July 26

“I had found in the Lord Jesus a deliverer from the guilt of sin, but I wanted to find in Him a deliverer from the power of sin, and I did not know how to set about it.”  Hannah Whitall Smith, God is Enough, 7/25

Hannah went to a Christian teacher that she felt must know how.  He told her that she could never expect to be delivered from the power of sin while here on earth.  This was very discouraging to her and for years she, too, was like the Israelite spies that had brought back a bad report from the Promised Land that their enemy was too strong for them.  She said she caused many people to wander with her in the wilderness for many years.  But then she discovered in God’s word that she could be delivered from the power of sin and all she had to do was claim it.  Like any gift, until we take possession of it, it is not ours yet.  So, I ask myself, “What gifts are still sitting on the shelf, unwrapped?”  Actually, I think I have some in a trunk, out of sight.  If I really want to be honest, though, I have to admit there are plenty sitting in plain sight, already unwrapped, but not being used.  It’s like all the musical instruments we have but do not play.  We’ve become collectors.  I know this is not what God intended and He has clearly stated that He expects us to invest what He’s already given us if we want more.  It’s time I started putting to good use all that God has already given me.

“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do; sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”  Romans 8:3, 4