Completely Clear

Read: Galatians 4

"And You brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise." Galatians 4:28

Examine:

This is not a statement of entitlement. It is a statement of responsibility. Paul is reminding the Galatians that they have been set aside and endowed with an inheritance. This inheritance should prompt them to live their lives in a manner that is worthy of the blessing and set apart from the world.

Apply:

There are three parts of being a child of promise that are on my heart this morning. First, verse five reminds me that I have been redeemed from a life of slavery to sin. There is often a disconnect for me from the truth of this verse. Sometimes I approach God with a sense of entitlement and when I do it causes me to loose sight of the fact that God reached down and settled my accounts. I owe nothing for my sin. All my shortcomings, all my poor choices, and all my repeated failures carry no weight in my life. I have been redeemed from a life of separation from God and been made a son of God. This is my promise.

Second, verse 9 reminds me that my old life will never let go of me on its own. My past has been forgotten by God but it is remembered by my flesh. There is a traitor inside of me who misses the things that once were. Sin is fun to the flesh. My flesh loves the darkness and misses its company. There are days when a song, season, or event stir inside of me a passionate desire to return to things of my past. There are days when it feels really tempting to walk away from God's work in my present life and return to the rebellion I enjoyed in my past. It is easy to forget the misery that I caused and I experienced. It is easy to forget the despair of that lifestyle. In the passing of time the pain has a way of being forgotten and the pleasure seems to shine bright. I must always remember that my promise lies in the way God calls me to live. The sins of my past carry only misery. My promise is in living for His heart.

Finally, in verse six I am reminded that I have the Spirit of the Son living inside of me. I am not worthless. I am not weak. I am not abandoned. I never need to live feeling anything other than assured that I am a chosen child of a righteous King and the eternal God of the universe. The day I surrendered my will to Christ, the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead was freely given to me. He resides in me, stirs me, and leads me to live in the way of my Father. There is nothing in life that has power over me. If I struggle it is because I choose to follow the voice of the traitor inside of me. My promise rests in the voice of the Spirit that lives and leads in my heart.

Pray:

While You do not remember my past; I do. My flesh still carries the guilt of my past and it still longs for the pleasure of my past. There is at work inside of me the voice of a traitor and he is incessantly used by my enemy to bring me down, cause me to stumble, or to disqualify me from my promise.

I am grateful this morning that I sit before You completely clear of all guilt. I do not have a past in Your eyes. There are no failures You remember. There are no shortcomings You lament. There is no pain in Your heart regarding the rebellious choices I have made. You redeemed me out of those things and refuse to consider them. I can never be accused of anything. I can never be ashamed again. The past is no longer in the past; it never existed. That is the gift of the promise You have gave me through Your Son. Thank You. I ask that You help me fully view my life as You do. Strengthen the voice of Your Spirit inside of me and snuff out the rotten voice of the liar who accuses and tempts me.