Monday, May 30, 2011

The Price of Freedom

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.  John 15:13

It is Memorial Day, a day when we celebrate and honor the brave men and women who have fought and died for our freedom in America.  We recognize the commitment, the bravery, and the sacrafice all of you in the military have given in order to protect our liberties and freedoms.  To every member of our military and their families present and past, we salute you, and we honor you.  Thank you for your sacrafice, thank you for laying down your own life in order to serve us, thank you for your love for this country, and freedom. 

I love America, I love freedom, and I love our military men and women! 

Freedom is never free. 

In every case, someone has paid a price for freedom.  In our country's case, it is the blood, sweat and tears of brave soldiers that have paid the price.  In our Faith, Jesus paid the price so we can be free.

If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.  John 8:36.

So, why is it if Jesus made us free that so many Christians are still living in captivity?  Captivity has many forms.  It may take the form of a poor self-image, fear, shame, guilt, anxiety, etc.  It may be due to a past sin that one willingly took part in, unknowing that it would lead to chains of bondage.  It may be due to something another person did to you that was not your fault at all, but the enemy has twisted the truth around and now you believe a lie of shame. 

Whatever the reason for the bondage, whatever the reason for feeling like a captive that is not free to be who God created them to be, I want you to know that Jesus paid the price so you can be free.  You are NOT a second class citizen!  You are a child of the Most High God!  He does not want His children living in bondage.  He does not want His children living with a poor self-image, feeling like second class citizens tormented by shame, guilt or fear. 

If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.  John 8:32

The truth that you know will set you free.  The enemy has had all our lives to build lies into our consciousness.  He has used situations to fill our minds with LIES.  The only way to identify the lies is to know the truth of God's Word and see what God says about us.  Then, once we know what God says about us, it takes some time to tear down the lies and replace them with what God says. 

The only way to do this is by consistenty keeping those truths in front of us so that when the enemy tries to lie to us, we can stop the lie by speaking God's Word, the Truth.  It does take some time and diligence in God's Word.  Afterall, the enemy has had your whole life to get you to believe the lie.  Eventually the Truth will get so deep into you that the enemy cannot even use that lie anymore.  If he tries to use it, it will just bounce off you and you'll say, that is crazy, I don't believe that lie!  That is when you have victory my friends! 

I know this first hand.  For years, I believed lies that kept me in bondage feeling unworthy of God's love or anyone elses love.  God's Word, His Truth, has set me free! 

However, just like we as Americans have to maintain our freedom by keeping our military strong, we have to maintain our freedom with the Word of God and a strong relationship with Jesus. 

There are fewer and fewer lies the enemy can use with me now, but when he does try to get me to believe a lie, I say, "Sue, get out your notecards." Then I search the Word of God for Truth.  I write down that truth on my notecards and keep God's Word in front of me to get the truth penetrated into my heart.

Freedom is never free my friends, but Jesus paid the price.  Truth does not do us any good if we do not know it.  Freedom is not real unless you know you are free.  Know the truth and fight for your freedom today with the Word of God.   Freedom is already yours, Jesus already won the battle, we just have to grab onto it and believe it in order to live free.   

If you have been living in bondage and would like me to pray for you or you would like to talk to me more about this, I would love to talk with you.  Please feel free to contact me by email suelovenlife@gmail.com


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