When I think about the number of people caught in modern day slavery today, the numbers are overwhelming. Right now, there are 40 million people caught in human trafficking!
Modern day slavery is most often extreme. Like a mother selling her own child as a slave to pay off her debt. This is real and it is happening.
I also believe that we serve an incredible God; One that came to set the captives free. The other day it struck me.
God came to set the captives free! This includes the captives who are caught in the darkness of forced labour, all the way to the Christian who is captive to her shame. God came to set the captives free!
“So stand strong for our freedom! The Anointed One freed us so we wouldn’t spend one more day under the yoke of slavery, trapped under the law.” – Galatians 5:1
This yoke of slavery includes the mental prison so many of us find ourselves in each day. Maybe you find yourself as a slave to guilt, hopelessness, fear, addiction, insecurities, perfectionism, etc. There are so very many ways that the enemy tries to chain us down from realizing our true potential in Christ. He does this because he knows that if we can claim victory in these areas of our lives, there is nothing that God won’t be able to accomplish through us!
Are you a Freedom Fighter? A Freedom Fighter is one who pursues freedom for oneself and others, in every sense of the word.
It’s time to get real and be vulnerable. It’s time to declare the truth, because there is power in declaring the truth!
I’m going to start this, and I would love for you to join me.
As I thought about hiking the Grand Canyon this October in the name of freeing the millions of slaves around the world, I also thought about the things that I might be enslaved to. So here goes.
God is setting me free from… people pleasing, being fake, and my “to-do” list.
My whole life I have tried to please man before God. I am sick and tired of it. God never asked that of me and I am ready to surrender this. When I go out of my way to try and please people in my life, it leaves me exhausted, resentful, and being fake.
“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” – Galatians 1:10
I also have a tendency to let my agenda or “to-do” list run my life, to the point of exhaustion also. All in the name of feeling like I earned my value and worth that day. God has also never asked me to prove or earn my value and worth. Jesus died and rose again to give me everlasting worth and value, beyond what I do in a day. I am loved. Period.
“He destined us to be adopted as His children through the covenant Jesus the Anointed inaugurated in His sacrificial life. This was His pleasure and His will for us.” – Ephesians 1:5
The title of this blog notes that “God is setting”, which is dynamic, not static. This means that God can set us free from our chains once and for all, like He did on the cross when Jesus cried, “It is finished”.
But we also have the choice to choose freedom each day. Being set free can be a journey. Thankfully God gives us grace for each day. So when we run back to our bad habits, addictions, insecurities, and whatnot, He is faithful to surround us with His grace when we ask for help. No matter where you are at today!
On this journey towards freedom, allow yourself to fail, many times, and also allow yourself to have days of complete victory! Our lives on this earth are imperfect and one breathe at a time. In each moment, we can choose to claim the freedom Jesus died to give us, or we can place the chains across our hands and feet. (Physically or mentally) It’s our choice.
But each time we claim freedom, it is a victory worth celebrating!
When I choose to be honest with the people around me, in love, instead of just saying what I think people want to hear, I am gaining ground for freedom.
Every time you choose peace over strife, sobriety to being high, giving God control instead of aiming for perfection, you are gaining ground for freedom!
Let us be Freedom Fighters in every sense of the word. Not only to fight for others, but fight for ourselves and the love, joy, and peace Jesus died for us to have!
I’d love for you to share your declaration with me so I can pray for you!
What is God setting you free from today?
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