in a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is a rare find. Simple joys fill his heart. He told me that it is amazing what God has provided His children. With excitement, he told me that he has just sobered up after being in bondage to drugs for 30 years. He said that the world never seemed brighter than it does today. He said he had a lot of catching up to do, since he wasted possibly two-thirds of his life. Though he paid the consequences for his actions, I wonder if the influences of a few people who cared could have made a difference.
With these two scenarios in mind, can you think of someone that you could reach out to and try to help? With divorce rates as they are, both parents working to keep up with the Jones’, and the influence of an irresponsible culture, it is vitally important to build strong homes and provide stability for your children and others to see. Just going to church, having a family Bible, and providing for the family’s needs is not enough, everyone needs to be connected, accountable and growing deeper in God’s love.
In our Christian life, it is so easy to go astray when not in connection with God in prayer, worship and in fellowship with His people. Jesus is the vitality of your life and the only Rock on which to stand. Knowing Him brings conviction, correction, courage and comfort through all of life. God loves his children so much that His watchful eye is always on us. He is always looking ahead because He knows your present and future. If you give Him your present today, you won’t have to wake up weeks, months or years later and hear, “I told you so!” Let us come together with God. Let us draw near with a heart full of assurance and seek His face today that we might know how to live by His word and help some lost or straying soul in need. When you are close to God, you begin to hate sin and love the sinner even more. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
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