A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope,
encouragement and exhortation.
Friday, November
9, 2018
"Chain Breaker" Video Gaither Vocal Band Observant readers may recall we suggested this song last week but it just fits again so well for this message!
Our
Lancaster Costco parking lot looks nice on a bright
fall day.
Click to
enlarge
"Passions
Forge Fetters"
Message
summary: We can see the awful
consequences of those whose "passions
forge their fetters".
"Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control" (Proverbs 25:28). "But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled" (1 Thessalonians 5:8).
You might need to read the above quote several times to more fully grasp the message that Burke conveys. Clearly, one of the great virtues lacking in our day is that of self-control. As Burke observed we can see the awful consequences for those whose "passions forge their fetters". The moral chains on our own appetites (self-control) are disregarded in the heat of passion. Actions are justified and consequences forgotten until they're unavoidable.
But today we want to challenge those who have been set free from sin through salvation in Christ.
Today's second verse is a powerful reminder of how exercising self-control is a major responsibility of the believer, since "we belong to the day". Earlier in the chapter Paul contrasted the day with the night and darkness (v. 5). As God's children we now live in the light of God's truth and His revelation. We no longer reside in the domain of darkness where evil presides.
"Let us be self-controlled." We are called to live self-controlled lives. Self-control is the ninth and final "Fruit of the Spirit" listed in Galatians 5:22,23 and is one of the most deficient virtues found in the lives of believers in this present generation. We can easily fall into a lax state of practicing self-control and thus the call to self-control is repeated all through the New Testament.
I am aware in my own life of the need to keep this discipline ever before me. In our hearts we can all likely identify areas where we lack self-control. It may be in our eating, use of our time, finances, spiritual disciplines, our temperament or in a host of other areas. Some struggle to overcome destructive habits while others may need to apply self-control in their attitudes toward anger, worry, jealousy, or any other form of ungodly attitudes or behavior.
Take some time to reflect on those things in your life that have become fetters. Where do you need to exercise self-control? Remember, passions forge fetters.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, as
children of the light, we no longer
desire the attitudes or behavior we
practiced when living in ignorance
where darkness reigns. After dying to
self You took up residence and
equipped us with the necessary tools
to battle our struggle against sin.
Help us to throw off everything that
hinders, entangles, or identifies us
with the enemy. Your discipline is
always right and good for us because
it means we will share in Your
holiness. Self-control is a difficult
exercise since it requires
self-denial, restraint and full
surrender to You. The reward follows
as we enjoy a wonderful harvest of
right living. Not only will it benefit
us personally, but it will result in a
testimony of thanksgiving to You, make
us more like Christ and be an example
to those we seek to influence. We ask
Your help in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Listen
to our message
on your audio player.
"Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control" (Proverbs 25:28). "But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled" (1 Thessalonians 5:8).
For
many years now it's common to see
makeshift roadside memorials for those
who have died in a traffic accident.
For the last several weeks traveling
north out of Lancaster on Rt. 222, the
main four lane highway to
Philadelphia, we have been passing
this sign beside a roadside memorial
with an unmistakable message, "Don't
Drink and Drive!"
It
doesn't take a rocket scientist or
brain surgeon to interpret this
message to figure out what happened.
We wonder what impact this is having
on the thousands who pass it every day
and consider what effect if such a
sign were required wherever a DUI
related fatality occurred. This is one
image you will never see on the flashy
ads for booze with attractive young
people just going out for a good time,
any more than you would see an
emaciated, dying cancer patient in a
tobacco ad.
One
of the most common discussions we have
in the course of our chaplaincy work
is addictions, whether personal
addictions or those of a family
member. Just yesterday I spoke to a
man who is dealing with emphysema due
to a longstanding tobacco addiction.
Another whose son has had a continual
battle with opioid addiction. Then a
follow-up with a woman and good report
about her mate who is overcoming
alcoholism and thankfully staying on
course away from the poison. One of
the best voice mails I ever received
was a call from him thanking me for
helping him in this matter.
There's an old chorus from our Bible School days that speaks of the fetters (chains) that keep us bound in our life of sin. The word, "fetter" is a word not used often these days but it is used in various hymns describing the wonderful freedom that Christ brings.
Some 250 years ago British statesman Edmund Burke wrote,
There's an old chorus from our Bible School days that speaks of the fetters (chains) that keep us bound in our life of sin. The word, "fetter" is a word not used often these days but it is used in various hymns describing the wonderful freedom that Christ brings.
Jesus
breaks every fetter,
Jesus breaks every fetter,
Jesus breaks every fetter,
And He sets me free!
Jesus breaks every fetter,
Jesus breaks every fetter,
And He sets me free!
Some 250 years ago British statesman Edmund Burke wrote,
"Men
are qualified for civil liberty in
exact proportion to their
disposition to put moral chains on
their own appetites. Society cannot
exist unless a controlling power
upon will and appetite be placed
somewhere, and the less of it there
is within, the more there is
without. It is ordained in the
eternal constitution of things that
men of intemperate minds cannot be
free. Their passions forge their
fetters."
You might need to read the above quote several times to more fully grasp the message that Burke conveys. Clearly, one of the great virtues lacking in our day is that of self-control. As Burke observed we can see the awful consequences for those whose "passions forge their fetters". The moral chains on our own appetites (self-control) are disregarded in the heat of passion. Actions are justified and consequences forgotten until they're unavoidable.
But today we want to challenge those who have been set free from sin through salvation in Christ.
Today's second verse is a powerful reminder of how exercising self-control is a major responsibility of the believer, since "we belong to the day". Earlier in the chapter Paul contrasted the day with the night and darkness (v. 5). As God's children we now live in the light of God's truth and His revelation. We no longer reside in the domain of darkness where evil presides.
"Let us be self-controlled." We are called to live self-controlled lives. Self-control is the ninth and final "Fruit of the Spirit" listed in Galatians 5:22,23 and is one of the most deficient virtues found in the lives of believers in this present generation. We can easily fall into a lax state of practicing self-control and thus the call to self-control is repeated all through the New Testament.
I am aware in my own life of the need to keep this discipline ever before me. In our hearts we can all likely identify areas where we lack self-control. It may be in our eating, use of our time, finances, spiritual disciplines, our temperament or in a host of other areas. Some struggle to overcome destructive habits while others may need to apply self-control in their attitudes toward anger, worry, jealousy, or any other form of ungodly attitudes or behavior.
Take some time to reflect on those things in your life that have become fetters. Where do you need to exercise self-control? Remember, passions forge fetters.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer:
Father, as
children of the light, we no longer
desire the attitudes or behavior we
practiced when living in ignorance
where darkness reigns. After dying to
self You took up residence and
equipped us with the necessary tools
to battle our struggle against sin.
Help us to throw off everything that
hinders, entangles, or identifies us
with the enemy. Your discipline is
always right and good for us because
it means we will share in Your
holiness. Self-control is a difficult
exercise since it requires
self-denial, restraint and full
surrender to You. The reward follows
as we enjoy a wonderful harvest of
right living. Not only will it benefit
us personally, but it will result in a
testimony of thanksgiving to You, make
us more like Christ and be an example
to those we seek to influence. We ask
Your help in the name of Jesus. Amen.During
November it is the custom for the
Amish to have weddings on Thursdays
resulting in even more Amish traffic
than usual. At our first company this
morning one of the salesmen said he
got behind what seemed like 40 buggies
or so as they were making their way to
an Amish wedding.
Today's
Suggested
Music and Supplemental Resources
"Jesus
Breaks Every Fetter"
Video
Vestal Goodman
"Chain Breaker" Video Gaither Vocal Band Observant readers may recall we suggested this song last week but it just fits again so well for this message!
"Jesus
Saves" Video
Travis Cottrell
Finally
today:
We see a
lot of interesting sights in the
course of our chaplaincy visits.
In this photo Derek and Nick are positioning a vacuum lift that will transfer a 2,000 pound sheet of 1 inch steel onto a laser cutting machine at Smucker Laser.
In this photo Derek and Nick are positioning a vacuum lift that will transfer a 2,000 pound sheet of 1 inch steel onto a laser cutting machine at Smucker Laser.
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Scripture references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version. © 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the King James Version.
Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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