How should I react? Boredom! Boredom! O poor me! I think not.

Yes, that’s exactly how it felt at first. Boredom! This is because from my self-perception, I didn't realize that I’ve been an excitement addict all my life and never knew it. The Lord has had to deal with this issue in my life and I’m so grateful that He has and continues to do so.

Remember, though beloved, we have to want to be aware of these things.  If we're not willing to be aware then we're rejecting the LIGHT that wishes to shine on this and perhaps other areas of our lives as well.

We hear about being in bondage, but we often think it’s only some kind of habit or perhaps sex, drug and/or alcohol addiction when actually it’s one of the major reasons the Lord Messiah came and gave His Life for us all.  He came to free us from all forms of bondage in our lives.

There’s a symbolism behind the Cross being the way our Father dispensed His Justice against Sin.

He was saying I’m nailing your hands to the tree that you might not sin with them as you do, and your feet are spiked to the tree that they might no longer take you to sin as they have taken you in the past.

Every child born of man is immediately placed into some kind of bondage. It’s just that bondage seems so normal to us that we can’t even see it.  We also know that Yeshua, Jesus, was not born of a man but of God not only spiritually like we are today, but physically as well.k

At new-birth, we are able to see many of our relationships would turn sour no matter how well they may have begun. Relationships that started out as exciting, new, and fascinating would soon become worn and loaded with responsibilities of every kind. After a while, even sex looses the luster of newness much of the time and actually becomes work, if honesty is to prevail. King Solomon, who satisfied every lust learned this well and contributed his well-known “vanity” soliloquy for all the ages found in Ecclesiastes 1:1-3.

For as far back as I can remember, the greatest emotion that would arise from my deepest relationships was above all, fear. For many, including myself, this world is a difficult place to survive, and with God moving to bring so many of us to our knees that we might be saved, no wonder a feeling of entrapment or bondage came over me. I don’t think that I’m alone, or that this is only a male phenomenon either. I’m certain that our precious sisters often feel these very same feelings and have these very same thoughts as well.

After the “seed” of God’s Holy Spirit fertilized my spirit I began to see things differently.

It’s important that we see things not just as men and women but also as children of God.  With this new attitude, new perception, and much prayer we find that scripture opens and yields much to consider.

When God made a mate for Adam, He said it was good for him to have a helpmate. He didn’t say anywhere in scripture that it was mandatory that he have one. Only that it was good.  In Adam's case it would have been difficult for him to go forth and multiply all by himself.  This is not necessarily the case today.

Let us realize this is a very important point to keep in mind. Anything that we have to have or must have other than the necessities of life is a type of bondage.

We must eat; drink water, breath, and sleep. I am convinced that God placed these limitations upon us to restrain us just enough that we might get into just a little less trouble. If we didn’t have to sleep, and eat, etc, we would fall into evil continuously without ceasing. At least this way we get to pause a while and consider our ways, and then possibly change them or at the very least limit them.

I know something about emotional, physical, social, and sexual addictions since I have experienced them all to the fullest. Surely, they are very dangerous ingredients for mankind.

Paul tells married folks not to withhold sexual contact since it opens the door for the devil to play all types of nasty games with people in their minds. This is because we come to expect these things once they’ve begun. We’re never quite the same once the door is opened to this part of our lives.

In a sense we have become addicted, and if we don’t get what we need all our senses and emotions become negatively affected like a drug addict who needs a fix. We often become nervous and have difficulty concentrating. In the movies or on television, this phenomenon is often used to get a laugh, but in real life it really isn’t very funny.

Work, sex, fellowship, intimacy, power, praise, attention, activity, and so on – take them away cold turkey and see what happens. We would all be in AA rooms substituting our own personal favorites for the drugs and the alcohol that others are there for and surely fit right in at those meetings.

This is exactly what the Lord has done for this believer. Firstly, He removed the physical, social, and sexual idols that I had depended upon that would place imperious demands on my attention away from Him. Then, and even now, He takes the little idols that have a hold on me, some of which I don’t even realize are there until they are removed and I start to feel their absence.

To serve the Lord we must be free. Any bondage at all and Satan has a foothold as we see in the problems the Roman Catholic church is having today.  We also find there are strongholds on our minds and our emotions, and in the end our behavior, from which we must be set free. We will hate anyone who threatens our favorite substance or behavior that thrills us or fills our time or temporarily makes that empty feeling subside. 

I have an important individual in my life who had to remove me completely when I needed him the most growing up that he may live his choice of an adulterous lifestyle.  This has brought great suffering into my life.  Sin always claims its wage, and the wages of sin is always death.  We will always find that this death always comes in spiritually first and eventually physically as well.    All I can do is pray for this person and wait for a miracle to happen.

We can even take on all the character traits of an alcoholic or drug addict. We deceive ourselves, others, and even try foolishly to deceive God. We will even apply our addictive energy toward God’s service that of course will not, under any circumstances, be an acceptable sacrifice unto Him.  We then convince ourselves we are engaged in righteous service with the Lord’s blessings, and God forbid anyone should bring to our attention that our behavior is so symptomatic. 

Just last week the Lord had me reach out to a brother in gentle loving reproach, and he became irate and unreasonable. Off he went over-reacting to my remarks and not even considering them in his self-righteousness, which we know is one of the greatest offenses against the Holy Spirit who then cuts off all communication until conviction, repentance, confession, deliverance, and healing are achieved moving us away from such attitudes as this.

The time we spend alone is not always easy to bear, but let us understand what it's for and say, “Yes, Lord. Thy Will be done." It’s time where we're meant to be alone with the Lord and get as much time of meditation and prayer in that we can, sometimes tearfully, but always willingly. 

If we were only a little bit busier, we would probably not spend as much time with the Lord as we do with our local mailman and I haven’t seen my mailman in weeks. As a matter of fact, I believe it’s mail-person. Yep! Come to think of it she is a mail-person. 

We know that God provides all for all our needs. I would prefer a little more intimate fellowship or friendship, but perhaps that’s just the space in my life the Lord would like to fill with Himself.  I have a desire to acquire a large old “white elephant” type of house and turn it into a rooming house where devoted believers could live and where we could fellowship and strengthen one another, but this seems not to be in the offing at this time.

Perhaps, you might join with me in prayer for this to come to pass. It would be wonderful.

I do know that once one is satisfied having full fellowship with the Lord then other relationships fall right into their proper place. Even marriage will no longer be bondage, but a joy! Yes, when the Lord has set two people free from bondage, as the rest of the world finds itself in, then all those responsibilities become a pleasure in the Lord to fulfill with His help. 

Free at last, free at last to love, to forgive, and find peace with others.

Free, not to hold others under the responsibility to fill the type of needs in our lives that only God can fill. I think this is profitable to consider and to seek, don’t you? This is also what is included when the Lord said, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all else will be added unto you.”

Our Prayer:  Father, help us each to see the essential  quality of freedom that we have in Your precious Son, our Messiah, Yeshua.  Help us to see the need in each of us to be free of the bondages that effect our mind and our lives and keep us from maturing spiritually.  Amen.


It's All About Him

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 
 – Ephesians 1:17 /NIV

Thought... One of the best things we can pray for each other, and for ourselves, is that we might better know God. The Holy Spirit helps us better know God (1 Cor 2), worship God (John 4), and speak to God (Rom. 8). Let's ask God to use his Spirit to help us know him, not just know about him. God is not only the Almighty Creator of all things; he is also our Father who cares about us deeply.

Prayer... Holy Father, God of all mystery and glory, please open my mind and heart to know you better through the presence of your Holy Spirit within me. Please bless my physical and spiritual family with insight and illumination about you, your love, and your glory. We want to know You more fully and reflect Your character and grace more completely. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 


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“God Calling” compiled by A. J. Russell.
“Twenty-Four Hours A Day" Hazelton – adapted.
Phil Ware offers Today's Verse.
Barry Gray writes A Disciple’s Reflections.