Here we are with Easter approaching. My mind is reeling with many different things right now. I have, as of yesterday afternoon, decided to take a break from Social Media, namely, Facebook. Victory is a BIG word. It implies a fullness of Freedom. Where is our Freedom? Where is our Victory?
I am going to state the obvious first. Jesus is our Victory. Jesus is a Freedom. But why? And what from? What do we do with that freedom? Do we even recognize it or do we confuse freedom with bondage sometimes?
Bondage by definition is one who is in the state of being a slave. The definition of slave is a person who is the property of another and is being forced to obey them. It is also defined as working excessively hard. hmmmmmm.....
Do you realize you can be "owned and forced to obey" and not even realize it? Ownership doesn't always mean you've been taken by force. You can single handedly pass yourself over to something that takes up such a rooted residence in your life that you become owned by it, unaware. Sadly, by the time you become aware it is usually at the cost of something else precious in your life.
I am betting that right now you have things running through your mind that you have lost due to being a slave to something else. Am I right? Marriages lost to over spending, too much socializing outside the marriage, being a workaholic, constantly putting your children's "desires" above your household "needs", etc.. Or the loss of a job because you couldn't get it together and not spend so much time socializing instead of being home at a reasonable hour and resting. Maybe it is an entire family lost because you walked away so many times and hurt so many people by being a slave to your own selfish feelings that they cut the heart cord in order to survive. Friendships, gone. Families, dissolved. Jobs, taken away. What are you left with? Dragging Chains of defeat... BONDAGE.
We are our own worst slave owners. Our choices declare we'd rather be in bondage to our feelings and/or things of this world than to truly LIVE in the Freedom and Victory of Jesus. This does not mean we are not saved. It means we are providing satan a nice lil comfy room at the Hilton of our hearts and he lives on daily, smirking and wreaking havoc. We've pushed the door shut to the room of Peace and Contentment. Slammed the window on Truth. Turned our back on the very things Jesus laid his life down for us for. We doubt him. We doubt his ability to fill us up. We doubt that he can actually make a way through the hard days. We annoyingly wave our hand at the promise of healing. We fear that he isn't really "with us always." We much more seek the approval of those in our worldly circle ( and yes, this can mean our Church friends just as much as our Facebook friends), than we do the Creator of This world.. You know, the One that BREATHED life into us in the first place. We own our bondage. We choose our bondage. There are a million more examples of being a slave to something I could touch on but what it boils down to is us losing "US".. Ourselves... ME, YOU. Who we are. Who we lost.... Somehow.. We've closed our eyes to Victory.
It is time to take ourselves back. It is time to lay ourselves down completely to Christ. The real "Us" will be found in the Freedom of the Victory giver. The peace we seek is available. However, we must stop looking for it in all the wrong places, in all the wrong ways. Social sites will not bring you peace. A high number of friends will not fill that hole in our spirit. So and so agreeing with us about a political agenda will not seal the deal on our wholeness. Wearing all the latest "in" make-up, skin care, clothing, etc, will never clothe us with dignity that allows us to rest our heads at night knowing we lived in our true "own" skin that day. The Lord Clothes us with dignity and grace, not fabric and lotions and man made scents. Church will not give you Victory. You could go to church every single day of your life and still not live in Victory. It's not found in a building. It's found in a man that came long long ago to rescue you from this world, to save you from yourself. Jesus Christ.
Choice is the big word of the day. In it we will remain miserable, lost, faking until we are making it, anxious, depressed, feeling less than, lonely in a room full of people, walking around this world aimlessly, OR ~ We can choose to walk in Freedom.. Victory.. Wholeness.. Finding our worth in the eyes of God, knowing he loved us so much he allowed His son to DIE for us.. And think about this, not only did he die for us, he was tortured! Truly tortured for hours, days, until he gave up the Ghost. Why? Because He seen our worth. He adored us that much. How dare we not choose Victory.. How dare we snub our noses at Freedom that was made accessible thru the spilling of blood from Son Of Man, the Spotless Lamb, The one and only Savior of the World.
I challenge you. I challenge you to be the "You" God himself created you to be. No holding back. No diluting or conforming to fit a profile that others will "LIKE" a million times over. Let the breath God released on you blow like a breeze of Life over others. Sit on your porch with Ice tea instead of running yourself to death to be able to list all your accomplishments at the end of the day. Turn off the computers, phones, television, iPads, iPods, and anything else that divides your attention from your family. Pop some popcorn the old fashion way. Make soda floats. Spread out a blanket on the floor and have a picnic. TALK with your children, make shapes from the clouds. Look in the mirror and refuse to see imperfections, but lean in close and see the child in your own eyes.. That's God's girl.. That's God's boy. There is your Victory... Let her loose. Let him loose. Just be.. Be still in God's presence and let Him be enough. Let Him fill you with the Victory He has promised without pushing it away to succumb over and over again to this world and its bondage. Just as you watch a blade of grass turn brown and die, so does everything of this world we are chasing. CHASE God! RUN after Freedom! LIVE in VICTORY! Anything less is a laugh in the face of the Savior, and a lifelong sentence of misery for you.
Galatians 5:1 ~ Stand Fast therefore in the Liberty wherewith Christ hath made us Free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
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