Devotional Thought of the Day:

41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank d You that You heard Me. e 42 I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent f Me.” 43 After He said this, He shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him and let him go.”  John 11:41-44 HCSB

422    Jesus is your Friend—the friend—with a human heart, like yours, with most loving eyes that wept for Lazarus. And as much as he loved Lazarus, he loves you …

No, my blog hasn’t developed a Brooklyn accent, and no, I am not being rude.

I am not telling you to get lost, but indeed to be loosed, freed, from that which clings to you like the death wrappings clung to Lazarus.

Things like bitterness, resentment, envy, the need to gossip, the struggles with lust; you need to be free of these things.

We can add anxieties to this, for often these lead to temptation, and to doubt.

We can add sin as well, and all of the effects sin has on us, from the guilt and shame and fear of God’s wrath to the brokenness of injustice when we are the victim of sin.

We need to be freed from these things, to have them stripped from us, taken away, even as the burial wraps were unraveled, and he was free.

It starts with the Easter cry, “Come out” and our hearts souls, and minds follow Jesus out of the tomb, We have to hear His voice, and let it draw us past this other stuff that held as prisoners inside the tomb of our stone hearts (see Ezekiel 26:25ff)

As we hear His voice, the Holy Spirit breaks the power of death over us, and gives us life, the life He is Lord of, (this very thing we confess in the creeds! )  If the Spirit didn’t generate life in us, we couldn’t answer the call,  He has, and this is something incredible.

A life lived in the presence of the Lord and Savior, who calls us His friends.

A life lived loosed of all the sin that so easily ensnares us.

A life lived loosed of all that is not of God’s love.

What are we waiting for?

Lord have mercy on us, and help us to live in your resurrection, for it is ours as well! AMEN!

What are the things you need to be freed from?

Escriva, Josemaria. The Way (Kindle Locations 1047-1049). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.