What is Binding You?

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Romans 8:15 (KJB), “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”

We are all slaves to something or someone. Once we were slaves to impurity, to sin. What we thought would bring us pleasure had only ended up ruling our lives. When we wanted to do good, we ended up doing bad and when we were determined not to sin again, we did. Paul had the same problem (Romans 7). Our human nature is weak.

Romans 6:19 (NLT), “Because of the weakness of your human nature, I am using the illustration of slavery to help you understand all this. Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy.”

Thank God, He provided a way to be free. In fact He has called us to liberty.

Galatians 5:13 (KJB), “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

When we finally accept the finished work of the cross and Jesus’ shed blood, we have been set free from sin and death. The law doesn’t rule us anymore. We now have the law of liberty, the law of grace and love. The more we know the truth, the freer we get. Sin has no rule in heaven, so it now has no rule for us. It is bound in heaven, so it is bound in our lives. We are now citizens of heaven. “But I still mess up!” I hear you say. Of course, we aren’t perfect…yet. It will not enslave us again if we are quick to repent and move on. We don’t want to return to that yoke of bondage by refusing to repent. We have to let God deal with our hearts.

Matthew 18:18 (NIV), “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Bind sin and loose liberty. Bind the lies of Satan and loose the truth of God’s word.

Galatians 5:1 (KJB), “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

You are not a sinner anymore, no matter what you do. You aren’t what you do; you are a child of God because of what He has done. Don’t hang your head, look up! Stand fast in your faith. Don’t let anything hold you in chains. You have been set free!

Book Review for “The King’s Scrolls”- Christian Fantasy

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I was given a copy of “The King’s Scrolls” in exchange for an honest review. when I agreed to read this book I didn’t realize that it was a sequel. So I purchased book number one “Resistance” and fell in love with it. I couldn’t wait to read this one and it did not disappoint. This series is a wonderful fantasy that also happens to be Christian. The story is full of your usual fantasy aspects as well as the good versus evil theme. This story has included some dragons and dragon fights and we meet some new characters. The characters are very fleshed out and feel like someone you’ve known forever. I hated to see this one end and am looking forward to book three. There is no sexual content or swearing, there is fighting. I give it five stars. I loved it! I can recommend for teens and up. (on a side note, though it is Christian fiction it is not “preachy”)

I Am What I Am

I Corinthians 15:10 (NIV), “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them–yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.”

Paul said, “I am what I am” that it was by grace that he was so drastically changed. We can’t have an encounter with the living God and stay the same, but we aren’t the one who is responsible for the change. It is God’s grace, His love that changes us. Our hearts were once filled with evil, selfish desires.

Ecclesiastes 9:3 (KJV), “This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.”

I Corinthians 6:9-11 (NASV), “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

But, don’t you love it when you see this word in the Bible. “But you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” God’s grace and mercy, the shed blood of Jesus has justified us. We now live “just as if” we had never sinned. There is no separation between us and God. The veil has been torn.

So it is time to stop saying we are “sinners saved by grace.” We are no longer sinners, God calls us “saints, dear children, more than conquers, beloved” and He is the one who has changed us into all of these things. No, we aren’t perfect, but we are being perfected. Who I was before God wasn’t lovely, or lovable. Yet, He loved me and because He loved me He didn’t allow me to stay the same. Every day I am becoming more like Him, my true Father. We have to allow Him to change our hearts. It’s an inner work.

Acts 2:38 (NIV), “And Peter said, Let your hearts be changed, every one of you, and have baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will have the Holy Spirit given to you.”

I Samuel 10:6 (NIV), “The Spirit of the LORD will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.”

Book Review for “Resistance”- Christian Fantasy

“Resistance” is a great Christian fantasy novel. The main characters are two young adults trapped in a city that demands they worship their emperor and two moon gods, a young mixed breed slave, and an older father figure. As believers of the True God, they have to find a way to either stay hidden or make a stand. I love this book. I will go right into book two to find out what happens next. The writing style is wonderful, the characters are loveable and you feel like you have known them your whole life. It is a great work of fantasy with new peoples and cultures. It has all the swords, intrigue, and good versus evil that you expect from a fantasy novel. No swearing or sexual content, so I can recommend for teens and up. I give this book 5 stars.

Book Review for “Ashford”- Historical Fiction

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I so loved this book! I love quite a few it’s true, but this is one of the best historical fiction/romance that I have read in a while. It is based before and during WWII. A young American girl is stranded in Europe. You will smile, laugh, and cry in this one. No swearing and no sexual content. It does talk about war and dying. I give it five stars and can recommend for teens and up. A great Indie author! Will definitely read more from Melanie Rose

Are You Ready?

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I Thessalonians 5:1-11 (NLT), “Now concerning how and when all this will happen, dear brothers and sisters, we don’t really need to write you. For you know quite well that the day of the Lord’s return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying, “Everything is peaceful and secure,” then disaster will fall on them as suddenly as a pregnant woman’s labor pains begin. And there will be no escape. But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief. For you are all children of the light and of the day; we don’t belong to darkness and night. So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation. For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”

I don’t know about you, but I happen to think we are living in the last days. So much of Biblical prophecy has come to pass and all you need to do is read the headlines to see that things are going from bad to worse. Sometimes I get sickened by the evil that runs rampant in our fallen world. I stopped watching the news years ago, same with reading the newspapers. First off they are very biased and secondly, I just don’t want my mind filled with bad news. I do peruse some of the headlines and of course I hear about all of the stuff going on, just not the details. I prefer to think of all the good news! To me, the best news is that if we are in the last days, Jesus is returning soon! Can I get a Hallelujah?

I understand that I won’t ever know the exact hour that He is coming, but I do understand that I am a child of the light, a child of Almighty God, so I will know the season. So I decided a long time ago that I was going to be ready. I am reminded of the Jews during WWII. They eventually figured out that those trains weren’t going anywhere that had been promised and for some fortunate ones, they had people to help smuggle them out or hide them away. They had to have their bags packed and be ready to go. They had to leave behind everything and only take a few necessities or maybe a very small trinket of sentimental value. That’s the way I want to live. Not in fear of being found, or killed, but ready to go, mind made up bags packed. My senior pastor, Dr. William Hohman said it something like this: “I am going to live like He is coming today, and work like He is going to tarry awhile.” That says it all. We don’t sit down and look to the sky as if we don’t have anything else to do. The Father has a job for us, and the closeness of Jesus’ return should be prompting us to do that job well. We are building His Kingdom, leading others to Christ, encouraging and building up His Church. Jesus said in Luke 18:8, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Yes, we may be caught unaware by His return, but I am determined to be caught doing good, full of faith when He does.

We need to be mindful of the time. Use it wisely. Seek the things above, stop worrying, and start working. We can only do this if we have completely surrendered to Him. We will mess up, but we get back up. He is quick to forgive and as we wash our minds in the word of God, we will be changing into His image and those sins that once so easily beset us won’t be a temptation anymore. He is coming for a spotless Bride. I am going to prepare for The Bridegroom.

How about you? Are you ready?