Walk WITH Jesus

Walk WITH Jesus With Jim Reynolds

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Today's Walk by Jim Reynolds Independence Day Several years ago, I did a search for “Independence Day” in the software version of a popular encyclopedia. The program returned over 50 articles on the first page alone. Out of the first 20, none were about the United States. Most of us grew up believing this holiday was uniquely American, but my search was a healthy reminder that, since the beginning of time, one people has sought freedom from another more, oppressive people. Exodus chronicles the history of the Israelites escaping the domination of Egypt. Their story has many parallels to the freedoms that you and I are designed to enjoy “in Christ.” God's people were given freedom from: Impossible, oppressive labor – In Exodus 5 , Moses made his initial demand to “let My people go.” As you probably remember, the situation deteriorated rapidly. Pharaoh responded to Moses' demands by refusing to give the slaves the necessary “straw” to make the “bricks” they were forced to make. In addition to the added pressure and effort of locating the raw materials, Pharaoh did not reduce their quota putting the Israelites in an impossibly difficult situation. In Christ, we have been set free from the demands of our flesh -- not only the sinful pull common to all of us, but the impossibility of doing enough to “earn” our way to heaven. Rom. 3:23 says “All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.” I grew up with the image of “missing the target” when this verse was explained. No matter how hard we tried to hit the bulls eye, our shot would always go astray. I have since been convicted that when comparing our efforts to God's holiness, I'm not even shooting in the right direction. I'm facing in the other way. I'm probably standing in a different time zone. And I am unarmed. There is no “falling short” of God's glory. Without Christ, there is simply God's unapproachable light and my not-even-feeble efforts to understand it. Psalms says “In Your light, we see light.” In other words, His light is the only standard for light, holiness, righteousness, and all else that is truly good. Our “light” is a black hole to Him. How could we ever be fooled into believing we could “earn” our way into His Presence? Instead of this never-lifting burden, we are offered the unbelievably simple freedom of life in Christ. I especially like the ISV translation of Gal. 5:1 -- Christ has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom. Judgment – Exodus 11-13 tells the climactic story of the Exodus -- the final, horrific plague -- the death of every first born in the land. However, even in the middle of judgment, God always offers mercy to those who will accept it. The Israelites who believed Him and who did as He said by sacrificing a lamb and spreading its blood on their doorposts were protected from the ravages of the Death Angel. One evening, one decision, changed their lives and set them free forever. “The wages of sin is death,” according to Rom. 6:23 . When you add that truth to Rom. 3:23 the sum leaves us no hope. All of us should be eternally separated from God. But 6:23 goes on to explain that the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. One decision to believe He is who He says He is (the only Son of God) and will do what He said He would do (forgive our sin) will change us and set us free… forever. Division and separation – When the Israelites evacuated Egypt at the end of Chapter 13 , they were a unified people – a people who would quite soon establish a covenant with God that would transform history. When we make the decision outlined above, we enter one body, one faith. Our relationship with Jesus joins us in an unbreakable bond and we become a part of the single largest, most powerful extended family in the universe. We sometimes forget that our country's Independence Day is not just about “Freedom From.” Even more crucial to our well-being as a nation was “Freedom To.” Yes, we broke the yoke of British dominion, but more importantly, we established new freedoms. As Christians, we are free from oppressive labor, judgment, and division (and lots of other things I didn't mention.) Obviously, we should celebrate those freedoms. But, most importantly, Scripture clearly states we are now servants of Christ. Romans 6:18 – “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Romans 6:22 – “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Taking His name means freedom from sin and its punishment. It also means “freedom to” obedience. Walk WITH Jesus, Jim A shorter version Walk WITH Jesus is actually published *weekly* , via e-mail. TO SUBSCRIBE send a blank message to walkwithjesus-subscribe@associate.com Then click "Reply" when you receive the confirmation request. If you believe this letter would benefit others, feel free to forward it along / post it to message boards / etc and encourage others to subscribe, please include proper credits. Jim Reynolds – John 14:1-6 Copyright 2009 ----- BIO At this writing , Jim is full. Full calendar. Full as in I can't take any more. Full of joy and awe. Full “up to here” with stuff that doesn't matter. Full of love and honor. Full of gratitude. Jim grew up – and sometimes still longs for – the suburbs of Kansas City, but now has the privilege of serving as the pastor of a non-denominational Midwestern church. He and his wonderful, beautiful, multi-talented wife, Deanna, have two children still with them and one “Punkin Seed” waiting for them in Heaven; she “went to live with her other Daddy” at the age of 5 ½ months. Jim is thrilled, humbled, and grateful for the opportunity to write for this magazine.

	Home Page
Previous Page	Table of Contents	Next Page

Several years ago, I did a search for “Independence Day” in the software version of a popular encyclopedia. The program returned over 50 articles on the first page alone. Out of the first 20, none were about the United States. Most of us grew up believing this holiday was uniquely American, but my search was a healthy reminder that, since the beginning of time, one people has sought freedom from another more, oppressive people.

Exodus chronicles the history of the Israelites escaping the domination of Egypt. Their story has many parallels to the freedoms that you and I are designed to enjoy “in Christ.”

Impossible, oppressive labor – In Exodus 5 , Moses made his initial demand to “let My people go.” As you probably remember, the situation deteriorated rapidly. Pharaoh responded to Moses' demands by refusing to give the slaves the necessary “straw” to make the “bricks” they were forced to make. In addition to the added pressure and effort of locating the raw materials, Pharaoh did not reduce their quota putting the Israelites in an impossibly difficult situation.

In Christ, we have been set free from the demands of our flesh -- not only the sinful pull common to all of us, but the impossibility of doing enough to “earn” our way to heaven. Rom. 3:23 says “All have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.” I grew up with the image of “missing the target” when this verse was explained. No matter how hard we tried to hit the bulls eye, our shot would always go astray. I have since been convicted that when comparing our efforts to God's holiness, I'm not even shooting in the right direction. I'm facing in the other way. I'm probably standing in a different time zone. And I am unarmed. There is no “falling short” of God's glory. Without Christ, there is simply God's unapproachable light and my not-even-feeble efforts to understand it. Psalms says “In Your light, we see light.” In other words, His light is the only standard for light, holiness, righteousness, and all else that is truly good. Our “light” is a black hole to Him. How could we ever be fooled into believing we could “earn” our way into His Presence?

Instead of this never-lifting burden, we are offered the unbelievably simple freedom of life in Christ. I especially like the ISV translation of Gal. 5:1 -- Christ has set us free so that we may enjoy the benefits of freedom.

Judgment – Exodus 11-13 tells the climactic story of the Exodus -- the final, horrific plague -- the death of every first born in the land. However, even in the middle of judgment, God always offers mercy to those who will accept it. The Israelites who believed Him and who did as He said by sacrificing a lamb and spreading its blood on their doorposts were protected from the ravages of the Death Angel. One evening, one decision, changed their lives and set them free forever.

“The wages of sin is death,” according to Rom. 6:23 . When you add that truth to Rom. 3:23 the sum leaves us no hope. All of us should be eternally separated from God. But 6:23 goes on to explain that the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. One decision to believe He is who He says He is (the only Son of God) and will do what He said He would do (forgive our sin) will change us and set us free… forever.

Division and separation – When the Israelites evacuated Egypt at the end of Chapter 13 , they were a unified people – a people who would quite soon establish a covenant with God that would transform history.

When we make the decision outlined above, we enter one body, one faith. Our relationship with Jesus joins us in an unbreakable bond and we become a part of the single largest, most powerful extended family in the universe.

We sometimes forget that our country's Independence Day is not just about “Freedom From.” Even more crucial to our well-being as a nation was “Freedom To.” Yes, we broke the yoke of British dominion, but more importantly, we established new freedoms. As Christians, we are free from oppressive labor, judgment, and division (and lots of other things I didn't mention.) Obviously, we should celebrate those freedoms. But, most importantly, Scripture clearly states we are now servants of Christ. Romans 6:18 – “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Romans 6:22 – “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Taking His name means freedom from sin and its punishment. It also means “freedom to” obedience.

A shorter version Walk WITH Jesus is actually published weekly , via e-mail.

If you believe this letter would benefit others, feel free to forward it along / post it to message boards / etc and encourage others to subscribe, please include proper credits.

At this writing , Jim is full. Full calendar. Full as in I can't take any more. Full of joy and awe. Full “up to here” with stuff that doesn't matter. Full of love and honor. Full of gratitude.

Jim grew up – and sometimes still longs for – the suburbs of Kansas City, but now has the privilege of serving as the pastor of a non-denominational Midwestern church. He and his wonderful, beautiful, multi-talented wife, Deanna, have two children still with them and one “Punkin Seed” waiting for them in Heaven; she “went to live with her other Daddy” at the age of 5 ½ months. Jim is thrilled, humbled, and grateful for the opportunity to write for this magazine.