Tag Archives: Freedom In Christ

EMBRACING CHRIST’S LOVE & LETTING HIS LIGHT SHINE IN YOU

January 4, 2022 8:25 pm , 2 Comments ,

There is one thing I want to shout to the world: JESUS LOVES YOU more than your mind can comprehend.

Ephesians 2:14-19 (NLV) says: “For this reason, I bow my knees and pray to the Father. It is from Him that every family in heaven and on earth has its name. I pray that because of the riches of His shining-greatness, He will make you strong with power in your hearts through the Holy Spirit. I pray that Christ may live in your hearts by faith. I pray that you will be filled with love.  I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is. I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand. I pray that you will be filled with God Himself.”

Knowing the depth of Christ’s love for us—especially when we are in a broken state—truly sets us free. His love sets people free from shame, guilt, and condemnation. Knowing how deeply we are loved by Jesus enables us to be strengthened by His Spirit. When we know how deeply we are loved by Christ we experience true peace and joy every day.

God is not disappointed in you and does not want to condemn anyone. There is absolutely no shame in having weaknesses. Whether people like to admit it or not, every single person on the earth has imperfections. We all make mistakes every day. Why would people need a SAVIOR if they were perfect?

Joy oozes out of the soul as we embrace the reality that we are deeply loved and cherished by a gracious Savior.

The words in Galatians 2:20-21 show us that righteousness comes from the Spirit of Christ dwelling within us. Apostle Paul said: “I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]”

Our freedom in Christ is the beauty of the gospel message. Jesus came and died so that we could live an abundant life and be eternally free from torment. He took the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross for us. There is no pressure to live righteously in our own strength. With the Lord, we are able to walk in His righteousness. We are made righteous as Christ fills us with His Holy Spirit after we place our faith in Him for salvation.

The Bible says that the goodness of God leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4). Knowing how deeply Jesus loves us causes us to fall on our knees in repentance when we sin.

We are free to live abundantly because we have Jesus—the ONE who loves us just as we are in our brokenness. His love is the healing balm and makes us want to change our sinful ways. We can rejoice in knowing that Christ’s light shines brightly and magnificently through the cracks of broken vessels.

Hallelujah.

This year, may you embrace Christ’s love, live FREELY in Christ, and let His light shine in you more brightly than ever. If you have not accepted Christ’s amazing gift of salvation, please join the family of God today. I’m sharing the link for a simple prayer for you:

PSALM 51 PRAYER

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Amy 🌻🌻🌻

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THE FREEDOM OF SEEING OURSELVES THROUGH GOD’S EYES

July 7, 2018 1:51 am , 2 Comments ,

God speaks to me so often through the lyrics in songs. I hear His voice in my heart the clearest in the morning time. This morning, I was lying in bed pondering a dream I had in my sleep and the lyrics to a song came to my mind shortly after I was awakened.

As I was lying there, the lyrics kept flooding into my mind four or five times: “I can see clearly now, the rain is gone.”

I knew God was trying to give a message to me, so a little while later I found the song and listened to it online. As I played the song, I was squealing like a child and shouting in victory because I knew precisely what Christ was trying to convey to my heart.

Michael had prayed some extra powerful prayers over me during the past few days. He prayed and asked God to break the power of the critical words of people. He boldly prayed that the words could never again impact my spirit and would fall off of me for eternity. In the moment my husband prayed for me, I shouted, “I AM FREE.”

A pattern in my life had begun as a young girl of allowing the negative words of people to discourage me and hold me back from the destiny God has for my life.

Years ago, I bought a book for my son when he was small and it ministered to my soul deeply. “You Are Special” by Max Lucado is a children’s book with a powerful message. I read it countless times to my son and even read it for myself multiple times. The story has a message about not allowing the “marks” of those around us to determine what we believe about ourselves. The point of the book is to learn to see ourselves as our maker sees us. What others think of us simply does not matter.

Throughout my life, I had been praying for God to help me not to allow negative words of others to impact me and I had made huge progress through the years as I pressed into Christ through prayer. However, even with the God-confidence I had gained, there was a tendency for me to return to old thought patterns. I had a place in my heart that needed Christ’s divine healing to get free of this pattern eternally. Amazingly, Christ touched my heart powerfully on July 4th, on a day that celebrates independence.

My “Declaration of Independence” in my heart was made official on July 4, 2018. “I am free from the untrue words people have spoken about me, I know who I am in Christ, and the criticisms of others will never again affect me.”

I can truly see clearly now. I can see clearly who I am and who God created me to be. Christ cleared all of the dark clouds out of my way so that I can live continually in the beauty of His light and glory. The pain of my past is gone forever. I’m not looking back.

Freedom in Christ is amazing. He came to set the captives free and bind up the hurts of the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1).

Christ is the healer of broken hearts and He helps us see the obstacles in our way. He pushes away the darkness and gives us bright, sun-shiny days. He takes away bad feelings and heals our pain. He gives us beautiful rainbows when the rain is gone. He gives us confidence to know we are going to make it to our destiny and He helps us see ourselves through His eyes.

 Hallelujah.

 

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A BEAUTIFUL MESS

May 2, 2014 3:25 pm , 4 Comments ,

A Beautiful Masterpiece

“He’s a beautiful mess!” My friend proclaimed these words about her Jesus-loving son a few weeks ago as she talked about her son’s life while we were having lunch together. The moment she said those words, I thought: “That’s the perfect way to describe a Jesus-follower.” After all, it is Christ who takes our messy lives and turns them into something beautiful over time.

Apostle Paul said that we are to boast in our shortcomings because it is in our weaknesses that Christ’s power is made perfect. So after Jesus set me free from being a self-righteous church lady, I began joyfully boasting about my weaknesses.

I believe Christ uses those who openly share their weaknesses with others so much more than the ones who act so stuffy and perfect. Why would people need a savior if they were so perfect, anyway?

Joy oozes out of the soul as we embrace the reality that we don’t have to measure up anymore.

That’s the beauty of the gospel message. Jesus came and died so that we could live a life of beauty. The pressure is off to perform. We are free to live abundantly because we have Jesus—the Artist who takes us as a broken mess and creates a beautiful masterpiece of art out of our lives.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)

I’m linking up for Five Minute Friday where Lisa Jo Baker and other awesome people write for five minutes flat with no self critiquing or no striving for perfection. This week’s prompt is: “Mess.” It took me more than five minutes to write this post today.

Five Minute Friday

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IN CHRIST, WE CAN FLY

November 22, 2013 4:53 pm , Leave a Comment ,

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I threw my hands up in the air and proclaimed, “I’m free!” I was talking to an acquaintance from church, a woman I didn’t know very well. She looked at me strangely and I knew she had no idea what I was trying to communicate through my gesture. I shared a little about my painful past and how it had held me captive for way too long.

With excitement, I continued sharing my testimony of how Christ had taken my brokenness and transformed me. I used the metaphor of the butterfly to share what God had done in my heart and in my life.

After joyfully sharing about my new-found freedom that day, I left and pondered the words I had boldly shared. Even though the woman stared blankly and didn’t seem to get it at the time, I’ve often thought about her and hoped my testimony had planted a seed in her heart.

It’s been over a decade since that day when I proclaimed my freedom. The longer I walk with Christ the freer I become. I am no longer held captive by the thoughts of my past, by the concerns of the world, by the need to measure up to any person’s standard…on and on the list goes.

Jesus is the true Redeemer. He takes us and transforms us like the metamorphosis of a butterfly. As we leave our past hurts, our fears, our failures, our sin at His feet, He changes us and makes us new. In Him, our spirits are renewed and we soar.

Christ takes us in our caterpillar state and gives us wings so we can fly.

“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 (New Living Translation)

I’m linking up for Five Minute Friday where Lisa Jo Baker and other awesome people write for five minutes flat with no self critiquing or no striving for perfection. This week’s prompt is: “Fly.” Today, I wrote for about ten extra minutes.

The photograph was taken at Anderson’s Sunflower Farm in Cumming, Georgia.

Five Minute Friday

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