The Great Escape
by Suzanne Benner
**Do you know what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus? Do you understand where you now reside?
http://thelife.com/study/knowjesuspersonally.html
“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13, 14).
If you have been feeling like you need to get away, escape the drudgery of life; find rest and a breath of fresh air, consider the amazing truth that Paul reminds us of in Colossians: your great escape has already happened.
Do you recognize what you have been rescued from?
We have been rescued from the dominion of darkness, the place where evil and hatred and lies dominated. Although we tried to be good, it was never enough. We were trapped in sin, held in bondage because we were unable to save ourselves.
Do you understand where you now reside?
We have been delivered into the kingdom of Jesus. It is the kingdom of God’s love. It is the kingdom of light, where truth and justice prevail. Through no merit of our own, our heavenly Father qualified us for this great inheritance.
Do you know what this means?
We have been redeemed. We have been forgiven. We are no longer enslaved, held hostage by Satan and sin. Instead we have been freed from Satan’s power and given new life, abundant life and eternal life.
We long to be rescued. How good it is to be reminded that the only one who can save us is Jesus and He has already accomplished our deliverance.
~Thank you Jesus for dying for our sins so that we could be rescued from the dominion of darkness. Thank you God for bringing us into the kingdom of Your love. Help me to live in the reality of that truth.
Questions: What have you personally been rescued from? Why is it important to remember where we were before Christ saved us? Have you forgotten that God has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints (Colossians 1:12)? How can we daily live that reality?
About the Author: http://talk.thelife.com/experience/devotionalforwomen/authors/suzanne-benner/
14 Responses to “The Great Escape”
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This is the first time I’ve left a comment but I feel led to after this devotional. Shirley, I was water baptized at the “age of accountability” and I spent the next 19 years trying to be “good enough” to get to heaven. Looking back, I don’t know why I didn’t realize I was relying on the wrong things for salvation except I was deceived by Satan’s lies. At the age of 32 the Lord sought after me and I accepted Him as Lord and Savior of my life – Praise the Lord!! I was the one lost sheep that He left the flock to search for (or that is the way I felt). I am still humbled by the many details the Lord had to arrange to bring me to the point of repentance. I also am so very grateful for the precious gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus and life free from the darkness and lies of Satan.
Amy, for me, complete surrender is like falling backward into the arms of Jesus and trusting only in Him to catch you. You must trust him completely to “be there” always.
Ladies, thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts and I will remember each of you in my prayers. May God bless each of you.
Shirley and ladies……I had never heard the plan of salvation until my first year in college. That is frightening because every Sunday, for years prior to that, I sat at the pipe organ and I listened carefully. I remember time and time again thinking, “there must be something more”.
I was one who spent time alone…and many times, I would read poetry…trying to get something that would minister to that void deep inside. Poetry! I needed something to stir my soul!
I remember one night…as my parents were having a dinner party, searching the house for a Bible. I never found one, but found some sort of Bible Encyclopedia….where I searched for something meaningful.
How very sad that it is not preached in so many churches, even today.
Oh dear women, we must teach others about salvation. We must shout it from the housetops! Our children must learn of His love and His sacrifice, that we might have eternal salvation…..eternal life! We must teach them about the blood of Jesus and the power in It.
I praise God for the young women who told me about Jesus….about His saving grace. I never knew there was a personal Jesus.
‘Oh my Jesus. I praise Your Holy Name. Thank You for loving us so so much that you went to the cross…for our sins….that You suffered and died and agonizing death.
There is no other worthy to worship or praise. We praise You……We praise Your Holy Name.
Der Jesus…You are the Only One…to calm our fears and still our souls. You are peace. You are hope. Our only hope is in You. May we feel Your loving peace all around us this very day.
Pour Your spirit down on us, Lord.. as we seek Your face. Bless all here…minister to the broken hearts and broken spirit. Bind up the wounds here today and may we know Your Holy Presence. In Your Powerful Name.
Debbie…..I join with all these dear women of faith…lifting you and your precious children to Him…..May God bless you and care for all your needs.
Thank you for today’s devotional and I believe it is right
on time. Today as I minister to a young lady about Jesus and
salvation, her reply to me was I never heared this before.
The young lady said she’s been water baptized so she thought
that she was saved, that water baptism is all she needed. I
was familar with this wrong thinking, at the age of 11 I got
water baptized. Nobody told me about Jesus or about salvation, so I thought I had all I needed to go to heaven.
I was 28 yrs old when I confessed Christ as my Lord and
saviour. Later on God revealed a great truth to me, if I
would have died between 11-28 yrs old I would have went to
hell, thinking Iwould be in heaven. I shared this with her
and she seem to understand clearer. Well before she left she
made a decision for Christ, Praise God! So I can say that
Iam so thankful that Jesus redeemed me from hell and ignorant to his word. I thank God for his great grace where-
by he rescued me from the kingdom of darkness. If it had
not been for his great grace toward me, I could have died
those years that I thought I was saved by water baptism, and
I would have miss out on his kingdom. Ladies we are so blessed because we know the Father and our names are written
in the book of life. Regardless of what may be going on in
our lives, we have a lot to thank God for. What a joy and
priviledge it is to be saved, a daughter of God, looking
unto him, Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.Father
you know all things, as I bring every daughter before you,
I pray that as they draw closer and closer to you that their
faith in you will increase more and more. I pray for them,
their mates, their children, their homes, their finances, and everthing that concerns them. Let them prosper and be
in health even as their soul prosper. I pray that they will
this day cast all thir cares on you, for you care for them
and you shall sustain them, be their rock and their strong
defense in trouble times, Father bring peace into their
situations, that seem stressful and over whelming to them.
Thank you Father for bringing a change to their situation,
that need a change, a change that is for their good. Love
you Father, Ladies have a peaceful day in the Lord!
Good question Amy! I think complete surrender begins by acknowledging our sins and asking God to give us a heart that is sensitive to Him. It includes deciding that He is worthy of our devotion and saying that we agree that He should have authority over our lives. Then day by day as He reveals areas of our lives where we are not trusting Him, or obeying Him, we confess again and ask for power through the Holy Spirit to live as He calls us to live.
Surrender is never a one shot deal. It means daily seeking God in His word and through prayer. I know that can be near to impossible with small children. I love to read, so when my children were young, I covenanted with God that the first thing I read each day (other than childrens’ books) would be the Bible. Sometimes there wasn’t a chance to read all day, but if there was I wouldn’t read the paper or a novel until I had first read the Bible. I also found hymns and worship music a good way to focus my attention on God and His desire for my life when there are no moments to sit down.
So day by day, moment by moment we learn to surrender to God. Of course we don’t always want what God wants. We yell at our children because we think we’ve been patient long enough and we deserve to be listened to and obeyed. When God’s still small voice reminds us of how we should behave, we have a choice: we can surrender, confess and ask for strength or we can rebel against God and demand our way. Surrender always brings us closer to God and rebellion always moves us away from God.
I had a reaction to this message that was similar to a lot of yours. It is a hard world we live in, and our society seems to be getting more sinful. Family life has become way more complicated and stressful. We all think it’s just us, that we are isolated, but I think it’s a common experience to be overwhelmed and stressed and depressed, even as Christians.
This message brought me back to the truth that I need to rouse myself from this murky land of lies and focus on Jesus. I need to force myself and discipline myself to remember His ways, His kingdom, that my treasure is in eternity. Thank you, Suzanne Benner, for reminding me that the victory is already won! How silly I am to live as if I’m defeated. Lord, please forgive your stubborn, lazy, silly sheep, and help me to trust You and focus on You, and remember that You have already given me the victory through Jesus. Yes! Please help all of us to be free from depression, panic, anxiety, and sin. Amen
How do you compeltley surrender?
My Heavenly Father, have rescused me from darkness, I was under Satan’s reign, I called upon the name of the Lord Jesus, and He heard my cry and delivered, rescused me from the power of darness and transferred me into the Kindgom of His dear son. He resecused me from sin, and as I begin to reside in Him, I placed all my cares, all my anxieties, all my cares, and all my concerns once and for all on him, because I know that He loves me and watch over me according to 1 Peter 5:7. I am a joint-heir with Jesus and more than a conqueror. I am a doer of the Word of God, and a channel for His blessings. If God be for me, who can be against me? I am blessed cming in and blessed going out. I am the head and not the tail. “No weapon that is formed against me shall propser, and every tongue which rirse against me in judgement You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servant of the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17). I am saved from the warth by Him and justified by the blood of the Lamb, iI can live in the reality of this by daily confessing this by faith. Jesus is not just able, but doing exceedingly, abundantly, and above all I dare ask or think according to the Power that worketh in me (Ephesians 3:20).
thank you Lord for keeping me out of the darkness thank you for your wonderful light and showing us the way we should go. bless all ladies here
The word that came to mind when I read both Amy and Sue’s comments was surrender. Often in my own life God has used overwhelming situations to bring me to the point of surrender, to the place where I finally admit that I can’t do it on my own and need Him. Are we willing to accept God’s plan for our lives or are we saying we serve Him, but insisting on doing it our way?
Just as Patti said that God redeemed her, but she continued to believe lies of Satan and live in darkness, we can get caught up in seeking the approval of those around us rather than God’s approval, looking to our children or jobs or husband to satisfy our needs rather than to God, wanting God to fix my circumstances rather than wanting a relationship with Him.
Holy God, I pray for Amy and for Sue. May feelings of being overwhelmed chase them into Your arms. May you help them to surrender their hopes and dreams and plans to you. May they come to You as they are – weary and burdened – and find rest in You. (Matthew 11:28) Amen.
Margaret, I too was given to “new parents” at birth. My birth mom was dying of thyroid cancer and I had a brother who was four years older than me at the time whom I have never met. I was delivered into a christian home with wonderful parents that raised me as an only child which I loved. I now have three children of my own and I have seen how God has time and time again delivered us from the snares of the enemy because God is faithful.
Amy, when stayed at home I often wanted to escape, I got so tired of Big Bird and kiddie stuff at times, I wanted adult interaction, maybe you could start a mothers day out at your church where you share time keeping each others kids or even join something like that that is already in progress. I am praying for you, I understand how you feel, God does do. Loreli
Sometimes I feel so overwhelmed that I don’t even want to sit down and have quiet time with the Lord. I am a Christian and have been saved from Satan’s grasp but why do I feel this way? We go to church every Sunday morning and we have a big part within our church family.
When I am sitting in church I tell myself that I’m going to start the following week reading my “Daily Bread”. But when it comes to the next Sunday I still haven’t done it. Any suggestions?
First of all, I have been rescued from eternity in hell. Even since then, I became enslaved in darkness and began to believe the lies of satan. This wasn’t of God….this was something I allowed. Before I knew it, I was shackled in sin and darkness, and covered with shame. Some of my sin was of my own making. Some was sin against me, and I carried the guilt and shame. Even so, I let the darkness envelope me and listened to the lies of satan. It seemed there was only one way out. My mind had been deceived.
The Lord had another plan for me…praise God. He began to work in my heart and send people into my life to minister, pray and teach me. I began to understand who I was in Him.
I was redeemed in my 20′s, yet have been restored just recently……in my 50′s. I praise God for keeping His hand of protection on me…for loving me so, that He came after me as a shepherd searches for his wandering sheep.
How wonderful to know that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us.
Dear Jesus, thank You for saving me. Thank You for loving me so much…that You reached Your loving hand out to me, pulled me out of that dark pit and restored me…my relationship to You. I praise You for sending those into my life…that pray, minister and teach me Your ways. In Jesus Name
I think of the chorus
“Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am!
Wow What an escape from the power of darkness when we come to faith. I was 7 when I came to know the Lord. I escaped the power of darkness. At birth I escaped a potentinally unstable home life. My birth parents couldn’t look after me because of finances. I was blest to come to faith in Jesus at an early age at a Christian Camp. (Joy Bible camp in Bancroft Ontario)
I am having the feelings of needing an escape latley. I am over stressed and have anxiety and panic, depression….I am a christian. I know I am saved and will be delivered to a better place someday, and I am a very blessed mother of 4 beautiful little children, but how do I feel what this email is decribing in my everyday life?
I’d love comments through email…my email is Avandergalien@aol.com.
Thank you!