Freedom Strategies

Ever put a puzzle together? You probably have a strategy for doing it, right? Like find all the straight edge pieces, or start with the corners, or even “just look at the box.” We all have strategies for things in life. Some of our strategies are helpful. Some of our strategies aren’t. There are strategies when it comes to things like freedom as well. There’s a right way and a better way of approaching freedom. There’s our way, and then there’s God’s way. We each have a part to play.

The overarching strategy for seeking freedom is to seek first the kingdom. Seeking first the kingdom isn’t just something that we do. It’s the way we live our life. It’s shifting from relying on our own knowledge to make decisions and relying on ourselves as the source to relying on God’s wisdom to make decisions and relying on God as our source. That’s the way we were designed to function: relying on God as our source for everything. God has already done everything needed to bring freedom within reach for us. Freedom is within our grasp, it’s possible, because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. Without the saving work of Christ, freedom would be an impossible goal.

Think of a sailboat out on a lake on a sunny day. God provided the water. He provided the perfect day for sailing. He provided a breeze. He even provided for a boat and a sail. But the boat is just floating in the water not going anywhere. Why? Because no one raised the sail. God has done everything possible for the person in the boat to sail along the lake and make progress, but they haven’t done their part. Freedom is the same way. God has done His part. He has provided everything we need to achieve freedom, but we need to position ourselves in order to receive from Him.

Part of the way we do this is by accepting our identity in Christ as our true identity. We need to see ourselves the way that God sees us. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 says: “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” We are being changed from glory to glory. 1 John 3:2 says: “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Sometimes we don’t see ourselves as children of God now. We are looking forward to being fixed or cleaned up, but God doesn’t see us as a mess. Romans 8:29 says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” And Ephesians 1:4 says, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” God sees us as holy and blameless when we are in Christ. That’s who we are now.

We’re not holding down the fort. We’re not waiting around here for some future time when God will change us. We’re on a journey of life in the kingdom right now. It’s a journey to learn how to see ourselves the way God sees us, to live life according to God’s thoughts and ways. Isaiah 55:9 says, ““As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” The more we live with God’s thoughts as our thoughts the better our relationships will be and the better our life will be over all. In the Old Testament, the temple was the place where heaven invaded earth. It was the place that God chose to have His presence abide. Now, we are God’s temple. 2 Corinthians 6:16 says, “For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”

We grow in how we allow heaven to impact earth through us. By utilizing all the things we have been given in Christ, we allow more of heaven to flow through us. Think of a cell phone. Some people use the phone only to make phone calls. Other people use their phone to make calls, take photos, send messages, google things, listen to podcasts, keep their calendar, etc. Younger people may even use their phone for more things than that. The increase in their knowledge about what the phone can do and how it works means they have an increase in their ability to use that phone to its full capabilities. Freedom works in the same way. The more we know about God’s way of doing things, the more we are able to utilize His way in our own lives, and the more freedom we walk in on a day-to-day basis.

God’s main strategy for our freedom is: when Jesus is Lord, we surrender and win. That seems upside down. We don’t usually think of surrender as winning. Philippians 2:9-11 says, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Bowing is a sign of honor and surrender. It gives God glory. It’s not working harder to change that brings God glory. It’s not thinking What Would Jesus Do and trying to copy that by altering our behavior that brings God glory. Doing it that way is relying on our own knowledge and judgement to do things. It’s figuring things out for ourselves. Instead, God wants us to go to Jesus Himself and ask for His guidance and instruction. We don’t have to imagine what Jesus would do and then try to emulate it. We can ask Jesus directly what He wants us to do in each and every situation we face.

We are three-part beings. We are a spirit. We have a soul. We live in a body. The spirit is the real us. It’s eternal. It’s designed to connect to God because God is spirit. Our soul is our mind, will, and emotions. It’s the way we connect to others: human to human. God created our spirits to rule. Our souls were made to make choices. We are meant to have our souls take the information from our spirits and reinforce the choice to do things the spirit’s way. As born-again Christians, that means our souls were designed to reinforce the spirit’s decision to do things God’s way. Most people aren’t ruled by their spirits though. They are ruled by their will. Proper use of our will was to choose God’s will. Instead, our wills have been warped to choose our own way. Our will was not designed to choose between good and evil. It was designed to be surrendered to God and to choose His will.

If we’re not submitted to God, we’re actually resisting what God wants to do. We are working against God’s kingdom and His plan here on earth. People struggle with the words “surrender” and “submission.” To many people, these words bring up ideas of slavery and no free will and just negative things in general. Satan has twisted the idea of surrender and submission because he doesn’t want us to live fully free lives. He doesn’t want us living for the kingdom. Satan knows that if we are completely surrendered to God’s will and living fully for the kingdom, we’re going to be taking ground for the kingdom and defeating his plan.

Think of submission this way. You have a beautiful, decorative floor lamp in your living room. When you plug that lamp into the electrical outlet, it is submitted to the outlet. It is not enslaved by the outlet. It is not controlled by the outlet, but it is empowered by the outlet. By being plugged into the outlet, submitted to it, the lamp can now allow the electrical power to flood through it and serve its created purpose to shine a light in the dark room. If the lamp is not submitted, if its unplugged, the lamp doesn’t serve its created purpose. It doesn’t light the room. It just sits there looking nice.

God doesn’t want to enslave us. He doesn’t want to control us. In fact, God doesn’t force anything on us. He is willing to allow us to be the Lords of our own lives as long as we want to. He’s also willing to allow us to face the consequences of that choice. But God knows that if we would submit ourselves to Him, His power would be able to flow through us, empowering us, and allowing us to live the way we were created to live: in full freedom.

God’s part in all this has already been done. He’s provided us with everything we need. He steps in to do the things that we can not do. He completes the changes within us and our transformation. God changes us at the level of identity and belief, which are the levels that produce lasting change. God is faithful. He always keeps His word.

Our part is to surrender, hear, believe, and do what God says. We agree with God’s word and confess it. We cooperate with Him and allow Him to change us. We receive what God provides by believing that what God says is true, agreeing with what God says and with what He provides, and by confessing our agreement. We can grab God’s promises and begin to apply them to our lives because of God’s faithfulness to keep His word. We have to lift the sails. We have to position ourselves to receive.

It’s a process. We are people of process. It’s a process of walking in more and more freedom. This walk is also characterized by moments. Those times when God speaks directly to us, it immediately impacts us, and results in instantaneous change. God understands that growing up in freedom is a process. If you’re a parent, think about how you felt watching your baby learn to walk. You didn’t berate her for falling. You didn’t lose patience while she toddled. You were proud of her achievement and patient with the process. God is our Heavenly Father. He is proud of us. He is proud of YOU. He is proud of you right now, while you’re in the process. And He is patient with us while we learn to walk in His freedom.

So how do we put this into practice? We need to stop allowing Satan to gain a foothold in our lives by listening to his voice. When something happens that causes us hurt or pain, Satan is quick to point an accusing finger and tell us that we somehow deserve this, that it’s somehow our fault or due to our lack, or to say that God is angry with us or punishing us, etc. When we feel pain from a situation or from something someone says, we need to stop in that moment. Instead of letting Satan put his spin on what happens, we need to take it to God, ask Him how He sees the situation, and allow Him to speak truth to us. God will tell us the things He wants us to know, and we will prevent the enemy from gaining a foothold in our life.

The kingdom of heaven has dominion everywhere on earth, but does it have dominion everywhere in your heart? Until it does, you are not walking in complete freedom.

Activation

Quiet yourself. Close your eyes.

Ask God: “Is there an area of my heart that I have not fully surrendered to you?”

Really expect a response from Him. Trust that God will bring things to mind that He wants to address in your life. As He does, confess those things that He shows you. It could be a picture or a verse or an impression or a thought.

Pray: Lord, I hear you, and I believe you are right. I confess, and I agree with you. There have been places in my heart that I have not surrendered to you. I repent. I’m changing the way I think. Will you please forgive me?

Listen for His response. You can always weigh what you hear against God’s word in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Remember that God never tells you something that violates His word. He has promised that if we confess our sins, He will forgive us and cleanse us.

Pray: Lord, thank you for forgiving me. I receive your forgiveness, and I use my will to surrender more fully to you. Thank you that, as I do, you will change me from the inside out.

Ask: Jesus, will you show me how you see my heart right now?