Liberty That Silences Foolishness

Proverbs 26:11 says, rather graphically, that a person who returns to his bondage after receiving liberty is like a dog that returns to his own vomit. My reaction to either example is to drive the subject away from its object! Shoo! Get away from that!

Yet there is foolishness found in the heart of man. He has a propensity toward the very thing that separates him from God. (Pr. 19:3)

We have, as Christians, a new-found liberty! We did not earn it. It is a gift from our God, through our Savior. Like every gift that comes from Above, our liberty has purpose. Yes, it frees us from the bondage of sin and death (Ro. 8:2). But the continuing purpose inside the Plan of God is even greater! We have the ability to silence the ignorance we see each day. Ignorance that is proliferated by the forces of evil is this world system. The kosmos is made up of an organized system, a confederated host, as described in Ephesians 6:12. The mission of this army is to divide man from God. Their methods are varied, but they are very effective at stirring up foolishness in society.

How do we come against such a thing? See 1 Pe 2:15. With liberty! The liberty to move forward in righteousness. To stand fast in the liberty that has set us free. In so doing, we create a great contrast. Blurriness is cleared up. Gray areas are colored in distinguishing shades and lines. The Goodness of God is boldly manifested in the face of question.

And man is reconciled with his God.

Stand in liberty!

The Proclamation: Liberty To The Captives!

Isaiah 61 can be looked at as an inaugural address. It contains some of the most heart moving promises that man could ever hear. We find, in this short address, a concise outline of the Good News. Each verse, even each phrase, deserves the most careful attention from the eager reader. The unknown prophet, Who reveals Himself in verse 8, speaks directly to the heart of man in the face of the devil. His identity is confirmed in scripture in Luke 4:17-21, which records that remarkable day in history when Jesus entered the synagogue on the sabbath, and read the excerpt from Isaiah. We all would have loved to have been there that day!

Tonight I stand as a captive who has been set free! Each of us, in the unfolding of our lives, have been brought into bondage. One thing after another has bound us to the earth, as we have groveled for acceptance and affirmation in a world system that promises but never fulfills. But then Love came into our lives. The Love of God. And we were set free.

It is difficult to accept our freedom. The prince of this world preaches to us of our worthlessness and inability. Yet, his message is so very true, for without the Promise of God, we are truly useless. We can do nothing to facilitate our own release from bondage, and are left to suffer in the struggle to become free. This has been a long, hard battle. Now, Christ is welcomed into our lives, complete with the promise of new liberty and freedom from all that has plagued us. But, can it be true? We know the truth about ourselves, even if we do not muse upon it. But this new promise, can we trust it?

But then God says, 'Follow Me'. He doesn't instruct me on how to escape from the state I am in. He talks to me as if I am already free! Right from the start of my relationship with Him, He says, 'Come".

So I follow. And I keep following. And He lights the way for me. And if I fall, He picks me up. And the way is not grievous, but it is marvelous.

And I am liberated!

Receive Him and His Promise of Salvation, and experience a liberty you never thought possible! He is waiting.

Taking Ownership Of All That Is Yours

1 Corinthians 3:21-23 give us a surprising truth. We are told that all things are ours. So what does the term 'all things' refer to? Maybe it is that which men give us by way of ministry. Maybe it is the world and everything in our own sphere of experience therein. Perhaps it is life itself, with all the ups and downs associated with living on this planet. Could it even be death, with its uncertainty mixed with the assurance of faith? According to the scripture, all of these things are ours, and more. The things that are present and are happening today. It is also things to come. The future, as it unfolds itself in front of us. All ours.

So, we take ownership. We accept that which is given to us, both the good and bad, and claim it as our own. Then, like any good owner, we become good stewards of our possessions.

As we receive the Word of God, we honor and obey it as the Holy Spirit leads and empowers. Becoming accountable to the Word is the place of deliverance for the believer. New horizons are opened to us as we open ourselves in stewardship to the Word as it is presented to us.

The events that take place in our lives become the pieces of the puzzle that God is constructing in us. He takes each thing and uses it in building us up into lively stones in the Body of Christ. The 'all things' principle of Romans 8:28 goes to work, and, as we take ownership of each day in accountability, we will be witnesses of God's construction project on our behalf. Better to witness construction than destruction!

Heaven is always initiating. We are receiving from the Grace and Mercy of God every moment of the day. The Holy Spirit supplies the unction for us to live in this world, and through it all, the tough and the easy, we grow in the knowledge of the Holy One!

As we realize our wealth of ownership, we find that we also have acquired the power to share the answers of life with others. We discover that we are constrained by God's Love for people, and we initiate Him to each person we meet.

In this, we find our purpose.