On Freedom

January 30, 2015
by Karla Edwards
Christ

 

O LORD our God,
other lords besides you have ruled over us,
but your name alone we bring to remembrance.

-Isaiah 26:13

 

One of the amazing benefits of knowing the Lord is freedom.  If we make him lord of ourselves, and since he’s lord of all things, we’re given freedom from the things that used to hold us back – the anxiety of being alone, the regret of things done wrong, the desire to impress others and to be known – and even the fear of death.  Spiritual freedom is one of the most distinguishing marks of those who believe.  By it we are able to live differently.

 

Here’s a collection of verses on freedom:

Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and in irons,
for they had rebelled against the words of God,
and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
So he bowed their hearts down hard labor;
they fell down, with none to help.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and burst their bonds apart.
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he shatters the doors of bronze
and cuts in two the bars of iron.
-Psalm 107:10-16

…

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
-John 8:31-36

…

For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.
-2 Peter 2:19

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
-2 Corinthians 3:17

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
-Romans 6:17-18

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
-Galatians 5:1

Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
-1 Peter 2:16

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
-Romans 8:1-2

Jan 24

January 24, 2015
by Karla Edwards
My Utmost for His Highest

“When we are born again we all have visions, if we are spiritual at all, of what Jesus wants us to be, and the great thing is to learn not to be disobedient to the vision, not to say that it cannot be attained.”

-Oswald Chambers

-Acts 26:16

Jan 13

January 13, 2015
by Karla Edwards
My Utmost for His Highest

“If you are going on with God, the only thing that is clear to you, and the only thing God intends to be clear, is the way He deals with your own soul.  Your brother’s sorrows and perplexities are an absolute confusion to you.”

–Oswald Chambers

–Mark 4:10

Jan 7

January 7, 2015
by Karla Edwards
My Utmost for His Highest

“When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic…The only impression left by such a life is that of the strong calm sanity that Our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him.”

–Oswald Chambers

–John 14:9

Jan 2

January 2, 2015
by Karla Edwards
My Utmost for His Highest

“He went out, not knowing whither he went.”

“Have you been ‘out’ in this way?  If so, there is no logical statement possible when anyone asks you what you are doing.  One of the difficulties in Christian work is the question– ‘What do you expect to do?’ You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know that God knows what He is doing.”

–Oswald Chambers

–Hebrews 11:8

Dec 31

December 31, 2014
by Karla Edwards
My Utmost for His Highest

“Our present enjoyment of God’s grace is apt to be checked by the memory of yesterday’s sins and blunders. But God is the God of our yesterdays, and He allows the memory of them in order to turn the past into a ministry of spiritual culture for the future. God reminds us of our past lest we get into a shallow security in the present.
…
Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lost opportunities which will never return, but God can transform this destructive anxiety into a constructive thoughtfulness for the future.  Let the past sleep, but let it sleep in the bosom of Christ.”

–Oswald Chambers

–Isaiah 52:12