Daily Bible Reading “What Does it Mean to be Free” (Romans 6:12-23)

Cross2-50What Does it Mean to be Free

 

Today’s Daily Bible Reading is from Romans 6:12-23. In this Scripture, we are exhorted to not let sin and lust rule in our body, nor let our bodies become instruments of unrighteousness to sin. Instead, we are exhorted to yield ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness.

As Christians, sin won’t have dominion over us, we’re no longer under the law, but we’re under the grace of God. Does that mean we can just sin if we want to? He says, “God forbid.”

The Scripture reminds us that whoever you yield yourselves to as servants and obey, you are his servants? You can yield to sin unto death or to obedience unto righteousness. You were the servants of sin. But, since you have obeyed with your heart the doctrine that was given to you, you have been made free from sin. You have become the servants of righteousness.

 

First Corinthians 7:22 says, “For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.”


Like you have yielded yourselves in the past to be servants of uncleanness and wickedness, now yield yourself to be servants of righteousness unto godliness. When you were a servant of sin, you were free from righteousness and the fruit of that sin you are now ashamed of. The end of those things is death. Romans 8:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”


Now that you’ve been made free from sin, and become children of God, you have the fruit of holiness, and the end is everlasting life. Romans 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”


Once we’ve been made free from sin and become servants of Christ, we serve others. First Corinthians 9:19 tells us, “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more.”


After we get saved and baptized into the family of God, we’re all the same in Christ, because we all have the same Spirit living in us. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”


We should learn, as Christians, to all get along as one in Christ Jesus, because when we get to heaven we’ll have to live together forever. The Scripture says there is no difference in us. Galatians 3:28 tells us, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”


We need to be careful not to turn back to our old ways, but to stand fast in the liberty of the Lord since He has made us free from sin. Sin is a type of bondage, so don’t toy around with it, because it will entrap you. Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

 

Daily Bible Reading:


Romans 6:12-23

 

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.

13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

 

Things to think about:

  • What does it mean to be free?
  • Have you been set free?
  • If so, leave a comment and tell us how your life has changed since Jesus Christ set you free.


Prayer of the Day:

Dear Heavenly Father,

We thank You for this Scripture where we are reminded of Your wonderful gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, Your Son. Thank You for making us free from  sin. Help us to be servants of righteousness and not turn back to our old sinful ways. Help those who haven’t turned their life over to You to see their need for a Savior. We were all born into sin in this world. So we all have the need for a Savior. Thank You, LORD for meeting that need. We love You, LORD. Amen.

 

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How to Promote Your Book for Free Days on Kindle

Some people may ask, why would you give your book away?

http://www.deborahhbateman.comI guess it depends on how good your book is doing otherwise. For me being a fairly new author it was a way to promote myself for future books as well as The Book of Ruth-A Story of Love and Redemption. Doing the free promotion also helps get your book higher in the rankings. I went through some of the same thoughts you might, thinking about it as losing money. If I actually sold the 12,000 books I gave away in the two days of my giveaway that would be a lot of money.  I would love to get that check. But, if your book is sitting there with very few sales then, what have you got to lose?

For one thing you get a lot of exposure. There are now more people who know my name and have my book on their computer. From a Christian standpoint there are more people who I have shared the gospel with, which is my ultimate goal. I hope one day my ministry will be self-supportive and I would love to have a nice income from my books. But for now I have to abide where I am in the process.  I keep reminding myself I shared the gospel with all those people and God will bless me for doing it in whatever way He sees fit.

If you have a message you want to get out and you are not already selling a lot of books, what do you have to lose? Or, if you are like me and you are a new author who needs to let people know about the message of your book, then I think it is a good promotional tool to get your name out and let people have a sample of your writing. If they like it, they may tell other people about your book or they may buy future books. They may subscribe to your website or become a follower of yours. Think of it as advertising.

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Some of the things I did to promote my FREE Kindle days are:

I sent out emails to my entire email list letting them know about the promotion. I also asked them to send out messages and emails to their friends, family, and email list. Then, I promoted as if no one else was helping me. Anything they did was a bonus. I wasn’t going to ask them to do something I wasn’t willing to do myself.

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Once I scheduled all my messages and put up my other posts I watched the rankings go up and checked periodically to see how many books were downloaded. I was very well pleased with the results.

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Remember out of site, out of mind. If people don’t see your book being promoted they are going to forget about it. Also, nobody cares about your book like you do so you can’t depend on other people to promote it for you. I hope this article has given you some insight into why some of us choose to do the free giveaways and help you decide if you would like to do it too. I wish you much success with your book.

If you would like coaching on Self-Publishing or Marketing your book contact Deborah H. Bateman via the contact form on this site. She will be glad to discuss her coaching package with you.