“The devil makes it his business to keep Christians in bondage, bound and gagged, actually imprisoned by their own grave clothes.” A.W. Tozer
“Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past.”
Galatians 5:1 TPT
WE MUST GET FREE
We must face up to the issues in our lives. We must look boldly into our attitudes and doubts, which equate to our fears. We must address those areas that keep us from becoming victorious Christians. We must refuse to make excuses or blame only the devil for our failures. Let’s get brutally honest. As long as you don’t face it the devil will taunt you with the reminder of those things daily. As long as you ignore or deny the sins that so easily entangle you, they will remain.
We have been given new life through the blood of Jesus. Jesus was obedient unto death to remove the power of sin and death. Now it is our responsibility to take off the grave clothes of our old ways and do the hard work of transforming ourselves to comply with the new holy nature that lives within us.
The process of transformation is important as well and I believe many start off well, but get struck in the process. So, let us dig a little deeper so we can also discover the reward.
SATAN MAGNIFIES MEMORIES
Satan will magnify memories of our failures, past sins, fears, hurts, and traumas. He does this because where you look is where you go! I know this battle more than I would like to admit. I have fallen into this trap and it didn’t produce transformation, rather it made me more sin-conscious rather than righteousness-conscious. Repentance is always required of all sin, but repentance hasn’t completed its full work until we begin seeing from a righteous perspective. Let me explain.
Like motorcycle riding, if you stare at the potholes and hazards ahead in life, you’ll will have a tendency to steer into them. Focusing on sinful behavior seems to produce a greater propensity to sin. In our efforts to live the transformed life, instead of focusing on where we do not want to go, it proves much more effective to keep our eyes fixed on the One we want to be like.
IDENTITY IS THE KEY TO TRANSFORMATION
When we focus on who we are in Jesus, we find the truth that fully sets us free from all inadequacies and insecurities. Identity is the key to transformation! The more we come to understand who we are in Christ the greater our freedom will be. You’ll know when your identity begins to change because so will your walk!
PRAYER/QUESTIONS
- Are you ready to get honest? What is that you often find yourself entangled in?
- What has Satan magnified in your life?
- Who does Jesus say you are? Find scriptures about your new identity and speak them out loud until you start believing it.
