Since my word for this year is FREEDOM, here is another blog about it.
There are three types of freedom. The first kind of freedom is “freedom from,” a freedom from the constraints of society. Second, is “freedom to,” a freedom to do what we want to do. Thirdly, there is “freedom to be,” a freedom, not just to do what we want, but a freedom to be who we were meant to be.
. So many times in our lives we allow “thoughts” maybe negative -which are never from God, you just have to know that and absorb it. So when that thought process begins so many times we can spiral in to that black hole and try as we may to recover, it either doesn’t happen or it takes lots of time.
Do you ever think about that? When the enemy attacks it feels like a mountain worth of grief and it seems to last forever. There are not many more things in life these days that just irritate the crap out of me than an all out attack. I don’t know about you but the enemy typically blindsides me and hits hard, at least it always feels that way. I’ve often wondered why he thinks I need huge tests and trials, but then again I remember James 1:2-4 (a favorite) James 1:2-4 New International Version Trials and Temptations 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
So Freedom From – we are born free but everywhere we have chains created by society. Chains that dictate what we can and cannot physically do, but also mental chains that restrict what we believe we can do.
Freedom to – to do what we want to do, this is an area where I totally get on my soapbox. If we DO or SAY exactly what we want, sometimes it’s just not helpful, not uplifting. Sometimes things people say can be absolutely horrible, degrading and hate fulled. Not always is it bad but folks sure take advantage of the God given ability to say what we want.
Proverbs 15:1 NIV 15 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Just because you were given a mouth, by God, just because what you feel like you need to say is correct or accurate, does NOT mean you SHOULD say it.
Colossians 4:6 ESV 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Lysa TerKeurst “You can tell the hard truth but you don’t always have to say it in a harsh way”.
Freedom to be – to be who we were meant to be. I think God has plenty to say about that.
Numbers 18:6 And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting.
Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We all have a reason to be on this Earth, sometimes that takes some prayer and thought to determine what that purpose is. Once you find it live it out. Its what we are called to do.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 (New International Version) “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”