Date: Tue, 20 Apr 1999 2:30:2
Subject: Neil Anderson Devotional for Tuesday, April 20, 1999
To: Dr. Rowland Croucher <>
From: DEVOTIONALS.NET <>

  N E I L   A N D E R S O N   D A I L Y   D E V O T I O N A L
             from Freedom in Christ Ministries

April 20

YOUR NEW SKIPPER

We are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to
the flesh--for if you are living according to the flesh, you must
die (Romans 8:12, 13).

When I was in the Navy, we called the captain of our ship "the
Old Man." Our Old Man was tough and crusty and nobody liked him.
He used to go out drinking with all his chiefs while belittling
and harassing his junior officers and making life miserable for
the rest of us. He was not a good example of a naval officer. So
when our Old Man got transferred to another ship, we all
rejoiced. It was a great day for our ship.

Then we got a new skipper--a new Old Man. The old Old Man no
longer had any authority over us; he was gone--completely out of
the picture. But I was trained under that Old Man. So how do you
think I related to the new Old Man? At first I responded to him
just like I had been conditioned to respond to the old skipper. I
tiptoed around him expecting him to bite my head off. That's how
I had lived for two years around my first skipper.

But as I got to know the new skipper, I realized that he wasn't a
crusty old tyrant like my old Old Man. He wasn't out to harass
his crew; he was a good guy, really concerned about us. But I had
been programmed for two years to react a certain way when I saw a
captain's braids. I didn't need to react that way any longer, but
it took several months to recondition myself to the new skipper.

You also once served under a cruel, self-serving skipper: your
old sinful self with its sinful nature. The admiral of that fleet
is Satan himself, the prince of darkness. But by God's grace you
have been transferred into Christ's kingdom (Colossians 1:13).
You now have a new skipper: your new self which is infused with
the divine nature of Jesus Christ, your new admiral. As a child
of God, a saint, you are no longer under the authority of your
old Old Man. He is dead, buried, gone forever.

So why do you still react as if your old skipper were still in
control of your behavior? We'll answer that question tomorrow.

Praise You, Lord, that my relationship with my old skipper, that
old sinful self, is gone. I choose to live today in the realty of
my new nature in Christ.


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This daily devotional is published and distributed by
http://www.GOSHEN.net/ .  It is written by Neil Anderson at 
http://www.ficm.org/ . 

Additional devotionals are available from GOSHEN:
http://www.Devotionals.net/

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