The Reign of Christ

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor". Isaiah 61:1


This is the scripture verse for yesterdays part of "Breaking Free". God is already speaking so much wisdom and peace into my life. He is allowing for thoughts to be processed, and for Himself to be revealed in my life in ways I haven't otherwise noted. The LORD has already taken care of some things in my life that were becoming a hindrance in my life. He knows what I need and He knows things that were holding me back from complete surrender.

Beth Moore opens "Breaking Free" by saying Christ calls us to a place of breaking free. He woos us to the place of absolute freedom-the only kind of freedom that is real.

The LORD WOOS us. How amazing is that? I think as a female I may take more likeness to this word because as women we desire to be "wooed" so to speak by our husbands, boyfriends, or future male figures in our life. We are the bride of Christ and He WOOS us!

She also comes to say God will sometimes allow things to go bad enough that we will be forced to look up. Victory always begins with a cry for help. When we come to the end of ourselves and cry out for help, amazing things happen.
The LORD is waiting for us to cry to Him. He is the ultimate healer. He is the ONLY one who can set us free from the sin in our lives. A lot of the times we wonder why in the world so many bad things happen. Two weeks ago I was wondering WHY in the world things were happening. Why I was coming home from South Dakota. Why a guy had to pull out in front of me and cause me to total  my Moms car. WHY and WHAT God was trying to teach me. Now as I sit here, after processing for a while, I realize He was calling me to fall on my face in complete surrender to Him and cry out to him. TO LET GO of my PRIDE. Which is exactly what Beth Moore talks about in the first chapter of "Breaking Free".

We have to let go of our Pride. God WILLINGLY tells His children why they are being oppressed if they are WILLING to listen. I had to wonder to myself if I have been truly asking the LORD to explain to me what's going on, or if I have been so stubborn that I ignore God and handle things on my own. He wants us to know what went wrong so the next time we're in the same situation, we'll make different choices.
WE HAVE TO SACRIFICE.
In the Bible we learn of the sacrifices that were made that God found as a sweet aroma. He WHOLLY CONSUMED those sacrifices. What is it in our lives that we can sacrifice that God will wholly consume? We tend to sacrifice things easily when it comes to ignoring God..but find it very difficult to sacrifice things FOR God.

"After Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall" 2 Chronicles 26:16

The Lord teaches the Kings in the old testament what it means to sacrifice. He teaches them that their pride will get in the way. Pride can lead to captivity (Jeremiah 13:15-17) which is the crippling effect it has on us as believers.

We may not like God's decisions in our life...but they all come from HIS love.

King Hezzekiah is an example of a King who was sold out of the LORD until the Lord rescued Him from circumstances. Hezzekiah was a great example of a great King who was not perfect. He forgot what God did for Him and lost humility because He believed He overcame because of what HE did. He had a legalistic attitude...which is another crippling problem in our lives. Another prideful issue.

Not even the best were perfect. Not even the most honorable were holy. Not even the most humble were immune to pride.

If my liberty in Christ is going to be a reality in life, I am going to have to learn to walk in the freedom of Christ, independent of everyone else I know.

I think I forget sometimes that I am an adult with my own opinion. I still seek advice of other people. It is wonderful to seek out brothers and sisters who will give Godly advice, but even then the ultimate one to seek is the LORD and what HE knows is best for our lives. We don't want God's advice though. We want to be prideful. It is then that God is faithful to chastise. How else would we learn from our rebellion? But He is also SO Compassionate in His comfort.

We want freedom so much but sometimes we don't want it enough. We don't want to give up the strongholds in our lives. God hears the cries of the oppressed. He cares more for our freedom than even WE DO. He initiated liberation.

God fulfills in Christ alone. Luke 4:14-21 quotes Isaiah 61.

2 Corinthians 3:17 --> Where the spirit of the LORD is there is freedom.



Christ's ministry is a ministry of the heart. Christ's first priority is setting captives free (2 Peter 3:9), but saved people can still be in bondage (Galations 5:1).

I think sometimes I want to be freed SO BADLY but I won't allow God to heal. I won't allow God to COMPLETELY take captive the things keeping me in bondage.

Here's the good news:
-Christ came to set the captive free-no matter what kind of yoke bonds them.
-He came to bind up the brokenhearted-no matter what broke the heart.
-He came to open the eyes of the blind-no matter what veiled their vision.

After this I had to ask myself what my yokes are in my life.

I'm not sure where this study will lead, what God will teach me, but I know He is healing and I know it has begun. Take time to realize all of this as well =).