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Day 3 – 21 Days to Freedom

Galatians 5:5-6 (NLT)

“But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love.”

When we get rid of the extra rules we’ve added on to our “good Christian” lives (see yesterday’s post), we enter into a new kind of living. Instead of rules we have a soft, moldable heart in which the Spirit can dwell. Basically the best thing to do to get close to God is turn into a mushy mess.

If rules can’t save us, and in fact make our lives so much worse, then we have to turn to something else to make our messed up lives right. The word “righteousness” means “to be made morally right or justified.” God has promised to make us right (so why do we keep trying so hard to do it ourselves??). The only actions that will ever matter are the ones we are invited by God to do. The prompting of the Spirit is the only motivation worth acting on. This is the “faith expressing itself in love” in verse 6. Literally nothing else matters.

Here’s your freedom for today: living in the Spirit gives us the emotional freedom to let God do the transforming.

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Here’s your freedom for today: living in the Spirit gives us the emotional freedom to let God do the transforming. All those things we grasp at to “fix” ourselves will never work. Circumcision didn’t work for the Jews, and dressing up for church won’t work for us. As we wait for God to deliver on his promise to make us right again, we can let go of all of our striving. So go ahead, pick something to let go of today. Find freedom in getting rid of at least one rule you are living by to try to be “good enough.” Feel free to post a comment to tell us what you are shaking off today so we can all be encouraged!

Find freedom in getting rid of at least one rule you are living by to try to be “good enough.”

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Day 2 – 21 Days to Freedom

Galatians 5:1-4 (NLT)

“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I’ll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”

I use the word “freedom” a lot — in the workshops that I offer and on this blog. I am continually searching for ways that we can understand what it truly means to live a free life in Christ. Galatians is all about a mindset shift, from the old way of thinking about the law to a new understanding of God’s heart as made more clear by Jesus. Grace had been there all along, but God’s people needed proof that their own self-reliance would never actually work. The law (and their failure to keep it perfectly) was a demonstration of our need for God.

Few people today are trying to live by the Old Testament laws to get in right standing before God. But the Christian sub-culture does have its own set of new laws: wear nice clothes to church, make your children walk in a straight line, read your Bible everyday just to check it off the list, be polite to all your neighbors (even when you gossip about them the minute they walk away). When we try to live this way, we become caught up in an image of perfection that once again ties us back into slavery.

Here’s your freedom for today: being a “good Christian” won’t get God’s grace for you.

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Here’s your freedom for today: being a “good Christian” won’t get God’s grace for you. It is his choice to give you grace that gives you grace today. When we get caught up in the religiosity of “good Christian” rules, we are emotionally weighed down. So many people I have worked with in counseling struggle with not feeling “good enough.” My response: “Great news! You’re NOT good enough!” And you never will be. It’s time to stop trying. Let God’s grace free you today so that you can live a less pressured life that simply seeks the heart of God one moment at a time.

It’s time to stop trying.

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Day 1 – 21 Days to Freedom

The Christian life is all about freedom — not just for eternity but for right here and now. Emotional hurt, addictions, and chaos can get in our way when we are trying to spiritually grow. In this blog, I am always trying to ask myself what each passage has to say about the character of God and the freedom he offers.

We’ll focus on Galatians 5 over the next 21 days, but on day 1 I am giving you a special challenge. Right now take time to read the whole letter from a guy named Paul to the early church in Galatia — it’s not too long and it will help you connect with the big picture of his point. Jot down your thoughts in a notebook or journal. What is Paul’s main reason for writing the letter? What does this letter tell us about who God is? What questions do you have about what’s in there? (Leave a comment to ask!) After you’ve gone through it and written down your own thoughts, you can read some other commentary here.

Here’s your freedom for today: God has given you his thoughts to read and explore.

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Here’s your freedom for today: God has given you his thoughts to read and explore. Does the Bible tell us everything? Nope. But it tells us exactly what God wanted to reveal about himself, his message, and his mission. (Hint: it’s about freedom…) Why not take this year to commit to reading the Bible every day? Just hop on FreedomForToday.com every day — I’ll do the legwork and make it as easy as I can for you to connect with God on a daily basis. If you need reminders, subscribe to the daily email or Like the page on Facebook. Invite a friend and do it together. God wants to reveal more of himself to you this year — will you show up?

Why not take this year to commit to reading the Bible every day? Just hop on FreedomForToday.com every day — I’ll do the legwork and make it as easy as I can for you to connect with God on a daily basis.

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Immanuel Series — Day 8

Exodus 25:8

Have the people of Israel build me a holy sanctuary so I can live among them.

As we fast forward in Exodus, Moses has led the people out of slavery in Egypt at God’s command. They are now in the desert working their way (slowly!) to the Promised Land. Imagine about a million people in a giant tent city in the desert — and God wants to join the camp out. In another Immanuel moment, God asks his people to build a Tabernacle (literally “tent”) so that he can dwell with them.

Here’s your freedom for today: God wants to participate in your life.

In this moment in Israel’s history, they are not living the glamorous life. I can only imagine how difficult it would be to live in ongoing temporary housing for 40 years. That does not stop God. He wants to participate with them in their journey, and he designs an elaborate tent for himself to do just that. When his people are more situated (much later on), God has a more permanent Temple in which he can dwell with his people. Wherever you find yourself at this moment in life, God wants to dwell with you. He is interested in joining you, and Jesus made it possible for God to “tabernacle” inside of you. Have you invited God to make his home in your heart?

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Immanuel Series — Day 7

Exodus 3:1-6

One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.” When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

“Here I am!” Moses replied.

“Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father —the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.

Our study of Immanuel takes us to another story in the Old Testament in which God came to be with his people in a unique way. You can read Moses’ backstory in the first two chapters of Exodus, but in today’s passage he is in the wilderness tending sheep. This is far from his home and his upbringing in Egypt’s palaces. Even that home had been a displacement from his true identity as a Hebrew, enslaved to the Egyptians. Notice Moses’ response to his God-with-us moment: “Here I am!” He made a choice to enter in with God, but he could only get so close.

Here’s your freedom for today: God has made a way to be fully with you.

Here in the Old Testament, there was always a distance despite how much God made efforts to dwell with his people. He shows up here to Moses, but there is a separation. “Don’t get too close!” is the unfortunate message. The Jewish people never ever pronounced God’s name fully aloud, nevermind stand face to face with him. The heartbreak of that distance reminds us of our desperate need for the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus, we now have full access to God as the Holy Spirit dwells within us. If you want to know more about this, read the book of Acts (you can re-read the Freedom For Today series on Luke and Acts to go more in-depth). We are no longer living in a pre-Jesus world, and for that make time today to be thankful.