The Root of Captivity

MEDITATION SCRIPTURE | WHAT IT SAYS

22 An evil man is held captive by his own sins;
they are ropes that catch and hold him.
23 He will die for lack of self-control;
he will be lost because of his great foolishness.

• Proverbs 5:22,23 NLT

MEDITATION ON WHAT IT MEANS

Captivity isn’t determined by things on the outside. It’s not because of what people have done to us or because of circumstances beyond our control that we are enslaved. “It’s not what happens to us, but what happens in us that will determine our freedom or captivity.”

What is the determining influence in us? Our own sin. Paul gave us a glimpse of his own battle within. A battle that we all must fight: “The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate… This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.  Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Those who don’t  have Christ are slaves. They don’t even know it. Not only do they not feel the need to change because of their blindness to their own captivity, they don’t have the power to free themselves. Only in Christ can the battle within be won. He opens our eyes to our own captivity and our powerlessness to deliver ourselves. This realization brings us to to Him, our Savior and Deliverer, the One who has power over sin and death.

In Him our sins have been forgiven and we are born again of the Spirit. In Him we have a new spiritual nature. In Christ “we have been set free from the penalty of sin, we are being set free from the power of sin and we will be set free from the presence of sin.” Since we live in the “now” and sin is still present, there is a battle that rages on the inside between of our old sinful nature and our new spiritual nature. We now have the freedom to choose which nature will rule.

MEDITATION ON WHAT IT MEANS FOR ME

What are the circumstances and who are the people that I have blamed for the captivity that I’m in? What needs to happen on the inside for me to start experiencing freedom?

At the crossroads of my life, which nature has ruled? How can I begin feeding my new nature so the Spirit’s influence takes preeminence at those moments of decision?

The Spirit of Familiarity

MEDITATION SCRIPTURE | WHAT IT SAYS

54 He returned to Nazareth, his hometown. When he taught there in the synagogue, everyone was amazed and said, “Where does he get this wisdom and the power to do miracles?” 55 Then they scoffed, “He’s just the carpenter’s son, and we know Mary, his mother, and his brothers—James, Joseph,[a] Simon, and Judas. 56 All his sisters live right here among us. Where did he learn all these things?” 57 And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.” 58 And so he did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.

• Matthew 13:54-57 NLT

MEDITATION ON WHAT IT MEANS

Why is it that a prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family? Familiarity. In a positive light, it implies intimacy, a closeness of relationship. Because He desires to know us intimately and for us to know Him intimately, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” There is, however, a danger in familiarity. It’s also synonymous to impropriety or an UNDULY INFORMAL act or expression.

His relationship to us is both INTIMATE and TRANSCENDENT. He is “a friend that sticks closer than a brother, who knows me better than I know myself. But He is also the Most High God who’s “ways are past finding out.” He is not only ABBA Father, the Heavenly Bridegroom and Lover of our souls, He is the everlasting God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

The pursuit of the knowledge of God should be like exploring the depths of a bottomless ocean. There’s always more of Him that He wants us to know about. When there is a consistent pursuit to know Him more deeply, to become “more familiar” with the things about Him that we are yet “unfamiliar” with, it keeps us from falling into this mindset that we have exhausted the knowledge of Him. The knowledge of His grace, the knowledge of His holiness, the knowledge of His love; the knowledge of all of these things are truly unfathomable. And yet if we come to a place where we presume that we’ve come to know all there is to know about Him, it breeds a familiarity that causes us to become bored with what we already know, and we treat that which is sacred as if it were a common thing.

Jesus’ hometown was familiar with Him as their neighbor, their brother, their friend. But He was more than that. Because their familiarity brought them to a place of presuming they had come to know all that they needed to know about Him, it caused them to be offended and to scoff at those things they were unfamiliar with.

MEDITATION ON WHAT IT MEANS FOR ME

Am I “satisfied”, presuming that I know all that I need to know about Him? Or is the intimacy compelling me to go even deeper with Him? What is the condition of my familiarity? How did it get that way?

What about Him have I become familiar with? How can I make it unfamiliar again?

Pursuit and The Words of Our Heart

MEDITATION SCRIPTURE | WHAT IT SAYS

1 Only fools say in their hearts,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;
not one of them does good!

2 The Lord looks down from heaven
on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
if anyone seeks God.
3 But no, all have turned away;
all have become corrupt.[a]
No one does good,
not a single one!

• Psalm 14:1-3 NLT

MEDITATION ON WHAT IT MEANS

77% of Americans “say” that they are Christians, and yet it’s not reflected in the news and in our culture. Many self-professing “believers” view self-professing Atheists as foolish and often times use this scripture in leveling their assessment. If we look more closely at this Psalm, however, it’s not what we say with our mouth, but what we say in our heart that determines whether we’re wise or foolish.

How do you know what someone’s saying in their heart if the words of their heart can’t be heard audibly?

How we live our life, our actions in those unseen, unexpected and unfair places, are usually an accurate reflection of what we’re saying in our hearts. The words of our hearts are communicated in the lifestyle that we live. What is the lifestyle, according to this passage, that reflects what we believe about God’s existence? Pursuit. We won’t seek after someone or something that we don’t believe in.

Before we look down on Atheists as “foolish” and ourselves as “wise” we should consider the Psalmists sobering assessment. The corrupt are the foolish who say in their HEARTS their is no God. How many are corrupt? ALL. There is NO ONE who seeks God. ALL say in their HEARTS and reflect in their LACK OF PURSUIT that there is no God.

If it were not for His pursuit of me, through Jesus Christ, I would have remained in this condition. I love because He first loved me. I am now seeking after the one who first sought me.

MEDITATION ON WHAT IT MEANS FOR ME

Who or what have I been pursuing?

What do my pursuit(s) reflect about what my heart is saying regarding God’s existence?

How can I pursue being WITH Him?

How can I pursue being LIKE Him?

Who is MOST Important?

MEDITATION SCRIPTURE | WHAT IT SAYS

34 “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

35 ‘I have come to set a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
36     Your enemies will be right in your own household!’[e]

37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. 38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

• Matthew 10:34-39 NLT

MEDITATION ON WHAT IT MEANS

We often embrace the parts of Jesus that inspire us and make us feel good; the parts that deal with his peace, love and mercy. The aspect of Jesus portrayed in this passage is difficult to receive because it reveals a God who is exclusive. It speaks of sword and division instead of peace.

I’ve heard it said that “the very important things in our lives can be the most dangerous; because they have the greatest potential to be the idols that turn us away from worshiping Him.” This scripture implies that family is usually the “very important” thing we exalt as the “most important thing.” Whatever we esteem  as having the ultimate worth is what we “worth-ship.”

He alone is the Source of all things. Everything else is just a channel. Because there is no one like Him, He commands exclusive loyalty and worship. Division and the sword will come in families when choices are made within a household of who they will worship: God who alone is worthy, or family. Clinging to our lives, in this context, is tied to clinging to family as our “source.” Those who cling to their life and exalt their family above all, even above God, will lose it. Those who lose their lives and exalt God above all, even above family, will find it.

MEDITATION ON WHAT IT MEANS FOR ME

What have been the most important crossroads in my life?

At those crossroads, where the paths I chose revealed who I worshiped, was it God or was it family that was most important?

What crossroads do I need to revisit so that a right decision can be made to move me back towards God’s destination?