5
Jun
2009
Spiritual Revolution
Are you free? We live in the freest nation on the face of the earth and for those of us who have Christ in our hearts know that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty, right? (2 Cor. 3:17). But are you truly free? Or does fear, anger, shame, failure, worry, rejection, doubt, or un-forgiveness (etc.) keep you in bondage? Because honestly, we can be free, but not really free. Many of us, or should I say most of us, are still living under the tyranny of soul. The god of this world is trying to oppress the people of God at every turn; physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. But…
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. –Galatians 5:1a NIV
God wants us to be completely free; body, soul and spirit. But freedom is never free. If we are going to experience true freedom then a Spiritual Revolution must happen with each of us on a very personal level.
Think about this Nation’s history; long before the Boston Tea Party or the “shots heard around the world” at Concord and Bunker Hill, long before independence was declared and the back of British oppression was broken, the “True-born Sons of Liberty” were willing to die to be free. They were willing to die to live in the reality of their identity. Are we?
There is no doubt that when we gave our hearts to Jesus we became true-born sons of liberty. But the question remains “Are we willing to die?” Die to sin and self, or die for the cause of Christ? –On the job, at church, in the store, at the gym, in the Dr.’s office, at home with the spouse and kids, or when nobody else is watching; are we willing to be Freedom Fighters for Christ? Are you ready, willing and able for a spiritual revolution in your life?
Lately I’ve noticed too many battle weary, shell-shocked souls. And some have gone completely AWOL. Too many have surrendered to the tactics of the enemy. Today more than ever Christians are choosing to go their own way, making decisions that seem right in their own eyes, and ignoring the ways of God. And the Bible clearly warns us; “Don’t slip back into your old ways of doing evil” (1 Peter 1:14b NLT) because freedom has never been a free-for-all.
[Live] as free people, [yet] without employing your freedom as a pretext for wickedness; but [live at all times] as servants of God. –1 Peter 2:16 Amplified Bible
Our culture places freedom as the highest value, liberty is the greatest goal, but look around, what kind of freedom is being pursued? –drunkenness, adultery, gambling, carousing, pre-marital sex, etc… A lot of wicked behavior has been defined as freedom today, and unfortunately there are a lot of Christians that are participating. But the Bible is very clear on the matter that “those who practice such things will notinherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:21 NKJV).
Did you know that the Pilgrim Fathers of America were so concerned about an unrighteous definition of liberty in the New World that they drafted a list of sins that they said would lead to “Extreme Liberty”? They were afraid that a society that wrongly defined freedom would lead to a culture of immorality. And they were right. Now more than ever we need a spiritual revolution to turn this Nation back to God.
“Everything is permissible”-but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”-but not everything is constructive. –1 Corinthians 10:23 NIV
Permissibility is not always beneficial or constructive. But I’ve noticed something else; we live in a world that says “Yes” to everything? No boundaries for adults or kids. Parents today are allowing their kids to do whatever they want to do because they’re afraid that if they don’t, they might lose them somehow or harm them in some way or the kids might miss-out on something. But the very opposite is true.
Some years ago there was an interesting study that was conducted on school children playing at recess. They wanted to see how much play area the average group of school kids would utilize during their play-time. The results were interesting; they found when the kids were in an unfenced area, they would tend to huddle together and play in only a small portion of the playground. But if the area was fenced, the kids would utilize the entire playground; they would spread out and play right up to the limits of the fence. The fence provided safety which empowered freedom.
Freedom is not striping off every limitation in life. God wants us to be Free, but He also wants us to be Safe, and the two go hand in hand, not only for our own good, but also for the people in our lives. He wants us to live well, and also help others to live well too. So we must be very careful how we live (Eph. 5:15) this life of liberty.
Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. –1 Corinthians 8:9-10 NIV
It’s so easy to be influenced by the wrong people or have the wrong focus on the wrong things. It’s so easy to get our priorities out of whack or careless with our relationships. And the wrong focus and priorities can easily influence others the wrong way. Elton Trueblood was right when he said that “Discipline is the price of freedom”.
If we are going to experience the freedom that Christ set us free to live, then we have to be ready, willing, and able to have Him control of every aspect. Spiritual Revolution takes place when we say “yes” to God every time, every day, every way with everything. He set us free from the lesser, so that we can reach the greater. He longs for us all to live in the greater reality of our identity, as True-born Sons and Daughters of Liberty. So Be Free!
This is really good Ronny. The fence analogy is really something. I’m really liking your blogs, they’re a great way to reach out and further the Kingdom. Nice to see that it’s not just us journalism people that like to write
. Take care brother. This is a great tool for me to be able to stay up with the church and get to hear (and read) some good words!
I read this every so often just as reminder to myself to follow hard after God and not to “lean on my own understanding”. I know this blog talks about freedom and boundaries, but I was thinking how well last Sunday’s sermon related (concerning the issue of pride), in regard to everything “being permissible” these days. We do not say NO to ourselves or to our children. We accept unacceptable behaviors (such as gossip, slander, swearing, drunkenness, lying and taking our Lord’s name in vain) from our spouses, children, friends and relatives. To speak up or out might be embarrassing to us or to them and they might accuse us of being intolerant. And I believe that Pride is at the Root of it all. We are afraid our egos might get damaged. We are more concerned about what “they” think about us than what God thinks about us. James 4 verse 6 tells us what God thinks about us when we choose to act out of pride and protect our egos:
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.” (NIV)
Pastor David Jeremiah said the word EGO was an acronym for “Edging God Out”. I thought that was good, because when we (and I am including myself) start worrying about our egos and our pride, God and His Kingdom work becomes secondary in our lives. When we say Yes to the flesh or the carnal nature, which is where the Ego and Pride reside, we are almost always saying No to God; “Edging God Out”. Each time we make that wrong choice it is easier to do the next time, because our pride becomes more puffed up and our ego is emboldened.
You said it well on Sunday; we must lay an axe to that root of pride in our lives to allow God to work through us and to fulfill His desires for our lives. To experience everything that Christ died to give us we must repent for the choices we have made in catering to our egos and ask for forgiveness. We must ask God to remove that root of pride from our lives and to purge all the people, places or things that keep Him from having first place in our hearts. Not our will Lord, but yours. Let that be our prayer.
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”(James 4:10 ESV) To be exalted by God, who could ask for anything greater than this?
I just heard a quote today ‘freedom is not so you can do what you want, but
to do what you ought’
Thank you, Pastor Ronny, for reminding us of who we are and our Christ bought freedom!