T.G.I.F.

Today it's Friday ... and most people are glad that it is! Some might even be thanking God that the work week is almost over. But this morning ... I am thanking God for something else (and besides, Friday is not the end of my work week!). Today ... I'm Thanking God I'm Free! Free? Yes! Absolutely! And incredibly so! Jesus himself said, "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 ... So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed"  (John 8:31-32; 36). The freedom Jesus is talking about here ... is the freedom from the bondage that arises from our sin and rebellion against God. And when we are free (and free indeed!) ... we will move toward experiencing life as God intended it to be lived! 

This morning I read some thoughts penned by J.I. Packer in his book, Celebrating the Saving Work of God. In them, he powerfully describes the highest privilege that is ours as a result of the freedom we now have in Christ. I urge you to take a moment and read what J.I. has to say ... and rejoice in God's grace that makes what he talks about a reality for us who choose Christ!

"The New Testament views knowing your Maker as your Father, and yourself as his child and heir, as the highest privilege and richest relationship of which any human being is capable. Not to know God in this way is, by contrast, to be in a state of fallenness and guilt, cut off from God's life, exposed to his judgment, and under demonic control, whence flows only misery. But this is every man's condition." 

Packer then asks the question, "Can it be changed?" The answer the Bible gives ... absolutely! But only through the saving work of Jesus Christ (John 14:5; 1 Peter 3:18). Once we place our trust in Christ's death on our behalf and accept him for who claimed to be (The God-Man who came to give his life as a ransom for many) ... at that point this incredible relationship that Packer refers to becomes ours (John 1:12).

SO ... are YOU right now experiencing what it means to have the Maker of heaven and earth ... God Almighty ... as YOUR heavenly Father? I hope so ... and if you are not, then take a moment and check out Two Ways to Live: A Choice We Must All Make. 

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj