Freedom

Acts 5:19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and, leading them out, said (20) Go, take your stand in the temple courts and declare to the people the whole doctrine concerning this Life (the eternal life with Christ revealed).

This is a very powerful verse and direction for every believer, whether they are a new believer or have been walking with Christ for many, many years.  When you read these words and think about the power that comes with them, you can begin to see the purpose of our lives as Christians, or followers of Christ.

To me these two verses, more so verse 19, showed me that every single problem I come into, God will find a way out of it, for me.  This shows me that not only am I going to find myself in situations, that look dim and bleak, but when those times come upon me, as long as I know where my provision lies, I will be set free.

Maybe the freedom won’t come as it did for Peter and John, but there will be a freedom given to me. God sent an angel of the Lord to open the prison doors for Peter and John, and God will do the same thing for you.

Freedom comes in many different ways.  Sometimes freedom can come as it did for Peter and John.  There are many people who are falsely accused of crimes, which they did not commit, or happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and are behind bars because of that.  God can set those captives free by working behind the scenes to bring truth forward.

I think one of ways God has worked, and is working, in my own life, to bring me freedom, is by bringing peace to my mind.   I have been sexually, mentally, physically and spiritually abused, in my life here on earth, and God has taken those broken pieces, and has begun to heal them, from the inside out. 

The power of God’s word brings healing, peace, and clarity, to our minds, among many other things.  I had decided that I have lived in terror, fear, anxiety and anger for so long, that I wanted to be free of those things.  I wanted to know God, in a different way.  I was hoping, and crossing my fingers, that along with knowing God, I would be set free, of those things that had held me in bondage to my past. 

I set myself to have a relationship with God, my savior, and understand, that the things I have heard, seen and read, that God did in other people's lives,  were not things that happened just to good people, or people that I deemed to be good, but were available to me.

I saw myself as not worthy of God’s love.  I felt like God had turned His back on me, and did so, because I wasn’t worthy, or deserving of Love.   These are all lies that satan tells us to keep us from the love of God.   But you see, what happened to me, is God would send people into my life that loved Him, and in return loved me, and they would begin to chip away at the hardness of my heart, through Him.

Just like God sent an angel to Peter and John, to open the prison doors, God sent angels into my life, to open the prison doors of my mind.  There are many people who are in the prison of their minds, for one reason or another, and God wants so desperately to set you free.  

God’s love is like a rain that washes all the dirt away.  It cleanses you from the evil that you think of yourself, or have allowed other people to bring into your life.  You slowly change the way you view who you are.  Your sight changes internally, because you are adopting, and changing your vision, and aligning it up to how God sees you.

God doesn’t see you as broken, dirty, unworthy, unlovable, fat, ugly, a loser or whatever negative thing, that plays on repeat in your mind.  God see’s you as His child.  God see’s you through the eyes of love, for He created you.  He made you the way you are today.  He knew who you were, are and who  you will be, before He called you into relationship with Him.

There is nothing that we do, that can change how much God loves us.  Nothing! You are loved as much today, as you will be tomorrow, and the day after.   For many people it’s hard to understand this kind of love, because we haven’t experienced it before and we don’t know how to love like that with each other. 

God is our example of Love.  He is perfect love, and perfect love casts out fear.  He sent  us Jesus, to give us a savior, because He loves us.  We have a perfect example of love every day He wakes us up.

Healing takes time, and yes, there is work you must do as well.  God can, and sometimes does, heal people instantly, but for most of us, it’s a process, and one we need.  You know the saying it always gets darker before the dawn.  That can be true, as you walk through your healing with God.  But be calmed in knowing, God will never walk you into a storm that He will not walk with you through and then use for your good in the end.

Many times after we have our freedom, or are coming close to the end of our storm, there will be a direction from God.   He will tell us the next steps to take, and gives us the way to take them. 

We see this in Acts 5:20, when the angel of the Lord, tells Peter and John to go to the temple and declare to the people the whole doctrine concerning Life.    Freedom was given to them, so that God could use them, and many times, most times, freedom is given to us, so that God can use us as well.

I don’t know what your individual direction from God will be, but I do know that there will be one.  As you are walking through your healing with God, listen to His words.  Listen to the spirit inside of you, and I am positive, your direction or next task will be revealed to you. 

Healing is hard.  There will be tears, anger, frustration, loss of patience and sometimes confusion, but at the end of the healing, there is freedom.  There is peace, there is joy, there is clarity, and there is love.   We stand before God closer to the person He created us to be.  We stand before Him with eyes opened and hearts able to receive and give love.

We stand before Him free!!!