Freedom Run
By Shirley Mitchell
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. "
Galatians 5:1
On the island of Guam, a road approximately six miles long stretches from the east side to the west side. When I lived in Guam many years ago, I told my friends that right before I left the island, I wanted to run that road. My friends Chris and Jean were crazy enough to run it with me. I called this rite of passage "The Freedom Run." It was something that I wanted to prove to myself that I could do before I left the island.
When I returned to Guam for my 40th birthday, I wanted to drive across this "Freedom Run" road. My mind had diminished this feat that I had accomplished because it was only six miles. However, when my rental car had a hard time getting up the hills, I was so impressed with my accomplishment! The inclines were so much steeper than I remembered. I had run six miles up the "mountains" of the island of Guam that is close to the equator and always 90-100 degrees and humid, from the east coast to the west coast.
Then God showed me how in the 12 years since I had run that Freedom Run, He had taken me on a spiritual freedom run. When I lived on that island, my mind had a steady intake of the world - fashion, beauty, fitness, perfection, and materialism. I was so bound up with lies from the enemy about what was important and how a woman was supposed to be. I lived under the tyranny of inferiority and self-centered thoughts like "I'm not fast enough, strong enough, fit enough, tough enough, or smart enough. I'm not beautiful or attractive. I must work on my hair, my tan, my face, and my body." My world revolved around me and what I must do to prove to the world that I was of value. Thus, I fell into a series of bad choices.
Over the past 12 years, God has daily poured His Spirit into me. Through my Bible study and prayer time, He has renewed my mind. Romans 12:2 says, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will." I stopped conforming to the world and stopped the intake of commercials, TV shows, secular radio, and so on. I sought God through His Word and through others who are further in their walks with Him than I was. I relinquished control of my life and fell under the authority of God. I found freedom when I yielded to His Lordship. I don't live by a set of laws and list of "don'ts." I live under the freely flowing power of the Spirit. By finding spiritual victory, I found God Himself. By finding and experiencing God, I found my identity in Christ. When I settled my value, I was free to pour out the love of Christ to others and serve, no longer living under the pride of thinking so little about myself too much of the time. I found true freedom, and this is the freedom run that I choose to take the rest of my life.
Have you ever been chained by your own mind? Do you live in the oppression of your bad choices? Can you not imagine what it would be like to be free? Can you choose today to daily seek God through His Word, let Him transform Your mind, and to run the freedom run in Christ?
Pray with me: Oh, Lord, we lift up the ones to You today who are under the bondage of sin. We ask You, Lord, to break down gates of bronze, cut through bars of iron (Psalm 107:16), and to release them from the cell. The world sends forth so many lies that we believe. Our value is not based on our beauty to the world. Our worth is not the sum of our parts or determined by judges of a beauty contest. Our worth is based on the fact that we are Yours. We are Your princesses. We are highly esteemed. You fight for us. You guide us, and You speak to us. We ask that You reveal to us where we have withheld any part of our lives from Your authority. We desire to run in the path of Your commands for You have set our hearts free (Psalm 119:32). It's in the Name above all names that we pray, in Jesus' Name, Yeshua's Name. Amen.
"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:14-15
Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian. Show all posts
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The Bowing Tree
The Bowing Tree
“He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
Jeremiah 17:8
Every time I return to Kentucky and cross the border I sing our state song, My Old Kentucky Home. I have a few close friends who either love our state or love me enough to sing it with me. Sadly, my beloved Kentucky was one of the states that was pounded by the ice storm in late January 2009. When ice forms on the tree limbs, its weight is difficult for the limbs to bear. The limbs begin to sag to the ground. If the limb is not strong enough, it breaks.
Some trees had broken during the storm. Some trees had broken and caused much damage to the property around them. Some trees knocked down power lines. Some trees or limbs had shattered through glass. Some had crashed through cars or even homes. Tree limbs broken by the storm dangled precariously over the streets and fell randomly regardless of what was below.
The newspaper said that 769, 353 people lost power. Tragically, the storm was attributed with taking 28 precious souls. The governor called the storm, “the worst natural disaster in the state's modern history.” The power company, government, and relief workers pulled together to work on restoring power, handing out food and water, and clearing the debris. Utility workers trekked through dangerous roads to reset power lines.
For my children, it meant snow days and out of school for the rest of the week. In their eyes, the beauty of the snow and ice just looked like a winter wonderland and made them wonder why mom ever tries to decorate the yard for a Christmas winter scene when God’s creation does a much better job.
Our whole family had watched the effect on our trees. Our pear tree stood tall through the storm. Our magnolia tree that once stood proudly looked like a weeping willow tree as all of its beautiful branches bent to kiss the ground. My children prayed for God to take care of it.
A few days after the storm while it still looked like winter wonderland, Sophia and I were driving to her soccer game. We found our favorite tree of all. The tree that captured our attention was the one with the trunk bent in a u-shape and the top of the tree on the ground. I said to her, “That tree is bowing down to God, Sophia.”
Then, it spurred a fountain of wisdom from my darling daughter about how the trees speak so much to us about Christians. She said, “Mommy, it is just like people. Only a few of us bow down to God and are really Christians.” Then, we started thinking of more parallels. When the storms of life come, some Christians stand tall and unaffected during the storm like our pear tree. However, some of us break under the pressure. We worry, explode in anger, and lose our trust in God. Some of us break so much that we are like the fallen trees that do damage to the property around us. We hurt our families, ruin our jobs, and suffer consequences for a long time to come.
I have been through many storms in my life. I remember when I told my commander some of my background. He said,”I can’t believe someone so young as you has seen so many troubles in life.” Now, that I have lived longer, I see that many people have experienced much worse than I have. I also have matured a bit spiritually where it takes more to rock me. (Somehow that doesn’t feel like a good thing because we need to be rocked every now and then.) I’ve learned that sometimes Christians stand strong through the storms of life. God desires to show us how strong we are in Him during those times. Other storms require us to fall prostrate to the ground and bow before the throne of the living God of the universe. As I say that to you, I say it with a heart full of worship. That’s when we may find that we feel the most alive because of how we experience God.
Beloved, what about you? Which tree have you been during the storm – fallen tree, destructive tree, standing strong tree, or the bowing tree? If you are like me, maybe you have experiences for all of them, and you know that storms of life will keep coming. We must be prepared and rooted in God’s Word so that our experiences glorify Him through showing His mighty strength or through complete trust and honor as we bow to worship the God Most High.
Pray with me: Almighty God, You amaze us! We magnify Your Name. You are holy, wonderful, beautiful, mysterious, intoxicating, and merciful! You are our protective Father, yet righteous Judge. We honor You for who You are and not just what You do for us.
Thank You for Your hand of protection during the storm. We ask You to pour out Your Spirit on the families who are mourning the loss of their loved ones. Comfort those who mourn. We weep with them.
For those of us who are still able, it is our honor to physically bow down and worship You. There is nothing like putting our bodies in the same position as our hearts. Some day that won’t be an option. Some day there won’t be any physical restrictions barring us. Some day it won’t be one out of many, but it will be every single person in every generation, in every tribe, and in every nation who bows down and worships You. Oh, how we praise You, Lord! It’s in Your Son’s Name we pray, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.
Copyright ©2009 Christ Compels
“He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
Jeremiah 17:8
Every time I return to Kentucky and cross the border I sing our state song, My Old Kentucky Home. I have a few close friends who either love our state or love me enough to sing it with me. Sadly, my beloved Kentucky was one of the states that was pounded by the ice storm in late January 2009. When ice forms on the tree limbs, its weight is difficult for the limbs to bear. The limbs begin to sag to the ground. If the limb is not strong enough, it breaks.
Some trees had broken during the storm. Some trees had broken and caused much damage to the property around them. Some trees knocked down power lines. Some trees or limbs had shattered through glass. Some had crashed through cars or even homes. Tree limbs broken by the storm dangled precariously over the streets and fell randomly regardless of what was below.
The newspaper said that 769, 353 people lost power. Tragically, the storm was attributed with taking 28 precious souls. The governor called the storm, “the worst natural disaster in the state's modern history.” The power company, government, and relief workers pulled together to work on restoring power, handing out food and water, and clearing the debris. Utility workers trekked through dangerous roads to reset power lines.
For my children, it meant snow days and out of school for the rest of the week. In their eyes, the beauty of the snow and ice just looked like a winter wonderland and made them wonder why mom ever tries to decorate the yard for a Christmas winter scene when God’s creation does a much better job.
Our whole family had watched the effect on our trees. Our pear tree stood tall through the storm. Our magnolia tree that once stood proudly looked like a weeping willow tree as all of its beautiful branches bent to kiss the ground. My children prayed for God to take care of it.
A few days after the storm while it still looked like winter wonderland, Sophia and I were driving to her soccer game. We found our favorite tree of all. The tree that captured our attention was the one with the trunk bent in a u-shape and the top of the tree on the ground. I said to her, “That tree is bowing down to God, Sophia.”
Then, it spurred a fountain of wisdom from my darling daughter about how the trees speak so much to us about Christians. She said, “Mommy, it is just like people. Only a few of us bow down to God and are really Christians.” Then, we started thinking of more parallels. When the storms of life come, some Christians stand tall and unaffected during the storm like our pear tree. However, some of us break under the pressure. We worry, explode in anger, and lose our trust in God. Some of us break so much that we are like the fallen trees that do damage to the property around us. We hurt our families, ruin our jobs, and suffer consequences for a long time to come.
I have been through many storms in my life. I remember when I told my commander some of my background. He said,”I can’t believe someone so young as you has seen so many troubles in life.” Now, that I have lived longer, I see that many people have experienced much worse than I have. I also have matured a bit spiritually where it takes more to rock me. (Somehow that doesn’t feel like a good thing because we need to be rocked every now and then.) I’ve learned that sometimes Christians stand strong through the storms of life. God desires to show us how strong we are in Him during those times. Other storms require us to fall prostrate to the ground and bow before the throne of the living God of the universe. As I say that to you, I say it with a heart full of worship. That’s when we may find that we feel the most alive because of how we experience God.
Beloved, what about you? Which tree have you been during the storm – fallen tree, destructive tree, standing strong tree, or the bowing tree? If you are like me, maybe you have experiences for all of them, and you know that storms of life will keep coming. We must be prepared and rooted in God’s Word so that our experiences glorify Him through showing His mighty strength or through complete trust and honor as we bow to worship the God Most High.
Pray with me: Almighty God, You amaze us! We magnify Your Name. You are holy, wonderful, beautiful, mysterious, intoxicating, and merciful! You are our protective Father, yet righteous Judge. We honor You for who You are and not just what You do for us.
Thank You for Your hand of protection during the storm. We ask You to pour out Your Spirit on the families who are mourning the loss of their loved ones. Comfort those who mourn. We weep with them.
For those of us who are still able, it is our honor to physically bow down and worship You. There is nothing like putting our bodies in the same position as our hearts. Some day that won’t be an option. Some day there won’t be any physical restrictions barring us. Some day it won’t be one out of many, but it will be every single person in every generation, in every tribe, and in every nation who bows down and worships You. Oh, how we praise You, Lord! It’s in Your Son’s Name we pray, in Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.
Copyright ©2009 Christ Compels
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