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Our freedom was purchased through the love of Christ by giving up His life for our sake. It cost Him everything in order to set us free from the bondage and grip of sin and put us on the path of a loving relationship with God. He set us free for a great purpose!
What is the purpose of this freedom that Christ purchased for us?
In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
Light of the world: Jesus called us to be the light of the world. In our past un-regenerated state, we walked in darkness. Now that Jesus has set us free, we are born into the Kingdom of light, and we get to be light! God can use us as a flicker of light for those who are looking for a ray of hope in their dark world. When people around us act foolishly or selfishly, we can be the one with a pure heart reaching out to others. We can participate in the work of Kingdom by brightening someone’s world. Praise God!
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, Matthew 5:44
Loving our enemies: Jesus set us free to love the unlovable. This is not something that our carnal nature is capable of doing. It only comes by the grace of God. Love is the greatest transformer!
If you have ever felt unloved or rejected, you know how lonely it feels. It’s a great blessing when God chooses to send someone along our side to love us in-spite of how we feel about ourselves! In turn, He chooses to use us to touch that one person in the same way that He chose to use others in our lives.
Who are you called to love? Who is waiting for your love to give them hope for change? We can intersect people’s lives and help them come out of the rejection cycle! This can motivate and inspire them to trust God and try again!
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, Isaiah 61:1
Setting captives free: Jesus set us free to set other captives free. Sometimes people who are in bondage are not even aware that they are imprisoned by their own passions, addictions, and opinions. Bondage seems familiar and normal to them. When we come alongside of these individuals, they can see us free in areas that they are held captive. This opens the opportunity for them to ask questions about how the issues of life don’t affect us as it impacts them.
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:21
Developing Healthy relationships: We now can develop healthy relationships. The more secure we become in our relationship with the Lord, the less need to control or be controlled by others. We are able to accept others and their limitations and not allow them to become the focus of our happiness and peace.
While God uses people in our lives to bless us from time to time, people are not the answer to our happiness and success. When our desire is to honor and love others and not seek to be right, there will be less room for friction and strife. This impacts our marriages, raising our children, our friendships, and all our others relationships.
Is there anything/anyone hindering your freedom? Are you exercising the privilege of your freedom for God’s purposes?
Freedom must be coupled with moral responsibility in order to produce good fruit and maintain the liberty of the individual as well as the society. It is our moral obligation to paint a complete picture of freedom, so the next generation is not confused about the privilege of freedom.
In addition to our governmental freedoms, we need freedom for our souls in order to become all that God created for us to be. Jesus came to bring true freedom in our lives. He came with the dual assignment of setting us free from our past and at the same time setting us free to step into God’s purpose for our lives.
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
Jesus came to set us free from the following areas:
Sin: we are no longer slaves to sin as we were formerly. We have a new nature and a new ability to overcome sin that we didn’t have before. Due to the fall of Adam and Eve, we were born into sin, and we also sinned. We violated God’s laws as a form of lifestyle. We didn’t know we can be freed from the compulsion of our feelings and our will. We thought we are just born angry or fearful, and that is just part of our personality until we met Jesus.
Shame/guilt: Our lives were on the roller coaster of shame and guilt. When we were young, we thought adults get to do whatever they want and have all the fun! However, as adults we found out that when we gave in to our compulsions, we felt guilty and ashamed. We didn’t feel free as we had hoped. In addition, the fruit of our bad decisions brought about headache and heartache, which didn’t make us feel good. Jesus came to set us free from guilt and shame of the past in order to walk free from its shackles.
Freedom from self: We are free now from serving self. We used to be dominated by every whim of the flesh moving us in the direction of self gratification, self service, and our passions. Some of us may have tendencies towards addictions, others may just feel unmotivated or lazy. Whatever the case maybe, we don’t have to serve self any longer. Self is not our master anymore!
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. Colossians 2:16
Free from others’ expectations: This is a big one and some of us are still working on this issue. We are free from the expectations of family, culture, and religion. The people around us knowingly and unknowingly pressured us to conform to their expectations. Some families have a great deal of pressure on education or schooling. Others want to dictate the kind of person one should marry. Others expect a certain lifestyle from their adult children. Whether we follow the expectation of others or rebel against it, we can still be bound by it. When we become a Christian, Jesus sets us free to follow Him and please Him alone!
The above scripture tells us that now we have a responsibility to not allow ourselves to fall back into the bondage of the past. We have to fight for our freedom in order not to get entangled by it again!
Are you free in all these areas? Praise God if you are. If you are not completely free, ask the Lord to show you what is stopping your progress.
Christ set us free in order to launch us into purpose. In the next devotional I’ll share about the purpose of freedom.
What is true freedom? Why is having freedom so significant?
Freedom (according to webster’s dictionary): the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action; liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another
Freedom (according to Strong’s Concordance -G1657): Liberty to do or to omit things having no relation to Salvation -free from Mosaic Law
Having a choice in matters of life is an important factor, and it is one that we should not take for granted. We have fought many battles in this nation and across the world to ensure that the freedom of all people are preserved. Today we are remembering the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his passion for civil liberties of all people regardless of the color of their skin or their place in life. Our nation has been a beacon of freedom for many who have fled their nations because of political or religious persecution.
Having a choice in life coupled with strong moral convictions is a powerful force that cannot be reckoned with. However, if we have choices without foundational truths, it can trap us into great bondage and lead us into destruction!
True freedom is not about living life with no restraint. Freedom has a God given purpose! The 1960’s-1970’s were the era of free love. People became counter-culture and sought free sexuality without consequence. Women demanded their rights along with their birth control pills. The nation legalized abortion in the name of choice because we claimed that without choice there is no freedom! As a matter of fact, January 22nd marks the 53rd anniversary of legalization of abortion. Did we set people free by legalizing abortion? Do our choices always equate with having freedom?
For example, let’s take a look at choices we give our children. If you give your teen-ager the freedom to drive your car whenever they wish, you are giving them a great choice and opportunity. If they understand the magnitude of the privilege, they will utilize the car well and use it when they need to get to school, work, or some other function. However, if they choose to be foolish with their choice, they can drive the car carelessly, load up the car with a few friends and act crazy trying to show off to their friends that they get to drive your car. When a policeman stops them and gives them a ticket for speeding or reckless driving, they are not free anymore!
Just because we are free to choose, it doesn’t mean that our choices continue to bear freedom in our lives. We will do our countrymen a dis-service if we don’t tell them the truth that every choice they make, is a moral decision, which will either lead them into greater freedom or will trap them into bondage.
The scripture tells us:
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36
What did Jesus set us free from? This is the subject of the next devotional.
I shared about self-confidence in the last devotional. The focus of today’s devotional is Godly confidence.
Godly confidence is sacrificial and has humility associated with it. David and Paul are two examples of individuals with Godly confidence.
But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” 1Samuel 17:34-37
David approached the king with humility to ask him for the permission to fight Goliath. He wasn’t there trying to take anyone’s position. He wasn’t looking to bring attention to Himself. He didn’t criticize the armies of God for being too weak to fight Goliath. He was just passionate to defend God’s work, and He was confident that this giant wasn’t going to defeat the armies of God. David knew His God would not put up with being defeated with an uncircumcised philistine. He was confident in His God, and His focus was on the Lord not on himself.
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. Jeremiah 17:7
The Lord is the main focus of a Godly confident person. We don’t assume just because we care about something, it should be important to God. When we have Godly confidence, we care about the Father’s business just as Jesus was.
Godly confidence stems from knowing God’s character well. We have deep trust and confidence that God is with us, and He will give us what we need for the challenge or the assignment.
For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— Philippians 3:3
Paul was a man who used to be self-confident, and he saw the bitter fruit of it. Prior to meeting Jesus, he was a capable and zealous person, but his zeal was misdirected. When finally Paul came to his senses by meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, he realized how wrong he was and how deeply he had hurt the people of God!
Paul’s conversion became a demarcation point in his life. He no longer was confident in the flesh. His natural confidence crumbled under the truth of the gospel and God’s unconditional love. Paul became a different man and was transformed into a humble, gentle, and sacrificial man. Instead of trying to take the lives of others, he was willing to give it all up in order to see people saved.
Do you have Godly confidence? Are you about the Father’s business? Ask the Lord to show you where your confidence stems from.
Our culture continually reminds us that confident people are successful people, and it stresses that confidence opens the door to great opportunities in life. Confident people are attractive, and we are drawn to those who are confident and self-assured. We teach our children to be confident and poised, and it is one of the qualities we focus on in developing in ourselves and those entrusted to us.
What does it mean to be a confident person?
Definition of Confidence (According to Webster’s dictionary): Having a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something
Definition of Confidence (According to Strong’s Concordance -Greek G2292): to be of good courage, to be hopeful
There is a worldly confidence or what our culture calls “self-confidence”, and there is a Godly confidence.
What is worldly confidence?
Worldly confidence has an outward appearance of having it all together. We tend to be very focused on outward appearance. Many people believe “first impression” is everything. We put a lot of stock on how a person presents himself or herself and teach people to “dress for success”. However, we all know individuals who look great and sound great, but after spending sometime with them, we find that they don’t deliver as we expected them to. Their level of competence does not match their level of confidence. There is no substance to their confidence.
The world system tries to train us in self-confidence. While self-confidence has some positive results, according to the Bible, it can be very dangerous!
A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident. Proverbs 14:16
The Lord looks down upon self-confidence, and He considers it foolishness. Self-confident people can be presumptuous and have an irrational expectation that things will turn out to their favor without taking responsibility for their part. Self-confident individuals have a tendency not to look for feedback and impulsively jump into something without giving it much thought.
Generally a self-confident person has a high view of their level of competency and ability to achieve something. For example, some people are habitually late because they think they can accomplish more than it’s possible in a given amount of time.
Everyone can suffer from presumption or impulsivity from time to time. The issue that makes the self-confident person stuck in these situations is that they don’t learn from their mistakes. They believe the last mistake was either an anomaly or someone else’s fault. That’s where the Bible calls a self-confident person a foolish person. The foolish part of the self-confidence is that they don’t learn from past missteps. They continue to go on doing things their way without being willing to change or receive input from those closest to them.
It’s important for all of us to have people whose feedback is important in our lives. It’s also important to consider how we are raising the younger generation. If self-confidence goes unchecked, it turns into arrogance!
As believers, God has given us a different kind of confidence, and that’s the subject of the next devotional.
The Lord uses time as He sees fit. Sometimes things take a lot longer than imagined as it was in the case of Abraham (See the last devotional). There are other times that we see the hand of God move swiftly and accomplish something that could have taken much longer. For example, the day of Pentecost was a swift and powerful day; God allowed people from all over the neighboring nations to be present in Jerusalem and to get transformed by Peter’s first gospel message!
Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. Acts 2:38-41
The Lord strategically had chosen the day of Pentecost for the baptism of the Holy Spirit to occur; this was the day that the Jewish people would come from all over the neighboring nations for the celebration of the Festival of Weeks.
When the Holy Spirit fell upon the apostles, they began to speak in different tongues. The people coming from various nations heard their own native language, and they were astonished. Then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit gave a powerful message, and the people were moved by the gospel message. The Bible tells us that three thousand people were added to them on that day! That’s amazing!
When Jesus was on the earth ministering for about three years, He only had about a couple of hundred of people who were his true followers. The account in the book of Acts 1 following Jesus’ ascension tells us:
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty). Acts 1:15
God chose to move quickly and swiftly on the day of Pentecost and allowed many to become transformed in a powerful short period of time.
Time is in the Lord’s hands, and He chooses the speed of events happening in our lives. The more we try to control time, the more frustrated we can become. Our part is stewarding the time and the opportunities He has given us to the best of our abilities. Enjoy what we have been blessed with today and try not to focus so much on man-made timelines and goals!
Lord, free us from the bondage of time and help us to trust you with our lives and our years!
While time is immaterial to God, He still chooses to work with His people within the concept of time. There are seasons when God’s work seems very slow to the point where individuals get tempted to doubt or to help God. That’s the subject of this devotional. At other times, He moves so fast; it’s as if a spiritual earthquake hits an area and things shift quickly for people.That’s the subject of the next devotional.
When the Lord first spoke to Abraham about having a child, It was logical for Abraham to think that it would happen soon since they were already old. However, God did not mention a timeframe.
Abraham & Sarah waited for the promised child a long time (about 12-13 years), and then out of impatience took the matters in their own hands. With Sarah’s suggestion, Abraham agreed to sleep with one of his concubines, which brought forth Ishmael. That was not God’s idea nor was it His timing; it just appeared a practical and cultural thing to do considering the circumstances.
Finally, God spoke to Abraham one last time about Sarah having a baby by declaring:
Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” Genesis 18:14
This time God was more specific about the imminence of Sarah having a child. This was 24 years from the first promise God made to Abraham. In our perspective, that would feel like a lifetime. What would you do if you were Abraham or Sarah given the circumstances?
The long waiting years causes some of us to begin to doubt God’s promises. Others move into action and begin to formulate plan B for their lives. A few get so discouraged that they walk away from God.
From 21st century vantage point, looking at the timeline of Biblical history, 24 years of waiting doesn’t seem to have made any difference in the purpose of God. Ultimately, Isaac was born and the nation of Israel was formed. However, for Abraham and Sarah 24 years of waiting must have felt like eternity!
We all have had times and seasons in life, which felt as if they lasted forever. However, when we look back now, that time period was a lot shorter than it seemed at the moment. It’s important to keep the right perspective on time, otherwise we can easily get impatient or discouraged. We can all be tempted to produce our own version of Ishmael, which we will have to live with for the rest of our lives. Let’s surrender our desires to God, so that the enemy cannot use them to tempt us into taking matters into our own hands.
Lord help us to enjoy our years and steward them well. We will continue to stand in faith and believe for what you have promised us. We choose not to get impatient and not to invent plan B in the meantime. Time is in your hands, and we surrender our desire to control it. We ask for your grace and mercy to walk in freedom from bondage of time everyday. Amen!
The completion of 2015, caused me to reflect on how I stewarded my time last year. It also makes me think about how I can live purposefully in 2016 with the Lord’s help. Most of us don’t want to be wasteful with our time because we know it is a powerful and precious commodity, which gets spent every day whether we like it or not.
Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; Genesis 1:14
The Lord created everything including time and the seasons. Therefore, He is not bound by time. Since He is from eternity to eternity, His viewpoint on time is different than ours. God’s time is unlimited, but our time on this earth is limited. The scripture tells us:
For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:14b
As we get older, we realize more and more how fleeting our lives are. Just as a vapor vanishes before our eyes, we are incapable of holding on to our years; they appear on the timeline of life for a moment. The older we get, we become more aware of the value of time and stewarding it better.
Our finite time and God’s unlimited time causes us to struggle with its limitations on us. As people, we have a tendency to be goal oriented and like to set timelines to accomplish goals. Those who are single, wonder if they can be married before they get too old. Women who are married, want to have children before they are 40 years old. Young adults have a timeline for completing their education in order to feel successful and accomplished.
Conversely, we find that God is very process oriented. He is more concerned about our development rather than our accomplishment. He is not in a hurry to change our circumstances nor follow our timeline. This is where the conflict lies between our finite time and an infinite God!
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 2Peter 3:8
God stands outside of time, and he considers one day as a thousand years and thousand years as one day. Some scholars try to make a correlation between one day and one thousand years in the light of a prophetic timetable. There is probably some correlation. However, the above scripture tells me that time is immaterial to God.
God’s unlimited amount of time can be analogous to a billionaire with almost unlimited amount of money. If you asked a billionaire how much they are willing to spend on their dinner, most likely, the price is not a factor in their decision making. They just care about what/where they want to eat. Money is no object because in their case it is limitless.
In God’s economy, time is limitless, so the Lord uses time as He sees fit. He has eternity in His hands, and He has plenty of time to accomplish what He desires. Time is not a limitation to Him.
As finite people how do we negotiate time with an infinite God? This is the subject of the next devotional.
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:7
The Son (Jesus) was born to virgin Mary, but He was born unto us for our benefit and for our sake! Many prophets & kings were called by God at some point in their lives to do His work, but Jesus was the only one called long before His birth. Jesus’ birth, life, and ministry were prophetically spoken about by various prophets at different times throughout history!
The above scripture tells us that the government is on Jesus’ shoulder. A king never carried a burden on his shoulder. As a matter of fact, a king takes on governing a nation by wearing a crown on his head. In the old days, it was the slaves or the servants who were given the task of carrying goods on their shoulders. Jesus did Not come to look like an earthly king, nor act like a mere human leader! He was given authority to take on the government upon His shoulder. At the same time, He came to serve us, taking on our burden as a servant, and wore the crown of thorns! His leadership continued to point to a different reality than what man knows in his carnal nature!
What does it mean for government to be upon Jesus’ shoulder?
Jesus’ rule looks a lot different than the rulers of this world. The worldly rulers like to lord it over people and expect others to serve them. Jesus came to serve humanity and die for our sins. The rulers of the world desire to be recognized for who they are. Jesus came in humility trying not to bring attention to himself. The rulers of the world like to show their prowess by their large military exploits. The Prince of Peace chose to overcome every situation with peace, gentleness, and forgiveness turning the other cheek to those who dishonored Him.
The above scripture declares Jesus as the Prince of Peace. All the governments in the world ultimately belong to our God. Because the government is on Jesus’ shoulder, He can bring peace and overrule every darkness and every evil empire in the world. No authority can overrule His authority on this earth!
Today, if you have an issue with someone in authority be encouraged that God has the final say in every authority given to man. He is in control, and He is in charge. If/when He chooses to stop someone from governing, He can easily replace him/her. In the meantime, let’s allow God’s government to be upon our shoulders and walk in meekness and humility allowing Him to lead and guide us in our lives and serve others as unto Him.
“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Matthew 1:23
God spoke through the prophet Isaiah (about 800 B.C.) that the virgin was going to be with child! This child wasn’t going to come through a man’s decision but God’s decision. Mary made herself an available vessel for God, and the Spirit of God came upon Mary, and she became pregnant with the promised son.
After the fall of Adam & Eve into sin, every generation of humanity has been born into sin and shaped into iniquity. Every person has the issue of SIN nature, and he/she also chooses to commit sin by not following God’s standard of holiness. Since Jesus was born of the Spirit of God, He didn’t come into the world with a SIN nature because His father was not a descendant of Adam!
Jesus came into the world free from SIN nature. Throughout His life, when Jesus was tempted He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). His virgin birth had a great purpose in the eternal plan of salvation and allowed Him to be the only qualified person who could take on the sin of the world including our sins upon Himself.
Jesus’ virgin birth prophetically was spoken by Isaiah centuries earlier. Most likely the prophecy didn’t make any sense to Isaiah or his counterparts! The questions of “How can this be?” and “Why would God allow it?” could have surrounded this prophecy, but nevertheless Isaiah in obedience foretold of the coming Immanuel.
Centuries later, Mary accepted and received the prophetic declaration over her life. Did Mary’s virgin birth make any sense to Joseph or even Mary!? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, Joseph was trying to divorce her quietly because of it. They didn’t know what God was trying to do, and why Jesus had to come from the virgin birth.
As a woman, it would not be easy to accept the assignment of virgin birth even in this day and age. In spite of the risk of humiliation, divorce, and ridicule, Mary accepted the assignment, and she became the conduit in fulfilling the will of God for the salvation of humanity!
Are there areas in your life that have never made sense to you? Some of those areas could be: place of your birth, the circumstances of your birth, your family of origin, a birthmark, a birth defect, your gender, or your ethnicity. God is an intentional God, and how He created you was not a mistake. Ask Him to reveal His purpose in His design for you!
