God Speaks Freedom

FREEDOM! This is a controversial word in this day. Our country was founded on the ideals of freedom. There are several dictionary definitions of freedom. One definition is "absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government". This is the meaning upon which our country was founded. The Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, and later the Constitution all have this meaning of freedom in their substance...the intent of not being ruled by a despotic government. 

Years after the founding of our country, another definition of freedom was finally realized. This definition is "the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved". With President Abraham Lincoln's signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, slavery in this country was outlawed. Although it took several years after its signing before ALL slaves were freed and although many of those old opinions still run rampant in some areas, the truth of no longer being bound is real.

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A third definition has also been a hot topic lately. That definition is "the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint." Although this freedom was recognized at the writing of our constitution, questions have always arisen about the exact meaning or interpretation of this phrase. As the country has modernized over the nearly 250 years since it declared independence and with the advent of internet and social media, this definition and meaning continues to get more muddy and muddled. 

Galatians 5:13--"Brothers and sisters, God has called you to freedom! Hear the call, and do not spoil this gift by using your liberty to engage in what your flesh desires; instead, use it to serve each other as Jesus taught through love."

1 Peter 2:16--"Live as those who are free and not as those who use their freedom as a pretext for evil, but live as God’s servants."

The dictionary is not the only book to give a meaning of freedom. The Bible gives warning about some of these "Freedoms" but also gives a definition as well. It talks about freedom from sin. If you've read my blogs before, you will recognize that sin is basically "doing bad things". ALL human beings are born with this capacity. We are all born with the nature to do bad things. Some people seem to do more bad things than others, but that does not matter. In the eyes of God, we are all guilty because we ALL do bad things. God has never put a tally on the number of bad things or the amount of "badness" that they consist of...He has just said that ALL sin (do bad things). Even though God's goal for each of us is fellowship together forever with Him, people who "do bad things" are not allowed into Heaven without proper punishment. This does not include any punishments here on earth; they would need proper "Heavenly" punishment to dispel all of our bad things. God knew that we as humans could never really handle the proper punishment needed to get rid of our "bad things". He knew that it would take Someone with the same power He has and He sent Jesus, His Son, as our replacement. Jesus, not only suffered a horrendous human death, but also experienced the extreme punishment that was intended for each of us in order to cover our "bad things" and allow us into Heaven. Such a gift of Freedom this world has never seen! All that God asks in return is that we believe in Him, in what Jesus did for us, and seek God and His wisdom in all that we do. 

This is the ultimate sense of Freedom....to be unchained from "Heavenly" punishment for the "bad things" we do and to be able to freely fellowship with God forever.

John 8:34--"Jesus: I tell you the truth: everyone who commits sin surrenders his freedom to sin. He is a slave to sin’s power."

Luke 1:77--"So that the Lord’s people will receive knowledge of their freedom through the forgiveness of their sins."

Acts 2:21--"And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be liberated into God’s freedom and peace."

God Speaks Through Change

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CHANGE. It is not a kind word. Most of us do not think too highly of change. Change can come as the result of illness, job loss, death, even marriage, new baby, or new job or job responsibilities. Even though some of these are "happy" things, they still result in a change of some sort. The dictionary definition is "make or become different". Most of us get so used to our day in and day out routine that any "change" becomes an issue. 

        Proverbs 7:23--"Like a bird flying straight into a net.

    He had no clue his life was at stake; everything was about to change."

Take, for instance, our recent and on-going COVID-19 outbreak. Most of us were pushed into a sudden and abrupt change. A change in our day-to-day life; a change in our jobs; a change in our finances. For many of us what had been our typical daily routine was no more. This was quite a difficult change as we all had to not only learn a new daily routine, but many of us had to learn how to make due with less food for our families and less money for our bills. Many parents have had to learn how to teach their children and children have had to learn from their parents or grandparents. Teachers had to change how they were teaching and students had to change their mindset of learning. As we all begin to settle into our "new" routine, change will come again. 

Change as the result of a family death, or marriage break-up are difficult as well. These changes last a little longer than our COVID-19 event. During these changes, there really is no going back to what was normal. For these changes, a new routine and a new way of thinking is required and is often difficult to establish.

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A new marriage or a new baby can result in good change and yet it is still change. There is still a new routine to establish and new ways of thinking. Sometimes this new change can bring a few hardships with it...babies that don't sleep at night, exhausted parents, couples whose personalities clash. These hardships will at some point....change! 

Isaiah 14:26--"Because I, God of earth and heaven,

        have devised a plan for the whole earth;

    I have reached out and am ready to effect change among the nations."

If there is one thing that is constant in this world, it is change! In fact, God calls upon each of us to change. We are born into a messed up world with a mindset of doing wrong things. That is just human nature. We are born sinful (with the propensity to do bad things). This doesn't necessarily mean killing people or stealing, but none of us can say we have never done something wrong since birth . That is sin...doing something wrong! The way that God provides for our change is through His Son, Jesus. If we believe that He took our eternal punishment and ask Him to be in charge of our lives, we will be changed.

Mark 1:15--"It’s time! The kingdom of God is near! Seek forgiveness, change your actions, and believe this good news!"

Nehemiah 1:9--"but if you have a change of heart and return to Me and walk according to My commands, then no matter how far you have gone, even to the places beyond the horizon, I will gather you and bring you to the place of My choosing, where My very name dwells.”

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God asks us to change, but knows that we are born with that tendency to do bad things and that we can't alter the bad things that happen to us. He knows that we will need help. Who better to help us than God, Who created us and Who knows all about us? The other thing about God and change is that He doesn't. God Does Not Change. He has been the same God with the same character since the beginning of time. His expectations do not change; His thoughts do not change; His plans for us have never changed; and His love does not change! 

Hebrews 13:8--"Jesus the Anointed One is always the same: yesterday, today, and forever."

Malachi 3:6a--"Because I am the Eternal One, I never change..."

Change is a part of life. Sometimes good; sometimes bad. No matter the amount and type of change in our lives, isn't it wonderful to know that God is constant?

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God Speaks--Are You Listening?

Have you ever been in a situation where you KNOW you are alone, but could swear that you heard someone speaking? I have and it's really kind of freaky. You may sit and wonder if you really heard what you heard, or if your imagination is getting the best of you. Most always it is merely a noise that was misheard, or in fact, the result of a vivid imagination. Sometimes; however, it could be a voice from God with a message for you. 

In the book of Samuel, we are told of a young boy, named Samuel, who had been left by his mother, at the temple in order to be raised for the service of God. Samuel was raised by the priest, Eli. Due to some disorder in Eli's household, God was preparing for Samuel to take over one day as priest instead of Eli's heirs. As Samuel slept one night, he heard a voice call his name. To him it was so audible that he rose out of bed, went to Eli, and asked what he wanted. Eli replied that he had not called for Samuel. This happened three times and then it dawned on Eli what was happening. He told Samuel that the next time he heard the voice, to respond, "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening." Eli realized that is was God calling out to Samuel in an audible voice. So when Samuel next heard the voice, he called out as Eli had instructed and then God told him many things that would come to pass concerning Eli, his family, and Samuel himself. 

Although not impossible, it is not often that God uses an audible voice to speak in this day, or at least not as audible as if He were seated nearby holding a conversation. I have heard God speak; however, very clearly and almost audibly through my thoughts. When this has occurred, I knew it was God because it did not seem to come from inside my head, but rather was placed there for me to grasp. It is a difficult description to understand unless you have had one of these God-thoughts yourself. God will use the Holy Spirit to put these God-thoughts in your mind. These are not "gut feelings", but in fact, almost audible thoughts.

Three times this has happened to me. The first time was when I was in college. My husband and I met through Campus Crusade (now known as Cru). As we began dating, it was apparent (to me, at least) that this was the man God had chosen for me to marry. Mid-way through my sophomore year, I was making plans to transfer to another college several states away. As I prayed about what to do, I had a very "audible thought" that if I changed colleges, the relationship between my then boyfriend and I would not be able to continue. Since I "knew" that he was the one for me, I decided not to change colleges. Because of that decision, we have been married now for 32 years, have 3 children and 2 grand-children. Some may think, "Yeah, well, that was an obvious one. Are you sure that was God?" I can tell you that yes, it was. I had never, up to that point, been so sure and clear about any decision I had made, and never once doubted it was correct. 

If that doesn't convince you, let me share another occasion. Five years after we had been married, I was pregnant with our second child. Because I am diabetic, pregnancies were often more risky for both mother and child. The decision to have the baby early was made due to his size and my diabetes. My first pregnancy had gone fairly event free and so had my second thus far. At 35 weeks and after a planned C-section, my 10 lb., 14 oz., baby boy was born. Oh, yeah, diabetics tend to have much larger babies. All was well until his 4th day. At this point, he had developed septicemia, had a high fever, had stopped breathing on his own, was put on 3 different antibiotics and was prepared to fly out to a NICU about 100 miles away. This was when God spoke to me through another "audible thought". He said, "In everything give thanks!"  I had read several verses in the Bible previously about giving thanks to God, but this one was from 1 Thessalonians 5:18, 

"give thanks to God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in." 

In my gut, I'm thinking, "God, you have to be crazy. How can I be thankful when my baby is near death's door?" But His voice said, "Give thanks!" So I did, I called several people to get on prayer chains and then sat there giving thanks to God for the few days I'd had with the baby; for my family members; for my other child at home. After two weeks in the NICU, the baby was finally able to come home and has suffered no side effects as a result!

Still not sure that God can speak in an "audible thought"? I will share my third encounter with you. As my children, now three of them, grew up, I was an impatient mother. I also suffered from untreated depression which often left me angry and easily frustrated. One such day, the children were "on my last nerve". I'm sure you can relate. We were attempting to go somewhere in the vehicle. I don't remember if it was to school, or somewhere else, but I was mad because they were goofing off or taking too long; who knows. I took off from the driveway and raced down the road much faster than I should have for safety's sake. As we neared the end of the road, I heard the most clear of all of these thoughts God has given. He said, "Be careful with My beautiful children!" At that I cried (and still get teary-eyed thinking about it). If that was not a clearly audible "thought" from God, I don't know what is. I was ashamed of my attitude and my carelessness with "His beautiful children". Needless to say, I quickly checked my attitude and slowed my car and my frustration. 

Strong "audible thoughts" can be messages from God. Are we listening to them? Are we reviewing those thoughts, comparing them to His word and contemplating the meaning of the message for our lives? Are we being obedient to those audible thoughts? Are we thanking God for His words? The challenge is for all of us to listen, give thanks and obey.