Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

March 1, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO HELP ME SHARE CHRIST WITH OTHERS (part 3)

ISAIAH 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound

What a privilege it is to be able to proclaim “liberty” to others. There are so many religions that do not proclaim liberty. They proclaim bondage. They proclaim requirements, blind loyalty, obsession, obedience to a cult, belief in sinful men’s babbling, and even traditions with no truth. But we are not to proclaim such. We are to proclaim liberty. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. When we “preach” and “reach” others, what a privilege to “teach” liberty.

Liberty allows us to serve the Lord out of love instead of obligation. We can serve because of desire, not because of duty. That allows us to worship from our heart, instead of from our head. Isn’t it great to be free. We are not to be in bondage to a denomination, to an organization, or to a dictator. We are free from the bondage of sin. We are now free to live right, think right, and act right. We no longer have to live in bondage to our fleshly desires. We can be free of that through the power of the Holy Spirit of God. We should be walking billboards as to the joy that a Godly life of liberty brings. Remember we are now not free to sin, but free from sin. Because of our flesh, we did not have a choice before salvation. We had to live according to the flesh. Our spirit was dead in trespasses and sin. The Bible says that Jesus did not just make us free, but Christ made us free in deed. We have a lot to tell the world about. What wonderful things we can share. We can “proclaim liberty to the captives”.

That brings me to my last point. Remember that those who are without Christ are “captives”. We must remember that. It is hard for them to understand and comprehend the good news of the Gospel. They are still in bondage to our culture. They are still in bondage to the worldly belief system. They are still in bondage to fleshly priorities. They are still in bondage to self dependency. Listen to this:

* II Timothy 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

God has sent us to people that have been captured by Satan, to proclaim the truth of the Gospel to them, and to watch Christ free them from that bondage. God has anointed us to be part of that. According to this verse, God can open the prison door, and free others the way that Christ freed us. He is able to give us the strength, confidence, boldness, and compassion to share our faith!