John 8:31-32
Introduction
Life is like a dinner plate. Every day is a new day dished out onto the “plate” of your life. Over time, your life “plate” will experience a vast range of every color, texture and temperature. A plate left out overnight will be hard to clean in the morning. While you could scrub a plate clean with elbow grease, an alternative is soaking the dish in hot water and dishwashing liquid. Letting a dish abide in the solution will allow a challenging cleaning job to become a lot easier. This is what abiding in truth does for Christians as they live surrendered and available to Christ, free from the cares of this world.
Abiding in truth is the way committed Christians experience victory over illegitimate spiritual bondage. When we allow every temperament, every character, or lack thereof to permeate our plate, we allow the presence, power and practice of sin to sit on us like a thick residue attacking the surface. Much like the plate from the illustration, our lives are held in bondage and enslaved by the sin covering us and seeking to permeate the core of who we are. However, when we abide in the solution of God’s truth as opposed to scrubbing ourselves in our own truth, it makes room for a much easier cleaning job. The solution for believers is to practice abiding in truth. This practice requires gaining biblical knowledge, rejecting spiritual deception, and applying spiritual truth. Abiding means hearing God’s Word, learning it, retaining it, responding to it and then obeying it. When you soak in these solutions, you see the truth at work against the sin that holds you hostage and keeps you from clearing your plate.
There is freedom in abiding in truth, but there is also spiritual reward. If you are abiding in truth, you develop a more intimate relationship with Jesus, the deliverer. Jesus uses the truth to bring about deliverance. He shows you that He has authority over the thing you think is holding you hostage. Abiding in the Word activates the person of Christ and allows Him to fully operate on your behalf against the incarceration of sin that will seek to burden your life plate. He will also be activated to show you the victory and power of God’s written Word. So, stop working so hard in your own strength to deal with the weight of the world on your plate. Stop walking in your own truth. Instead, allow your desire for a relationship with Christ to drive you to “soak.” Make it your aim to sit in God’s truth because abiding in this solution will set you free!
Getting Started
- Who does the dishes in your house? Is your home a hand wash or dishwasher kind of home?
- What about your plates? Are you a paper, plastic, or glass plate kind of home?
Let’s Get Personal
- What does it look like for you to abide or soak in God’s truth? What about abiding in His presence and prioritizing your relationship with Him. What does time spent with the Lord look like for you?
- Take a moment and inventory the presence of sin in your life. Do this privately or share in your groups. How can you apply God’s Word to your life right now so you can experience freedom?
Take the Next Step
- How can you develop a more intimate relationship with the person of Christ? In what way has today’s message encouraged you to engage with God’s written Word this week?
- What are you currently trying to do apart from God in your own strength? What change will you make based on the power of God at work in your life from your decision to abide in Him?
- Want to go deeper? Take time to look at the following passages: John 15:1-16; John 8:33-36; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Corinthians 10:1-5; John 8:44
Renew Your Mind
“…and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32
