June 14, 2026 – Freedom
JC – “I have loved you with an everlasting Love…. For years you swam around in a sea of meaninglessness, searching for Love, hoping for hope. All that time I was pursuing you…. When the time was right, I revealed Myself to you. I lifted you out of that sea of despair…. wrapped an ermine robe around you…. sang you a Love song…. infused meaning into your mind…. Join Me in singing My song. Together we will draw others out of darkness into My marvelous Light.” See Jeremiah 31:3, Isaiah 61:10, and 1 Peter 2:9.
New – Psalm 119:32 ESV – “I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!” When we relent to God’s pursuit, our hearts gradually change making more and more room for His desires and ways; but, as Slawson points out, “Being a big-hearted person or a freehanded host does not come naturally. We come into the world crying to have our wants and needs satisfied; and for some people, little changes as they age. Generosity and other-centeredness have to be cultivated; they are a response to what we see and experience…. Emotional reactions to others become possible for us because Jesus is alive in our hearts, enlarging our capacity to love by His liberating love. This is what it means to be set free – free to love, free to follow Christ, free to run in the way of His commandments.”
Days – “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him” (Ps. xxv. 14). Simpson reminds us that, “There are secrets of Providence which God’s dear children may learn. His dealing with them often seems, to the outward eye, dark and terrible. Faith looks deeper and says, ‘This is God’s secret. You look only on the outside; I can look deeper and see the hidden meaning.’ Sometimes diamonds are done up in rough packages, so that their value cannot be seen…. Do not be so foolish as to throw away a nugget of gold because there is some quartz in it. If we take what He sends, and trust Him for the goodness in it, even in the dark, we shall learn the meaning of the secrets of His providence.”
Prevail #165 – Isaiah 1:18 – “’Come now, let’s settle this,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow.’” This verse that Larson chose speaks to God’s pursuit of us and His desire to give us a better path to follow. She explains, “From an earthly point of view, the nation of Judah appeared to be prosperous. But from heaven’s point of view, the people of God were on the brink of destruction…. They’d so lost their way…. [Don’t we all have concerns for people who have strayed from God’s best for them?] He doesn’t need anything from us. He longs for our hearts. Imagine God’s heartbreak. His own people had turned their backs on Him. Dr. Warren Wiersbe writes, ‘Before passing judgment on worshippers in a bygone era, we should confess the sins of the worshipping church today’…. God’s invitation to return and repent stands just as true today. He’ll wash away every sin…. If you’ve wandered in any way, return to Him. And if not, pray for those who have. Pray for revival.”
Power – Galatians 5:1 – “In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].” This verse makes me think of the Church of the Highlands (COTH) sermon today which was based on Joseph’s story and how God used the difficult times in his life to lead him to what was ahead for him. In Utmost today, Chambers’ leans into this idea as well, “Determine to abide in Jesus wherever you are placed.” Don always advises, “Bloom where you are planted.”
Joyce encourages, “As your relationship with God matures, you will find yourself living less by rules and regulations and more by the desires of your heart. As you learn more of the Word, you will find His desires filling your heart, and it will be easier for you to discern God’s will…. Once you are free in Christ, stand fast in that liberty and do not become ensnared with legalism, which is the yoke of bondage you have put off. God wants to bring you to a new place, a place full of freedom to follow your heart.”
Streams – Luke 22:32 – “I have prayed for you…that your faith may not fail.” Cowman shares these important thoughts, from Charles H. Spurgeon, about our connection to God: “Dear Christian, remember to take good care of your faith, for faith is the only way to obtain God’s blessings. Prayer alone cannot bring answers down from His throne, because it is the earnest prayer of one who believes that leads to answers…. while we are still speaking, ‘he hears us’ (1 John 5:14)…. But without faith, I call to Him in vain, for faith is the only road between my soul and heaven…. Faith insures me that each of His attributes will be used in my defense…. ‘Everything is possible for him who believes’ (Mark 9:23).”
JA – “LOVE IS PATIENT…. Patient people [like Joseph] can stay calm while enduring lengthy waits or dealing with difficult people and problems…. Some Christians are afraid to pray for patience. They fear that I’ll answer their prayer by subjecting them to severe suffering and trials. However, suffering serves an important purpose in My kingdom, and trials are not optional. They come so that your faith may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor to Me!” See 1 Corinthians 13:4, Galatians 5:22-23, and 1 peter 1:6-7.
It just hit me that perhaps we are indeed lacking in what we pray for and that is why those trials do come because, as humans, we learn better when we have to work through things ourselves than when the answers and solutions are spoon fed to us. Case in point, I have been praying for years for God to help me declutter and get organized. I trudge through and make some progress at times, but my most successful sessions of reclaiming the spaces in our home seem to come after I’ve helped other people in their homes. The work is most often hard, and even defeating at times, but I always, yes always, feel rejuvenated after helping others make headway in what seemed impossible at first. Resilience was the main theme of the COTH message today.
JL – “Powerful Savior, You tell me in Your Word that You are able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine. So I come to You with positive expectations, knowing there is no limit to what You can accomplish! I confess, though, that I sometimes feel discouraged because so many of my long-term prayers are still unanswered. Please help me to wait patiently – trusting You in the midst of uncertainty…. You’ve shown me that the more extreme my circumstances, the more likely I am to see Your Power and Glory at work in the situation…. In Your holy Name, Jesus. Amen.” See Ephesians 3:20-21, Isaiah 40:30-31, and Psalm 63:2.
