Freedom

Hello all!

The first few weeks back here at UMHB have been awesome!

Pageant keeps getting closer and closer and I am beyond excited!

I love when I have time to sit down and not have to be studying or planning anything and

I can just reflect on how blessed I am! I am so blessed!

I've already written a blog about being blessed, so I am not going to write another, but it is still true, none-the-less.

Now I can write about freedom...which is another blessing.

The fact that we can be set free by the Lord's Spirit is sensational.

And....when you experience this true freedom on your own account.....it stretches far beyond what human terms can describe.

So, this is me finally being able to blog about what I learned this summer!

So, I will start by quoting Scripture, which is far more valuable than anything I could ever say.

"Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

2 Corinthians 3:17

Okay, so, I feel like most of us read this, kind of look over it, and think, "Hey, that's cool," and just move on with our lives. At least....I know I did for over 20 years of my life.

But, I finally learned what this verse really and truly means.

I learned that this is more than a sentence and just another verse that people quote on a coffee mug or post on their facebook statuses.

Freedom is defined as: the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint.

It is also defined as an exemption from external control, interference, or regulation.

Maybe we have a tendency to read right over this as well.

Well......I know that I have no intention of ever making that mistake again.

So, what this verse is saying....
 

It's saying that The Lord is Spirit.

Where The Spirit is....there is freedom.

Freedom is the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint. Freedom is an exemption from external control or interference.

Being free is specifically defined as: enjoying personal rights or liberty, as a person who is not in slavery.

So, in essence, this verse is saying SO many things.

We are free to worship God as we choose.

We are free to make our own personal decisions.

We are free to trust in the Lord with everything we have.

We are free from pain.

We are free from sorrow.

We are free from our past.

We don't have to live as slaves to sin, as slaves to our past mistakes.

This is HUGE!

I let my past hold me down for SO long, and I never even realized it.

God took my life and allowed me to trust Him to finally take over and get rid of all that junk that was weighing down my heart.

God finally set me free, and I am really free.

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." John 8:36

And when you finally let go of everything that is holding you back,

I promise that God will take your life and completely transform it....

and He will offer you His freedom.

And.......when you finally experience this perfect freedom, there is no way that you could ever, ever, ever be the same.

Period.

And I never will.

To have the blessing of the Lord's freedom is one of the most amazing

blessings that I have ever experienced.

Freedom Reigns.

Here are a few more Scriptures:

"In my anguish, I cried to the Lord, and He answered me by setting me free."

Psalm 118:5

"I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free."

Psalm 119:32

"He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free."

Psalm 146:7

"Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

John 8:32

"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."

Romans 6:18

"...because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death."

Romans 8:2