The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
to grant to those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. -Isaiah 61:1-4 ESV
The above scripture is going to be the main focus of my journey through Breaking Free. There are several important points that the Lord has taught me through these scriptures today:
1. God truly hears the cry of the oppressed.
God even hears the cries of those whose oppression is a result of their own sin and rebellion. The Lord has been revealing to me how much my own rebellion in the past, and sin both past and present, has created the oppression that I encounter. There was a stage in my life about 3-4 years ago where it seemed like most aspects of life were rebellion. Right before this time is when I had gone through a horrible break up that left me in severe depression. I felt destroyed and I convinced myself that no one really loved me. I told myself that I was not good enough and I was not a beautiful creation. On top of this depression, I struggled with disordered eating because in my mind, nothing was going to make me happy unless I could grab others attention by outward beauty. I wanted men to chase after me to make my ex jealous and I wanted the self-esteem boost for myself. When this wasn't happening, I turned to heavy drinking to try to "forget" my sorrow and how much I hated myself. The summer of 2008 I went out drinking almost every single night with my then coworkers and I would drink until I couldn't remember some of the night. While under this state of influence, I only thought about myself and treated some very poorly. Because of this, people that I encountered that summer do not view me as the woman of God I am now. There are still some that have hatred towards me. I had stopped believing that God cared about me and the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual prisons I was in. I did not experience any hope of freedom until the Lord changed my heart to try to start trusting and believing that He really does care more for my freedom than even I do.
2. God fulfills Isaiah 61:1-4 in Christ alone!
2 Corinthians 3:17 says, "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." What an amazing promise! I need to hear this every moment of everyday. The Holy Spirit is so crucial for freedom. Christ sets us free by the power of His Spirit AND He maintain our freedom as we learn to live from day-to-day in the power of His free Spirit. At the end of that summer I previously wrote about, it was the Lord completely to release me from the darkness I was in. It was Him who changed my heart to desire to try to run back to Him. Once I decided to run back to the Lord, it was the Spirit who carried me and gave me strength to leave behind that lifestyle and some of those friends in order to seek God's face.3. Christ's ministry is a ministry of the heart.
Scroll up and read through Isaiah 61 again.
It is amazing how many things Jesus does. Christ came to "bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release darkness for the prisoners." Christ came to "comfort all who mourn." He came to "bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."
2 Peter 3:9 reads, The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
Christ WANTS to set us free from the bondage of eternal destruction and even saved people can still be in bondage. The Lord is showing me how much bondage I am still in from experience pain 15 years ago. The biggest bondage in my life is my attitude towards my own family, especially my sister. The thought of all the verbal abuse I went through from my sister growing up has created huge walls in my life towards her and others now. Being told that I was worthless and that no one would love me created a lack of desire to be vulnerable with others now. Having a distant family with only surface level conversation has not given me the experience of deep, loving relationships. The Lord is using this to reveal to me how much I suck at letting others love me in deep ways and how much I still need to learn in how to love others in deeper ways. I am so thankful for the truth of 2 Peter 3:9 because I do not want to be in this bondage anymore. I want to love freely and the way Christ calls me to. There is lots of pain that the Lord is uprooting but it is all for His glory!
What bondage is the Lord trying to reveal to you? Are you truly believing that God cares about your freedom?
:) TRUTH!
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