There are a few aspects of FREEDOM that I am going to share with you today. Some of them will bring verses to mind that you may have studied in the month of July as part of my Scripture Writing Group, and it’s my hope that some of the things I will say will cause you to think outside of the box of verses that have been shared and explore even more of what being set FREE by Jesus means to you.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “You are your own worst enemy?”
The first thing I would like to touch on is how to get Freedom from a negative mindset —
When you are bound up and have a negative mindset, you can bet that there are lies hiding somewhere in the negativity. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what lies you may be believing.
John 8:31-32 says, “If you abide in My Word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth.” We find the truth when we see it in the Word and through the Holy Spirit.
“and the truth will set you free.” Truth is a person, and His name is JESUS. Jesus will set you free!
When you remove the lies and find the truth - focus on the Truth, you can put your focus on Jesus and fill yourself with Him. As you are filled with Truth, you will be transformed and SET FREE!
On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress. The Declaration summarized the colonists’ motivations for seeking independence.
Four Freedoms of our Founding Fathers
Religious freedom: freedom of worship | Freedom from want: political liberty |
Freedoms of citizens: God-given rights | Constitutional freedom: civil liberty
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These are Freedoms intended for us as a nation from our founding FATHERS.
We say this in context to our country, but have you ever thought about who your founding father really is?
My FATHER God.
Psalm 33:8-12
Let all the earth fear the LORD;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all
generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!
We feel the work. We feel enslaved to labor, but our labor is not in vain. There is a freedom - a breakthrough that comes after the hard work.
1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
When a new life is being brought forth by a laboring mother, there is pain involved. However, when we are a coach or an encourager in that mother’s life leading up to the event, we know that there is an end result to the temporary pain. We see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. We focus on the new life. We bring the words “enter into your joy,” NOT “enter into your pain!”
Matthew 25:21
His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord. '
Focusing on the results of the obedience to labor reminds me of the Parable of the Talents. In fact, I would like us to read that Scripture.
The Parable of the Talents is an impactful Bible passage found in Matthew 25:31-46.
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Friends, true freedom comes from obedience - obeying the Lord.
1 Samuel 15:22 tells us
To obey is better than sacrifice.
What is important to God is complete obedience to Him because everything else is a by-product of this initial obedience – even sacrifice. Let us take a look at what obedience really means in the Bible.
Obedience, according to the Old Testament, means “to hear” or “to listen.” It is not just a regular hearing but a hearing with reverence and obedience, whereas, in the New Testament, the word is suggestive of “hearing under” or of subordinating one’s self to the person or thing heard. What we are seeing here is essentially a ‘relationship.’ It could be a relationship between that of a parent and a child, a master and a servant - Jesus and us.
Jesus came to set us FREE. He requires our obedience and surrender to Him so that we can be set free.
On September 22, 1862, Lincoln issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Its third paragraph reads:
"That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever FREE; and the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom."
Then, on January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, and FREEDOM became official.
Now, we can go to bat for others, we can pray and war on our knees - and we SHOULD. But, ultimately, it is the choice of each person to break free from the chains or stay bound.
There is a short video that impacted me when I watched it. I thought I would share it with you:
In closing, I want you to remember that the true road to FREEDOM is God’s Holy Word. Get in it. Soak in it. Allow God to fill your thoughts and mindset on things above.
In John 8:36, Jesus makes a wonderful statement of victory. He says, “So if the Son sets you free you will be free indeed.”
Jesus has the power to set you FREE!!
Be Blessed!
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