PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS
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The constant message of the wider, unbelieving world is that you and I need to embrace ourselves and love every part of our being, even the terrible, sinful, and rebellious parts of our fallen nature. If those preaching this mantra had their way, you and I would remain chained to our sin for all of eternity. Those who tell us to embrace our fallen nature are calling us to remain slaves to sin.
This is not the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As you will hear in the passage below, those willing to receive the work of Jesus Christ by faith have been given a new identity, a new place in God’s family.
If you are able, read this passage aloud and listen to what it has to say about who you were and who you have now become because of the work of Christ.
4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”
7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.
(Galatians 4:4-7 NLT)
Sent
In verses 4-5, we hear that the Lord God Almighty has entered into creation through the incarnation of God the Son, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus’ timing and actions were purposed by God and as such, they are a gift to all who will believe on his name.
Adopt
In verse 5, we are given this great image of the believer’s adoption into the family of God through the work of Jesus Christ. We are the works of God’s creative mind, and yet the Lord loves us so much that he would adopt us into his own family, welcoming us as one of his own.
Spirit
Because we have been welcomed into the family of God, we must be enabled to be in the presence of God for eternity. We do not possess eternal life on our own. We need the Lord to fill us with some portion of himself, of his eternal nature, if we are going to be a part of his eternal family. And so, we have been given the gift of God’s own presence, the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit.
Abba
As those who have been adopted by God, filled with his Holy Spirit, and set free from our slavery to sin and the law, we are not able to approach the Lord on familiar and intimate terms. To cry, “Abba,” is to speak to your Daddy. The Lord is not removed and distant from his children; he is present with us in every breath through the work of His Spirit.
No longer
We were once slaves to sin. Addicted to self. Following our own shadow as our master. But now, we have been set free from this bondage and are now able to live our lives from a position of freedom as those who have adopted and sons and daughters of the Living God.
We are not trying to earn God’s love. We are not able to pay the Lord back for the sacrifice of the Christ. What we can do, what we want to do, is to live this day in freedom. We are free to live our lives as the beloved children of God.
Heirs
As if all that we have studied were not enough to motivate us to seek faithfulness to the Lord today, we are given one more incredible gift. The Lord has received us as co-heirs with Christ. We are not outsiders, slaves, or even unworthy servants in the eyes of God. When the Lord looks at us, he sees the Sonship of Christ, and we are welcomed into the family of God as heirs and co-heirs with Jesus.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, I want to live this day in faithfulness to you. I am amazed at all that you have done for me, and I cannot and do not ask for more. My only desire for today is to take each step and each breath, from a place of true freedom, thanks to my inclusion into your family through the gift of grace. Thank you, Lord.
In Christ,
Ryan Laden
PASTOR RYAN LADEN
Senior Pastor at PARK HILL BAPTIST CHURCH
Worked at MTN. CHURCH
Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church
Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Studied at Baylor University
Studied at Texas Tech University
Went to Castle Hills First Baptist
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