Thursday, August 11, 2022

Simple Truth

 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ~ John 8:32

What a wonderful truth! I remember how free I felt days after choosing to have a relationship with Jesus. I felt relieved. What did I have to do? What did I have to fear? Nothing! I felt the freedom that comes with being unburdened from penalty, from worry, from decisions I wasn't equipped to make. Whatever happened, I was assured Jesus would handle it. But, I have to be honest, things started happening that appeared to be beyond His control, or maybe He was just too busy to deal with them right then, or worse-- maybe I deserved them for all of my past junk. What was happening and why did I no longer feel free?

Let me first point out, God's word does not tell us the truth will make us feel free. God's word tells us that knowing the truth --with a deep understanding that comes to us through the Holy Spirit-- makes us free, changes our status from slave to freeman. If you are feeling overwhelmed, burdened, in bondage, you have believed a lie. Somehow, somewhere, you are walking in that lie, basing your decisions or your actions on that lie. The truth does not oppress; the truth sets us free. Perhaps you don't believe what God's word says. Perhaps you don't believe you are sinful and condemned to hell outside of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Perhaps you are relying on your own righteousness, pointing out your own good works or trying some new ones, to prove just how free from sin you are. Perhaps you don't believe you are loved enough that Jesus would pay the penalty for your sin and give you His innocence, His righteousness in which to stand before God. Perhaps you don't believe He will never leave you or forsake you. Perhaps you have taken on more than God has required you to do. Perhaps you don't believe that freedom is a free gift of God's grace, that we believe it is ours in Christ Jesus and it is! Whatever lie has got you bound, the truth will set you free. I stopped feeling free because I had been sidetracked, deceived by a lie; but --praise God!-- I had not stopped being free! It is truth that makes us free, and the Truth, Jesus Christ is eternal. In Him we are free eternally, no matter what we feel!

We're humans, finite and foolish. If that wasn't enough, it's hard to live as free people in a world that is still bound, a world ruled by one who desires to keep us weak and bound and deceived, the father of lies. His demons are working hard for him, to throw us off course and send us right back to shackles. But we have to embrace truth, and what better place to find it than in God's word? We read it, we study it, we memorize it. We simply start each day with truth. We obey and embrace the truth. We lift up our prayers and our praise to the One who is Truth. We look for opportunities to share truth with others, understanding they have the right to choose bondage over freedom as we once did. We talk to Jesus throughout the day, asking Him to speak truth to us in each and every situation; we ask Him to speak truth over each thought that enters our minds. We do not follow a lie back into slavery; we believe the truth and we are free!

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