Freedom from slavery

Galatians 5:1 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.

I wonder if any of us would be willing to admit that we are slaves to our baggage (sin past & present, strongholds, addictions, resentment, fears, judgment…). Not only was I a slave to it, and unfortunately still am with a few things, I was exhausted over it. I think what scared me more than the thought of laying these things down at his feet was the thought of never getting rid of them.  

I had the chance to speak to our Youth group last night and I wanted to share something that I shared with them. These 3 things have really been what changed it all for me. They are a combination of things that God revealed and words spoken from people who ministered to me.

1.     God will never allow full contentment, peace or joy when we choose to fill the voids in our lives with anything other than God first.

2.     After being saved or turning from sin. God does not intend on mending every relationship back into a present relationship in your life, nor does he intend on molding every addiction back into a “manageable” substance in your life. He also will never set you free from your strongholds and expect you to take back a part or a percentage of it and apply it back into your life. There are times when God draws a line in the sand and says no more.

3.     God can change the desires of your heart.

You see what took me a long time to grasp was Jesus didn’t just die on the cross for the redemption of our sin’s. He died so that we would have freedom too.

 I don’t know what it means to you to have freedom, but I can tell you freedom for me meant more than any of my baggage ever did. To know Him is to love Him, to lay it all down to Him is freedom.

The beautiful thing about God is that he doesn’t tell us to get our lives together first then come to him. No, he says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

I was so tired of being tired. As a matter of fact I am a little worn out  with the baggage I have yet to let go of, and I have no one else to blame but myself. You know the verse that says, (Matthew 6:13-14) Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. I always wondered if the real problem was that only a few could fit (on account of their baggage that is)…who knows.

I do know that God really wants us to experience joy, peace and happiness in our life. If you have time today read James 2. I love verse 26 that says, As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Sometimes God requires action on our part. Sometimes were are just too stubborn or afraid of what will happen if we did let some things go. It doesn’t require you being the one to know how to fix everything; you just have to be willing to trust Him with the outcome. (I should really take my own advice on this one…).

Before I close I wanted to go back to #3, God can change the desires of our heart. This one is huge for me, mainly because it wasn’t easy for me to lay most of my things down to Him. I didn’t joyfully go through this process; if it was that easy then it wouldn’t have been that big of deal for me to lay it down in the first place. Through time and prayer God changed the desires I had for each of them. All I had to do was ask.

We can do this; we can walk in freedom and leave the dark shadows of our “baggage” with Him. (could I possibly say that word any more times today J)

FOR IT IS FOR FREEDOM THAT CHRIST HAS SET US FREE, STAND FIRM THEN AND DO NOT LET YOURSELVES BE BURDNED AGAIN BY A YOKE OF SLAVERY!!!