Such
as sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death, being bound in affliction and iron;
Because they rebelled against the words of
God, and contemned the counsel of the most
High:
Therefore he brought down their heart with
labour; they fell down, and there was none
to help.
Then they cried unto the LORD in their
trouble, and he saved them out of their
distresses.
He brought them out of darkness and the
shadow of death, and brake their bands in
sunder.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for his
goodness, and for his wonderful works to the
children of men!
For he hath broken the gates of brass, and
cut the bars of iron in sunder.
(Psa 107:10-16)
Sin brings bondage. It brings darkness.
It brings death. Along with sin comes
bondage. It is a yolk. When we choose
pleasure and sin over God’s commands we
invite pain, and trouble. When you choose
sin you choose slavery! No man can serve two
masters! Sin will be your master. The labor
that sin requires is very heavy. You will
work harder to enjoy your sin than you will
ever work to put food on the table. When you
want to quit it demands more and more. Just
like the Hebrews laboring to make bricks,
sin will make you into a slave. It will
drive you way past the place that you would
quit.
Joh 3:19 And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because
their deeds were evil.
Evil deeds are darkness. This is a trap. The
more that we sin the more we cannot see
through the darkness. Nothing looks right.
Your mind will be filled with
darkness. A blindness will cover your eyes.
Your mind will be filled with anger, lust,
contempt, envy. Sin is a slave driver that
brings darkness!
But God is so full of mercy! He doesn’t
want us to chose a path that will lead us
away from Him. He wants us all to turn
to Him so that we can enjoy liberty and
freedom. He doesn’t want us to serve our
flesh and Satan because He knows that death
will follow. So God in His love and
graciousness makes that path hard. Choosing
sin is the hard road. He fills that
path with thorns. He wants us to turn back.
Why? So that He can bless us!
Only when we come to the end of our selves
can we find freedom. What is that freedom?
It is the power to do good works. It is the
power to have self-control. It is the power
to live according to God’s plan. This path
God will bless. God orders this path. There
are boundaries that keep us on the road.
There are hedges that keep us. It is
kind of like the little bumps on the side of
a highway that let a sleepy driver know that
they have slipped of to sleep. The path is
straight. This is real freedom. It is the
ability to do as God directs. It is totally
contrary to the bondage of sin.
What brings that freedom? It is when we
begin to hate the condition that we are in!
It is when we can no longer stand the mess
that our life is in. First we have to
acknowledge where we have gotten to. Until
we come to the place when we can say, I am
totally bound by my sin we can find no
deliverance. There is no self help program
that brings freedom! It is only Christ. So
when does He come? When we have acknowledged
our state and begin to cry out to Him. When
you say that there is no one else that can
save me. When you have become fed up with
the slavery.
Then God will hear you. Then He will rush in
and save you. When you are in the distress.
When you acknowledge that you are lost. He
will seek you out and find you and deliver
you. He will break off the bands of
iron! He will flood you in His light.
Joh 3:20 For every one that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh to the
light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
Joh 3:21 But he that doeth truth
cometh to the light, that his deeds may be
made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Then is God’s goodness shown and
manifested. That light comes in and chases
away all darkness. You are no longer in the
shadow of death! Freedom comes! He breaks
off the bands of iron, and He will break
down the Gates that have kept you in
captivity. This is salvation. Are you tired
of bondage? Are you hungry enough to be
honest about where you are? Have you come to
the place that you have run out of options?
Have all of your plan Bs Cs and Ds fallen
through? Finally God has gotten you to the
place that He can show Himself to you. Just
cry out to Him and keep crying out to Him
until deliverance comes. Weeping is just for
a night, there is joy in the morning!
Joh 12:46 I am come a light into the
world, that whosoever believeth on me should
not abide in darkness
1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another, and the blood of Jesus
Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Eph 5:8 For ye were sometimes
darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord:
walk as children of light:
Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the
day is at hand: let us therefore cast off
the works of darkness, and let us put on the
armour of light.
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