FINDING REAL FREEDOM

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Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John 14:6

Then He said to them all: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”  Luke 9:23

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  John 8:36

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It’s Independence Day here in the United States, a day when we celebrate our nation gaining its liberty and freedom as an independent nation 249 years ago.

But guess what?

Amidst all the picnics, parades, and fireworks today lies a sobering truth.

For we’re not really free just because we live in America. The same can be said about any other nation who feels it has gained liberation by way of its own doing.

I say this because there is only one way to true freedom, a freedom that sets you free now and forever more in this world and in the one yet to come, and that was, is, and will always be through Jesus Christ, who said the following:

“I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”. John 14:6

“Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow Me.”  Luke 9:23

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:36

So how does this equate to the fact that no one is truly free outside of Jesus?

Let me break it down for you.

First, Jesus is the only way to God the Father.

Period.

No one goes to heaven unless they have believed in Him as their Savior, the One who died to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29) and purchase the pardon of every sinner.

Second, if anyone says they believe in Jesus as Savior, then they accept that their chief identity is now changed to “Christian”. This means that they are required live like Christ Jesus in all they do, committing to follow Him and His ways.

Jesus said that He is the Way and the Truth and the Life and He is the only one a Christian is to model their life after.

Finally, in order to follow Jesus and His will and ways, Christian believers need to surrender themselves, giving up their own desires in order to follow His. Jesus said that any disciple of His must deny themselves and take up their cross daily. This means that He always comes first even if it means we need to sacrifice something we might want instead.

In other words, in order to find true freedom, a freedom that opens the gates of Heaven for us to enter in and live forever one day, we first have to lose our own freedom and do so willingly. When we look at the life of Jesus, we see where He made a life out of sacrificing for others to the point of freely suffering and dying so we might live. So if we are going to be free in and through Him, we need to sacrifice our own wants in life so to be about His business, just as He was always about the business of His Father God.

 Friends, the question to ponder on this day of independence is this:

Are you truly free today or are you out celebrating some counterfeit freedom that will not endure?

If you’re not in Jesus, then your freedom is just a worldly construct and I pray you might be ready to chance that, making today the day of your salvation, the day that you find your real liberty in this life and the eternal life to come through Jesus Christ who proclaimed:

If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  John 8:36

Amen. 

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.