as is.

so ive been thinking. ive been listening to a lot of people talking about "freedom". as in freedom in Christ. "freedom freedom freedom freedom". free from this, free from that, free from freeing freed freeople. and i get it. "who the Son sets free is free indeed" john 8:36. okay. true that. but here is where i have found myself wondering with this idea of freedom lately.
Jesus came to set us free. free from what? free from bondage and sickness and brokenness....and ultimately free from an eternity in hell.! and in my opinion it is, obviously, that last freedom that matters most. before Jesus, you were just kind of doomed. there was a million sacrifices and rituals and rules and on and on...so many and so meticulous that no man on earth could accomplish it all. so Jesus comes, which is basically Gods way of saying "follow and believe in this man, and you are free to live forever with me". thats it. the gift of salvation. awesome.
BUT we live in a broken place. and even with Jesus we are fighting to not be broken people. it is because of the sins of our first parents that we cannot experience absolute freedom here on this earth. and that is where i am headed in my thought...i dont think it is possible to experience complete freedom here. freedom in some areas, yes. but if we could be completely free here, what would be the point of heaven? the devil is alive here. he is constantly roaming the earth, and he looks to kill steal and destroy. he waits as a lion to pounce on y! ou, his prey, (job 1:7, john 10:10, 1 peter 5:8). and even wit! h Jesus alive and in our hearts, even with the Holy Spirit coursing through our veins, we are walking around in what was intended to be a holy place, but has become satans playground. its just true. so how does one experience complete freedom in that? its not possible. all that to say....what i think is God intention in us, knowing that we will not truly be free before we hit the heavenlys, is that we dont ever stop fighting, and we dont walk in fear. ive used the analogy of a slave and 2 masters before. i think i will use it again. so you are a slave, God is a master, satan is a master. God says you are free, satan says i dont think so. with God you have a running start towards your freedom, and should you continue running you will always be 2 steps ahead of satan....BUT satan will never stop chasing you. and the faster and harder you run towards God and freedom, the faster and harder he will run to catch you, and atleast grab an ankle to slow you down.
what am i saying? am i ! saying God doesnt work miracles in freeing people? NO. He SO does. what i am saying is that maybe our cry shouldnt be for freedom, but for strength and wisdom to get through what is absolutely inevitable here on this planet. maybe instead of being angry with God for not freeing us, we should be thanking Him for the ability to even wake up and face our day knowing that through Him all things are possible (phillipians 4:13). cause God doesnt give us anything we cant handle, and God can handle everything......

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