January 30, 2017 BEING MADE FREE
John 8:33-32: “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who believed in Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’”
God created man with an innate desire to be free. The man that does not know God, defines freedom as doing what he wants to do, with no restraints; this view of freedom is rooted in the desire of man to be in control. The irony is that when man views freedom as the freedom to do what he wants to do, he becomes enslaved to his quest for freedom. True freedom comes through a relationship with God and by being in fellowship with Him and by living according to His design. God is truth; truth originates in God; all that God says and does is truth; and other than God, there is no other source of truth. Because God designed and created man in His image, we are complete, and free, only when we live according to His design. It is an awesome thought to realize that we are made in the image of God! God would not have made us in His image if it was impossible to live a life in keeping with His image. The bible is not just a good book that gives us good advice on life; the bible is the book of truth, the book in which God reveals Himself to us, the book in which we learn what it means to be made in His image, and the book that gives us wisdom and understanding about God and about life. As we seek to learn more of God, He responds by revealing more of Himself to us. Man takes great pride in what he has discovered and learned in the areas of science, physics, medicine, etc. but many fail to realize that it is God who is the designer and creator. It is a ‘giant step for mankind’ when he acknowledges God as truth and God as creator. Be that as it may, be assured that we are His disciples when we ‘continue in His word,’ and by continuing in His word, we will know the truth, and the truth we come to know will make us free. This freedom can be realized and experienced no, and no one matter our place in life can take this freedom from us. We are free to live according to design, we are free to love as He loves, we are free to find our security in Him, we are free from past sins, we are free from living with fear, we are free to forgive---we are free! Jesus said: “If” you continue in My word---Let us make the choice to continue in His word; if we do, we will know the truth, and the truth will made us free.
James 1:25: “But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
2 Corinthians 3:17: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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