Prayer: Lord, Jesus I pray and ask in your name that you would open our eyes to where the enemy has kept us in bondage. Free us from the chain of darkness and slavery that the enemy has put on us. Deliver us in Jesus’ name. We declare freedom by your power and authority!!
In my own personal life, there have been a few times when I’ve hit a wall spiritually. In those times, I had to seriously look at my life as a whole and examine the areas of my life that I wasn’t experiencing freedom or felt in bondage.
In the last devotional, I wrote about the need to continually be transformed. We can do all the right religious activity and not see a change or experience freedom in our lives.
Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1
You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? Galatians 5:7
Why would a free person get entangled with the yoke of bondage again? What are the elements that hinder our transformation and progress with the Lord? In this devotional and the next one, I will speak on some of those elements that keep us in bondage and hinder transformation.
Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part you will make me to know wisdom. Psalm 51:6
1. Honesty invites change: One of the first important steps in seeking freedom and transformation is to be honest with our condition. We know what is going on in our internal world and the battles or wrestling that persist. The better trained we are, the less visible our struggles will be to the world around us. We will have the ability to hide them, deny them, or even blame others for our problems, blocking our progress in the transformation process.
2. The Mind must be renewed: Romans 12:2 which I shared in the last devotional is the key starting point to being transformed. We need to continually renew our minds with the truth of God’s word and confront our perspectives, thought process, and perceptions which have been formed over the years. Some of those patterns are so ingrained in us that we don’t even realize there is something wrong with them because in some fleshly way they have protected us or provided for us.
For example, if in our past we have been rejected deeply, that becomes a stronghold in our mind as to how we perceive the world around us when things don’t go the way we hoped. We can easily withdraw from a situation in fear of possible rejection, so we can protect ourselves from pain. That thought process seems to serve us well, but in reality it keeps us in bondage to the fear of rejection, and it hinders our transformation. In addition to the fact that we may lose a relationship unnecessarily because we made wrong assumptions about the person or the situation.
Some people could be selfish, controlling, deceptive, manipulative, or arugmentative. All those things in some twisted way worked in the past to give the flesh what it desired, but if one is to experience transformation, they must be crucified!!!
For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13
3. Liberty is not a license to sin: If we knew that the Lord would not tolerate one gossip out of our mouths would we do it? I would hope the answer is “no”. Since we have forgiveness available through Jesus, many of us fall into various sins such as gossip because we know we can be forgiven. Of course the Lord will forgive, but unless we have repented from that habit or character flaw, our transformation will be hindered by the gossiping we involve ourselves with. Forgiveness being available to us is not a permission to go back to the bondage of sin or bad habits.
One way we can stop misusing our liberty is by serving people. That keeps us in a place of humility. It puts feet to the words of love and allows us to go against what our nature desires, so our spirit is fed and we are being transformed.
But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another! Galatians 5:15
4. Avoid being consumed by each other: The above scripture tell us not to bite or devour each other. 1Peter 5:8 tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”
Recognizing this should keep us alert not to open doors to the enemy because of hurt, offense, pride, or fear. If the enemy can make us believe that another person is the source of our problem, then we come into agreement with the devil to bite and devour others. Biting and devouring someone could be how we speak about them with others or with ourselves. Biting and devouring each other could be shunning others and pushing them away rather than encouraging them. Those kinds of actions will keep us in the bondage of hatred, aloofness, and indifference, and they will not produce the transformation that Jesus desires in our souls.
The above scripture (Galatians 5:15) goes so far as to say that we can be consumed by each other. The devil sits back and laughs because we believed him and gave into our flesh by devouring someone rather than allowing God to change us. The transformation happens when we are willing to crucify the flesh and its desire to be unloving. The anger, bitterness, or indifference has to be expelled before there is any room for forgiveness and love. Once we choose to respond the right way, we are on our way to being transformed again by His power and grace!!
We will continue with this subject in the next devotional.