God is Our Liberty

God has given us freedom. He has set us free from all bondage, slavery, incrimination, shame, imprisonment, chains, control, yokes, shackles, servitude,  and guilt.

God has given us back our option to choose. We will always yield to and be subject to a power greater than ourselves, for we are the weakest beings in all the natural and spiritual creation. Whether we face a natural environment which is "red in tooth and claw" or a spiritual setting of powers and principalities, we have no defensive armament, strength, or power of our own.

We were born under the sentence of death, and our life is spent in fear of imminent death. As we get older, the fear becomes subtler. We fear social death, so we go along with the crowd, allowing pride and vanity to determine our guidelines. We fear financial death, so we become greedy and selfish, allowing the love of money to influence our choices. But above all else, we ever fear our true death, our personal extinction. That is the fear which drives us always in a frantic search, but with no answers ever given.

Hebrews 2
v.14 Since [we] the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death -- that is, the devil --
v.15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Jesus, God's Son, was sent from heaven to live as we do and He died a physical death as we must, but in so doing, paid in full the cost of the sin which was not His. By removing that debt and canceling that power, the control which the fear of death held over us was gone. We once more have a choice, just as Adam did originally. Although we still face the death of the natural body until the curse is lifted from the natural creation, by accepting the pre-paid gift of Jesus' salvation, our eternal spirits are made alive, and our souls are being transformed into the image of God's son as we walk in obedience to God's Word.

Galatians 5
v.13 For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.
v.14 For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Obedience is the key concept. God has freed us to choose life or death. We can choose life by submitting to the gentle yoke of God, or we can choose death by trying to stand on our own. Although we are given a choice, that does not automatically give us strength and standing among the powers that surround us. We only gain the power of the master we fear, to whom we yield ourselves and obey.

Psalm 103
v.11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him;
v.13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him;
v.17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear Him

As we exercise our freedom of choice and give God our willing and reverential fear and obedience, following His lead as He loves those around us as much as He loves us, we will find ourselves loving and serving those to whom God sends us. We can go forth each day without fear of rejection, failure, condemnation, or any other restricting control over us, but walk in the freedom of the Spirit of God which brings light and life into the hearts of those hungry for it and willing to choose it.

Psalm 103
v.2 Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits --
v.3 Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
v.4 Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
v.5 Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagles
v.8 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
v.9 He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His anger forever;
v.10 He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

We praise You, O Lord, Most High, forgiving and gracious, loving and compassionate toward us, we praise you with all that is within us, Our innermost beings give You thanks for Your unspeakable mercy and the incomparable gift of life and freedom which You have given us. We look for the leading of Your Spirit to direct us in our walk as we draw ever closer to Your heart and to guide us through the day as You bring us to those to whom we can minister Your love and life.

3J31G22U