Shackled By All My Failures

It is Day 3 of the Year 2013 and some of you may have already broken your New Years Resolution; others may be regretting them by now. Some may be like me and have not made any or even narrowed it down to one. Others may be going strong in their resolution. Whatever may be your case, I want to share with you what God put on my heart this morning.

In fact He awakened me at 3 am.

You are redeemed!

One of heaven’s favorites songs has to be Big Daddy Weave’s “Redeemed.” Please watch the video below and then we will return to our thoughts:

I think this morning we should concentrate on the first stanza:

    Seems like all I could see was the struggle
    Haunted by ghosts that lived in my past
    Bound up in shackles of all my failures
    Wondering how long is this gonna last
    Then You look at this prisoner and say to me “son
    Stop fighting a fight it’s already been won”

Have you been fighting a fight that’s already been won? Do you actually understand what it means to be redeemed in Christ? It means that the sins you have committed, along with their horrible consequences, have been purchased by the blood of Christ. All you are carrying with you, the guilt, the pain, the mental anguish, has been paid for by Jesus. Your sin put a ransom on your soul and only Jesus can pay the price.

As a blood-bought, purchased by Jesus Christian, you need not walk this earth in fear, “haunted by ghosts that lived” in your past. The Prophet Isaiah explains the benefits of redemption thusly:

    “A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there…” (Isaiah 35:8-9)

Isaiah was writing about the nation of Israel who had gone astray from her Lord, and yet He promised their return to Zion. How could He make that promise? By paying the ransom that their sin had wrought:

    “So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isaiah 51:11)

Redemption replaces sorrow and sighing with joy and gladness. Is that you dear Christian, or are you still “wondering all how is this gonna last”? Oh but Bro Dave, redemption seems too good to be true! Oh beloved, it is! That’s why it is called grace. Grace is too good to be true, and yet it is.

We base most things on our worthiness; many a person deems him or herself unworthy because they are shackled by all their failures and they constantly live in the past. But those of us who have accepted Christ as Redeemer through faith in Him have an amazing future. And it has nothing to do with our faith, but with the object of our faith. We have a Lamb that is worthy!

    “And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?’ And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it. So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.’ And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’” (Revelation 5:1-10)

Jesus is “worthy to take the scroll, and to open the seals” because He was “slain, and [has] redeemed us to God.”

Beloved, I am redeemed! Jesus has set me free! I am no longer shackled by all my failures.

My New Years Resolution is to “shake off these heavy chains, wipe away every stain, ‘cause I’m not who I used to be.”

I am redeemed. Jesus has set me free.

Are you redeemed? Has Jesus set you free?

Yes? Live life that way then dear brothers and sisters! Live free! Not free to sin by some cheap grace sold by Peddlers of Christ preaching from the NTFV (New Touchy-Feely Version) Bible.

I’m talking true deliverance that can only happen through authentic Biblical redemption.

You still don’t understand all that it means to be redeemed?

Okay, we’ll talk more on that next time…

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2013 David Jeffers

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