The Law of Liberty (19)

When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies; I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments. Psalm 119.57, 58

Celtic Christians worked hard at building communities dedicated to the pursuit of holiness. Not just monks and other clergy, but lay men and women from all walks of life joined in the effort to grow out of all sinful practices into the liberty and love of God

The Law of Liberty (18)

Make your face to shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes. Psalm 119.135

In the human soul, the conscience functions as the keeper of priorities, values, and default choices. In that respect it is nearly equal to the will. Except when people are reacting instinctively to something

The Law of Liberty (17)

In Scripture, the heart is the centerpiece of the soul, the seat of our affections, the wellspring of attitudes, emotions, aspirations, hopes, and desires. Both Solomon and Jesus warned us to keep a close watch over our hearts, because the primary issues of life flow from that source, and it can corrupt and mislead us, if we do not attend to it continuously.

This is why God requires that we love Him with all our hearts. He knows that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, prone to lead us into false affections, misleading desires, unwholesome attitudes, and vain hopes. When we refuse to love God with all our hearts, our hearts will bend toward mere self-interest. That may seem the thing to do just now, but it usually ends up not as satisfying as we

The Law of Liberty (16)

At times, when I was a kid, I found my parents to be somewhat unreasonable and hard to live with. Whenever I wanted something with which they didn

Celtic Christians worked hard at building communities dedicated to the pursuit of holiness. Not just monks and other clergy, but lay men and women from all walks of life joined in the effort to grow out of all sinful practices into the liberty and love of God’s Law.

Although the devil has been bound, and certain limits imposed on just how much he may be free to tyrannize humankind (Matt. 12.22-29), still, he’s out there, and we know it.

Over the more than 40 years that I’ve been a Christian, a good many “fads” and “movements” have wafted in and out of the household of faith.

James referred to the Law of God as the “law of liberty.” We have seen how the Law liberates us as people to be all that God intends us to be in soul and body, growing in grace and sanctification, that we might be pleasing to Him in all things.

Fundamental to the tactics of the devil is casting doubt on God’s Word. So we see him in the Garden, challenging the certainty with which Eve explained God’s laws. He does the same thing yet today, causing believers to question the reliability of Scripture by a number of ways.

The devil loves to sow perplexity into the ranks of men. He creates confusion and uncertainty concerning our purpose in life – why we are here and what we can expect to accomplish – and leaves many people thrashing against the unknown in search of something meaningful.

I recall reading an article some time ago that explained the difference between guilt and shame. Both are equally yucky feelings. Either makes us feel dirty, embarrassed, and even a little threatened. The devil loves it when we feel this way, almost as much as when, having become hardened to sin, we don’t feel anything at all.

The Law of Liberty (26)

 It’s curious that David would insert an observation concerning the fear of the Lord into the midst of this meditation on the Law of God. Quite probably “fear” is another way of referring to the Law, since, keeping the Law issues from love for and fear of God (Deut. 10.12).