King of ThornsSample

4th Day

Old life nailed, new life nurtured… what is that all about?

When the nation of Israel sinned during their wilderness journey, there was an outbreak of venomous snakes in their camp. The people that got bitten by the snakes were not killed because of the bite, but because of the venom that came through the bite. In Numbers 21 we see that God commanded Moses to put a bronze snake on a tree and whoever will look upon it will be healed. Remember we learned yesterday that everything that hangs on a tree is cursed. So, God was showing the people of Israel that He is going to curse the snake (the enemy, the devil) so we don’t have to be cursed by the snake any longer. Jesus on the cross took the curse that the enemy brought upon Himself and whoever will behold the Lamb of God will be healed.

In life, we might get bitten by the enemy, we might give in to his temptations and we might believe his lies and obey his voice. But Jesus made a way so that we don’t have to be killed by the venom of his bite. When we live in sin and practice wrongful things, we allow the venom of the enemy to stay in our lives. But when we turn to Jesus then the venom gets removed from our lives and we get healed from the scars that the teeth of the snake left on us. Praise God for the cross of Jesus!

If you have ever stepped into thorns or thistles while walking in the field, you will know that the best way to continue your journey is to stop, remove the thorn from your foot, put on some shoes, and continue walking. The same principle is applicable to sin. When the Holy Spirit convicts you of your sin, He will show you where the thorn is in your foot and He will guide you on how to remove it. The Holy Spirit will teach you how to walk away from those sins in your life and walk in the shoes of the Gospel instead. He is the ultimate teacher of how to walk in purity, honor, righteousness, life, light, and obedience unto God. He will always convict us of our sins, never condemn us. It is when we don’t obey our convictions that we fall into condemnation.

I encourage you guys not to walk in the things that Jesus dealt with on the cross. Walk in the things that He paid for on the cross. When the Holy Spirit convicts you, then obey His voice and His leading. The Holy Spirit’s convictions will always come twofold. 1) To show us where we are wrong and 2) to show us what has been made right. We have been made right with God through Jesus. We have been reconciled into Sonship with the Father through Jesus. We have been delivered from sin, shame, guilt, and condemnation and are led to love, peace, acceptance, and righteousness through Jesus.