“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1
The beauty and the pain of sanctification is one of the least discussed attributes of the christian journey. We need to talk about this more, because we need to learn how to engage, embrace, and cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work within. It really isn’t easy to learn how to let the Holy Spirit dig, expose, scour, and displace embedded destructive lies with life-giving truth. When we hear the words, “it is for freedom that Christ has set us free”, we don’t usually think of the process that is required to access that freedom.
During this season of forced sabbath, I made the commitment to lean into the Lord and focus on listening to Him. God has given me greater insight into this season of “shutdown”, has shown me what He intends to do through this global shift, but He also allowed destructive beliefs, ambitions and lies, that were still resident in me, to float up to the surface of my conscious mind. It became clear that it’s time to enter a new level of repentance and freedom.
One of my struggles, that came to the surface, was a remnant of an old lie. Old because I’d addressed it a long time ago and received beautiful freedom. The lie was, I would always be “passed over” and would never be significant. This is a standard lie promoted by the enemy and Jesus broke the power of that lie. But the Holy Spirit showed me a few days ago that my heart was still crying out, “I want to be important!” This fleshly cry drowns out the voice of the Good Shepherd saying “your worth is eternal”, and it fights the Holy Spirit’s transformation that teaches my spirit to proclaim, “YOU, my Lord, are important, and I am in you, and you are in me.” So, once again, I have faced my relentless enemy and I have chosen to listen ONLY to the voice of my Good Shepherd.
It is for freedom that we are led to repentance.
It is for freedom that we are asked to face our unholy limitations.
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.
I challenge you to invite Him to take you to a new level of sanctification. It hurts so good.
