The Freeing Spirit


 

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV)

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.
2 Corinthians 3:17 (NKJV)

 
It is hard for me to understand how people live without God.  Thankfully over half of my life has been lived with a real relationship with the Trinity.  Beyond that I was raised in church and as much as that means nothing on its own, I believe God was always preparing my heart to welcome him.  I cannot think of a time in my life that for better or worse was not influenced by my idea and/or knowledge of God.

Just a few days ago I listened as my very dear friend, Kim, recounted events in her mother’s life. To say the situation is unstable is a vast understatement as it leans precariously close to deadly.  My heart broke for my friend, first of all because I love her and I know she loves her mother.  I also felt a deep connection as just ten days prior I had experienced a similar event with someone exceedingly close to me. I knew firsthand the fear and disappointment that my friend was feeling.  I also knew the desperation. We who love Jesus, who depend on the love of our Father and the guidance of the Holy Spirit are terrified when we see a loved one on such a well defined path of destruction with no thought to salvation.

As we prayed, Kim, another dear sister in Christ and I, the above verse rolled around in my head.  “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”  Or as it is written in the NIV, “freedom.”  When it was my turn to pray that is exactly what I prayed for Kim’s mother and for Kim and I realized why that verse was poking at my mind. That is what Kim’s mom needs. It’s what my loved one needs as well, liberty and freedom but the kind that come from the Spirit of the Lord.

Their stories are dissimilar in detail. Their bondages are dissimilar but they have in common one very important detail, neither of them acknowledges the sovereignty of Jesus Christ. They both give lip service to appease the believers around them but there is no heart behind it.  I’ll say again, I do not know how people live that way. Without Father, Son and Holy Spirit, what’s the point?

When I think of Kim’s mom, my dear one and others like them the word tortured comes to mind. I see them running in circles, chasing after a peace and a love that only comes from God.  To the outside observer, people unaware of the intimate details, both Kim’s mom and my dear one look like people who enjoy life, who are relaxed and happy, taking life as it comes.  While inside there is a sickness, a torment that comes straight out of hell. We know, Kim and I, where they can find liberty, freedom and peace and we hope and pray that they will reach for it.

What we also know is that God has a solution for every problem, a word for every hurting soul. Faced with Kim’s broken heart I knew I wanted to pray and offer comfort to her and hope for her mom. I had no idea what I would pray until God put it in my heart and mind.  That goes beyond liberty and freedom to providence and mercy.  Who wants to live without that?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Applause, Applause and Protection

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Hebrews 12:1 Reading some Scripture this morning I was reminded of a message that I watched from Louie Giglio. In it Louie described a child of God leaving her home for the day. He goes on about how the heavenly beings see it. With great excitement, he tells of the joy and applause going on in heaven as the woman gets in the elevator, gets to the parking lot and gets in her car. It’s hilarious and over the top, (remember I did say it was Louie Giglio!) but there’s a great lesson in it. My husband and I were watching a TV show about a fictional former president. At one point the poor man is just over the Secret Service detail. He’s tired of them following him around so he fires them. It takes less than five minutes for him to start to see all that they’ve been doing for...
Read more

My Father Saw That

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me, “for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:13 There’s a movie from several years ago that I absolutely love! It’s called “The American President.” The premise is that the president, who is a widower, has begun to date. He’s dating a lovely woman while running for reelection. His opponent is awful. He knows he doesn’t have much of a chance against the popular incumbent so he tries to make a mountain out of the molehill of the standing president’s romance. At one point there is a news clip that shows the woman in a protest during her college days. After the clip plays the opponent refers to the president’s lady friend as “the president’s whore.” She groans and says to the president “My father saw that!” She is devastated, not because what is being said is true but because her father, who she loves and respects, saw the clip and heard those words spoken about her. I thought of ...
Read more

Not Really god, where are you?

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning to noon.”Baal answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said, “Surely he is a god! Perhaps his is deep in thought, or busy or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 1 Kings 18:26b-27 Those who know me would be quick to tell you that I am a bit sarcastic. It’s a quality that I have passed on to my children and even some of my grandchildren. Some days I feel a little guilty. Is that really a quality that God wants to see in me? Certainly that cannot be my go to attitude but there are times that it comes in quite nicely. This morning, reading a totally unrelated verse, I was reminded of this account in the first book of Kings. (It begins at verse 16 and continues to the end of the chapter. I highly recommend reading it if you haven’t and it if you have reread it. It’s great!) In this p...
Read more