New Found Freedom

Hey friends! I am excited to share with you some news, so I’ll just get right into it! The Holy Spirit has been whispering truths into my mind. The truth I’m hearing is so different from the strongholds that have been dominating my thoughts. I can sense God saying that “it is time.” It is time for my mind to be FREE. “When anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:16-17

I don’t know why I am just now beginning to understand things I never understood before, but it is getting me pumped! Romans 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

I do not know where you stand in your relationship with Christ right now. You may be in wonder over God’s love, or you may wonder if His love really exists. All I can offer is my heart, so here it is. My entire life I have battled with the same detestable strongholds. They may wear different disguises, but the strongholds of fear, self doubt, shame, and guilt are often at the root of my decisions. Thankfully, God is chipping away the old and bringing the new. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:17 While I have dark moments of questioning, I choose to believe through the daily grind that God loves me, He has breathed purpose into me, and I will follow His Word.

Earlier I said I wasn’t sure exactly why I was just now willing to understand these new lessons, but I lied. =0) It is my firm belief that without daily disciplines (prayer, reading the Word, asking questions and discussing issues with Christian people, etc.), it will be difficult to hear the big lessons in life, and freedom from strongholds will be nearly impossible. The process of becoming new is just that, a process. It isn’t instant. I want God to just get rid of my addictive personality that is clothed in shame and guilt and extreme fear. I want Him to zap me of my insecurity. I get disappointed, angry, confused, and hurt when I pray and pray for Him to do things and they don’t happen. But like I said, it is a daily commitment to let go of control and let God do His transforming work. That is how we recognize His will. “. . . be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is. . .” This is hard work.

The process of having a renewed mind in Christ can be painful, but what I am learning is that when I embrace suffering and my own weakness, I am inviting Grace and Mercy into my life. “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” 2 Corinthians 11:9. God longs for us to be FREE in the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and FREE in the teachings of the Holy Spirit. Will you choose to let Him set you free?

I’m not a scholarly theologian or a pastor. I don’t have all the answers. I am a mess in so many areas of my life and I have a long way to go on this journey of faith, but I do know that God is renewing my mind. I am experiencing FREEDOM like no other. It isn’t by my own doing. It is the result of an all powerful, awe-inspiring God.

I wasn’t going to share this because it is kind of a vulnerable thing, but I wrote a poem about my recent journey. I think it sums up what I’m trying to say. I pray that you begin to understand that you no longer have to allow strongholds to control your mind. As Beth Moore says, “Strongholds are only pretending to have more power over your mind than Christ. It simply isn’t true.”

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I sit alone in the silence
No one here to rescue me
No one here to rescue me from the thoughts in my head
Doubt, fear, and guilt fill me with dread

Oh God, where are you in the pain?
I can barely see through tears that sting
The silence is deafening
Then I hear you beckoning
Rescue me! Oh God rescue me!

So you stretch out your Mighty Hand
You’ve had enough
You’ve had enough of the thoughts in my head
Now its peace, grace, and love you being to thread

Oh God, please hold me in the pain
For I know you intend to kill the shame
Your glory is deafening
I can hear you beckoning
You’ve rescued me! Oh God you’ve rescued me!

May the storm of thoughts that lie and bind
Be torn away, get left behind
Cause you’re transforming my heart and renewing my mind
You’re transforming this heart, renewing this mind
I’m free! I am free!
Thank you God, I am finally free. . .


Songs that keep inspiring this new found freedom:

Beautiful Things, Gungor

Your Hands, JJ Heller
Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, Chris Tomlin