FREE
“…the truth shall make you
free.” John 8:32
Some
of us live life like we were holding onto a fish. We squeeze it so tightly that all the beauty
and joy are gone. We are so intent on
controlling life that we enjoy very little.
We look around and become angry with those who are enjoying life or
condemn them as frivolous and silly. We are constantly chasing an elusive and
slippery dream.
Fish
are hard to catch with the bare hand and so is life. If we are chasing life it will slip from our
hands. We will get very weary and rarely
will we succeed.
Fish
have protective fins, and if we don’t gently smooth these down as we take hold,
they will prick us. Life also demands
that we handle it properly. If we go at
it roughshod we will get jabbed. If we
live contrary to decorum or common decency, we can expect to be pricked and
injured. If we try to live outside of
God’s directives, we can expect hard times.
The
best way to enjoy a fish is to let it go and enjoy the beauty. Better to understand that the fish belongs in
the water and that the best way to enjoy fish is with hands off, unless he is
on your plate!
Life,
too, is best enjoyed when lived in freedom.
We become wiser and happier when we realize we cannot control life and
accept who we are, where we are and what comes along as gifts from a faithful
loving Father.
The
truth is that the harder we try to make life happen, the more that we seek to
direct our own path, the more jabs we receive, and, the less beauty we behold. Live
freely. He has given us freely all
things to enjoy! Trust your Father and swim the river of life in joy!
Are
you a control-freak? Are you unable to
live freely? Do you need to “let go and
let God”? The truth is – He came to give
life and to give it more abundantly – that is a truth that will give freedom in
life!
FREE
“…uphold me with thy free spirit.” Psalm 51:12
The
word “free” in this verse has the meaning of willing, voluntary, ready or
prompt. Barnes says that David’s prayer
here means that he is asking God for a spirit within himself that would be
always found willing and ready to keep the commandments of God, or, kept in a
state of mind where he would be willing to do all that God requires.
The
first half of this verse says, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation…”
Psalm 51 is the Psalm written by David after Nathan the prophet had come to
reveal David’s sin with Bathsheba. David
has repented and asked God’s forgiveness, he is asking for restoration. David fully believes that God will and has
forgiven him, but he knows the deep sorrow of repentance and has that further
desire to experience once again the joy and fellowship that was before.
The
request we are considering here goes beyond the initial forgiveness and
restoration to the future. David knows
that without the help of the Spirit of God, he is liable to fall again. So he asks for God’s help. It is so beautiful to call it “free”.
God
gives freely. He is ready, willing and
able to forgive and restore when we ask in faith. But further, God’s free Spirit restores our
joy and opens our hearts to understand just a bit more of the love of God as
lightness of heart returns after the sorrow of sin. The child of God longs to be upheld by this
free, joyful spirit that comes directly through fellowship with his Father.
Is
God’s freeness of Spirit upholding you?
If not, what sin is stifling his Spirit?
FREE
“As free, and not using your
liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” I Peter 2:16
“I
am free in Christ, so I can do whatever I want and you are not to judge me,”
says a Christian brother. How do you
answer him? What part of this statement
is true and what part is false?
Let’s
take it into three parts. “I am free in
Christ.” That part is so true. However, you must qualify that word, “free”. What are you free from? The answer is free from sin – free to choose
to sin no longer – free from the bondage and penalty of sin.
The
second part says, “…so I can do whatever I want.” This is partly true and
partly false. Truly, you can do what you want.
That is called free will. Paul dealt with this idea in many verses in
the book of Romans. The Romans also had
the idea that since they were free in Christ that they could do anything they
wanted, but Paul reminded them that if they had been made free from sin not free to sin! They should, in
Christ, have a change of life and not continue in the old patterns of life and
attitude.
Later
in I Corinthians 6:12 Paul instructed the Corinthians about this same attitude
stating, “All things are lawful unto me,
but all things are not expedient, all things are lawful for me, but I will not
be brought under the power of any.”
I love that part – “not brought under the power of any”. That is true freedom. No philosophy, no peer-pressure, no
addiction, to stubbornness, no power except Christ should be my guide!
And
the third part of the statement, “…you are not to judge me,” some would say is
true, but I would disagree. We are to be
accountable not only to God for our lives, but also to each other. Paul gives us the ultimate example in I
Thessalonians 2:10 when he states, “Ye
are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved
ourselves among you that believe.”
Paul was not afraid of being judged because he lived his life
accountably. Free to be a servant of God
with nothing to hide. That is true
freedom!
What
about your attitude? Are you living a
life free from fear of judgment, or are you having to defend your choices?
FREE
“…that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God.”
I Corinthians 2:12
The
plea of Paul throughout the chapter is to confirm to the Corinthians that he is
not speaking as from the voice or wisdom of man, but as from the voice and
wisdom of God which has been revealed by God’s Spirit. He is laying a foundation for what he has yet
to say to the Corinthians. We want to
consider just this one phrase found in verse twelve -“…that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”
God
wants us to know what we have been given and to recognize that these gifts have
been given freely. We have not earned
them and do not deserve them, but they are gifts by the gracious Spirit of God
given to his children.
The
initial central gift is the gift of salvation.
This is the free gift of eternal life for those who believe. We cannot begin to exhaust this subject. Even verse 9 of this chapter opens up so many
possible avenues of discussion. “But as
it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
He
has given us of His Spirit. Imagine…the
Spirit of God truly lives within you. He
has given us His name. We are the
Children of God. He has written our
names in the Book of Life. Eternal
Security - bought for us by the blood of His Son alone. A home in Heaven and the promise of his
return are also given freely.
You
try adding to this list the things you know from Scripture that are promised to
you as God’s child. Don’t stop with just
two or three things, meditate and ask the Lord to show you what has been freely
given to you.
Now
consider, if we lived as if we truly believed we owned all these spiritual
treasures, how spiritually wealthy would we be?
God gives to us freely. He wants
us to enjoy what He has given. Think
about them. Thank Him for them.
FREE
“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
My
mother and I loved to play Monopoly. She
would nearly always win. She used it to
teach me to count money, to make wise decisions, and to understand consequences
– to learn to be a good loser, and a good winner!
When
you play Monopoly, you have the option of mortgaging properties you already own
in order to raise funds to purchase more property or pay fines as the case may
be. If the game goes well, you have an
increase of income, repay the mortgage and come out in a stronger
position. However, it can all go
pear-shaped. You may incur more fines
than anticipated or your income may not rise as you planned, so you are stuck
with mortgaged properties and increasing debt.
Sounds like life, huh?
The
wise player avoids staying in debt. They
make the effort to get out and stay out in order to stay in the game. The
foolish player, who will no doubt get knocked out, does not learn the lesson. He keeps mortgaging and taking chances even
after he has paid them off the first time.
That’s
sort of like sin. We get rescued, but
instead of staying away, we continue to play the game. We have to have just a little more, or, we
don’t think we will get caught.
Freedom
is for those who stay free. The Apostle
encourages us to recognize that we should not go back to the sin that had us
bound, but rather, we should live in the freeness of our new life. There is no need to keep incurring old
mortgages!
Are
you keeping your life free from the entanglements of sin? Are you allowing yourself to be strangled by
some sort of debt? Get free…and stay
free!
No comments:
Post a Comment