The Flip Side Of Freedom

Guest post by Denelle Surman Bryant

His Word: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

 Observation and Obedience: I’m a divorced single mother of two. I am free in every way. I enjoy all of the societal freedoms that were established for us by our forefathers. And, I am also free to watch whatever I want on TV. I am free to fold t-shirts inside-out, or not at all. I am free to serve breakfast for dinner, or meatless meals any day of the week. I am free to stay up late and eat loud, crunchy snack foods in bed. I am free to buy a house, and lease a car, on my own, consulting with no one. I am free to paint my walls whatever color I choose, and I’m free to take up every square inch of the closet. I am free to be spontaneous, make plans, change plans, and cancel plans, and come and go as I please. I am free to date whoever I want, and at the same time, I’m free to choose not to. I am free to raise my fatherless sons, my way. I am free to choose my battles and let certain things slide. I am free to lose my temper, and on occasion, my mind. I am free. I am without yokes, or chains. And I’m miserable.

When I first read Galatians 5:1, I read it romantically.

“Christ, has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened AGAIN by a yoke of slavery.”

Thank you very much Christ, and don’t you worry, no one in their right mind would go back to slavery after being set free! Right? Wrong.

Truth is, I’d give anything to be yoked in a partnership. The chains of life can be comforting and securing. To be tethered, and unable to go beyond where you can see…it’s safe. Routines, schedules, plans, goals, they’re what keep us grounded, and moving. Predictability, is a calming, wonderful phenomenon. But that’s not the type of freedom that life in Christ gives us. Not even close. The freedom he granted us, is so much bigger. He gives us the freedom to stay tethered to Him, and watch the trials of life be turned into triumph. To consult with Him, and wait on Him to move mountains in your favor. The freedom to place your life, your dreams, your desires in His hands, and be willing to lose it all for the promise of his His Plan being far greater than anything you could ever imagine. His freedom is a thrill ride, a gut-check, a test of strength. The strength of your faith.

Many among us do choose to retreat back to the yokes of slavery. They throw on the chain of an unhealthy relationship, because it’s better than being alone. (God never leaves us.) They remain shackled in jobs that are unfulfilling, because “it pays the bills”. (God designed you for a particular purpose.) They remain tethered to the bottle, the pill, the cigarette, because it numbs the pain. (God is a Healer.) They hold on to offenses and look for revenge. (God offers forgiveness and grace). And my personal weakness…I choose to retreat back to the prison of my own efforts, my own strength, my own way, even after tasting the AMAZING Freedom God has given me. (God’s impeccable timing and perfect plan.)

But hey, it’s a journey. We are all children. And we are all learning. The great part is, we are all together in it. Together to encourage, support, and motivate each other. My prayer is that we accept our freedoms and help each other fight the urge to retreat. Let’s choose to stay free, even on the flip side.

Prayer: Thank You Father, for all that You are and all that You offer to me when I stand with You, follow Your lead and live in the love that was poured out on the cross. Keep me tethered, keep me weak for your ways and your will. In Jesus Name, Amen

Encouragement: Dear past, thank you for your lessons. Dear future, I’m ready. Dear God, Thank YOU for another chance. 

Written and lived out loud by Denelle Surman Bryant

Jesus' Daredevil

His Word: “In Whom, because of our faith in Him, we dare to have the boldness (courage and confidence) of free access (an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear)” (Ephesians 3:12 AMP).

Observation & Obedience: Are you a daredevil? Felix Baumgartner is. Once he climbed into the open hand of Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro and BASE jumped 95 feet, setting a world record (BASE jumping is done with a parachute from a fixed object).  He’s performed many other dauntless deeds, including skydiving from the stratosphere and breaking the sound barrier on his way down.

I can’t imagine me ever skydiving. I’m sure someone would have to shove me, screaming, out of the plane. While God doesn’t ask us to strap on a parachute and jump into thin air, sometimes we feel just as wobbly and unsure of ourselves coming to Him with our requests.

We meekly bow or kneel or prostrate ourselves on the floor, covering our soggy faces with despairing hands and sobbing out our pleas. Sometimes that is exactly the posture we should take, when we’re asking Him for forgiveness, patience, and understanding.

But today’s verse is full of big, audacious images: daring, boldness, courage, confidence, unreserved, freedom, fearless. 

In biblical times, the posture of standing before a ruler indicated a legal right to be there. Ephesians 3:6 names our legal qualifications to stand before Christ. We are fellow heirs, fellow members, and fellow partakers. We’ve got the back stage passes, we belong to the club, we’re V.I.P.’s, our inheritance is already deposited in the trust fund.

Ephesians goes on to name the treasures of our trust fund: unfathomable riches, powerful inner strength, deep roots of love, comprehension of the magnitude of Christ’s love, bursting with the fullness of God. All this is ours, now, for the asking. 

Do you feel confident enough to stand in prayer, raise your hands, and dauntlessly lay claim to what’s rightfully yours?  Most of the time, neither do I. 

Dr. Amy Cuddy, a Harvard professor, researched the hormonal effects of a power pose. She tested subjects after they stood with arms up in a “V”, the classic victory pose. She found increases in testosterone, the dominance hormone and low cortisol, the stress hormone. 

What Cuddy discovered, God designed into us. Biblical examples confirm the importance of standing in prayer. The Institute of Basic Life Principles recently posted an article listing three reasons we should stand in prayer.

1. It represents our position in Christ’s righteousness. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1-2).
2. It symbolizes our preparation for battle. “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13).
3. It shows readiness to serve. Daniel and his companions were to serve the king after a period of preparation, “…that at the end thereof they might stand before the king” (Daniel 1:5).

The victory pose is a universal sign of confidence. Every runner crosses the finish line with arms up. Our Savior crossed His finish line with arms up in a “V” as He hung from the tree. There was never a more powerful moment in the history of mankind as the moment “It is finished” was pronounced on the cross.

 If you struggle to really feel as if you are a fellow heir, member, and partaker; try changing your pose in prayer. Confidently stand if you can, raise your hands in a “V” for victory. Dare to ask for what God longs to give you. As you raise your hands, matching Jesus, feel His boldness course through you. 

Prayer:  “Father, out of Your glorious riches will You strengthen me with power through Your Holy Spirit in my inner being? Allow Christ to dwell in my heart through faith. Root me and establish me in love, provide me with the insight and power to grasp just how wide and long and high and deep Christ’s love is. I want to know this love that surpasses knowledge so I can be filled up to the measure of all the fullness of God. Amen.”

Encouragement:  “Always act like you are wearing an invisible crown.” Anonymous

Written by: Deb Potts

The Choice Is Yours

His Word:  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17 (ESV)

Observation and Obedience: Paul, in this letter, compares the glory and freedom of life for those who choose Christ as compared to the life of the old testament people. I love how the Message version describes the difference and the privilege that is ours if we choose.

Lifting the Veil

7-8 The Government of Death, its constitution chiseled on stone tablets, had a dazzling inaugural. Moses’ face as he delivered the tablets was so bright that day (even though it would fade soon enough) that the people of Israel could no more look right at him than stare into the sun. How much more dazzling, then, the Government of Living Spirit?

9-11 If the Government of Condemnation was impressive, how about this Government of Affirmation? Bright as that old government was, it would look downright dull alongside this new one. If that makeshift arrangement impressed us, how much more this brightly shining government installed for eternity?

12-15 With that kind of hope to excite us, nothing holds us back. Unlike Moses, we have nothing to hide. Everything is out in the open with us. He wore a veil so the children of Israel wouldn’t notice that the glory was fading away—and they didn’t notice. They didn’t notice it then and they don’t notice it now, don’t notice that there’s nothing left behind that veil. Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can’t see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there’s nothing there.

16-18 Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him. (MSG)

As I sit here and think about the biggest road block that keeps us from living our lives “gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful”, it has to be FEAR! 

Our lack of FAITH……..FEAR, it robs us of so much. It robs us of our joy, our confidence and our freedom to live our lives with the veil removed. Recognizing that God is a living, personal presence who delivered us ALREADY!

It’s true, horrible things happen to people. Paul, early on in this letter, explains that Christians will suffer. “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed“. Paul wanted us to know that compared to eternity with Christ the sufferings of this world are temporary and have a purpose for us: “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

So WHY is it that we allow these temporal experiences to reinforce our fear rather than increase our faith?  That was never the plan.

We are fearful of being injured, we are afraid of getting sick, we fear being lied to, and cheated on, we are afraid of loosing our jobs, our spouses, our children, our homes. The list goes on and on and on. And if we aren’t afraid of all these things for ourselves, we’re afraid of them happening to our children and grandchildren. Honestly, it’s a wonder we push back the covers and get out of bed in the morning. And we were meant to SHINE!!!

So how do we make the choice EVERY DAY to live free of fear and shine His light? WE MAKE THE CHOICE!

First, we have to recognize that FEAR is of the ENEMY! ALWAYS!!! His not so marvelous plan is to rob us of our talents, joy and freedom, bringing death to our relationship with God and the ones we love most. It’s Darkness all the time! He wants to snuff out our light and our lives. 

Let’s look at what fear leads to…..fear leads to stress, leads to sleepless nights, leads to fatigue, leads to irritability, leads to discontent, leads to disagreements, leads to never stepping into who you were created to be, leads to a miserable existence. Why would anyone choose that?

When you choose to allow your FAITH to be bigger than your fear what will your life look like? You will live knowing that whatever is ahead of you God is already there and has prepared the way if we will just stay face-to-face with Him. At the end of the day you will lie down in peace, while God restores your rest. You will arise each morning rested and excited to be a part of this new day that the Lord has made. Rejoice! He has chosen to have you be a part of it!! You will look for the good, the encouragements, the gifts in each day and each person you share life with. Your attitude will be pleasant and attractive. You will be able to shine His light for others to see and recognize.

So today, pay attention to every thought, word or action you take and see if it’s based in fear or in faith. When you recognize it as fear, make the choice to remove the veil and stand face-to-face with your “Abba, Father”. Say to Him, “because I am your child, I have the Spirit of your Son in me and with me, NOTHING CAN HOLD ME BACK! I am free, not fearful!” Thank You Jesus!

Prayer: Thank You Jesus for sending me your Spirit so that I may live victorious and free. Remove the veil of fear and anxiety that clouds your glory shining through. Help me to stand firm with You and not allow fear to hold me captive in my thoughts, feelings or actions. God, I know and believe that your provision for me is right where I am and I need only to hold on to You. 

Encouragement: “Every day you can get up and get scared~ or ~you can get up and get ready!” Ann Voskamp

A Heart Set Free

His Word: I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.  Psalm 119:32

Observation & Obedience: How’s your heart health? Does it feel restrained or free? Are you overwhelmed with wonder and weak from worry? Does your heart need a boost of God’s power?  David knew what was required when he was feeling overwhelmed and weak. He recognized that he needed to be running along the path of God’s commands.  Not following what the world would say was the solution; but what the Word of God said.

David did not run in the path of God’s commands all alone and neither can we. If left on our own, we will wander off God’s path. We may see a more attractive and easier looking path and decide to go our own way instead of following God’s. And when we set out to make our own path, our heart is not free. Instead, it is burdened because we only have ourselves to depend on.  It is stressed with worry that we will make a wrong move and/or decision. 

In this section of Psalm 119, David gave God some specific requests in order for him to continue following the right path. I gave an account of my ways and you answered me; teach me your decrees (v. 26).  David was honest with God about his shortcomings and human frailties. He did not let his power, pride or position as king stand in the way of asking for help.  He asked to be taught. Are you teachable?

Cause me to understand the way of your precepts (v. 27a). David not only asked to be taught God’s precepts, he needed to understand what he was learning. We may be teachable but are we learning? On any given day, we are inundated with information, news, facts, figures, trivial nonsense, etc. But how much do we retain? How much of God’s commands do we personally apply to our lives? 

Strengthen me according to your word (v. 28b). David knew he had a lot to learn from God; as do we. There are times when our soul is weak and our heart is heavy. We feel like we have failed God once again; we just can’t seem to get it right.  Yet, God doesn’t see us as failures. Like a good Father, he is there to pick us up and put us back on his path. Our strength is renewed through his words of love and compassion and his Word of instruction.

Keep me from deceitful ways (v. 29a). When was the last time you asked God to keep you from lying to yourself? We are good at justifying everything we want to do; whether it agrees with God’s commands or not. We can easily talk ourselves out of anything we don’t want to do. It’s a daily battle to stay on God’s path. That is what David knew to be true and why he needed God’s help.  

If David needed to ask for help, so do you and me! We’ll never run out of things to learn about God and his precepts. Our finite mind may often struggle to understand, but we must never stop learning. There is no substitute for gaining physical and emotional strength than through God’s Word. We live in a deceitful world and must fight the battle daily to keep running along the path of God’s commands. Only then will our hearts be free!

Prayer: Dear God, thank you that you care enough that you will take the time to teach me your ways. I know that some days I am a better student than other days. Please help me to be more open to learn what you have to teach me, able to understand and willing to apply. I know the world cannot give me the strength I need; only you and your Word can keep me on the right path. Forgive me for the times I don’t want to learn and instead focus more on my own selfish and deceitful ways. You have given the steps to have a free heart; I just need to follow. Amen. 

Encouragement: If you want God to do something new, you cannot keep doing the same old thing.                   Mark Patterson

We Are Set Free!

His Word: In my distress I prayed to the LORD, and the LORD answered me and set me free.   Psalm 118:5 NLT

Observation & Obedience:  David dedicates the entire chapter of Psalm 118 listing the things God has set him free from; and he will do the same for us! Our responsibility is to pray; God’s response is to answer. What do you need to be set free from today?

1) Fear: The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? (vs. 6).  Because of God’s faithful love for us and his constant protection, what and who do we need to fear? When it seems like the whole world is against us, we must recognize who is always for us! 

2) Helplessness: Yes, the LORD is for me; he will help me. I will look in triumph at those who hate me. Though hostile nations surrounded me, I destroyed them all with the authority of the LORD (vs. 7, 10).  Because God is for us, he will help us. We don’t have to live defeated and helpless lives. We have his power living in us through the Holy Spirit and with this power comes authority!

3) Trusting the wrong people:  It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people (v. 8).  Have you experienced a breach of trust with someone you thought had your back? Regardless of one’s position and assumed power, people will inevitably let us down. And because of that, we are not to seek our refuge in others. There is only one person we can totally trust; God and God alone!

4) Failure: The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. The strong right arm of the LORD is raised in triumph. The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things! I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory! (vs. 14, 16, 21). As king, David knew what success looked like and what failure felt like. Because he recognized God as his ultimate strength, and not his own, he was set free from the fear of failing. He knew his victories came from God’s strong right arm.

5) Control: This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see. This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it   (vs. 23-24).  David acknowledged that his failures and victories were in God’s hands. He also knew that it wasn’t his responsibility to control everything. God was the one who produced the day with the rising and the setting of the sun, not David. His job was to rejoice and be glad for it. 

Do you need to be set free from any of these?  Has fear taken over your life? Do you feel helpless? Have you put your trust in the wrong people? Do you worry constantly about failing? Do you need to control every situation you encounter?  If you answered yes to more than one, you are probably in distress. What did David do in his distress? He prayed to God and was set free!

Prayer: It’s time to break the chains and experience true freedom.  Picture yourself being tied up by the things listed above. They are choking the life out of you. They are keeping you from growing in your faith; in fact, they are stunting your growth. Let them go. Give them to God and ask him to set you free. Envision the chains loosening and falling to the floor, one by one.

Describe what your life would look like without fear and helplessness. How would you feel when you recognized that you could trust God and he would never let you down? Think how freeing it would be to not worry about your failures or having to control it all.

Encouragement:  Feed your fears and your faith will starve. Feed your faith and your fears will starve.  Max Lucado

Freedom Of Choice

His Word:  The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.  Isaiah 61:1 NLT

Observation & Obedience: Today we celebrate our nation’s freedom; something we don’t take for granted as we remember those who have sacrificed their lives for it. But there’s another kind of freedom that’s available to us as well. It’s one that doesn’t always require a physical sacrifice, but often a personal one; it’s our freedom of choice.

Jonah used his freedom of choice when he decided to run away from God instead of obeying his command to go to the wicked city of Nineveh and warn them of their coming destruction. Jonah had grown up hating the people of Nineveh and in his mind, they deserved to be destroyed and he chose to have no part in their salvation…..first mistake.

Jonah used his freedom of choice when he offered himself as a sacrifice to calm a raging storm. Jonah had settled in on the ship headed 2000 miles in the opposite direction of Nineveh when God “caught up with him!” This choice demonstrated how hatred for the people of Nineveh had warped his perspective. He was willing to die so the sailors could live but he was unwilling to obey God and take his message of life and freedom to the Ninevites….second mistake.

Jonah used his freedom of choice when he reconsidered his actions after spending three days and nights in the belly of a large fish. In Jonah 2, we see his prayer is one of thanksgiving; thankful for not having drowned, not a prayer of repentance. Jonah acknowledged the vow he made when he became a prophet of God and was now choosing to fulfill it; even if it meant doing something he didn’t want to do.

Jonah used his freedom of choice when given a second chance; he responded to God with obedience and went to Nineveh. His short, 8-word message, 40 more days and Nineveh will be overthrown (Jonah 3:4) spoke directly to the heart of the people. They confessed their sins, turned from their wickedness and in God’s love and mercy, he spared the city of 600,000!

Jonah must have been thrilled! After all, he’s just been a part of the largest revival in Bible history. You’d think he’d be celebrating God’s goodness and thanking God for choosing him to be the one to deliver his message.  But in chapter 4, we see this isn’t the case. Jonah is extremely angry and greatly displeased with God….third mistake.

The question to ask here is WHO needed the most transformation? Was it the hateful Ninevites or the hate-filled Jonah? Proverbs 27:19 says, As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.  Jonah’s responses to what God had chosen to do reflect what was in his heart. And based on his actions, it was a heart full of self-centeredness, selfishness, self-pity and a lack of self-control. 

God used his freedom of choice and responded to Jonah’s moaning with a call for an attitude adjustment. Jonah needed to see that his perspective and priorities were way off. God wanted Jonah to realize, although he had the freedom of choice, God was in ultimate control. The book of Jonah ends here. God chooses not to tell us if Jonah ever gets the message and has a change of heart. 

It feels like we are losing ground on our religious freedoms. That is why we must stand for our faith, not run away, and exercise our rights as Christians. Like Isaiah, God wants us to speak the good news, be a comfort to the brokenhearted and proclaim freedom for those held captive by sin, hatred, unforgiveness and selfish pride. We all have choices; don’t let your story end like Jonah’s. 

Prayer: Are you using your freedom of choice to run away from God? Are there nasty attitudes toward others that you’re choosing to ignore? Ask God to show you where you may be abusing your freedom of choice and thank him for being the God of second, third, fourth and one-thousandth chances!

Encouragement: The truth sets you free, BUT it makes you miserable until you face it.    Rick Warren

Refreshment For My Soul

Well, here we are! July, Summer, Beaches, Lakeside, Picnics, BBQ, Swimming, Hiking, Camping and enjoying the Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer! Our privilege to enjoy because of the sacrifice of our Savior. Our responsibility for the privilege is to live by His guiding principles. “I will walk around freely because I sought out your guiding principles.” (God’s Word translation) 

We will focus on the freedoms of our faith for the month of July. And today we are privileged to share one of the freedoms of putting God’s Word into action as experienced by my dear friend Beth Swain. 

2018 Update: Beth received her healing at the feet of Jesus on August 30th, 2015, just two short months after writing this post for us. Her number is still the first contact that comes up on my phone, I am still privileged to visit with her much loved Dr. Tolaney when I go for my 6 month cancer checks at Dana Farber and I will be forever grateful that God allowed her to be there for me when I was first diagnosed. She was a force as a prayer warrior, medical resource and comforter in those first few weeks of so much uncertainty. She is greatly missed by her family, friends and loved ones, and it is such a comfort to know that we will, one day, be together again praising our Lord and King and free of the heartache, pain and uncertainty of cancer. Thank You Jesus.  

His Word: “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” Psalm 23:2-3

Observation and Obedience: If you are reading this post, chances are you have a cancer diagnosis or know someone who does. Perhaps you are a caregiver, encourager, or friend and know the pain and heartache involved with the diagnosis. When the doctor says “It’s cancer”, all we thought was important in our lives was thrown into a new light.  We cross over a bridge we may never have chosen for ourselves or loved ones as an internal change takes place. One which, in the natural realm, most likely would not be defined as “peace”.

It is here, in this crossing, that we can come to know and understand God’s love and provisions in a new way and realize what we care about most deeply. Todays scripture contains a beautiful promise- one of quiet refreshment.  God, the One who knows where our lives are heading, provides the still waters where He will refresh our souls. So how, in this crazy, scary, cancer world of scan anxiety, chemotherapy side effects, disfiguring surgery and dreaded medical reports can we experience His refreshment?

I believe scripture richly encourages us to actively seek His quiet waters, to purposely lay down our burdens and treasure quiet time in communion with Him in our place of “still waters”. But what could that possibly look like in this world of job demands, family obligations, financial distress, not to mention doctors appointments and drug side effects? 

Thankfully, God already has the provision for us.  We just need to visit our restorative place daily where we can go in solitude and dip our toes into that beautiful cleansing stream of still waters and quietly seek and purposely listen for the voice of our Good Shepard. Your “quiet water” may look like time spent on a hammock listening to the breeze in the summer leaves, a quiet walk, moments of peace on a porch chair listening to the birds, or it may be an indoor place where you can find a few minutes of solitude. We can enter into His rest, unhurried in seclusion and silence, while seeking that much needed holy communion with our Good Shepard, who waits to refresh and restore our souls. 

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, help me to find your green pastures and quiet waters today and take the time to meet You there. Speak to my heart and soothe my restless mind. I stand on the words of Jesus when He said “Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. You God, have loved me and provided for my every need before I even realize it. Thank You for the freedom you offer from the pain and anxiety, if I will only depend on Your ways above my own. More of You and less of me. Amen.

Encouragement: “For I have have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing” Jeremiah 31:25

Thank you Beth for sharing your heart.