The Spiritual Journey 2024 - Day 40: We belong to the Lord.

“O Lord, truly I am Your servant; I am Your servant, the son of Your maidservant; You have loosed my bonds.“

Psalms 116:16 NKJV

Jesus had just spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. When the temptation ended, the Lord departed from the wilderness, and returned to Galilee. While in Galilee, Jesus went through much of the surrounding region teaching in the synagogues, where He was well-received.

After this, Jesus came to Nazareth, the city in which He had been raised. As was His custom, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath, where He would read the scripture portion for that day.

“And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”“

Luke 4:17-21 NKJV

The reading of this scripture, and then His assertion that He was the One being referenced in this prophecy from Isaiah, inflamed all who were in the synagogue.

“So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.“

Luke 4:28-30 NKJV

Yes, they were so angry that they wanted to kill Jesus! However, no matter how angry these people were, and no matter how angry some people may still become when Jesus is acknowledged to be the Messiah, the Savior, the fact is that He did fulfill this prophecy in His life, and in His death. He is the One, the only One.

Indeed, the Lord, through His sinless life, His horrible death, and His glorious resurrection, has made it possible for those held captive by sin, to be set free.

At another time, the Jews took offense when Jesus spoke of making them free.

“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.“

John 8:31-36 NKJV

Yes, they asserted to Jesus that they were not slaves and they didn’t need to be set free. But, Jesus made the point we must all know in order to receive Him as Savior: Apart from Jesus, we are bound by sin, incapable of freeing ourselves.

What many people still fail to realize is that they are either going to be a slave to sin, or a slave to righteousness, God‘s way of being and doing.

You see, the fact is that there is no self-rule. We were made to be spirit-controlled. Either that spirit will be the Holy Spirit or the spirit of this present world.

“Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.“

Romans 6:16-18 NLT

Only through Jesus Christ are we set free from sin and the penalty of death.

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.“

Romans 8:1-4 NLT

Indeed, now that the Lord has bought our freedom, we now belong to Him.

“Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.“

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NLT

In today’s portion of Psalm 116 the psalmist acknowledges that he has been set free, not to follow his own way, but to be the servant of the Lord, just as his mother was a servant of the Lord.

Friend, in Psalm 116 the psalmist speaks of being delivered from destruction. We have seen his wonderful expressions of gratitude as he enumerated the things the Lord had done for him.

The psalmist concludes by reiterating that he now owes God his gratitude and service for all He has done to save him from destruction:

“I will pay my vows to the Lord Now in the presence of all His people, In the courts of the Lord’s house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!“

Psalms 116:18-19 NKJV

Tomorrow I will share some closing thoughts about my spiritual journey.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#thespiritualjourney2024