John 8:32 "And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." John 8:36 "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." FREEDOM. YES, FREEDOM. John 1:12 (amplified) "But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in--adhere to, trust in and rely on--His name." John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
"Happy are the people whose God is the Lord." I believe "happy" starts with "joy" on the inside. I have been thinking of this word "Freedom" lately. As God's people, what are we free of or from? We would all make a list. Some of what it would contain would be: sin, guilt, shame. But, what about things like: anxiety (that is a big one these days), gossip, bad attitude, pride, discontentment, rudeness, etc. The first three, sin, guilt, shame we can accept as a work accomplished on the Cross. The others, we struggle with at times. We can look at each of those "offenses" individually or we can look at what is behind them. The word is "choice"! That, to me, is our greatest FREEDOM. We are free in Christ to choose how we want to live. Those iniquities were nailed to the Cross and buried right along with sin, guilt and shame. That is so exciting! That is what makes the people of God happy people. No matter what the circumstances of life bring our way, we know that we are FREE to deal with them according to the Word and the Spirit of God. We used to sing a chorus, "Satan had me bound but Jesus set me FREE..." Therefore, if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed"!
So, our job is easy. John 6:29: "The work of God is this: to believe (adhere to, trust in, rely on) the one he has sent."
Thanks for letting me share my thoughts. I'd love to hear yours.
"Happy are the people whose God is the Lord." I believe "happy" starts with "joy" on the inside. I have been thinking of this word "Freedom" lately. As God's people, what are we free of or from? We would all make a list. Some of what it would contain would be: sin, guilt, shame. But, what about things like: anxiety (that is a big one these days), gossip, bad attitude, pride, discontentment, rudeness, etc. The first three, sin, guilt, shame we can accept as a work accomplished on the Cross. The others, we struggle with at times. We can look at each of those "offenses" individually or we can look at what is behind them. The word is "choice"! That, to me, is our greatest FREEDOM. We are free in Christ to choose how we want to live. Those iniquities were nailed to the Cross and buried right along with sin, guilt and shame. That is so exciting! That is what makes the people of God happy people. No matter what the circumstances of life bring our way, we know that we are FREE to deal with them according to the Word and the Spirit of God. We used to sing a chorus, "Satan had me bound but Jesus set me FREE..." Therefore, if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed"!
So, our job is easy. John 6:29: "The work of God is this: to believe (adhere to, trust in, rely on) the one he has sent."
Thanks for letting me share my thoughts. I'd love to hear yours.
No comments:
Post a Comment