Romans 8:13-14 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
Once upon a time, there was a prince who received a very rare and beautiful bird. He named her Goldie and placed her in a lovely, 14K gold cage. But the poor creature was not impressed by the gold at all. She pleaded for her freedom but the prince loved her much too much to part with her. Still, she continued to beg. In final desperation, she asked that he at least allow her go to her relatives and tell them that, though captive, she was still alive.
The prince was not certain she would return if he allowed her to go, so he decided to go and inform them himself. He went into the forest, where Goldie directed him and he found her sister. When she heard the awful news of Goldie’s capture, she immediately fell to the ground and died.
Sorrowful, he returned to his castle and told Goldie the sad news that her sister had died. Immediately Goldie collapsed and died in the same manner.
Perplexed, but a tear rolling down his cheek, the prince then took the poor bird out of the cage, gently wrapped her in a cloth and placed her on his window sill in order to bury her. Suddenly, to the prince’s amazement, the cloth began to move and Goldie fluttered out. She quickly flew out the window and landed in the nearest tree.
“You don’t understand, fine prince” called the bird from the nearby, “by pretending to die, my sister taught me the way to escape.”
The moral of the story is simply this. If we want to truly be free — we have to die!
If we want to truly live a life of freedom, a life full of peace and joy, a life which provokes others to jealousy — we must learn to die to our flesh and give our all to the One who has given His all for us! Let’s take up our cross once again today.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Most people overlook a very significant part of the parable of the prodigal son, which is – the elder son received his inheritance as well! (Luke 15:12b) According to the custom of the times, the older son's inheritance would have been twice that of the younger son. In that light, his response to his younger brother's initiative, a response of silence...speaks volumes.
I'm sure we all have heard the parable of the Prodigal Son [Luke 15:11-32], but I want to spend some time this week really dissecting this particular parable so we can gain deeper insight into this message of Jesus (Yeshua).
Many believers have a special place, a quiet place where they go to spend time with the Lord. This is a very important thing. But how many believers have actually 'prepared a way' for the Lord?
An organization in Montana offered a bounty of five thousand dollars for every wolf captured alive. Two hunters decided to head for the hills and make some money capturing wolves. Day and night, they scoured the mountains and forests searching for their valuable prey. Exhausted after three days of hunting without success, they both fell asleep.
My wife and I had the privilege of leading a tour in Israel with over 50 people from all over the world. When tourists come to Israel, and especially to these southern parts where we live, one of the first things they're warned is to make certain they drink enough water. The climate here is very dry -- it fools you into thinking it's not as hot as it really is. You might not even feel thirsty, and before you know it, you can collapse from dehydration.
In one passage in John, Mary and Martha come running to Jesus, asking Him to heal Lazarus, who was critically ill. Since Lazarus was a good friend of Jesus, I'm sure they were expecting that Jesus would come immediately to his aid. The scripture says, however, that Jesus stayed two more days in the place where He was. It was in those two days that Lazarus died.
A noncommissioned officer was directing the repairs of a military building during the American Revolution. He was barking orders to the soldiers under his command, trying to get them to raise a heavy wooden beam.