Freedom

Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

John 8:31-36
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Do you remember the day that it happened? Maybe you were sitting in a church building, and after hearing the preached Word, you stepped forward during an altar call. Maybe it was late one night, and you found yourself unable to sleep due to the stresses of life, and so you flipped on the TV and were stunned to hear a preacher who seemed to be speaking directly to you. Maybe a family member or good friend witnessed to you, and led you through the Sinner’s Prayer. Maybe you were just at your wit’s end, and with nowhere else to turn, you cried out to God with a sincere heart for help.

Regardless of when and where it happened, the fact is that you felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and realized that you’d sinned against your Creator, and not only needed His forgiveness, but also His loving acceptance and guidance.

While none of us realized it initially; Once we were under bondage to our sinful ways, with the devil pulling our strings. Outwardly many of us may have claimed to be self-sufficient, while others of us gave lip service to a relationship with God, but inwardly and/or in secret we could not break free of such things as: greed, coveting what others had, pornography, sexual promiscuity, hatred of other people, low self-worth, and substance abuse.

In spite of all of our ways, God still loved us, and allowed things to occur in our life to get our attention.
To God Be the Glory, Somebody was praying for us, before we had the honesty to pray for ourselves. God made provision for the Word of God to reach us, and we finally yielded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Once we were a passenger on the Hellbound Train, but Jesus Christ came to our rescue!

In this life, when something wonderful happens to us, the people we thought would celebrate with us will sometimes let us down by becoming envious of our success or because they are miserable, they may try to bring us down.

Regardless of how rotten we may have conducted ourselves, previously, because of God’s unfailing love for us, Jesus assures us that there was a celebration in Heaven, when each of us repented of our sins, and accepted Him into our heart.

Luke 15:7
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Luke 15:10
Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.

As we begin to seek God through; prayer, the Bible, and interaction with other sincere believers; the Holy Spirit conforms our character to the likeness of Christ. With God operating in our heart and life, we come to realize that the temptations of our past no longer satisfy us any longer, and we begin to embrace the purpose that God has for our life.

Now when the challenges of life arise, we can remain focused on Jesus; knowing that He will stand by our side, and give us peace. While we don’t know what tomorrow will bring, we can move forward, knowing that our faith is in the One who holds the future. When the “so called” experts start giving bad news about the economy, we know that we are storing up Heavenly riches that will never depreciate. When family and friends walk away, we serve a Savior who has promised never to leave us or forsake us. When we hear of disturbing news from around the globe, we know that these events only bring us closer to the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Each of us has an appointment with the King of Kings, where we must give an account for our life.(Romans 14:10, II Corinthians 5:10, Hebrews 9:27) This is a day that we, as believers, can look forward to, with excitement and joy. The chance to personally say “Thank You” to and worship our Redeemer forever, along with all of our brothers and sisters in the faith.

As I mentioned above the only things we will be able to take to Heaven with us, are all of the people that we’ve witnessed to; and who have accepted Jesus into their heart. And the Word admonishes us that once we have matured in the faith, for us to reach out to the lost, in hopes that they will choose to be freed from the clutches of the Evil One.

Luke 2231-32:
31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

II Timothy 2:24-26
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Friends, may we all continue to grow and cultivate our relationship with Jesus. May we all purpose in our hearts to: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.(Galatians 5:1)

For those who do not know Jesus Christ as your Savior, please know that Jesus Christ loves you, and longs to liberate you from the sins that plague your life. I encourage you to accept Jesus into your heart, and from my personal experience, it will be the best decision you ever made.

PRAYER OF SALVATION:
Father God, I confess that sin has a stronghold on me that I can’t break free of with my own strength. I believe that Jesus Christ bled and died on the cross for my sins. I believe that He rose from the grave for my justification and to grant me eternal life. Jesus, I invite You to come into my heart and be the Lord of my life from this day forward and throughout eternity.

Romans 8:2
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 6:22
But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.