W@W WRAP – Week 309

Are you set free?

Read:

Romans 6:3-7 (NIV): “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.”

Act:

This week, let us remember that:

Our lives, when we choose to live them for God’s glory, can be used mightily to bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We are all sinners who fall short, but praise God today that He sent Jesus to bridge the gap and pay the full penalty for our sins! As we surrender our whole life to Christ, may we soak up the wonder of His resurrection, saving grace, redemption, and the new life we freely receive through Him.

There is hope for each of us! 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB) reminds us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new has come.” Through Jesus, our old ways of thinking and of behaving are gone. With His help, we can journey on a new path, a path of freedom, not bondage.

God wants to lead us and show us the way. May our daily prayer be: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV)). When Our Lord reveals those areas where we need to change to be more like Him, may we memorise God’s Holy Word, embracing the truth of Psalm 119:11 (NIV), “I have hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”

God can bring restoration to our lives and renew our strength. Restoration is the process of rebuilding, of renewal. It involves bringing something back into existence or use. God wants to restore us from sin, injustice, conflict, disappointment, suffering and burnout. As we read in Isaiah 61:3, God will restore us and “…bestow upon us a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” Will you seek God and allow Him to restore your soul today? Will you let Him lead you in His way everlasting – for your good and His glory?

When God restores, it is an active process. We need to walk out our salvation for our joy to be restored! May we remember Paul’s words from prison in Philippians 2:12-16 (CSB): “Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to His good purpose. Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life.” Since we are the ‘mobile church’ of God, the Body of Christ on earth, may we allow God to restore and renew us to shine His light and bring hope to a world that desperately needs it!

As we choose Jesus Christ as our Lord and master, day by day, we will have freedom and peace that those around us will long to have. May our changed lives lead others to a place of total surrender to God and into the Kingdom of Light!

Pray:

Father God, it’s totally impossible for us to earn Your merit or enter Your Holy presence while we are spiritually dead in our sins. How can we possibly thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to this world to pay the penalty for our sins and to bridge the gap separating us from You? Thank you for the people and circumstances You place in our lives to draw us closer to You! Thank You for Your amazing grace. As we identify with Christ’s death and resurrection, it opens the way to the newness of life, transporting us from death to life and from the dominion of darkness to Your Kingdom of Light. Please let us never grow weary of the wonder of it all! And help us in turn to be faithful witnesses to those who are still in spiritual darkness.

Dear Father, You are our loving Redeemer, and we ask that You search our hearts daily and show us any offensive way in us. We ask that You penetrate our hearts with Your Word and Your love, and help us desire Your ways. Remind us to put on the armour You have provided for us. Please would You go to war with us against the sin in our hearts. Create a pure heart in us Father. We thank You, praise You and love You. In Jesus’ name.

Lord, thank You that You restore us when we’re distanced from You by sin. When we are disorientated by injustice. When we’re drained by conflict. When we’re disappointed by outcomes. When we’re disheartened by suffering and when we are depleted by demands. Thank You Lord, that You restore us. Lord, we want to honour You with the way we become restored. In the name of Jesus.

Dearest Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, we praise Your almighty name. Thank You that we can be part of a royal priesthood – a holy priesthood of believers – and that You can come today and restore us as You created us. We need the Word of God as a new born baby needs pure milk. We seek Your face and we long for the hidden manna that You want to impart to us. Lord, I pray that we will become resilient and that we will lean into the wind of trials that come our way, so that You would realign us. Build us into a spiritual home, so that Your presence can go to the ends of the earth. Oh Lord, I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ.

Lord, we just want to say thank You that You have taught us how to love and lead people… and that we can actually lead them to You. We know that everything that we do actually flows from You Lord. Help us be emotionally healthy to carry out Your work with joy – supernatural joy from You Lord God. I pray Father, for Your mighty hand of favour and blessing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.