"Rebellion Leads to Bondage"

"Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned the counsel of the Most High:" (Psalms 107:10-11)

 Or you could be just as happy as an old dog, doing the same; I have seen old dogs that still find the energy to go get that stick. The next mark in this Psalms is here, pointed to the word "rebelled;" it simply says, "Leads to Bondage." What we should be, is bound to the Lord Christ Jesus; there is where our hearts and minds should be held captive, not by the things of this world. First of all, there is no way that anyone who is of Christ should sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; we are called out of the darkness, and we have bee given eternal life in Christ. Such as us, who have been transformed and delivered, should never sit in darkness, even if darkness is where we are placed, we are a light! And as far as the shadow of death is concerned, even in the midst of dying, we have something that overshadows death, eternal life! So then, from what does this darkness and death get the strength enough to hold us, that we should sit there in it? There is a point in our relationship with God where we must choose who is the master over our lives, God or this world. We cannot serve both! The counsel of God is the way that God instructs us, individually, in each of our hearts. When we despise His counsel, He is no longer the "Most High" in our lives; we have placed Him lower than something else, something that we prefer more over His words and wishes that He personally has let be known in our hearts. These really don't need to be big areas of rebellion, so they might not even be something we are totally and completely aware of. But, if we are suffering with depression and the fear of death, then there is something that has us bound, other than the Lord Christ Jesus. I might not be a counselor or expert, but I know Jesus; and when Jesus sets us free, we are free indeed! There is no need for some twelve step program when we are in Christ; there is no need to any medication when we are filled with the Holy Spirit. These are all the things that the world is dependent upon, because they lack the deliverance of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Am I saying to stop your program and give up your medication? No! It's not that easy! You have been given a worldly crutch to help hold you up, you must first replace that crutch with Christ; He will instruct you when to let go and stop. Don't jump out of a moving car until it is safe to do so! But, you can trust this one important thing: If Christ has set you free, then you are free indeed...

"When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:20-23) NLT