Daily Devotional: By Shawneda Marks
This week's topic: Freedom In Christ
It’s not easy being free // the color of love, grace and peace // The backdrop of our hope, goals and dreams // elusive while in arm’s reach, it seems // it’s not easy being free.
I hum this to myself sometimes to the melody of Kermit the Frog’s It’s Not Easy Being Green. It reminds me that while freedom has been purchased for me through the blood that Christ shed on the cross, I have to know it is there and be sure I don’t confuse it with other things, or allow others to define it for me.
Freedom from eternal death as a result of our sin is usually the first glimpse of the freedom God gives to us when we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus died for our sins. But this isn’t where the freedom ends. God’s word explains the freedom found in the peace He gives, humility we learn, our faith in Him and love we share with others. When we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us as we grow in our relationship with God, we find true liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17 AMP) to discover who God purposed us to be on earth.
The peace God gives us affords “freedom from fears, agitating passions and moral conflicts” (1 Peter 1:2, 1 Peter 5:14, 2 Peter 1:2 AMP) and “freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin” (Matthew 10:13, Luke 7:50, 10:5, 19:38, 42, 24:36 AMP). We learn humility as we study the word and submit to the Holy Spirit who provides “freedom from pride and arrogance” (1 Peter 5:5 AMP). Our faith in God infuses us with “courage and confidence to approach God with freedom and without fear” (Ephesians 3:12AMP). Freedom comes full circle in the love we receive from God , love we have for God and love we display when we serve each other (Galatians 5:12-14).
Reading and knowing about freedom in Christ is simple. Walking out freedom in Christ is not. Pain from our pasts, confusion and stress in our present, coupled with fear and anxiety about our future can make the freedom God already provided seem close yet far away. Taking or making time to invest in the relationship we establish with Christ after confession clears the fog of uncertainty, blocks the binds of legalism and protects us from using our freedom in Christ to be an “incentive to our flesh and an opportunity or excuse for selfishness” (Galatians 5:13AMP).
The Holy Spirit guides us into the truth that sets us free. When we understand that truth, we better appreciate the treasure God finds in our earthen vessels. When we appreciate that treasure, we water the word God plants in our hearts. God gives increase to His word planted in our hearts and blesses us with the ability to experience the fullness of freedom He provided through Christ when He died for us to live.
Scripture Of The Day: "For you, brethren, were [indeed] called to freedom; only [do not let your] freedom be an incentive to your flesh and an opportunity or excuse [for selfishness], but through love you should serve one another." - Galatians 5:13 (AMP)
