The Freedom Option We Should Never Refuse

"You scare me, Leanna," one of my coworkers told me. I had just returned from rambling through the Old City of Jerusalem alone. I'd visited with local people along the way. My interactions had ended with an impromptu picnic shared with a Palestinian Muslim stranger at the foot of the Eastern Gate. 

It had been a fun day. I'd wandered at my own pace, stopped when I was tired, walked where I wanted to go. For only one moment of the entire day had I felt the least bit threatened. I walked away from the perceived threat and was fine. I was never frightened or uncertain or lost. Instead, it had been a holy communion with my Lord in the city that occupies so much of His heart.

I wouldn't call myself completely fearless, but I'm not often afraid.

Over the weekend, I worked on an upcoming presentation about prayer and journaling. I pulled all my old journals and scanned through them. One in particular, from more than twenty years ago, caught my eye. I'd journaled about my struggle with fear and listed all the things about which I was afraid. "Free my from my fear," I'd written in my prayer.

And He did.

I don't remember a moment when I was abruptly delivered. Somehow, one step of faith at a time, God gradually delivered me from all my fears and moved me to a firm place of trust and obedience.

He set me free and my fear is gone.

I'm not saying I'll never be afraid again, but fear's hold on me has been broken. I'm free to follow anywhere God leads now. 

The fear-freeing happened so gradually and so completely that I no longer remember being afraid. My writings leave no doubt, though. I was afraid, but now I'm not.

For the disciple of Christ, the bondage of sin is optional. We have a choice. Continue to allow sin a stronghold or allow God to break our chains. It's up to us.

No matter what sin besets us, we have an option for freedom. We can take it to the Lord and ask Him to set us free. It may not happen instantly, but freedom is His desire for us. His word promises freedom and we serve a God who always keeps His promises. 

Today, let's cry out to the Lord about our sin and invite Him to do what only He can do. Answer our cry and break our chains.

"I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears." Psalm 34:4 esv

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#freedom

The Debt We Cannot Pay

My mama was big on predicting the weather from the "signs". She'd look at the sky and proclaim what was coming. One of her favorites was, "Red at night, sailors delight. Red in the morning, sailors take warning."

I'm not so big on predicting weather. Instead, I tend to look at the signs of the times, the culture around us, and predict which direction our world is going. We're a mess, and we're not going in a good direction.

Of course, it's easy to see what's wrong with the world outside us. Jesus calls us to turn our eyes from others to look inside our own hearts. He wants us to see what's wrong inside us.

“You hypocrites! You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyze this present time? "And why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? For while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last cent."”       Luke 12:56-59 NASB

We should be able to see our hearts as they are and anticipate our appearance before Almighty God. Jesus presents His discussion in the framework of a court proceeding. 

In this mini-parable, the person is taken to court by an opponent (or complainant) who has a valid complaint against him. We know it's valid because, unless the defendant settles, the opponent will drag him before the judge, who will turn him over to the officer, who will throw him in prison. He owes a debt he cannot pay.

We, too, owe a debt we cannot pay. It is a sin debt, and the payment required is so vast, we have no hope of settling our case. 

Jesus makes a few things abundantly clear, and we do well to review them, for they are the situation in which we all find ourselves.
1) A debt is owed and payment is demanded.
2) The debt is astronomical. There's no way for us to pay it.
3) There will be payment of some kind, and we will either settle with our complainant or we will be imprisoned with no chance of release.
4) The only hope is to make a settlement.

This is my condition. This is your condition.

There is a solution. The debt must be paid, but God knew it was hopeless unless He intervened. So, He did. Jesus left heaven to wrap Himself in flesh and dwell among us. 

I wouldn't have done it, but God did, because He loves us. Jesus lived with us and loved us and died for us. He took our sin, paid our debt, and conquered death and the grave. 

Jesus settled our accuser's case against us. It is finished.

If payment has been made, we have two options. We can rejoice in the magnanimous gift and accept it or refuse it. If we refuse the gift Jesus so graciously gave, we're on our own with our sin debt. Where is the sense in that decision? 

If, then, we have been set free from our debt, we should live free.

We should live as if every moment of freedom is incredibly precious and valuable. We should live as if sin, which has cost Christ so much, is abhorrent and to be avoided at all costs. 

I am reminded of a song from a few decades ago, written by Andy Williams. "Born Free" 
Here's an excerpt from the lyrics:

Live free and beauty surrounds you

The world still astounds you

Each time you look at a star

Stay free, where no walls divide you

You're free as the roaring tide

So there's no need to hide

Born free, and life is worth living

But only worth living

'cause you're born free

The only way to "live free" is to be free,  but freedom is found only in Jesus Christ, our debt-payer. We are "born free" when we are born again by the Spirit of God. We live free when we embrace His gift and follow Him.

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Our Father, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Help us to embrace Your sacrifice on the cross and turn away from our sin. Help us live free in Christ. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#JesusChrist #adebtwecannotpay

The Recognition, part 19: Recidivists in Sin

But I tell you of a truth, There are some of them that stand here, who shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:27 ASV)

And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:30-31 NASB)

Jesus had said some of them would see the Kingdom of God, and that is exactly what was happening, or would be when the sleepy disciples awakened. What they would have been hearing was a heavenly conversation that we would do well to consider. Moses and Elijah were speaking with Jesus about the upcoming completion of his earthly ministry and the redemptive finale that would purchase our pardon, yours and mine, from the sin in which we have spent a lifetime. "He came to set us free" is what we often say, but more accurately, Jesus gave us the option to be free. He redeemed us, but we must accept that gift of redemption. He unlocked our prison doors, but we must choose to leave our prison. 

There are some people in our society who, once imprisoned for a crime, find that it is preferable, in some very peculiar way, to be imprisoned than to be free. On the outside, they are responsible for making good (or bad) decisions, earning a living, providing for their own daily needs. In prison, it is done for them. It may not be in the style to which they would prefer to be accustomed, but there is a certain security in it. On the "outside", one crime is followed by another, one prison term after another. We sometimes call those people "institutionalized" or "recidivists".

 Unfortunately, we can become "institutionalized" to our prison of sin, preferring to keep our bad habits, our poor choices rather than undertake the radical change that discipleship would require. We shake our heads in amazement at "recidivists" in crime, but are we not recidivists in sin? Do we not go back, time after time, to the sin that so easily besets us? 

If Jesus came to set us free (and He did), if Jesus completely accomplished the redemption for which He came (and He did), why are we not free? Why do we not get up in the morning asking our Lord for victory over every sin? It was what Jesus intended of His disciples. If He set us free, He told the disciples, we would be free indeed. He has set us free and it is up to us to choose freedom. 

We would do well to ask in what areas are we failing to accept the freedom Christ can bring? In what areas are we choosing to remained controlled by our own fleshly desires? We can be free. Christ died to set us free. May we be so tired of being recidivists in sin that we willingly embrace the freedom that Jesus won with the cross and the empty tomb. We were not born free, but, through Christ, we can live free, and we should. 

Dear ones, we live in a world that is imprisoned by sin and guilt. We know the One who can set them free, and it is our responsibility and great opportunity to live free. A lost world looks to us for an example of the freedom that only Christ can give. Let's be sure they see a freedom worth having. 

The Recognition, part 12: The Exchange

For whosoever would save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, and lose or forfeit his own self? (Luke 9:24-25 ASV)

The word translated as "lose" is apollymi and (according to International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) is used here to indicate "sacrificing one thing to gain something more precious." It makes no sense to us, unless we understand the character of God. He is good. He is wise. He is kind. He is love. He is just. What He offers us is always better than what the world can give. 

When we try to save our life, we lose it, but when we apollymi our life for the sake of Jesus, we end up exchanging it for something much more precious. This is a deep verse and there is much to learn from it, but for today, let's look at the simplest part of this verse. 

Our way of life, the deeds of the flesh according to Galatians 5:19-21, include immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing and more. What a pile of messed-up living!  When we relinquish our way of life for His, we gain the fruits of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. What God offers us is infinitely better, but how often we want to cling to at least one of those remnants of our former life. Dear ones, we would do well to exchange that old life for the infinitely more precious life that Christ offers and the fruit of the Spirit that can be developed in us. 

What of the old life still remains in us? What is that one thing from which we cannot break free? Let us willingly offer it to God as an apollymi, a living sacrifice, in exchange for the infinitely more precious freedom only Christ can give. 

Excitement in the boat, part 22: What Kind of Free?

For Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. This spirit had often taken control of the man. Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the wilderness, completely under the demon’s power. (Luke 8:29 NLT)

We see here that the evil spirit had such control of the man (actually spirits, as he had many spirits in him) that they could take control of him. Because he had become so demon-controlled that he was considered completely out of control and a danger to himself and others, there had been considerable effort made toward subduing him. At times, he had been under guard, both chained and shackled. Unbelievably, he was able to break the chains, escape from the guards, and run into the wilderness. Finally, it appears, those trying to subdue him gave up and allowed him to run wild among the tombs. 

In a way, the demons helped set him free from those bonds. He was free from chains and shackles and guards.  He was free to run wild and naked in the tombs. But what kind of freedom is that? He had no comfort, no love, no relationships.  He was at the mercy of the demons. 

Then Jesus came to set him free. When Jesus came, the power of those evil spirits was broken and he could be free indeed. No more tombs, no more nakedness, no more hunger and isolation. He was free to live the life he was created to have, and free to resume society and the comforts of community. He was free indeed. 

Which freedom do you suppose he preferred? Of course, the freedom only Jesus gave. That freedom came with a new Master, but One who loved him and had only good plans for him, and it was the freedom he chose to keep. 

We do have a choice about freedom, you know. We can reject the freedom that Christ offers and cling to the appearance of freedom the world offers. In so doing, we may shed some "shackles" on our behavior choices, but what we lose is so much more precious, so much more costly.  

What freedom do we choose?  What freedom do our loved ones choose?  Pray today for hearts that seek the true freedom that only Christ can bring. 

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Link to last night's blog: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/08/on-life-gaining-and-losing-it.html

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Our terrorist/terror group of the week is the former ISIS, now the Islamic State. Their leader is Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. To learn more about them and their goal of spreading radical jihad and sharia rule throughout the world, click here: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/08/radical-obedience-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi.html

A Demon Comes to Church - part six

The demon possessed man was shouting in the synagogue and Jesus had heard enough. He did not offer sympathy to the distressed man, nor warmer clothes, nor a hot meal. The man's greatest need at that moment was to be rid of the demon. He needed a Savior, and no doubt about it, but this man could not serve both God and the demon. One of them would have to go, and you can be certain that Jesus was not the one backing down.  Jesus spoke directly to the demon. "Be quiet and get out!" He commanded. 

We do not know how long this man had been possessed by the demon, how it came about, nor whether he wanted to be free. What we do know is that it was only in the presence of Jesus that he found freedom. 

Jesus came to set the captives free, and those who are possessed or oppressed by the devil are certainly in great need of that freedom. It is not only the demon-possessed, however, who are captives needing to be set free. The truth is that we all have been in bondage, to some degree, because of our propensity to sin. Freedom and relationship with Christ is only possible when we do as Jesus did. "Be quiet and get out!" to those things that occupy the position Christ should have. We cannot serve both Jesus and the sin to which we cling.  

It is a hard task to stop doing, thinking, saying something that does not please Jesus, but, just as in the Capernaum synagogue, He stands ready to help. Take a few minutes today to allow Christ to examine your heart and reveal to you the major deterrent to your relationship with Him. Once identified, speak the words Jesus spoke, "Get out!", and allow the sweet Spirit of God to fill the void left behind. 

Pray today that our loved ones would be so tired of their sin and lostness that they would be willing to embrace change. Pray, too, that they would be drawn to the presence of Christ and allow Him to set them free. 

And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "be quiet and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, without doing any harm. (Luke 4:35 NASB)

Setting the oppressed free (Luke 4:18)

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to... set free those who are oppressed, (Luke 4:18 NASB)

An earlier version of the NASB used the word "downtrodden". There is a clear distinction here between those who are captive and those who are oppressed. Those who are oppressed are weighted down, or pressed down, by something, often by society. Possible oppressors include financial responsibilities and debt, unfair laws or customs, prejudice, and demonic temptation. Oppressors usually have some sort of authority over the oppressed. In demonic oppression, that authority is generally gained by the conscious sin of the oppressed. 

Here is the good news. Jesus came to set the downtrodden and oppressed free from their oppressors. Because He was given all authority in heaven and earth by God Himself (Matt 28:18), He has authority over all other sources of power, over all oppressors. 

Perhaps you or your loved ones are experiencing the kind of spiritual oppression that constantly accuses of sin, fills you with doubt and uncertainty, or overwhelms you with fear and anxiety. That is the very thing from which Jesus came to free you. Today, pray that we and our loved ones can be set free from all oppression by the power of Jesus and that we can stay free for the rest of our lives. 

Set the captives free (Luke 4:18)

"...He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives... (Luke 4:18 NASB)

He came to set the captives free. What a wonderful Savior! Captive is an interesting word. Of course, we immediately think of it as meaning a prisoner who cannot get free, but the Merriam-Webster online dictionary has an additional definition that is amazing.  It defines captive as "held under control of another but having the appearance of independence". Isn't that an incredibly accurate picture of the hold sin has on our lives?  It's like a sticky spider web. The more we struggle, the more enmeshed we become. There is good news, though! Today, Jesus saw our desperate, entangled situation, and came to break our chains and set us free. 

Today, pray that we would lead in our families by admitting our sin-captive state and allowing Jesus to set us free. Pray, too, that our children will recognize themselves as not only enmeshed by sin but also completely unable to set themselves free, and that they will cry out to Jesus for the freedom only He can bring.