Walk in Freedom

In Isaiah 61:1 we read a prophecy that the Messiah would come to "proclaim liberty to the captives," or bring freedom to people. Jesus came to bring freedom to every person who will receive it. In this blog I am going to share some things that will help you to experience the freedom that Jesus came to give.

Acts 12:5-11- "Peter therefore was kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him and a light shown in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, 'Arise quickly!' And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, 'Gird yourself and tie on your sandals' and so he did. And he said to him, 'Put on your garment and follow me.' So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter had come to himself, he said, 'Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.' "

In this passage we see that Peter was in prison when an angel showed up and miraculously caused the chains that had him bound to fall off of his hands. At that moment Peter was free, but he still had to walk out of the prison he was in. In the same way a person is set free the moment they are born again, but many Christians still find themselves in prison in certain areas of their lives. Anything in our lives that is not God's will is a prison that we can walk out of today. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ you are free at this moment. The chains have fallen off of your hands, the angel has shown up, and you can simply walk out of prison. The prison may be a certain sin that keeps "tripping you up," it may be stress, sickness, or any other number of things. Do you feel that you or someone you know may be in a "prison" that it's time they walked out of? If so, there are a few things we can do to begin walking out of the prisons that we may find ourselves in:

First we must believe that we are already free:
The moment we believed in Jesus we were set free from sin and from every other work of the devil. To experience the freedom Jesus accomplished that the cross we first must believe that we are already free. In John 8:32 we read these words of Jesus: "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." When we know and believe the truth that Jesus crucified the old "sin" nature (the "old man" or "the flesh"-Romans 6:5-6; Galatians 5:24), that He completely defeated the enemy (Colossians 2:13), and that He healed us by His stripes (Isaiah 53:5;1Peter 2:24) we will experience freedom in our lives. In Romans 12:2 it says that we are transformed (changed) by renewing our minds.

We also must recognize our need to experience freedom:
In Mark 2:17 we are told, "When Jesus heard, He said to them, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' " Jesus answered the religious leaders' criticism that He spent time with sinners by telling them that He had come for those who will admit that they have fallen short of the glory of God and turn to Him for mercy. If you want to experience freedom, denying the need for freedom will do no good, you must honestly admit that there are areas of your life in which you are not experiencing freedom (not in a condemning way, but admitting what you need and turning to the Lord for freedom).

It maybe helpful to have prayer partners:
In Acts 12:5 we are told that the church was praying for Peter. The miracle God did by sending an angel to free Peter was in answer to the prayers of the church, and in our lives it may be helpful to find people we trust and who are mature in the Lord to pray for us and with us. God wants us to work together as a body, and this is one of the ways we can do this.

We must take deliberate steps to walk out of whatever prison we may find ourselves in:
The angel told Peter to get up and follow him. Peter did not have the power to get out of prison on his own, but God set him free, doing what Peter could not. However, God used Peter's obedience to the angel's command to get up, get dressed, and follow him. In 2Corinthians 2:14 the apostle Paul wrote: "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ..." The fact that God leads us in triumph (victory) implies that we are following Him. So follow the Lord's leading and let Him lead you into victory and freedom!

I want to remind you that we are to take these steps of obedience knowing that we are already free and that our walking in freedom is the Lord's work. In Philippians 2:12-13 we read, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." Here we are told to "work out" our salvation, but then we are told that God works in us. God does the work in us and enables us to walk it out, giving us both the desire and ability to change. It is actually God changing us, "from glory to glory" (2Corinthians 3:18).

Are you a believer who has found yourself still in a prison in some area of your life? If so, you can ask the Lord for freedom today. It's already yours, and the Lord wants you to experience freedom even more than you want to experience it. The freedom Jesus wants you to walk in is a complete freedom, as He said: "Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:32)