Word of the Week - True Freedom
“Jesus said, “If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves to anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” John 8:31-36
During January for the past 23 years, I have participated in a season of prayer and fasting that is led by my Pastor Chris Hodges at Church of the Highlands. You can learn more or join online at 21 Days of Prayer. This is a season where I work to intentionally give up things I enjoy (certain foods, wine/alcohol, sports/media etc.), to turn down the competing fleshly appetites and noise. My simple goal is to focus more intensely on my relationship with God. It is always a bit challenging but such an amazing way to start the year. I desire to give God my “First and Best” (First Fruits)” as I start a new year and declare my dependance on the Lord. One benefit of prayer and fasting can be gaining clarity on things that may not be so clear when we are just operating in our day-to-day routines of life.
As this relates to personal freedom, we may be able to relate with the pharisees quoted in John 8 above, many times we don’t even know or realize how we are bound up by sin in our lives. It has become such a part of how we operate it is too familiar for us to really see it. Many times we need to step away from our busy routines and the things we fill our time with to make space for God to reveal these things. We may think life is good, but there is likely something much better for us if we can get to the breakthrough and find true Freedom in Christ. I have experienced this over the past 23 years since I have been walking with Jesus. I have come a long way and the level of Freedom I enjoy is nothing less than miraculous based on where I have come from. That being said, I know God has more and I am praying that He will show me how to go to higher heights of experiencing His amazing grace and true Freedom in every aspect of my life.
What is the Freedom Jesus is referring to – Romans 3:23 says we are all sinners and fall short. That is not great news since sin is what separates us from God. The simple concept is that God allowed sin to enter the world through the garden, the fall of mankind. But, He has made provision for us all to be washed clean and made new through the blood of Jesus on the cross. Our first step to being set free is to fully accept Jesus as our Savior and give our hearts to Him. There is no greater gift than this. The amount of Freedom we experience through this miraculous gift is overwhelming. I will never forget the feeling I experienced when I realized that I was washed clean starting afresh and assured of my eternal destiny. This is the first major step to true Freedom. But it does not stop there. Even though we are saved and have assurance of our eternal destiny, there is a lot to be worked out in our lives that has accumulated over the years. I was 33 years old when I experienced this Freedom and it was amazing, but the sanctifying work of the God’s Spirit was just beginning. Over the past 23 years, I have steadily been tested and refined by fire but have continuously realized new levels of Freedom in my life from things that at one time really had a grip on me. Things like bad habits, attitudes, mindsets, tones, how I see and treat family, colleagues and people in general. This is our sinful nature. I simply had formed some bad thinking over many years and had bad examples and experiences that scard me. Many of these things I didn’t even see until God revealed them to me through people around me that could see better than I could. Jesus desires us to be “Free Indeed” and have nothing that binds us and keeps us from His best for us. This is the abundant life he promises us.
How do we experience True Freedom - Making the decision to surrender our lives to Christ and follow Him is the beginning of the journey of faith. To experience the fullness of Freedom available as a Christ follower, we must know God intimately. Jesus makes it clear at the beginning of John 8:31 that if we want the full benefits He offers, we must “Hold to His teachings”, in other words, we must know Him through His Word. This makes us true disciples and followers. The way to know Him is to Abide in Him, the Vine of Christ. Jesus promises us that “if we abide in Him then He will abide in us, and we will bear much fruit; apart from Him we can do nothing” of eternal significance”. John 15:5 There is amazing Freedom, protection, peace and much more that comes from abiding and knowing Jesus personally. I have personally experienced this in a big way over the past 23 years as I have connected to the vine of Jesus. This is why John 15:5 is my favorite verse and I share it with others as the secret to a successful life of faith. God commands us as His followers to make abiding in Him a daily priority and pursuit.
Here are a few ways we abide/connect with Jesus:
1) God’s Word / Bible - reading or listening to the book He gave us that tells us about His very nature and what He cares about, 2) Prayer - talking with the Lord daily and intimately, 3) Praise & Worship – letting Him know how great He is and how much we appreciate what He has done for us,
4) Ministry - making a point to care about what He cares about by loving and serving others, 5) Evangelism / Discipleship - telling people about Him and how great He is, 6) Fellowship of believers - encouraging each other in our walk of faith, and 7) simply thinking about Him and meditating on who He is and who you are in Him.
How do we continue to walk in True Freedom – Godly Relationships are key! God made us for relationship with Him and others; therefore, He designed it so that we cannot realize the fullness of the Freedom He has for us if we are not in deep authentic relationship with other believers. In fact, He tells us to “confess our sins to each other and pray for each other so that we may be healed.” James 5:16 We go to God for forgiveness, but we get healing and Freedom by confessing our sins to one another. I am sure we have all experienced having sin or some issue that we kept secret, and it caused tremendous internal strife within us and possibly beyond. The key is to bring those things into the light by confessing them to others. This is how we get freed up and find healing so we can continue forward in our journey of faith and realize our full God potential. Not only do we need to have people who we can confess our sins to, but we also need others close enough to us that they can speak into our lives, especially in areas of weakness that we cannot fully see called “blind spots”. By the way, we all have them and since we are blind to them, so we need others to help us. This has been huge in my life and in areas I would have never been able to overcome without authentic relationships and allowing others to speak into my life.
I pray we all live our lives connected to the vine of Christ and in relationship with others, so we can experience the True Freedom that God offers and be “Free Indeed”!!!!
“It is for Freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1
Have a great week!!!!