We are slaves whom we obey. We obey the Lord because we love Him. Jesus is our example. John 15:10 says, “…just as I have kept My Father’s commandment and abide in His love.”

Exodus 21:5. Context is a Hebrew servant that was given their freedom. It says, “But if the servant plainly says, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free.” We are free to sin, however, out of love we obey from the heart.

How is your heart? The Holy Spirit gave me seven ebooks in 2016 about the heart. It became the paperback “Victorious Heart.” What pictures are on the walls of your heart? Chapter two is entitled “Heart Interior Decorating.” The pictures in our heart dictate our words and our actions. It might be time to take down some of those time honored offenses that have enslaved us.

Jesus’ death on the cross broke the chains that bound us to satan’s slave block of sin. Romans 6:1-2 says, “…Shall we continue to sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”

Slaves obey without question. We are slaves to sin or to obedience. The path of obedience is strewn with grace. We obey in our heart, but the Holy Spirit empowers us through grace to fulfill what the Lord requires of us.

Meditating on the truths from God’s word, weaves those truths into the fabric of our hearts. Memorizing takes concentration. It is a dedicated time set aside to lay up the treasure of His word in our heart. Let me challenge you with Psalm 119:4 which says, “You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently.” A command is a call to obedience.

I have been working on memorizing Romans 6. The only way I can get a verse to stick is to repeat it over and over in phrases. I was on verse 16. It says, “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness.”

As I kept repeating “…sin leading to death, or of obedience…” it hit me hard. Tears came into my eyes as the Holy Spirit highlighted the either or. It is either sin or obedience. Translated to either we are walking in our flesh or in the Spirit.

Years ago someone challenged something that was in my book. They said, “Marilyn, you cannot be so black or white.” The Bible is. Romans 6 testifies to its distinctness one way or the other. There is no middle ground ~ no gray areas.

Do you struggle with getting ahead of God? Do you have a hard time waiting for His impeccable timing? In 1 Samuel 15, Saul disobeyed God’s command and lost his kingdom. How much have we forfeited by stepping out to do, when we need to be sitting in His Presence being?

Wait. Be silent. Stand still. These are commands that cause our hidden flesh of impatience to rise and take matters into its own hands. When we are required to wait, we need to lay down a pathway of Scripture to walk on, so we don’t get derailed from God’s intended purpose.

Here are a few of my “waiting” anchor verses. Psalm 62:5 says, “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.” Isaiah 64:4 says, “…Who acts for the one who waits for Him.” Another favorite is 2 Samuel 5:24. David had to wait until he heard the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees before he could advance.

Do you struggle with self-hatred? I did for years. That hidden stronghold colored every thought. It was set up to defeat my faith. How can we serve the Lord with gladness, when in our deep inner being we are bound in the trap of self-hatred?

Self-hatred is like a megaphone that shouts out lies against the truths of Scripture. One of mine was that “Yes, God truly loves others, but He can’t love me. I’m the exception.” Isaiah 5:13 says, “Therefore my people have gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge…”

Not being grounded in the truth of God’s love leaves us as a sitting duck in the site of a gun. 1 John 4:9 says that God is love. His very nature is love. Everything He has done is borne out of His love for us. Romans 8:38-39 says that it can never be taken away ~ another stepping stone of truth. Wield your sword!

Do you struggle with anger? Lay out Scripture like stepping stones in a pathway. Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry, and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” When we go to sleep still angry, we have bought into the devil’s lie and disobeyed God’s word.

Disobedience to God’s word, opens the opportunity for the devil to gain ground to set up an inner stronghold. The only thing that tears down strongholds is God’s word. 2 Corinthians 10:4.

When you start to feel anger, bring James 1:20 into your mind like a battle sword. You step out onto that stepping stone and swing by proclaiming the word, “For the wrath of man does not promote the righteousness of God.” 

Anger is the fruit of unforgiveness or jealousy. In Genesis 4:6 God asked Cain why he was so angry. Verse 7 says, “…sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”

If we are not walking in truth, then we are walking in the lies of the devil. Psalm 119:30 says, “I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me.” Truth never changes, but lies morph and expand.

Hosea 10:13 says, “…You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way…” Anything that we do in our own strength will fail. John 6:63 says that our flesh profits nothing.

We choose the way of truth to overcome areas of defeat, stubborn practices, persistent doubts, fears, and unbeliefs. If satan’s lies seem more real than the truth of God’s word, it is because they are deeply ingrained inner strongholds.

Gather Scriptures that speak truth to the area you want to overcome. Implant them in your heart through faith affirmations. Struggle with fear? Make Psalm 56:3 yours by proclaiming, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.”

Luke 4:4 Amplified says, “…Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone but by every word and expression of God.” Ephesians 5:16 says to redeem the time. The Amplified says, “Making the very most of the time (buying up each opportunity)…”

If we pour water on the ground, the ground swallows it up. If we waste time, that time is swallowed up in the past ~ never to be retrieved.  What are you doing in your life to redeem the time you have?

Psalm 90:12 says, “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 139:16 says, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” God alone knows the second we will finish our days. We don’t. Years ago my pastor wrote me a note: seize the opportunity in the moment of the opportunity.

I asked the Lord to help me with my evenings. I have several hours after supper before bedtime. I have to be off all electronics three hours before I go to bed for my brain’s sake. It is too late to exercise. I get sleepy when I read. So what can I do?

Ephesians 5:16 says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” J. B. Phillips says to make the best use of your time. I reviewed in my mind the things the Lord has specifically called me to do. My evening time needed to coincide. 

The Holy Spirit answered through my meditating on Psalm 119:4. I’m commanded to hide Scripture in my heart. The Lord heard me and provided the answer through my meditation. Note that He didn’t do that when I first began meditating through Psalm 119 several months ago. His timing for our answers are always impeccable ~ never too early and never too late.

In the first eight verses of Psalm 119, the word keep is used four times. Three of the times it means to retain, treasure up in memory, as in verses 4, 5, and 8. Verse 4 says, “You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently.”

The more I have meditated on this verse, the Holy Spirit’s conviction intensified. God’s commands are not options ~ they are to be obeyed without question or excuses. God commands us to treasure up or hide His word in our hearts through memorization. 

It was easy to do that as a child. Now it is a struggle to retain what I memorize. Yet I am commanded to be diligent in this activity. Diligence speaks of intentional effort, or conscientious thought. I do know that our last thoughts before we go to sleep, stay with us in the night. Therefore I purpose in my heart to incorporate this as part of my nighttime routine.