This week we are in John chapter 10. Jesus is the Gate and the Good Shepherd.
One of my favorite verses is found in John 10:10 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill and to destroy. But I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly." (KJV) That is the version I had memorized thanks to the christian vocal group Accapella and their song "Life." It is a hard link to find but here it is..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5KMtOESq-U or google Accapella Rescue Life. It is a peppy fun song. I always like it, but it also help me to memorize this verse.
I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly!
Question 7b on this weeks lesson, "How has Jesus personally given you "life to the full?"
In answering this question, I found myself going back to the first part of the the verse, "The thief cometh not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy."
Last year, in the study of Revelation, one of the many things that became much more clear was just how secure my salvation in Christ is. Jesus suffered the full wrath of God in His death on the cross, Jesus conquered death and Satan when by His own authority arose 3 days later. Jesus is the first to arise from death to a new life, there He is the firs among all who will be raised from the death. Jesus died on the cross for all the sins I have committed and for all the sins I will commit. Jesus suffered the full wrath of God for my sins on the cross, for my sins there is no more wrath to be poured out!
Rick Atchley in one of his sermons gave the following illustration one Sunday in a sermon about bapitsm:
There was a girl who was a Satan worshipper. She came to visit her college roommates for a weekend. Her roommates were Christians. Over the course of the weekend, the girl became convicted and gave her life over to Christ and she was baptized. She called her boyfriend, who was also a Satan worshipper and told him. He got on a plane and flew to where she was. He went to the minister who had told her about Jesus. He found the minister and he was very angry and threatened him, demanding that he tell him where his girlfriend was. The minister told him. The man turned to leave, then stopped at the door and asked, "Tell me, was she baptized?" The minister said, "Yes, I did it myself." The man said, "Then there is nothing to be done, if she was baptized I can't touch her." And he turned and left.
My Eternal Life, my salvation is secure and Satan cannot steal, kill or destroy it.
I know without a doubt that this is true.
So if Satan cannot steal, kill or destroy my eternal life because I am covered by the blood of Jesus Christ, then why does he continue to pursue me?
I thought back to the spiritual continuum that my BSF leader shared with us during the study of Revelation.
Exploring Christ- SALVATION - growing in Christ - Close to Christ- SURRENDER- Christ Centered
What is Satan trying to steal, kill, destroy?
Why is Satan chosing to attack me?
Why is there constantly a struggle, hardship, crisis?
Because while he cannot steal, kill, or destroy my eternal life, he can make me doubt my salvation, doubt the security of my salvation.
Doubt that I could be freed from the chains of guilt for sins I have committed.
Stunt my personal growth and maturity in Christ,
which limits the power of the Holy Spirit in my life,
which limits my dependance on the Holy Spirit in my life,
which limits me allowing the Holy Spirit to influence what I do and how I live my life,
which means I rely on myself and not God,
which limits others being able to see Jesus in me and in my actions,
which means they see me- my flaws, my sin,
which makes it impossible for them to see Jesus in me,
So instead of seeing Jesus in me - His perfectness, His love, His hope, His salvation, His grace and His mercy - they see my sin and miss Him.
That is what Satan can steal, kill and destroy in me.
That is what keeps me from having abundant life here in this life.
So knowing this, what must I do, what must I change, what must I believe?
It goes back to God's purpose for me, personal holiness.
Personal Holiness is my greatest need.
"Be holy because I, the Lord your God, is holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own." Leviticus 20:26
What does holiness mean?
Ultimately is means salvation from sin's presence in heaven.
That I get, I understand. I am good.
But it also means salvation from sin's power in my life here and now on earth.
So my greatest need is salvation from sin's power in my life now.
Nothing can take the place of my holiness, the salvation from the presence of sin in heaven and the salvation from sin's power in my life now.
The power of sin in my life is what is keeping me from maturing in Christ to total surrender and keeping me from have abundant life now.
Sin is a chain, it is bondage, it is slavery.
I had believed Satan's lie that certain sin's cannot be overcome in this life.
Specifically I believed that the sin of bitterness was just going to be a part of my life until heaven.
I knew harboring bitterness in my heart was not God's will for me. I prayed and prayed and prayed for years, 10 plus years. But I still struggled with harboring bitterness in my heart.
When bitterness would well up, I would recognize it and take it to the trash can and throw it in the trash and try not to think about it again. Then when it happened again, I would repeat the process. Over time, the trash can became full, so I had to push down all the trash in the can so I would have more room to throw in more bitterness. But like any trash can, you can only push the trash down so far, you can only fill it with so much trash before it can no long fit anymore. I was to that point. So what did I do, what every one else does when they do not want to take out the trash, you keep putting it on top. So the lid no longer is able to close and I am continuing to put bitterness on top of the pile. One day, I was in the car and I got a text and the feelings up bitterness welled up so quickly and I tried to throw it into the trash, like I had in the past, but now it no longer stayed in the heap, the trash was overflowing and any further trash would just end up on the ground around the can.
I prayed and prayed for years that God would take the root of bitterness, that was now turning into hatred, coldness and indifference, out of my heart. What I did not know, what I had not learned, was I could not just throw it into the trash, I had to take out the trash and empty it. My trash had not been emptied, ever. Emptying the trash is more than just forgiving. It is more than just asking God to remove the power of a certain sin. The way to actually empty the trash can is to ask God to remove (or put off) the power of a certain sin, in this case bitterness, and to fill you (or put one)with one of His attributes, in this case a genuine love for the person I was harboring bitterness against.
When I prayed for God to fill me with with Christ's love, warmth and thoughtfulness towards that person instead of bitterness, hatred, coldness and indifference, it was liberating. I felt the chains that had been bound so tightly break. I was totally freed from the power of the sin of bitterness. Honestly, I never knew that was a chain that could ever be broken in this life. I had never experienced being liberated from the power of any sin in such a powerful way in my life ever before. It was and is real, real liberation. The reason I know it is real is because my situation has not really changed. The reasons I felt bitterness have not changed or stopped. The opportunities for me to harbor bitterness continued to come. Satan continues to try and make me a slave to my bitterness. But God has changed me, changed my heart and has truly given me Christ's love each and every time bitterness tries to move back into my heart.
I knew I would have a better life one day in heaven, but I never knew I could have a better life, a life free from the chains of sin in this life. Jesus' death and resurrection has given me salvation from sin's power in this life. Jesus is the chainbreaker! When I allow him to break the chains of sin by asking
I love that song by Zach Williams "Chain Breaker."
If you’ve been walking the same old road for miles and miles
If you’ve been hearing the same old voice tell the same old lies
If you’re trying to feel the same old holes inside
There’s a better life
There’s a better life
We’ve all search for the light of day in the dead of night
We’ve all found ourselves worn out from the same old fight
We’ve all run to things we know just ain’t right
And there’s a better life
There’s a better life
If you’ve got pain
He’s a pain taker
If you feel lost
He’s a way maker
If you need freedom or saving
He’s a prison-shaking Savior
If you’ve got chains
He’s a chain breaker
He’s a pain taker
If you feel lost
He’s a way maker
If you need freedom or saving
He’s a prison-shaking Savior
If you’ve got chains
He’s a chain breaker
