How to Let Spiritual Freedom Ring

In America, we celebrated our country’s independence this week. A day of deliverance and freedom dating back to 1776.  

But freedom isn’t free. Instead, blood, sweat, and tears worked together in order for freedom to ring loud and clear across this great land of ours.

Further, not only is freedom not free, but it also must be maintained. 

You see, any country and people are at risk to lose the freedoms meant for our welfare. The freedoms we enjoy and hold dear. This can happen when government’s corrupt—no longer “for” the people and “by” the people. 

Another danger lurks nearby when our personal choices enslave us either physically (jail, addictions, etc.) or spiritually (sin, idols, etc.). Still, the physical and spiritual realms often intersect when it comes to freedom.

Freedom Maintenance

Look at how the Apostle Paul describes freedom: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 (NIV)

Notice the reason Christ sets us free as His people is for freedom’s sake. Why? Because the second half of that verse explains how we can find ourselves in bondage again—lose our freedom in Jesus.

Keeping our freedom intact is a wonderful way to let our spiritual freedom ring. Also, standing firm in our testimony, beliefs, and faith lets freedom ring for others to see and hear. 

So here are 4 ways to let our spiritual freedom R-I-N-G.

Let Spiritual Freedom Ring: The Price Paid

R – Remember the price paid for freedom.

What Wisdom From Heaven Looks Like

What if wisdom from heaven is unlike anything we ever thought about wisdom and the Bible tells us what it looks like?

Perhaps like me, you’ve done your own search for sources of earthly wisdom at various stages of life. 

Because we find it in many forms: reading, education, online classes, asking experts or family and friends, Google searches, and so on. 

But gaining knowledge doesn’t always equal wisely applying it to life. 

So what does this mean when it comes to wisdom from heaven?

Wisdom from heaven, spiritual wisdom, is also meant to take knowledge, godly knowledge, and apply it to our life here on earth. 

Look at one way the Bible describes it. 

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” James 3:17 (NIV)

Let’s discuss each of these aspects of what wisdom from heaven really looks like.

10 Freeing Ways to Be Set Apart for God

We often misunderstand what set apart means for God’s people. Because the purpose in being set apart is to be set to something else. It means set apart for God.

Biblically speaking, something else is desiring what God desires for us. 

It means desiring someone else, desiring God. And not desiring the things of this world more than the Lord.

So here are 10 freeing ways we are set apart for God and to Him.

(1.) Set apart from other gods.

Even after we realize God is the one true God, we still struggle with letting Him reign supreme in our lives. And other gods are anything or anyone that take the Lord’s place in our heart, even “me” and my desires.

(2.) Set apart for God, not religion. 

When the Lord sets us apart from the rules and regulations of doing to obtain salvation, we are free to just being in Him, His free gift of grace. This sets us to a deep and intimate relationship with the God of the universe.

(3.) Set apart from culture. 

God never meant for us to look to humans (including ourselves) for how to live and make important life decisions. People operate in the natural while God operates in the supernatural. God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). 

10 Reasons to Celebrate God as Abba Father

I first met God as Father at sixteen. Since that day, the Lord Almighty is my Abba Father. 

And the Bible confirms this happens when we accept Christ as Savior, God’s gift of salvation.

“…God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba Father!’” Galatians 4:6b (NIV)

This meant everything to me then and now. Because my earthly-father story includes chapters of abandonment, a longing to know my biological father and dreams to be loved by a father.

And there’s a redemptive ending that still amazes me.

You see, every Father’s Day I celebrate three fathers. 

First, during my dad’s absence, a wonderful stepfather came into my life as a young girl.

Wendell loved and cared for me like his own flesh and blood. Since fatherhood runs much deeper than bloodline, he’s an amazing dad to this day.

Next, my biological father came back into my life in elementary school. And we slowly rebuilt a father-child relationship again. But he was an atheist. So as soon as I became a child of God, I started praying for my dad. Sixteen years and over 5000 prayers later, my biological father became a child of the heavenly Father, too.

Dad passed away in 2010. And I’m always a little tear-filled this time of year. I really miss him.

Yet, as we honor fathers this month, I also want to celebrate God as my Father. 

Regardless of our earthly-father experience, God as Father, rises above any father definitions we write into our stories. He is Abba Father. Here are 10 of my favorite fatherly attributes of God. 

Abba Father Loves

(1) He adopted me.

“God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)

16 Year Journey Praying for My Atheist Father

What are you praying for? Have you prayed hundreds or thousands of times for something? I travelled a 16 year journey praying for my father to believe in God. And I prayed over 5,000 times.

You see, when my twin sister and I were little, our father disappeared from our life. My mom and stepfather took us to church, but we didn’t understand much about God or prayer. 

Along about fourth grade, my dad reappeared and wanted to be a part of my life again. I’ll never forget what he told me at nine-years-old, “People think there’s a God, but there’s not.” 

Not understanding it at the time, I knew later my dad was an atheist. 

This confused my young heart, wondering, Is God real and does He love me? 

16 Year Journey: Praying When Faith Wanes

Then something wonderful happened. At sixteen, both me and my sister prayed to receive Jesus Christ as Savior at a church revival. Sixteen turned out to be sweet after all.

That night as I crawled into bed, I decided to pray daily for my father to believe in God and accept Christ. Even though I was a young Christian, I missed very few days praying for my dad. 

Soon I went off to college and continued to pray and asked others to pray.

But, I admit my faith waned many times. My dad seemed hard-hearted and unreachable. So when I was a young woman a mentor encouraged me to insert my father’s name into Scripture about salvation and pray it out loud. 

John 3:16, For God so loved Gene, that he gave his only Son, that if Gene believes in him, he will not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 10:13, If Gene calls on the name of the Lord, he will be saved.

Power When Scripture’s Prayed

20 Journal Thoughts That Changed My Life

Journaling is therapy for me, for my soul. This is why I boldly claim that journaling has indeed changed my life.

I’ve always loved to journal. And during certain seasons of life, journaling became a lifeline and would draw me closer to the Lord all in the same stroke of the pen.

Some thoughts the Lord gave me in the past, but are helpful now.

While others are fresh inspiration from the Lord and useful for the daily Christian journey.

So I’m letting you peek into my personal journal for 20 thoughts. I hope they encourage you and bring life to your soul.

Because these particular entries changed my life.

The Cross Changed My Life

(1.) When life’s disappointments attempt to become my unwelcome friend, I remember Jesus calls me friend (John 15:5). If I visualize Christ as my best friend, it comforts me that I am never alone, always have someone to talk to, and have a shoulder to lean on.

(2.) I must cling to the only sure hope in the darkness. Jesus. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” John 1:5 ESV.

(3.) Lord, place the cross and the blood of Jesus between me and the enemy, and between me and difficult people and circumstances. There’s nothing Your redemptive blood doesn’t cover. And there’s nothing it can’t redeem. This prayer has changed my life and perspective.

A God Who Sees and Cares

Have you ever felt unseen? What about lonely? Maybe you’ve wondered if anyone cares and struggled with life meaning. All these emotions hit us hard and often with people all around us. But rest assured God sees and cares.

So this is for you.

The woman who feels invisible.

A mom surrounded by loneliness.

The woman who wonders if anyone cares.

The man struggling with life meaning.

This is for anyone touched by hopelessness and souls caught in the pit of despair.

And for the lost who don’t believe they can be found.

To everyone who questions God’s existence or love.

Or, if you ever wonder:

 Is God there? Does He know? Does He see? And does He care?

God Sees and Cares

We find a story of the God who sees and cares in Genesis 16. Childless, Sarai (later called Sarah) devises a plan for her servant Hagar to conceive her husband’s child. Hagar obliges, but Sarai regrets her scheme and deals harshly with Hagar.

So Hagar flees the scene. Alone in the wilderness, she encounters an angel of the Lord who tells her how she will bear a son, her offspring will be multiplied, and to return and submit to her mistress.

Within this narrative, Hagar recognized a powerful truth about God. He’s a God who sees and cares.

“So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are a God of seeing,’ for she said, ‘Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.’” Genesis 16:13 (ESV, emphasis added)

Keeping Your Eyes Wide Open for God

Keep your eyes wide open. 

Maybe you keep a watchful eye on your neighbor’s house while they are out of town. Perhaps you help look for a friend’s lost pet. 

Or, we watch for a specific job ad in the paper or online and ask others to keep an eye out for the position.

Yet, to keep our eyes open sometimes proves difficult. Like when we are sleep deprived. Or, during a scary movie or gruesome video. 

And keeping our eyes wide open putting in eye drops. Anybody else have a hard time with this? 

But to keep our spiritual eyes open often proves most difficult of all. 

Similar to how we were once spiritually blind to Jesus and salvation, we also need to open our spiritual eyes to God’s presence and His work in our daily lives.

Psalm 105 in The Message says this: 

Hallelujah! Thank God! Pray to him by name! Tell everyone you meet what he has done! Sing him songs, belt out hymns, translate his wonders into music! Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs, you who seek God. Live a happy life! Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works; be alert for signs of his presence. Remember the world of wonders he has made, his miracles…(Verses 1-5a, emphasis added).

Maybe we tell others of all the great things God has done for us. And we praise the Lord for every deed or blessing from His hand.

Yet, we miss the second vital part. We fail to look for God’s presence Sunday through Saturday, 24/7. We forget to watch for God to display His wonders in our lives today and every day.

4 Things We Control: God Controls the Rest

Have you ever wished for control? 

I’ve desired control over circumstances, relationships, people, and other areas of life. 

The no-control feeling reminds me of an amusement park ride. Because the controls are in the hands of the ride operator, not me or any other rider.

So the few times friends talked me into a free-fall ride or roller coaster, I prayed the entire time for the Lord to get my feet back on the ground. 

It’s a helpless feeling.

While the Lord continues to teach me how I’ve never had control, the struggle still sometimes rears its ugly head.

I believe God is always in control. And He’s on His throne. The Lord’s CEO of the world and my life. So if the Lord manages the world and all of creation, He certainly manages my life well.

But I discovered a few things within my control. And God controls everything else.

(1.) Attitude. 

Why do parents, teachers, and coaches often ask for an attitude adjustment? Because for kids and adults alike, our attitude is something within our control. Attitude makes all the difference in tough circumstances, a relationship hiccup, an unwanted project at work, and so on. 

We learn a lot about attitude from Jesus.

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility consider one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 2:3-5 (NASB, emphasis added)

(2.) Control Over Choices. 

I Don’t Need to Be Enough: Jesus is Enough

Have you ever felt like you’re not enough? My hand’s raised. 

Maybe the less-than feeling stems from a relationship, job, competition, role, life dream, comparison, our own inner critic, perfectionism, or other.

And the enemy of our soul is often behind our negative self-talk and the world’s expectations that lead to I’m-not-enough thoughts.

The enemy will even use other people to drive the point home in our hearts.

But—and this “but” may surprise you—the phrase You are enough circulating on social media and in articles and podcasts and so on, gives us the idea that we are enough in and of ourselves. 

While I really do understand the sentiments behind the popular statement; friends, it’s simply not true. I am not enough in myself. Jesus is enough. 

Because Jesus is enough, it gives us a complete identity in Him. We no longer need to concern ourselves with what the world or people say is enough. 

Also, we quit comparing ourselves to anyone else. It’s so freeing to know who I am in Christ and letting go of comparison. I’m thankful God doesn’t create cookie-cutter people.

So let’s look at how Jesus is E.N.O.U.G.H. and how it helps us see ourselves in the correct light.

Jesus Is Enough

E – Endured the Cross. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)

Jesus endured the cross so we didn’t have to.