Free To Walk In Newness
Releasing the brake and moving freely, a simple picture of grace carrying the day.
Devotional Credit: Abide Above by Miles Stanford
Photo Credit: Unsplash
The heart of today’s reading is simple. In Jesus, we are not managed by the old rulebook. We are new creation people, and the Holy Spirit teaches us how to walk. The law is holy and good, yet it was never designed to be the believer’s day to day power source. Grace gives us a Person, not a checklist.
Miles Stanford keeps pointing us back to Jesus as our life. If the Lord is only a way to relieve guilt, the moment relief comes the focus drifts. When He is the Object of the heart, fellowship grows, and devotion becomes the glad response of love. That is why Galatians says, stand fast in the freedom Christ has given. We are not bound again to the yoke of bondage.
This freedom is not carelessness. It is larger, higher, and firmer ground. The law still exposes what is lawless, but it does not form or fuel the walk of the righteous. The Spirit does. He applies what the Cross accomplished, He indwells, and He expresses the life of Jesus in ordinary moments.
I am thankful for this steady reminder from Stanford. We are invited to live as pilgrims who belong to heaven, yet who love well on earth. Not by the energy of the flesh, but by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Not by fear, but by union with the Son of God who lives in us.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I remind you of who you are. In Christ Jesus you are a new creation, and the old measure cannot hold your life. You died to the law through the body of Jesus so that you belong to Another who was raised. Sin will not rule over you, for you are not under law but under grace. I set you free from the law of sin and death by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus.
I lead you as sons and daughters. Walk by Me and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Put no confidence in the flesh. Glory in Jesus. Stand firm in the freedom in which the Lord has made you free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of slavery. The law is good when used lawfully, to deal with what is lawless, not to govern the walk of the righteous who live by Me.
I form the life of Jesus in you. As you drop self as center and set your mind on things above, I renew your mind. I teach you to abide, to bear fruit, to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus with thanksgiving. You are complete in Him. I strengthen you to walk in the good works the Father prepared, not by your own energy, but by My power at work within you.
Scripture references: Galatians 6:15, Galatians 5:1, Galatians 5:16, Philippians 3:3, Romans 7:4, Romans 6:14, Romans 8:2 to 4, Romans 8:14, Ephesians 2:10, Colossians 2:6 to 10, Colossians 3:1 to 3, 2 Corinthians 5:17, John 15:4 to 5, 1 Timothy 1:8 to 10, Ephesians 3:16 to 20.
Real-Life Analogy
Picture driving with the parking brake half on. The car moves, but the strain is constant and the smell is not good. Release the brake, and the engine carries you with ease. Legal striving feels like that brake. The Holy Spirit is the power that moves the day. As I trust Him, the drag lifts and the same road feels different because Jesus is expressing His life through me.
Try this today. Before you answer a difficult email or decide to write that social media post, pause and quietly say, Lord, I trust You to release the drag of self effort and to work through me in love and clarity right now. Then write from a calm place, expecting His patience and honesty to come through your words.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that in Jesus I am a new creation, not under law, but under grace. Thank You that Your Spirit lives in me, leads me, and fulfills what You desire as I walk in Him. I receive this day as a gift, and I choose to stand in the freedom Christ has given. Lord, I trust You to carry Your life through me in every choice I make today.