This morning I bounced around a bit as I woke.  I read some of my devotionals – Tozer, Chan, Chambers and mixed in with that God’s Word and the first passage that struck me this morning was John 8:31-32 which speaks to the truth setting you free.

John 8:31-32 (ESV)

³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

You must abide in God’s Word to know the truth, but with that truth, you are set free; but free from what.

Well if you go just a bit further in John 8 Jesus tells us.

John 8:34-36 (ESV)

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

As I continued studying and praying this morning things just seemed to open for me.  I went from the Word to “The Book of Mysteries,” by Jonathan Chan and read day 17.  I had not looked at it in a few days but I was just compelled to give it a look and the title of day 17 was “How to Alter Your Past.”

How to Alter Your Past

The author uses the example of soaking a white cord in the red die for several days to assure that every fiber is exposed to the red dye.  He then asks how you might turn it back to white as snow and the answer was that he could not.  The only way to return it to white is to change the past, and no one here can do that.  Like the cord, sin is described as scarlet red, and they cannot change they are sins because they are done and part of the past.  The only one who can change the past is God.  By the blood of Christ, he removes the stain of sin.

Reflection

I thought about that devotional and several scriptures that were referenced with it.  The first was Isaiah 1:18

Isaiah 1:18 (ESV)

¹⁸ “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

Then there was 2 Corinthians 5:21.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And finally, 1 John 1:8-9

1 John 1:8-9 (ESV)

⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I look at these passages, and I am so thankful.  I consider my reckless life I lived, and I am thankful for His grace and mercy and the gift of repentance as well.  I think of my past, and I am glad that I can still visit, but I no longer am a resident.

Memories

It made me think of those not so distant days when I first came to the Lord. I could still ride that big ole scooter of mine with the ape hangers and loud pipes, and I would tell Pat, my wife I was going to follow the headlight around for a while.  I would pull out on the road and just roll.

I would set the big twin on about 60-65, and she would just sing with a low rumble that always set me at ease, and I would pray.

Me and that bike knew each other well, and I knew while I was praying God was with me and I just rumbled down the road hashing over my rebellious past.

I would just dump my bucket to God.  Before long I found myself singing this song.  I still sing it sometimes, and I am listening to it as I write this section.  It is by “Big Daddy Weave.”

“Redeemed”

As that old scooter kept time rumblin’ down the back roads, these lyrics ran through my head.  It would start slow, and it was not always in the writing flow, but it always seemed to start with the first verse, and sometimes I was not even conscious of it.

“Seems like all I can see was the struggle

Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past

Bound up in shackles of all my failures

Wondering how long is this gonna last

Then You look at this prisoner and say to me “son

Stop fighting a fight that’s already been won”

Before long I would realize I was singing the chorus repeatedly and this weight would lift, and I would almost feel like I was flying, (might have been going a bit fast on the bike but I mean getting air).

“I am redeemed, You set me free.”

I did not sing the whole chorus.  Just this one line over and over.  I knew whatever I had struggled with was forgiven and I was redeemed.    He had turned that crimson stain white as snow, and it was no more.

2 Corinthians 5:21

I am brought back to this verse in 2Corinthians.  I do not know how but I am elated and humbled in the same moment.  I am facing down yet prepared for flight.  What an awesome God we serve.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

²¹ For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As I read this, I am drawn to Philippians 2.

Philippians 2:5-9 (ESV)

⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹

Closing Thoughts

As I pray my way through this writing this morning I am overcome by the love of God.  What I read this morning is not new to me.  I have read it before, but His Word is alive, and it kindles in me a fire that is the Holy Spirit in me.  I am humbled to tears and filled with joy that I cannot contain.  I have been set free.

Prayer

Father, thank you.  It seems so small this phrase, thank you, but you know how big it is in my heart. All other words are small compared to it.  Lord this morning I pray that your Word might spread like a raging fire in a heavy wind and ignite a fire in us all.  Lord, I pray that you might place people in our paths that need to hear your Gospel and I pray you fill our hearts with the words to share what they need.  In Jesus name, I pray Amen!