Tag Archives: freedom

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The Key To Living a Free Life

alive, freedomWhat’s holding you hostage? Addiction? Your emotions? Decisions that have drained relationships and dried up your checking account? If you’re desperate to break free from the bondage, try giving God a chance. A heart-to-heart chance. He didn’t come to make bad people good. Jesus came to make dead people alive. Message me if you’re struggling with where to start.

I was once captive until He set me free. I’m here to tell you it’s a conscious choice to live in freedom daily. I’ve tasted the darkness and it left me hopeless but this life with Jesus has given me peace, abounding hope, an overflow of joy and unrelenting love.

I love you too much to not share the key that will unlock your life from these chains holding you down. Isn’t it about time to get free from a dead life and start living?

 

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A New Life

This week my heart has been heavy and burdened with unbearable pain for my sister and brother-in-law as they grieve the loss of their baby. I don’t know how parents endure such anguish; I have been so distraught for words. This tragedy falling on the same week we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus; God’s only son. The crushing uncanny sorrow and grief numbed my heart to feel anything at all.IMG_3286

This morning I brought my burdens with me to the sanctuary and with arms stretched wide, I found sweet surrender in worship of our Saviour King. Freedom found me and overwhelmed this soul. My heart basking in the warmth of His light as it shined brightly on my face and flooded everything in me. The pure, all-consuming love of Christ laid all the agony to rest.

Though the storms stirred dust on the surface, every hope within me has been resting in the peace of God’s Spirit that’s remained standing securely in the depths of my soul. Though it seemed so much had changed, my God stayed the same! No wind or wave can ever waver the goodness and grace, the hope and joy, and the absolute sovereignty of my God. I stand amazed at the peace surpassing all understanding, dwelling deep inside.

He alone is good, and because of that, this beaten down heart has been delivered from the burdens of sin and the heartaches in this world.

Jesus, oh my Jesus! You alone are good. Enduring my pain on the cross, raised to life from the dead, you have conquered the grave and claimed victory as my valiant King, so that I may have a new life, free from the burdens of our fallen world. The gift you have given is beyond anything I could ever return; this sacrifice is unspeakable when I think upon your ways. Your unfailing love is unfathomable and yet, I’m asking for more to flood my heart, my mind, my ways… craft in me a new thing that honors You, my King. May this world experience the joy of your work in every breath I exhale, every word that’s delivered, with every beat of my heart, in every step that I take… to you be the glory, Jesus, forever and ever. Amen.

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Love By Faith

The difficult part of praying for a life that mirrors Christ’s love, is that we are faced to love when we don’t want to, when we don’t feel like it, when we get nothing obvious in return, when they don’t deserve it, when they’re not worth it, when they don’t know it and even when it makes no difference. Yet, we live it out anyways.

For the last few months now, I have been convicted of Christ’s love as I pray to share more of it. There is someone who deeply and ruthlessly betrayed me over the course of three years. In wisdom, every counselor and mentor advised strict boundaries to stay away from the toxicity and ‘unsafe’ person. I forgave their actions and prayed for healing and restoration in their lives. A few months later, I moved states away. But the harassment and hurting continued until one day, this person also moved to my new city and stepped into my circle of friends. I became so distraught by the turmoil of pain and alone in my struggle. It seemed no matter how I tried to ‘brush off the dirt’ and walk away from the past, God’s love was pressing in deeper, asking me not to walk away from people. With nowhere else to turn, I began praying for a desire to deeply love them and God’s power to walk in it. I felt everything in me die as I invited Jesus to do the impossible; to help me love the ‘unlovable’.

As the weeks passed, I continued praying through the pain until that day came; when Jesus carried me in courage, strength and favor. The love of Christ consumed me as I sought out and embraced this person. And only in His power, my heart was able to walk out a love that desired to willingly serve. Instantly, I experienced insurmountable JOY and FREEDOM that I cannot adequately describe.

I think we find loving so painful because we try to love with our own emotions and our eyes fail us when love doesn’t bring about the exact results we want and asked for. But we are called to love by faith. Love our enemies by faith. Love our betrayers by faith. Love a bitter parent by faith… not a feeling. Living love is a daily commitment to throw off preferential affections. We live by faith. We love by faith. If we truly become a person who makes a lifestyle of believing God, we will become bolder in our love for others and what we’re willing to believe God for in their lives.

Walking in love doesn’t always feel warm fuzzy. Sometimes our only motivation is obedience to God. If no one else catches the love we sacrificially give, know that God will.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:5

Oh my Lord, the things you bring us through astounds my eyes. You are faithful to deliver us from the stronghold of bitterness and hatred, so that our hearts may experience the freedom and joy you authored in this life! May the fruit of Christ’s love within us surface in our words and walk today. We come yielded to your authority, may we be so filled by your Spirit, Lord. Guide us to those relationships we still harbor grief in. God, give us the strength to walk out your unfailing love. Help us to actively love others and pray those big prayers for them. You were faithful yesterday and you will be faithful today. We trust you for more faithfulness in our future. May we love by this same faith.

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End It

Each year, the world joins hands to take a stand against modern slavery with the End It Movement. When asked why I wore a red “x” on my hand, I explained there are currently women being held in prostitution rings and children being chained to labor but sadly, we thought the days of slaves was over. Truthfully though, we’ve turned a blind eye and just stopped looking.

It all got me thinking. You know, many of us, are slaves to sin. We choose the lure of lust, bitter behaviors, arrogant attitudes instead of love, peace and joy with others. We turn a blind eye to rated ‘R’ movies, a man on the corner with his hand out and gossip that fuels our sickness for satire. We get greedy with our money, label others by their sins and pronounce glory on ourselves in a prideful job well done. We are slaves to sin. We clash against the chains, struggling in a stronghold, fighting for freedom from this sin that enslaves our hearts.

In silence there is safety—safety from potential prosecution or pain from the backlash, safety from the danger of facing a difficult truth: that the quiet, close-knit Christian community could be cruel, cowardly, and lawless. And yet, despite our wishes, history is full of cruelty, cowardice, and lawlessness. Nowadays, though, we are not so much silent as talking loudly about anything that will help us avoid being the target. We suffer under a conspiracy of misdirection. Satan is sliding in through the backdoor and we miss the carpet being pulled from underneath our feet.

This isn’t about ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ but about the Truth that as slaves to anything, we cannot be fully free. We war against the box of cookies that keeps showing up in the cupboard, the gym membership buried in our mind, the word ‘yes’ that slips out when everything in us is says ‘no’, the negative thoughts that materialize into words, the lack of generosity for others needs, the pride in ourselves that crushes compassion for others. The triumphalist rhetoric, instead, lets us—tells us to—look away.

May I encourage you in this day not to wait another second dismissing bondage under a cloak of grace. Release the beast, so that you can experience the fullness of His Spirit! I don’t want to be bound to the empty life this kind of slavery is destined for. My captivity to sin is a choice. Jesus came to set me free from the burden of this kind of slavery. No more laboring. No more pleasing. I am free. Heavenly Father, release the fullness of your Spirit on us. Strengthen our hearts and minds in the midst of any fear and press into our hearts, increasing our desire for even more freedom. I’m thanking you in advance Lord for what you’ve already done and what’s about to happen in us. Amen!

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There Is Life Beyond The Cross

Many of us start our day at the cross and never actually leave the foot of it, but I’m here to share hope that there is life beyond the cross that promises freedom!

Does this story sound familiar? We come to the cross and surrender our burdens, asking God to free us from the bondage that slaves us to a behavior, lifestyle or sin that we’re not particularly proud of. We pick ourselves up, dust off the remnants on our knees and move forward trying to get over the past. But we never actually get beyond the cross to experience His power in our life. Before the sun can rise, we find ourselves answering ‘yes please’ to the same decisions, inviting strongholds to tighten a grip on our lives.

The power of Christ is found when we receive His love and discover the freedom, confidence and liberty to say ‘no more’.  There are a couple stories in the book of John that illustrate this when Jesus tells two sinners “go and sin no more”. Some may ask, well how can Jesus say that when he knows we are not perfect and will sin; Romans 3:23 reminds us “for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God? And unfortunately, there are those who are quick to remind themselves and others “we’re all sinners” to excuse a lifestyle they’ve been leading. Sadly, it’s these folks who have given themselves an identity as a ‘sinner’ instead of a ‘conqueror through Christ’. And that’s what I mean about moving beyond the cross and living to the full potential Christ came to give us!

Many times, we want to stop at the cross, equipped with theology that Christ came so I’m forgiven and can move on. HOWEVER, we forget that we cannot be sinners and continue in it, and expect to go to heaven. With forgiveness comes the expectation that we will not continue in the same path of rebelliousness. Those who know God’s love will want to obey Him (John 14:15).

In saying, “Go and sin no more,” Jesus was not speaking of sinless perfection. He was warning against a return to sinful lifestyle choices. His words both extended mercy and demanded holiness. Jesus was always the perfect balance of grace and truth. The woman caught in adultery was forever changed. Her eyes had been opened to the depravity of what she was doing. Sin no longer held the appeal it once did. When we meet Jesus, sin no longer holds its fatal attraction. Grace changes things. Paul asks “shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Romans 6:1-2)
When we turn to Christ and receive His forgiveness, we experience a heart change (Luke 9:23; Acts 1:8). Once we lived only to please ourselves, but when we have been forgiven, our motivation changes. We now live to please God (Galatians 2:20). Forgiveness is not cheap, and it does not excuse the sin that separated us from God. It cost God everything to offer us the cleansing that declares us righteous before Him. Rather than continue in the self-centered path that led us astray from Him to begin with, the forgiven can walk in God’s path in His love. A move toward God is a move toward righteousness, purity, and holy living. We cannot experience the transforming power of forgiveness and the freedom offered beyond the cross without being forever changed.

It should be our goal to “sin no more,” although we recognize that, while we are in the flesh, we will still stumble. God’s desire for each of us is to be holy as He is holy. We still sin, but sin is no longer a lifestyle choice. When we fail, we can come to God and ask forgiveness and make a choice to ‘sin no more’ in that manner. We are empowered by Christ to move beyond the cross- beyond our sin- and experience the freedom to say ‘no’ to unpleasing lifestyles and ‘yes’ to liberty and confidence that God will light a better, holy way.

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Break Off From The Burdens

I just started a new job and no sooner had my foot touched down in the office, I was piling on a to-do list and creating demands in my schedule. No one was asking for it; it was a voluntary reaction. Only by the grace of God, He revealed a truth to me before I repeated a mistake I’ve made in so many positions prior.

I think we can get comfortable with bearing burdens after awhile and even learn to like it. We carry a heavy weight of demands on our shoulders for so long that when it’s lifted, we get the sense that something is missing. There’s this inner dialogue that says ‘if I’m not weary, I must not be working hard or doing enough’. The ‘lightness’ in our labor or load makes us feel more like we’re lost. Our tendency then is to create or take on burdens so that we feel comfortable again with the choking weightiness of a yoke that infringes on this freedom.

The devil shouts with accusations, fabricating fear by calling freedom a ‘sluggard’ or ‘lazy’. But God’s word calls it something else: “Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear?” (Acts 15:10) Throughout scripture, putting on a yoke is used to punish a person and enslave lives, even if we’re doing it to ourselves.

God’s desire is repeated throughout the book “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30) He’s a God who gives us rest in our work. God doesn’t desire demands on our life, but a weightlessness, a buoyancy and freedom to enjoy the days He delivers. “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) Slavery to sin, slavery to undo demands and slavery to any other God, even the ‘God of work’.

At one time I associated ‘demands and creating work’ with ‘success, growth and getting ahead’ but now I see it was only keeping me from experiencing a fuller freedom and joy in Christ. What a lovely concept when my heart is light, there’s room for relationships. When my life is free, I have margin and peace to embrace the big and small ‘interruptions’. So while I may not be seeking out more pressure in my day, truth is, my heart is free enough to perform better with what God gives me.

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Everlasting God

I am in awe this morning of God’s love for me. I feel his touch soothing the hurts from what this world has offered. Though others may come and go, He always remains. As I walk one with the Father, hand in hand, He is heavy on my mind in every moment. My security rests in the unified identity developed in Christ. Though the wind may blow and the seas toss around me, this daily walk cannot be rocked because my foundation is in the solid Rock of All Ages. My joy is everlasting in His word and my love lived out in His obedience. My freedom I gain from His provision. When all is gone, I assuredly remain standing in the promises and hope, the joy and love that He so graciously gives.

“One thing I know that I have found Through all the troubles that surround You are the Rock that never fails.

You never change, You’re still the same You are the Everlasting God You will remain after the day is gone and the things of earth have passed”

What an amazing, everlasting God!