By Carla Y. Nix
~John 8:36
Last week was an incredibly interesting week for me. I experienced highs and lows and events that I did not understand. It all culminated today during worship service in the form of my pastor’s sermon. Through him, God explained much of what I experienced during the week.
I won’t rehash it all, but the most prominent thing that happened to me was my singing in my sleep one evening. It was confirmed by my daughter who came to wake me when she heard me making all of that noise! When she came into my room, she saw that I was asleep, yet I was singing. She tried to wake me, but I just turned over, she said, and kept on sleeping. As she told me about it the next day, she quoted a few words of the song I was singing, and my heart leaped! I don’t remember actually singing, but I do remember “hearing” the song in what I thought was a dream. I heard it in my spirit. The song played over and over in my spirit even before my daughter told me what happened the night before.
The words to the song are:
I am free!
Praise the Lord, I’m free.
No longer bound, no more chains holding me.
My soul is resting, it’s just another blessing.
Praise the Lord, hallelujah, I’m free.
After this singing in my sleep episode, and me not being able to get the song out of my head, something serious arose in my life that caused me to become anxious and even reeked a fleeting moment of serious fear in me. Yet, I kept hearing the song, “I am free!” I sought prayer and God directed me in my steps. He blessed me by providing the assistance and help that I needed in this situation. He sent the answer to me!
My husband and I later had a discussion about how someone recently misused this passage of scripture:
Isaiah 61:1-2 (ESV)
1The 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; 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.
Jesus goes on and fulfills this prophesy, and even refers to what Isaiah stated:
Luke 4:16 – 19 (ESV)
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
Some have used these scriptures to push the prosperity message as far as financial and earthly gain is concerned.
Jesus went on further to say:
And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4:21 (ESV)
Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophesy spoken by Isaiah. He is the fulfillment of the law. He is the fulfillment of God’s promise. Jesus did not come to make anybody financially rich. His purpose is clearly stated:
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." Mark 1:14 - 15
Jesus came proclaiming the gospel, seeking to save those who were lost. Lost in sin is an imprisonment. Therefore, He came to set the captives free – those who are in bondage. When we are not in Christ, we are prisoners of sin and satan.
I allowed the events of last week to make me act as one who did not know that they were free. I acted like a prisoner to my circumstances, and to satan. For God has not given me a spirit of fear. Additionally, I allowed myself to worry and to question God and His will for, and in, my life. I was blind and only saw what I could see with my physical eyes. God had already made promises to me, yet I panicked each time I saw something differently.
God had to remind me that I AM FREE! I am no longer bound, there are no more chains holding me. My soul is indeed resting, in Him, and I ought to praise Him because I’m free. That is why Jesus came – to release both you and I from the grasp of the oppressor. Because He came, because He lives, I can live. I can face anything that confronts me.
God will keep His promises to me. He will, and is providing for me. He wants me to live and walk in the freedom He has given me.
As I stated in the beginning of this, everything culminated for me today in the form of my pastor’s sermon. It was awesome. Not because my pastor, as always, delivered it well. It was awesome because God CONFIRMED everything through the message. I do not believe in coincidences, and I had not spoken to my pastor about this. Yet, his sermon subject was “Instrument of Freedom” (coming from Joshua 3). He spoke about Joshua’s availability and capability of being a leader and how God used him to lead the children of Israel into the promised land. He went on and spoke about how we are not only instruments of freedom, but we are capable of doing so because we are free ourselves! God can use us when we are free. And then, in the midst of his sermon, pastor quoted “my” song……
I am free!
Praise the Lord, I’m free.
No longer bound, no more chains holding me.
My soul is resting, it’s just another blessing.
Praise the Lord, hallelujah, I’m free.
Before hearing it over and over in my head and spirit all week, I had not heard that song for many years. It was one thing to hear it in my own mind, but to hear someone passionately speak the song at this juncture definitely let me know that it was God’s divine doing!
Yes, I am free! Jesus has set me free!
Can you say the same today? Yes, you can, if you have allowed Him to become your Lord and Savior. Freedom is sweet. Once we embrace our freedom, we can rest assured that freedom brings privileges. The greatest is that we no longer have to live under condemnation.
1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1 – 2 (ESV)
God always provides what we need, when we need it. Because of outside influences and circumstances surrounding my life, my mind reverted back to that of one without hope and faith. I allowed myself to question God, to question myself, and to think as the enemy would have me to. That of a condemned person who had no rights and freedom in Christ. But God………yes, but God………worked on me in the spiritual realm by even giving me assurance and consolation while I slept. Then He tied it all together with a word through the sermon of my pastor, whom had no idea that he was speaking directly to me. What a mighty God we serve!
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