ESOCS Devotional 23 June 2022
TEXT: JOHN 8:31-47
MEMORY VERSE: ““And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 KJV
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
Jesus’ TRUTH is a saving truth. A life-giving truth. Heavenly truth. If you abide in Jesus’ words and thus are a true disciple, you will have good understanding of truth. When Jesus said, ‘you will know the truth,’ He was talking about Himself. He is the Truth that is central to all things, the pivotal Truth upon which all things hinge, the foundational Truth upon which all things are built. Simply put, the Truth is Christ and Christ is the Truth. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus claims to be the truth – the only truth that leads to God. Jesus told Pilate that the reason He came into the world was to bear witness to the truth that He is the King of another kingdom; and He said that “he that is of God heareth God’s words”(John 14:47). Knowing the Truth will set one at liberty—free from sin, free from condemnation, and free from eternal death (Romans 6:22; 8:1-2). Jesus came to proclaim liberty to the captives (Luke 4:18).
The freedom Jesus offers is a spiritual freedom from the bondage of sin—that is, release from the lifestyle of habitual lawlessness. He continues with an analogy: “Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever” (v 35). The people would have understood Jesus to mean that they were not members of God’s family, despite their biological relationship to Abraham (v 37), because they were slaves to sin. If they were to become disciples of Jesus, they would know the truth of their condition and the truth about Christ, and Jesus would set them free. Believers would be freed from their bondage and brought into the family of God.
The foundation of freedom is replacing lies with God’s truth. It is the lies of the enemy, which we often embrace and believe, that keep us in spiritual chains. Freedom from these lies comes when we abide in the truth of Scripture and when we purposely declare or confess that truth. The more we agree with God through confession, the more our lives, beliefs, and words will begin to reflect what is true, right, and good.
- Speak the truth always and you will always feel free from the devil’s pranks.
- Lord, help me to replace lies with your truth in my heart, so that I will be free from the enemy, in Jesus name.
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FURTHER READING: Exodus 16:1–21; 2 Kings 9:14–37; Revelation 19:1–10
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ESOCS Devotional 23 June 2022