Freedom

Anyone who knows me well has heard me speak the following words...."Freedom begets freedom." I really believe this is the key to life. Even more than just life, abundant life. Freedom is the key to abundant life. And Jesus came to set the captives free! People who are living a fearless life, a life of freedom, spur everyone around them to desire that kind of life! Freedom is contagious!

Did you ever notice how being around an extremely insecure person can be very tiring? It causes us to feel so uncomfortable that we want to escape. We all know people who apologize all of the time, who seem to apologize just for being alive. It is as if they know they are not living their true life, and it makes them so aware of their shortcomings that they are constantly "sorry."

But have you ever been in the presence of a person who is free to be themselves, with no apologies? (Now, I'm not talking about the one whose mantra is "Hey, this is how I am and if you don't like it too bad..." That is not freedom but an excuse for bad behavior.) I am speaking here of one who is fully and completely free in the security of who he or she is in Jesus. I'm talking of someone who has been seen by Him and who has found safety and security in His eyes. A person who is being restored to their true self. They are like a breath of fresh air, because there are no apologies needed.  This type of freedom always manifests itself in love and safety, and it draws people. It is not a shallow type of love or a boring kind of safety....but an excitement which stirs others, and challenges them to live!

I read this quote by Oswald Chambers that sums up what I am trying to express "The resounding evidence of the Holy Spirit in a person's life is the unmistakable family likeness to Jesus Christ, and the freedom from everything which is not like Him."

When I am fully loved, fully filled, fully healed and fully and completely "me" then I am free from the temptations that bog me down and try to choke the life out of me. I am free to love freely and generously because I am not fearful that I will be hurt. I am free to give testimonies of how wonderful my God is, because I have experienced His wonder. I can be fully me and trust that "myself" is good enough because God desires me! I am alive!

Maybe we have simplified the Gospel to be nothing more than a ticket out of this world and a guarantee of heaven. But life is so much more than that!! God sent His Son to restore us.....to set us free! Free to live!!  He came to shatter the false selves that we have had to rely on in order to survive in this fallen world. He came to return us to our original design, to our true identity, our "Edenic" beauty.....He came to give us abundant life! Too many people are living a "survive until I can escape" life. That is really sad, and not at all what God intended. Jesus gave His life so that we could have a LIFE like Him! Does your life look at all like the life of Jesus? If not, it is available to you. But you have to go after it. You have to want to live! "Today I have given you the choice between life and death..." (Deut. 30:19) You have to go after "life" with everything that's in you! All life is found in God, in Jesus. There is no real life without Him. So to go after "life" is to go after God. Seek Him, and allow Him to raise you up out of the ashes of your "sorry" life. Allow Him to shatter every part of your false self. Ask Him to show you who you really are and to give you your true identity.

As we begin to walk in freedom, all those around us will desire this freedom, and the love of God which is the "life" of God will overtake the darkness of this earth. This is how disciples are made. This is the Good News of the Gospel! Freedom begets freedom!!!