"It took 300 years, but the Black Plague finally reached the quaint village of Eyam, England. George Viccars, a tailor, unpacked a parcel shipped from London. The cloth he'd ordered had arrived. But as he opened and shoot it, he released plague-infected fleas. Within four days he was dead, and the village was doomed. The town unselfishly quarantined itself, seeking to protect the region. Other villages deposited food in an open field and left the people of Eyam to die alone. But to everyone's amazement, many survived. One year later, when outsiders again visited the town, they found half the residents had resisted the disease. How so? They had touched it. Breathed it. One surviving mother had buried six children and her husband in one week. The gravedigger had handled hundreds of diseased corpses yet hadn't died. Why not? How did they survive?
Lineage. Through DNA studies of descendants, scientists found proof of a disease-blocking gene. The gene garrisoned the white blood cells, preventing the bacteria from gaining entrance. The plague, in other words, could touch people with this gene but not kill them. Hence a subpopulace swam in a sea of infection but emerged untouched. All because they had the right parents. What's the secret for surviving the Black Plague? Pick the right ancestry.
Of course they couldn't. But by God you can. You can select your spiritual father. You can change your family tree from that of Adam to God. And when you do, he moves in. His resistance becomes your resistance. His Teflon coating becomes yours. Sin may entice you, but will never enslave you. Sin may, and will. touch you, discourage you, and distract you, but it cannot condemn you. Christ is in you, and you are in him, and "there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus" (Rom. 8:1 NIV).
Can I urge you to trust this truth? Let your constant prayer be this; "Lord, I receive your work. My sins are pardoned." Trust the work of God for you. Then trust the presence of Christ in you. Take frequent, refreshing drinks from his well of grace. You need regular reminders that you are not fatally afflicted! Don't live as though you are."
WOW- am I right? Am I the only one who has frequently opted to live life as if I am defeated by it? Am I the only one who can easily forget who my Father is and what it means to have Christ in me? I have never doubted I am God's daughter, but I have often allowed myself to forget who HE is. Or I put him in a tiny little box, limiting his power in my life but refusing to see it. I walk from day to day, condemning myself in my tiny failings, forgetting he has overcome sin itself. I get easily discouraged, distracted and depressed by the things around me, forgetting he has overcome the world. I have often lived my life feeling pressed down, stepped on, crushed by this world, but as a daughter of the Most High God, Creator, Savior, Friend, I have the power to live a part, separated from it. I have the power to rise up, to resist and live a life of freedom. I don't know about you, but I figure it's high time I live my life daily in truth, I am not fatally afflicted, death has no power over me, PERIOD.
"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
"Sin may entice you, but will never enslave you. Sin may, and will touch you, discourage you, and distract you, but it cannot condemn you."
ReplyDeleteA hard hit. But a good one.
LOVED this post (and that devotional looks SO good!)! Your take on the passage struck my heart (in a good way). Love your heart and LOVE that you share it!