Don’t Hold It
By Shirley Mitchell
“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.”
Psalm 119:45
She held onto her secret sin for months. No one knew that she had done it. Then one morning in Bible time, God’s Word convicted her of her sin those many months ago. She couldn’t sleep at night because she was tormented by her guilt and the lies of the enemy. Desperate for relief, one of my daughters sneaked into my bedroom while her sisters were sleeping and my husband was working. She poured her heart out to me through tears and agony. She thought no one would love her and that she would lose her friends. I won’t tell you which daughter it was or what sin she committed for her protection.
Together we worked through the process with God to find forgiveness for her sin and restoration. While she received discipline for her sin, the consequences of confession were nothing compared to what she had imagined or had been experiencing through keeping the sin a secret. Since it took a couple of weeks to work out everything, I could see how much it had plagued her. I sensed a willingness to never listen to the lure of the enemy to commit the same sin again. When it was over, she wept for joy in my arms and praised her Father in heaven for working everything out. She was set free!
What amazed me so much was that she had kept her sin a secret for so long! She let it torment her until it was completely unbearable! While no one in the physical realm knew her sin, the spiritual realm knew. Both our loving Father God and satan knew. The accuser fed her shame while God waited patiently for the right time when her heart would be tender to hear His voice and be convicted of her sin. She knew she heard a voice in her mind pressuring her to commit the sin. (I find that so interesting at her young age.) The enemy thrives on tempting us to sin and then piles the shame upon us after we have committed it. He makes us believe that all of the worst consequences are inevitable.
This is a classic case of the enemy’s deception and accusation. It is a classic example of how we humans sin and respond to our sin. We are lured and tempted to sin. We don’t listen to the alarms in our minds telling us not to sin, and we do it. After we commit the crime, the accuser hurls all sorts of names at us. There is some twisted truth to it that we really believe we are these terrible things. We don’t hold the twisted truth up to the precepts of God. We become beaten down by the enemy’s lies and unable to deal with our shame. We fall into devastating patterns of sin. Sometimes we become desensitized to it since we can’t deal with the pain. We complicate the situation by not bringing it to God. Or we decide that it was not really that wrong and forsake the ultimate truth of the matter.
All of this makes me wonder if you and I do the same thing but in a grown up way? What sin are we holding onto for so long? Do we have any sin that we have become desensitized to? Are we not finding freedom in Christ by taking the matter to God? Are we not seeking the ultimate truth of the matter and finding out what Scripture says about our situation? Have we broken relationship with God by focusing on a cover-up story instead of restoration? In what ways do we want to protect our image and reputation instead of keeping our intimacy with God? Whatever we are holding onto needs to be cleared out of the way and dealt with so we can gain the greatest prize – a cleansed heart and intimate relationship with God. I’m ready for letting go and seeking His precepts more! Are you?
Pray with me: Almighty God, You never intended for us to hold onto our sins. We were intended to bring our dirt and filth to You. In our hands, things just become worse. Consequences are amplified. Situations spiral from bad to worse. In You, we find relief, a cleansed heart, and the joy of the redeemed! Angels cannot experience what a fallen person redeemed of her sin can. We know what it is like to be set free from the shackles of sin and clutches of darkness. We are unchained and free! Hallelujah for the freedom and cleansing that can only be found in You! It is for freedom that Christ set us free (Galatians 5:1). When we seek Your precepts, Your Word, then we will walk in freedom! Oh, how we adore You! It is in Name above all names, Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, that we pray, Amen.
Copyright ©2011 Christ Compels Ministry
"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 Freedom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freedom. Show all posts
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Freedom Run
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Don't Hold It
Don’t Hold It
“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.”
Psalm 119:45
She held onto her secret sin for months. No one knew that she had done it. Then one morning in Bible time, God’s Word convicted her of her sin those many months ago. She couldn’t sleep at night because she was tormented by her guilt and the lies of the enemy. Desperate for relief, one of my daughters sneaked into my bedroom while her sisters were sleeping and my husband was working. She poured her heart out to me through tears and agony. She thought no one would love her and that she would lose her friends. I won’t tell you which daughter it was or what sin she committed for her protection.
Together we worked through the process with God to find forgiveness for her sin and restoration. While she received discipline for her sin, the consequences of confession were nothing compared to what she had imagined or had been experiencing through keeping the sin a secret. Since it took a couple of weeks to work out everything, I could see how much it had plagued her. I sensed a willingness to never listen to the lure of the enemy to commit the same sin again. When it was over, she wept for joy in my arms and praised her Father in heaven for working everything out. She was set free!
What amazed me so much was that she had kept her sin a secret for so long! She let it torment her until it was completely unbearable! While no one in the physical realm knew her sin, the spiritual realm knew. Both our loving Father God and satan knew. The accuser fed her shame while God waited patiently for the right time when her heart would be tender to hear His voice and be convicted of her sin. She knew she heard a voice in her mind pressuring her to commit the sin. (I find that so interesting at her young age.) The enemy thrives on tempting us to sin and then piles the shame upon us after we have committed it. He makes us believe that all of the worst consequences are inevitable.
This is a classic case of the enemy’s deception and accusation. It is a classic example of how we humans sin and respond to our sin. We are lured and tempted to sin. We don’t listen to the alarms in our minds telling us not to sin, and we do it. After we commit the crime, the accuser hurls all sorts of names at us. There is some twisted truth to it that we really believe we are these terrible things. We don’t hold the twisted truth up to the precepts of God. We become beaten down by the enemy’s lies and unable to deal with our shame. We fall into devastating patterns of sin. Sometimes we become desensitized to it since we can’t deal with the pain. We complicate the situation by not bringing it to God. Or we decide that it was not really that wrong and forsake the ultimate truth of the matter.
All of this makes me wonder if you and I do the same thing but in a grown up way? What sin are we holding onto for so long? Do we have any sin that we have become desensitized to? Are we not finding freedom in Christ by taking the matter to God? Are we not seeking the ultimate truth of the matter and finding out what Scripture says about our situation? Have we broken relationship with God by focusing on a cover-up story instead of restoration? In what ways do we want to protect our image and reputation instead of keeping our intimacy with God? Whatever we are holding onto needs to be cleared out of the way and dealt with so we can gain the greatest prize – a cleansed heart and intimate relationship with God. I’m ready for letting go and seeking His precepts more! Are you?
Pray with me: Almighty God, You never intended for us to hold onto our sins. We were intended to bring our dirt and filth to You. In our hands, things just become worse. Consequences are amplified. Situations spiral from bad to worse. In You, we find relief, a cleansed heart, and the joy of the redeemed! Angels cannot experience what a fallen person redeemed of her sin can. We know what it is like to be set free from the shackles of sin and clutches of darkness. We are unchained and free! Hallelujah for the freedom and cleansing that can only be found in You! It is for freedom that Christ set us free (Galatians 5:1). When we seek Your precepts, Your Word, then we will walk in freedom! Oh, how we adore You! It is in Name above all names, Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, that we pray, Amen.
Copyright ©2009 Christ Compels
“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.”
Psalm 119:45
She held onto her secret sin for months. No one knew that she had done it. Then one morning in Bible time, God’s Word convicted her of her sin those many months ago. She couldn’t sleep at night because she was tormented by her guilt and the lies of the enemy. Desperate for relief, one of my daughters sneaked into my bedroom while her sisters were sleeping and my husband was working. She poured her heart out to me through tears and agony. She thought no one would love her and that she would lose her friends. I won’t tell you which daughter it was or what sin she committed for her protection.
Together we worked through the process with God to find forgiveness for her sin and restoration. While she received discipline for her sin, the consequences of confession were nothing compared to what she had imagined or had been experiencing through keeping the sin a secret. Since it took a couple of weeks to work out everything, I could see how much it had plagued her. I sensed a willingness to never listen to the lure of the enemy to commit the same sin again. When it was over, she wept for joy in my arms and praised her Father in heaven for working everything out. She was set free!
What amazed me so much was that she had kept her sin a secret for so long! She let it torment her until it was completely unbearable! While no one in the physical realm knew her sin, the spiritual realm knew. Both our loving Father God and satan knew. The accuser fed her shame while God waited patiently for the right time when her heart would be tender to hear His voice and be convicted of her sin. She knew she heard a voice in her mind pressuring her to commit the sin. (I find that so interesting at her young age.) The enemy thrives on tempting us to sin and then piles the shame upon us after we have committed it. He makes us believe that all of the worst consequences are inevitable.
This is a classic case of the enemy’s deception and accusation. It is a classic example of how we humans sin and respond to our sin. We are lured and tempted to sin. We don’t listen to the alarms in our minds telling us not to sin, and we do it. After we commit the crime, the accuser hurls all sorts of names at us. There is some twisted truth to it that we really believe we are these terrible things. We don’t hold the twisted truth up to the precepts of God. We become beaten down by the enemy’s lies and unable to deal with our shame. We fall into devastating patterns of sin. Sometimes we become desensitized to it since we can’t deal with the pain. We complicate the situation by not bringing it to God. Or we decide that it was not really that wrong and forsake the ultimate truth of the matter.
All of this makes me wonder if you and I do the same thing but in a grown up way? What sin are we holding onto for so long? Do we have any sin that we have become desensitized to? Are we not finding freedom in Christ by taking the matter to God? Are we not seeking the ultimate truth of the matter and finding out what Scripture says about our situation? Have we broken relationship with God by focusing on a cover-up story instead of restoration? In what ways do we want to protect our image and reputation instead of keeping our intimacy with God? Whatever we are holding onto needs to be cleared out of the way and dealt with so we can gain the greatest prize – a cleansed heart and intimate relationship with God. I’m ready for letting go and seeking His precepts more! Are you?
Pray with me: Almighty God, You never intended for us to hold onto our sins. We were intended to bring our dirt and filth to You. In our hands, things just become worse. Consequences are amplified. Situations spiral from bad to worse. In You, we find relief, a cleansed heart, and the joy of the redeemed! Angels cannot experience what a fallen person redeemed of her sin can. We know what it is like to be set free from the shackles of sin and clutches of darkness. We are unchained and free! Hallelujah for the freedom and cleansing that can only be found in You! It is for freedom that Christ set us free (Galatians 5:1). When we seek Your precepts, Your Word, then we will walk in freedom! Oh, how we adore You! It is in Name above all names, Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, that we pray, Amen.
Copyright ©2009 Christ Compels
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