Word of the Week - Freedom - Part 1
“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
Amy and I attended a Freedom small group this past semester, you can learn more by clicking this link https://freedom.churchofthehighlands.com/curriculum. This is a huge an powerful ministry that has impacted thousands in an amazing way over the years. To get a better fell for Freedom Group, I would recommend watching week one teaching on “The Tree of Life” by PC. The semester culminated in the Freedom Conference this weekend. This was a powerful day and a half experience filled with worship, prayer, and a thorough process of evaluating many aspects our lives such as fear, shame, abuse, pride, anger, purity etc. to identify areas where we may have allowed sin and the enemy of our soul to have a foothold in our lives. After determining areas of personal struggle, we had one on one prayer and then made declarations to be freed from these specific areas that were holding us back from Freedom. The goal of Freedom is simple, to get free of the things that keep us from living the life that Christ has for us. Jesus himself made it clear to us in John 10:10 that “The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy; but He came that we may have life, and have it to the full (abundant life).
The truth is that we all have stuff that we accumulate over the course of life through our family of origin and experiences that weigh us down and keep us from experiencing God’s best for our lives. The reality is that we don’t have to carry these things with us. As believers we have access to the abundant life, which is living a life of Freedom. 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 it is likely God has 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 24 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 deeply desiring that He would heal me at deeper levels and show me how to go to higher heights of experiencing His amazing grace and Freedom in every aspect of my life, especially in my close relationships. I found new levels of Freedom this weekend at the my second Freedom Conference.
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 surrender 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 24 years, I have steadily been tested and refined by fire and 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.
Living from the Tree of Life vs. the Tree of Knowledge – Salvation is the first step toward Freedom in Christ, but we can be saved and still not be free. The second part of experiencing Freedom is choosing to live out of the “Tree of Life” vs. the “Tree of Knowledge”. “But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden-except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If you eat the fruit, you are sure to die.” Genesis 2:16-17 Every day we choose between the Tree of Life characterized by Freedom, Grace, Eternal Life, God is good, God is Forgiving and being convicted in our sin vs and the Tree of Knowledge characterized by Bondage, The Law, Leads to death, God is only judge, we are condemned by our sin! There is nothing wrong with knowledge in of itself it is the motive behind wanting knowledge. In the case of Adam and Eve, they wanted the knowledge to become a sort of God in their own right. This is the danger of the pursuit of knowledge. We must ask ourselves why we desire knowledge, is it to gain God’s wisdom and understanding, or is it to somehow exalt ourselves? We should desire goldy wisdom vs worldly knowledge, which is much different. Wisdom from God is pure, peace loving, gentle, yielding to others, seeks unity, full of mercy and good deeds, show no partiality and is always sincere whereas Worldly wisdom is characterized by jealousy, selfishness, division, an earthly temporal perspective, villainizing others and motivated by evil intent at the expense of others. The tree of knowledge produces shame and victimization whereas the tree of Life produces Freedom and life that is truly life. The truth is that every day we have a choice to live out of the Tree of Life (connection to Jesus and His ways) or the Tree of Knowledge (the wat of the world), let’s choose life and Freedom “today”! “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that your children may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19 I choose life “today”!
Next week I will share more about the Tree of Life and how we live out of the Tree of Life and the fruit that comes from living in the Tree of Life.
“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!!!!