Surrendered Choices, Wide Open Life
Yielded settings, true freedom in the heat of real life
Devotional Credit
Abundant Life is Costly, sermon by Rev. Kristen Schildroth, Wakefield First Church of the Nazarene
Photo Credit
Unsplash
We often equate freedom with unlimited options, as if the more choices we keep in our hands, the happier we will be. Pastor Kristen Schildroth turns that idea on its head. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 10, she shows that the abundant life Jesus gives is wonderfully free, yet it comes with a cost. The cost is not a payment to earn life. The cost is the surrender of our self ruled will to the Lord who loves us.
She faces the hard word slavery with honesty. History ties that word to abuse, chains, and injustice, so it grates on us. Yet Scripture uses the language of being servants of God to point to a different reality, a willing belonging to the One whose yoke is easy and whose burden is light. In His hands, boundaries are not bars. They are the wise edges within which real life grows.
Pastor Kristen walks us through Israel’s story. The Lord set them free from Pharaoh, fed them, gave water from the Rock, and led them by the cloud. Still, when they took their eyes off the Giver, they slid back into idols and self rule. The desert became a mirror of the heart. Freedom without trust turned into another form of slavery.
Her pastoral heart is tender and clear. Temptation is real, and pain can tempt us to doubt God’s goodness. Yet the Father is faithful. In Jesus, there is always a God-provided way through. Abundant life rests in trusting the Lord with the chooser itself. Thank you, Pastor Kristen, for reminding us that when we yield our will to Jesus, we do not shrink. We expand into the wide spaces of His joy.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I brought you out to bring you in. I joined you to My Son and to His people. You passed from the old mastery to the Lordship of Jesus. You are not your own, you were bought with a price. I gave you a new heart and placed My Spirit within you so that you walk in My ways.
All were under the cloud and all passed through the sea. I fed you with spiritual food and gave you drink from the spiritual Rock. The Rock was Christ. Do not desire evil as they did. Do not test the Lord. These things were written for your instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. If you think you stand, take heed lest you fall.
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful. I will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. With the trial I provide the way of escape so that you can endure. Present your body to God as one alive from the dead. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Sin will not rule over you, for you are under grace.
I work in you to will and to do for My good pleasure. Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Set your mind on the things of the Spirit. Put on the Lord Jesus. Make no provision for the flesh. Everything is lawful to you in Christ, but not everything builds up. You were called to freedom, only do not use freedom as a base for the flesh. Through love serve one another.
Abide in Me. Apart from Me you can do nothing. In Me you bear much fruit. My divine power has granted to you all things that pertain to life and godliness. I strengthen you with power in the inner person. I am the Spirit of adoption. I lead you as sons and daughters. I keep you from falling and present you with great joy. Stand firm in the freedom for which Christ has set you free, and walk in step with Me in the company of the saints.
Scripture references: 1 Corinthians 10:1 to 13, Romans 6:11 to 14, Romans 8:1 to 14, Romans 12:1 to 2, 1 Corinthians 6:12 to 20, Ezekiel 36:26 to 27, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 5:1 to 25, Philippians 2:12 to 13, Colossians 3:1 to 17, John 15:1 to 8, 2 Peter 1:3 to 4, Ephesians 3:16 to 19, Jude 24 to 25.
Real-Life Analogy
Think about an oven thermostat. You set the temperature, the thermostat holds the boundary, and the heat cycles to keep the environment just right. If you override the setting by yanking the dial up and down, you scorch dinner or undercook it. Life in Jesus is like trusting the Holy Spirit’s thermostat within. He governs the heart with wise limits so that what the Lord is baking in you actually comes out tender and good. The point is not to grip the dial tighter. The point is to yield to His steady governance on the inside.
A simple practice for today. When a tempting option pops up, like an impulsive click, a biting reply, or a private indulgence, pause and hand the dial to the Lord. Say, Lord, I entrust my chooser to You, set Your will in me right now. Then take one concrete step that matches that trust, such as closing the tab, slowing your words, or walking away. You are not gritting your teeth. You are letting the indwelling Spirit express the obedience of Jesus through you in a real moment.
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, thank You that in Jesus I am not my own and that this belonging is freedom. Thank You for the way of escape in every temptation, for Your Spirit within who works in me to will and to act. I agree with You that I am dead to sin and alive to God. I welcome Your wise boundaries and Your joy. I rest in Your faithfulness as You express the life of the Son through me today. Amen.