Not as cold last night, we had some cloud cover, but no moisture; and none forecasted for the near future. 

Carla got her first garden injury, she was working around the roses and hit her finger on a rock, swelled up a bit, but the swelling was down this morning and very little pain.  She played in the dirt for most of the day and was a happy tired when she came in.

Got some puttering around done, not much, but some.  I’m going to cook a whole chicken with stuffing on the side for tonight’s dinner.  Got a good recipe from Cook’s Country, didn’t get it quite right last time, too much moisture, but the taste was good.  Hopefully it will be better tonight.

Psalm 68:5-6 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

⁶ God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

Chains are the symbol of control over another.  People in prison were not only secured by cell doors and watched over by guards, but in the days of old they were often bound with chains about ankles, hands or necks to keep them from escaping their imprisonment.  It is not a pretty picture and it was often used as a means of torture and humiliation.

But sin can bind us tighter than any physical chain.  It can so enslave us that we are controlled by it and cannot escape without intervention by another.

We view addiction of alcohol or other drugs as a chain where the person is so under the influence of those things that they will do anything to maintain that addiction.

But most people look at the extremes and think that is the only enslavement and they themselves, not participating in those activities are free. 

They look at the ‘restrictions’ God imposes on His people and think that His followers are chained to an antiquated lifestyle so they shun from the thought of submitting themselves to God.

They believe that they are free to enjoy life, to have fun and not worry about their spiritual condition.  They pursue hobbies, work and pleasures to fill their time on earth – not realizing that they are in bondage to their disbelief and in danger of being imprisoned in their desire to be free from God.

John 8:33-36    They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

³⁴ Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

³⁵ And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.

³⁶ If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

To the sinner there is no freedom in God.  They ask how a person can be free when they must obey Him in all things. 

It is difficult to explain.  Because most sinners do not have a physical bondage, a thing that can be pointed to as a chain to sin, they don’t recognize they are indeed bound to the sin.

When we accept Christ we feel the lifting of that bondage of sin, we understand how it had control over our lives.  The best way to explain it to a non-believer is to witness to them of the freedom we felt when He came into our lives.

Sometimes we think that we must reach everyone and that if we don’t or if they refuse to respond we are failures in the mind of God – and definitely in our own minds. 

We can only reach those that we can reach.  Every Christian has an obligation to share their faith with others.  But every Christian has had a different walk than others.

While we may know how sin is in control of a person’s life it doesn’t mean that we can help them realize that freedom is found in Christ.  They may look at us and tell us we don’t understand how they feel, we don’t know what they are going through – and often they are right.

Our experiences may not dovetail with theirs, it doesn’t mean we still can’t help them, but it does mean that they may need someone who has had a similar journey in their lives and has found the freedom Christ gives.

We have all seen ‘experts’ come into our work place and make comments are in act changes that are not applicable to the job site.  They have theories as to how something should be done, or they bring in ideas from a different style of work and expect it to work in this situation – and it doesn’t.

It isn’t because they aren’t trying; it is because they do not understand what needs to be done in this particular situation.  They have no practical experience so they can’t see the potential trouble spots their ideas create.  Those that are working know this and reject the premise and the person – they become callused to the idea of change.

However, when a person who has been involved in similar situations and has had success at making necessary changes to make the workplace better; who can speak the language of the employees in a meaningful way, addresses the problem they are more readily accepted and changes are more likely to be made.

The best person to speak to someone who needs Christ is one that has had a similar path.  That person can show them how Christ has made a difference, how Christ set him free from the burden of sin. 

Many Christians feel it is up to the Pastor to lead people to Christ – while I would say that is part of His mission, the greater part is to shepherd those already saved and prepare them to go out into the world to reach others for Christ.  

May I always be ready to tell others of His great love and to let them know that they are not alone, Christ cares for them and He will lead them out of their bondage of sin into the freedom of His Grace.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again