Let Freedom Ring!
Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32
While we are celebrating the birth of a nation that believed in freedom, I wanted to invite you to an even deeper freedom. The kind of freedom that Jesus died for - freedom of the heart.
This freedom of the heart is something I long for as well, and I have been on a journey with God to gain it for a few years now. I have learned much and yet have much to learn. In the words of Apostle Paul, "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." (Phil 3:12) NIV.
I hope you will join me in pressing on toward this goal. It's going to be hard-won, but totally worth it.
Let me explain. I have seen firsthand that the key to true heart change - freedom of the heart - is understanding your deepest held beliefs, seeing if they line up with God's truth, and replacing any that don't. Our belief system, or worldview, is formed as we grow up and learn from those around us. It is further formed by living through painful and beautiful life experiences and the thoughts we develop around these experiences. We are always being discipled, or to use the current buzzword - indoctrinated - by whatever has the most influence in our lives. For many of us, myself included, we were discipled by the culture around us because we live here. I often say, the worst thing I was ever discipled by was Seventeen magazine. (Do you remember that magazine of did I just date myself?!) I am still trying to break free from the ways of living that were taught to me through their advice.
But don't be too alarmed, this is not new to our post-modern secular culture. People have always been taught ways of living by their culture. Ways that are often contrary to the ways of God. Listen to what Apostle Peter tells the early church in his pastoral letter to them.
For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 1 Peter 1:18:19
You have been redeemed from the way of life that you inherited from your ancestors. But you need to recognize the empty life of your culture versus the abundant life from the Father. Just before this statement, Peter tells them; So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 1 Peter 1:14. Now he is assuming they know better. But I can tell you from experience that I did not know better. I had to learn better. I needed, and still need to be transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:1).
Like Jesus told all the people who believed in Him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
We need to learn all His teachings so we can know the truth and be set free.
So over the next several weeks, we will be digging into God's truth revealed in His Word, and comparing it to worldly beliefs I see all around us. We will learn the truth, exchanging false beliefs and wrongful ways for Truth and God's ways. And, I think we will find that when we live out God's truth, the way God intended we find the abundant life. We find that He is as He said, the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:16).
Oh, I am so excited! Let FREEDOM RING!
Live it out:
The Bible is God's revelation to us. It reveals His character, the story of all of life - what has happened and what is to come, and it reveals His ways and will for us as humans. May I encourage you to have a Bible ready to read and read it for yourself? We will be in the New Testament, especially the gospels, 1 Peter, and Romans throughout these next weeks.
God has promised that the Spirit living in us will help us understand His word, and reveal to us Truth as we read it. So let's read it, and believe that God will reveal to us the way, the truth, and the life.
Let's Pray:
Father - you are the way, the truth and the life. Show us the way and your truth as we read your word. Help us to dig out false beliefs and wrongful ways and go your way instead. Reveal to us your truth through your word. We love you and we know that your ways are the way to the life you have planned for us. In Jesus's name. Amen.
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