{"id":2451,"date":"2020-08-28T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=2451"},"modified":"2020-08-20T07:22:01","modified_gmt":"2020-08-20T12:22:01","slug":"when-you-borrow-you-become-a-slave-to-the-lender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/08\/28\/when-you-borrow-you-become-a-slave-to-the-lender\/","title":{"rendered":"WHEN YOU BORROW, YOU BECOME A SLAVE TO THE LENDER"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>\u201cThe rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.\u201d (Proverbs 22:7 NIV)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No debt equals freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My mom and aunt had a saying.&nbsp; Anytime we went somewhere and I was nervous about what people would think, they would say it.&nbsp; \u201cDo you owe them any money?\u201d&nbsp; I\u2019d answer no, the reply was always the same.&nbsp; \u201cThen you don\u2019t have to care what they think about you.\u201d&nbsp; In their minds, and I agree with them, as long as you weren\u2019t in debt to someone, what they think of you isn\u2019t important.&nbsp; But if you owe them money, that changes everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When we owe someone money, they have a hold on us.&nbsp; In today\u2019s world, credit is readily available at a young age.&nbsp; My first credit card came freshman year in college, when I didn\u2019t have a job.&nbsp; Meanwhile, my hard working, self-employed brother\u2019s had to threaten to close their bank accounts in order to get a credit card.&nbsp; They actually had jobs, making money.&nbsp; Meanwhile, I had no money, but a card that ignored that fact.&nbsp; Needless to say, I didn\u2019t take long running up the balance.&nbsp; I became a slave to the credit card company.&nbsp; The day I paid off my last credit card, I started sleeping better at night.&nbsp; My debt paid, I was free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jesus paid the debt that frees our soul.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We owe all to Jesus. He paid the debt we never could:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>\u201c<\/em><\/strong><em>For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.\u201d (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Romans%206:23&amp;version=NIV\"><em>Romans 6:23 NIV<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;All He asks in return for the sacrifice He made: love God, love others (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Mark%2012%3A30-31&amp;version=NIV\">Mark 12:30-31 NIV<\/a>).&nbsp; We can only do that well when we seek Him daily.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wednesday mornings I\u2019m part of a prayer group.\u00a0 Currently, we\u2019re exploring the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.\u00a0 God gave us a Helper:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cIf you love me, keep my commands. <\/em><strong><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><em>And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever\u2014 <\/em><strong><em>&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><em>the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.\u201d (<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John%2014:15-17&amp;version=NIV\"><em>John 14:15-17 NIV<\/em><\/a><em>)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jesus commands us to love, then makes loving God and others possible with the help of the Holy Spirit.&nbsp; He knows we can\u2019t do what He wants without help.&nbsp; The Holy Spirit helps us make good decisions.&nbsp; He dwells within us, never leaving us, always helping us. Each morning we can renew our Spirit as we spend time with God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Freedom comes through Jesus.&nbsp; His Spirit lives in us, guiding and directing our ways.&nbsp; When we submit to Him, our souls are free from the burden of sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Question of the Day:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\">Have you asked God to renew your Spirit today?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Further Reading: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Job%2030-31&amp;version=NIV\">Job 28:1-30:31 NIV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=2%20Corinthians%202%3A12-17&amp;version=NIV\">2 Corinthians 2:12-17 NIV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Psalm%2042&amp;version=NIV\">Psalm 42 NIV<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Proverbs%2022%3A7&amp;version=NIV\">Proverbs 22:7 NIV<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cThe rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.\u201d (Proverbs 22:7 NIV) No debt equals freedom. My mom and aunt had a saying.&nbsp; Anytime we went somewhere and I was nervous about what people would think, they would say it.&nbsp; \u201cDo you owe them any money?\u201d&nbsp; I\u2019d answer no, the&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2020\/08\/28\/when-you-borrow-you-become-a-slave-to-the-lender\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">WHEN YOU BORROW, YOU BECOME A SLAVE TO THE LENDER<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2451"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2454,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2451\/revisions\/2454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}