Read: John 8:31-59
In
verses 31-32 Jesus promises that people who abide in His Word will be true
disciples, they will know His truth and will be made free! Free from what? Free from being a slave to sin (v. 35)! Jesus agrees that the people are physical
descendants of Abraham (v. 37) but He questions that they are truly Abraham’s
children because their behaviour contradicts their claim (v. 39). This implies that the true children of
Abraham are only those who believe in Jesus (Rom. 2:28-29). Their response to Jesus shows they are not
truly God’s children but children of the Devil (v. 44), a scary thought for
Christians today as this implies that not all religious people are children of
God. Unfortunately, the people at that
time could not accept His truth; instead they actually accused Him of being a
demon (v. 48, 52). Jesus was making some
incredible claims about Himself, He was claiming to be alive before Abraham (v.
58), and He is claiming not only to be eternal but also to be God. The Jews understood this and they picked up
stones to execute Him for blasphemy.
JOURNALING AND PRAYER
1. Jesus came to free us from being a slave to
sin. Take a moment and ask the Lord to
show you any areas in your life where you are a slave to sin.
- Check off these areas
- Pray a prayer, confessing your sin and admitting that this is sin.
- Thank the Lord for His forgiveness.
- Ask the Lord to show you what you can do today in order to flee from this sort of behaviour in the future. For example, are there friends you need to avoid? What environments do you need to avoid? Who do you need to apologize to? Etc.
- Lustful Thoughts
- Suggestive TV/Movies/Books
- Fantasizing
- Dressing Inappropriately (to attract attention)
- Other Sexual Impurity: _____________
- Anger
- Fear/Anxiety
- Judgmental
- Materialism
- Negativity
- People-pleasing
- Perfectionism
- Pride
- Self-pity
- Unforgiveness/Bitterness
- Dirty Language/Swearing
- Gossip/Slander
- Lying/Exaggeration
- Other (s): __________________
