Archive for the ‘Freedom’ Category

CHRIST, THE HEAD

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Day 266

“You have been given fullness in Christ,
Who is the head over every power and authority”
Colossians 2:9-15

You are complete in Him and out of His fullness you receive grace upon grace. You have everything when you have Christ. He is the Source of your blessings, provision, strength and all that you need for this life. And above all, He is a Provider that will never fail.

Christ cancelled and blotted out the charges against you. He took your list of sins and destroyed it on the cross. Then He disarmed the powers and authorities and took away Satan’s power to accuse you of sin. The victorious Christ became the head over every power and authority.

Listen, Saint; Jesus is God and He surpasses all created beings. He adopted you as His sons and daughters and as such share in His high position. He has blessed you in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing. Your enemy has been defeated. He no longer has any power over you. You are free in Christ. Rise up and praise Him and declare His glories.

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated
at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Colossians 3:1-2

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A FATHER WHO CARES

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

Day 229

“The Spirit helps us in our weakness”
Romans 8:26-27

We live in an age where getting in-touch with yourself prevails. Delving into our sub-conscience to purge ourselves of disturbing (and unknown) matters is purported to be the way to go. Sadly, this only serves to strengthen the darkness. More unfortunate is the fact that some Christians believe in this or variations of these methods. Rather than turning in on ourselves, where flesh will only find flesh, our Father has made provision for us.

We have a Father who cares about us. He cares about our inner struggles, struggles that we often do not understand. These may be matters concerning our own actions or events in the past, a close member of our family or friend, or our work, and we cannot express ourselves about it in prayer. There can be confusion or feelings of helplessness. Often we do not know how to pray about these situations. What we do need is to know that our Father has made provision.

The Holy Spirit has been given to us and resides in us. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. He helps us in our weakness by praying for us. He will express what we cannot. He does this according to the will of God. When God searches our heart, the Holy Spirit speaks to Him. What a wonderful provision our Father has made. He knows our infirmities, our weaknesses, and our needs. We have a Divine Helper.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield: my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy
and I will give thanks to Him in song”
Psalm 28:7

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DELIVERANCE AND TRUE FREEDOM

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Day 228

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
has made me free from the law of sin and death”
Romans 8:2

Freedom.

People think they are free. They value personal freedom and fight to maintain these rights. Western culture, in particular, prides itself as an enlightened people where education has solved all our problems. The total sum of all this is deceit. People are not free at all. The opposite is true; they are in bondage.

At one time, we were also in bondage. Moreover, we could cry with Paul, “I know that nothing good lives in me” [Romans 7:18]. In fact, we lived under the law of sin and death. There is no choice when you are under the law. All the good of man is unacceptable to God because it does not honor or bring glory to Him. It is a vain imitation of God’s goodness, all without God.

Our glorious Father, though, made provision for those who would believe in Him. The Lord superseded the law of sin with the Law of the Spirit of Life through the death of His Son Jesus Christ and His resurrection. We, who were condemned, are now free because of the law of the Spirit of life. What an amazing thing! It is not through our own works and self-help, but through the resurrected power of our Savior we are no longer under condemnation and are free.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”
2 Corinthians 3:17

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OUR GUIDE

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

Day 199

“…in Him we live, and move, and have our being”
Acts 17:28

We all agree that God has a plan. But, most of us wrestle with knowing God’s will. From that point on it gets more difficult. Some believe that you must know each point of that plan so you will not miss the mark. And to “miss the mark” is to be out of the will of God. It seems to suggest that God creates a robot state of life for His children.

What kind of a Father would He be if we had to precisely fulfill every minute detail of a plan to be in His will? This is a gross misunderstanding of our Father and His purpose for us. He leads, we follow. This is how easy it is. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). By focusing on Him is how we walk in His will. Everything else will take care of itself. It is why Christ and the Apostles were able to say “do not worry”, “do not be anxious.” We have a good Father who leads us each day of our lives and we know His voice.

God guides His own. “When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him because they know His voice” (John 10:4). This refers to several flocks of sheep kept together at night, but in the morning each shepherd would lead out his own sheep. His own sheep, and they alone, would respond to his call. He then goes ahead of them and the sheep follow. He leads. He does not drive. For He is our Father and within His plan there is freedom.

“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification”
1 Thessalonians 4:3-7

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THE MOST HOLY PLACE

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Day 193

“I will meet with you”
Exodus 25:22

Jesus is coming.

He wants to meet with you.

He is going to meet you with His mercy-seat.

And, He is going to tear down everything in you that impedes and hinders you from meeting Him.

You are His and He has come to make you as He is. There is only one focus in The Most Holy Place: God Himself. Not Satan, not the world, not the flesh. And, not your sins. It is He Himself. The Father beholds His Son and He is passionate about you. He is jealous about you. He will not share you with anyone or anything else.

Listen saints; He created you to be His and He has had enough with the things that have captured you. Man has tried to put God in a box. We have impaired ourselves with a religious system and practices that box God into a Sunday package. We have perceptions and beliefs about God that distort a true picture of who He really is to us. We practice a dichotomy of God up there and us down here. We believe in self-realization, self-strength, and self sufficiency instead of resting purely on Him. We see Him as an answer Man to get us through and out of things instead of a Friend. We give Satan credit for everything wrong instead of seeing him as a defeated enemy. The list goes on and on.

Guess what? He’s had enough. He’s coming and is going to set you free. He wants His child back. He’s coming with fire in His eyes and will burn away everything that isn’t His. He will refine and purify you, cleansing your house and setting it in order. Praise God!

“They will be mine, says the Lord Almighty”
Malachi 3:17

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SET FREE FROM CAPTIVITY

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

Day 178

“Be free from your captivity!”
Isaiah 48:20

Why God even concerns Himself with sinful people is a marvel! He has redeemed us, unbinding, setting free and releasing us from our sins. Yet, redemption goes much further than we imagine. It isn’t, ‘o.k., you are free and if you get back into sin and captivity you are left to your own devices’ His sacrifice gave us forgiveness for the past, present and future. The truth is we are not sinless and many do go back into captivity. What then?

What would a father do? Can his sons and daughters cease to be his children? Can he cast them out and forget them? The fact is fathers rescue their children all the time from foolishness and even when they willfully get themselves in trouble. And when the father comes he releases them from their captivity. The children find peace, safety and comfort in the powerful actions of their loving fathers.

Earthly fatherhood is a pattern of our heavenly Father. We are created in the image and likeness of God. And our God is the Father of fathers. And although earthly fathers are imperfect, He is perfect. He knows how stubborn, obstinate, unbending, hardheaded, and rebellious we are [His own words, Isaiah 48, NLT]. That’s why His redemption goes further than we ever imagined. He continues to rescue us again and again because of His unconditional love. Who is a God like Him?

“He will rescue you again and again
so that no evil can touch you”
Job 5:19

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THE LORD’S PASSION – PART 1

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Day 111

“He might be the firstborn among many brethren”
Romans 8:29b

Great respect was given by the Old Testament households to the firstborn. He had headship over his brothers, authority over younger members of the household, succeeded to the father’s authority, special claim to the father’s blessing, and he received a double portion of inheritance. It meant foremost in time, place, order and importance.

Was Jesus the first firstborn? No, He wasn’t. Adam was. Created in His image and likeness for fellowship, God gave man preeminence over every living thing and over the earth itself. More importantly, God created Adam a living being with a free will. He did this to bring the highest order of creation in man. But, Adam was not proven. There were choices before him. Out of everything given to Adam, there was one thing he was instructed not to do. He made a choice and it wasn’t for God. Because of this sin, Adam lost his birthright. He became a living soul. He was not saved. And the word tells us that by him came death to all men (1 Corinthians 15:21).

Adam’s choice made it impossible for man to be saved. Man cannot save himself. Sin blocked that road. God’s divine plan, which was set before creation came into existence, did not change. God chose who was to be His. But, when man could not save himself, He sent His only Son to become the firstborn among many of brethren. He sent Jesus to be the second Adam and firstborn of a new race!

“Both the One who makes holy and those
who are made holy are of the same
family. So Jesus is not ashamed
to call them brothers”
Hebrews 2:11

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OUR TRUE FREEDOM

Friday, June 4th, 2010

Day 103

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free”
Galatians 5:1

Freedom is a wonderful experience. It is highly valued in our culture. Unfortunately, the meaning today is more focused on individual rights over others. People talk a lot about freedom, usually meaning they are free to do what they want, when they want, and how they want. In reality, this freedom is not a true freedom; it is bondage to the nature of sin. The subtlety of this freedom is that is directly opposed to God and His kingdom.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. This freedom is a deliverance from the power of sin, accusing conscience, wrath of God and the tyranny of Satan. It is also a freedom from fear and self-works. But, wait! It’s more than deliverance – it is the gaining of walking and living in the Spirit of Christ with access to the Father. There is a joy from delighting and pleasing the Father. It is a freedom PLUS.

Who is the true free person? Is it not the one blessed of God? He has given us grace, mercy and comfort. True freedom brings us liberty from death and imparts God’s blessings on us. We become His and He dwells in us. His grace gives us favor. His mercy is what permits us, with all our human sinfulness, flawed characters and idiosyncrasies, to live in freedom, not fearing being lost. It covers us – it is our Mercy Seat. And in all this He comforts us as a mother comforts her child [Isaiah 66:13], and as a father has compassion on his children [Psalm 103:13].

“So if the Son sets you free,
you will be free indeed”
John 8:36

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