“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts”
(Psalm 119: 45)
The terrible corona virus that is sweeping through the world is bringing chaos to travelers and even to virtually making people prisoners in their own homes or to keeping passengers confined to their cabins on cruise ships which have infected passengers aboard. I was watching one such passenger discussing his plight over the internet with a reporter and he was describing his feelings of being those of prisoners in jail and all he could think of was, when he would finally be set free.
Freedom and being set free, is often mentioned in Scripture and is actually a beautiful gift offered to the children of God and when we realize this we can echo the words of the psalmist who senses he can now run freely on the true path set out by God for us all to take.
“I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.” (Psalm 119: 32)
When Jesus is teaching his disciples, he emphasizes that true freedom will be found by believing in him and following his words.
“To the Jews who had believed in him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8: 31 – 32)
The Pharisees took offence at what Jesus was saying and hotly denied being slaves to anyone, not understanding what Jesus was really meaning by being trapped by sin and being enslaved by many parts of their lives that inhibited them from discovering the joy of being able to shake off those ugly thoughts and actions that were eating away at their very beings not allowing them to run with that great sense of freedom.
Even today we can be trapped by many different circumstance that can spoil our relationship with others and our relationship with the Lord, not realizing that we are prisoners choosing to stay locked in when the Lord is so willing to set us free. The writer of Hebrews describes it as being entangled, giving a very clear picture of being tied up in ropes and unable to untie the knots.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12: 1)
Sometimes we can become entangled by what is happening in our lives as when someone hurts us anger can take over our thoughts and slowly entangles us unless we call out to the Lord to untie the knot and help us to forgive that person. Self-destructive thoughts can tie us up if we begin to feel unworthy and not measuring up to others and feel the Lord could never accept us. Again, we need the help to be set free and to call upon the Lord for help. Others who love the Lord deeply can often help us to do this.
When we realize that we can be set free, life can be lived to the fullest as that is also a promise from Jesus who came to give us life in abundance.
I was chatting to my sister, who lives in Australia, just recently and she couldn’t wait to tell me about a surprising story about her birthday celebration. A friend had invited her to lunch on her birthday at a very expensive restaurant set in a beautiful setting overlooking the beach. Both enjoyed a lovely meal with each other as they had been friends for many years. When my sister’s friend asked for the bill, they were amazed when the waiter told them it had been paid. They were very touched by the person’s kindness and left the restaurant with lifted spirits in the fact that in this present world of, a “me first” attitude, someone would think of someone else to bless with an act of kindness
This is exactly what the giver to my sister and her friend did. Giving does not always have to be in the form of money. Giving our time for somebody else is also a gift of kindness. My sister visits an old lady in a home and reads to her. No money is involved, but lots of kindness is.
One of my granddaughters had applied for a new exciting job just recently, and after several interviews, she heard the good news that her application had been accepted. We all rejoiced with her at the good news. I was watching a fascinating documentary a few weeks ago on the TV that was dealing with the importance of being accepted, it is very important for the vulnerable ones in our society, such as new immigrants, the mentally challenged, the disabled. The program I was watching was focusing on young immigrants. By learning how to play hockey they had a wonderful tool to help young ones find friends and feel acceptance with their peer group. The young man coaching the youngsters gave a wonderful testimony as to what this had done for him, when he was a lonely newcomer to Canada. The participants were provided with used but good hockey equipment to get them started. I loved the looks of joy on their faces
think that God doesn’t accept us as true followers. God assures us that yes in his eyes we are certainly accepted, in fact the Lord is not influenced by appearances, he is more interested in our hearts. If we have a heart that loves the Father and his word, we are certainly accepted
practicing what the word of God says. When the reverse happens, bickering and division, we cast doubts about the truth of being followers of Jesus. Paul puts it very clearly…
Just recently I had the most incredible example of what the Lord was saying to Isaiah when he said his people would be covered with the shadow of his hands. I was scheduled for an eye operation and as I had had a terrible result from the first operation on the other eye that left it damaged, I was very nervous about the outcome of this one. I asked my Bible study and friends to pray for me on the day of my operation and an amazing thing happened, as I lay on the operating table the nurse wrapped me in a warm blanket and suddenly I felt a wonderful sense of calm and felt the Holy Spirit was standing right beside me. I felt covered in prayer
The most important part of being protected is firstly asking the Lord for that Heavenly and then accepting it. Too often we take things into our own hands, thinking we can handle any thing that comes along. When we do this and not pray and not ask for prayer from other believers, we are ignoring and dismissing that wonderful offer of being covered with the mighty hand of God as we face life’s challenges. Coming from a hot country, Australia, we knew if we were not covered in sun cream or protective clothing, we would certainly get sunburnt, how foolish we are not to accept the beautiful covering of God’s protection in any situation we are in.
The Christmas season has begun, and the shops are crammed with gifts, overshadowing the real reason for why we are celebrating as shoppers are encouraged to forget restraint and spend, spend, spend. We lose sight of the fact that we are the recipients of the most incredible gift ever given to man and by the Heavenly Gift Giver, our Heavenly Father. His gift of his son, Jesus Christ would surpass any of the gifts already given to the nation of Israel. He was to be the long-awaited Messiah, the deliverer of the sacred gift of forgiveness the one who would allow us to have no barrier between us and the Father.
Several years ago, when I was visiting relatives in Australia, my sister took me to a heritage farm that was still functioning and using the old equipment used by the first settlers and the farm is now funded by the Government and turned into a tourist destination. I was fascinated to see two cows yoked together pulling a wooden plough. When they stopped, visitors were able to ask questions to the farm worker. I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the cows and asked him was it hard to put them together with the yoke. I was surprised by his answer. “Not at all”, he replied. “In fact, we always put the same cows together and they form a bond with each other, and the yoke is not heavy, and you can see when two are together they can pull the load so much more easily”.
Here in Canada we are going into winter and the days rapidly become shorter and the dark nights longer. As the darkness comes, I feel my own darkness stronger and almost overpowering me. One of my daughters gave me a set of three large battery, operated candles. They look exactly like real candles and when they light up one cannot tell the difference. Last week another daughter set the timer for the batteries to automatically come on as dusk begins to turn to darkness and a day later, I was once again overcome with my own darkness when suddenly the candles turned on and light flooded the room. Then Jesus’ words also flooded the room and I remembered his promise to light up any darkness that threatened us and comfort also flooded my heart as I realised that he was with me.
When John the Baptist, was heralding the coming of the Saviour, the long, awaited Messiah, he described him as the true light that will give light to everyone.
We had an interesting question in our recent Bible study recently that asked:
Belonging to somebody gives one a sense of love and acceptance, a feeling of safety, a sense of having somebody to lean on, a feeling of comfort during tough times, a sense of peace.
the family. I belong to God’s family, I am accepted just as I am, I have a loving Father who cares for me and protects me, and I have a huge family of believers who are my brothers and sisters. Learning to live in this family is a growing experience and as Paul points out we need to be clothed in humility and patience and most of all forgiveness, so the world observes how differently the family of God behaves, because of the bond that holds them together is their love for the Jesus Christ.
We have just celebrated Thanksgiving here in Canada. Families gathered for dinners of roast turkey and pumpkin pie. Stopping to give thanks to our Heavenly Father was the original meaning of this celebration, but too often lots of food and family fun become the main attraction. Many years ago, my husband, who was a dentist, received a letter in the mail form one of his patients at Thanksgiving. His patient was a Christian and he was writing to thank my husband for his kind and careful treatment. He added at the bottom of the letter that this Thanksgiving he was going to remember those people in his life he wanted to thank. My husband and I were very touched by the letter, a good reminder for us to stop and thank people in our lives.
I was thinking of Paul’s words as I was preparing for this Thanksgiving and was prompted to stop whatever I was doing, and think seriously of all the friends I had and realised I wasn’t thanking Our Heavenly Father for them and then I thought of people that were not actually friends, but who I came across and thought of my husband’s patient. Have I thanked my family Doctor lately? What about the person who delivers my paper, have I left a note of thanks? We have a janitor in our building, do I thank him for cleaning so well?
We sing a beautiful song at our church, “Open The Eyes Of My Heart, Lord”, which is taken from Paul’s expression in his letter to the Ephesians. It is very thought, provoking if we start to think deeply about it. In our present society, outward appearances assume the upmost focus in our Western world. Constantly the media blasts us with messages of how we look to the outside community in which we live, what clothes we should wear to impress others, not only clothes signs of how successful we are need to be shown by lovely homes, and expensive cars. We must display happiness, even if we are breaking up inside. We are reluctant to show the world our true selves and constantly pretend so we fit into what society expects.
problems of the day, but she has a short prayer to God and then spends time listening to him.
God Speaking 