freedom

"There is something hidden and mysterious about freedom. It is like manna in that is always a gift given, and never a product controlled and understood. Like manna, it is not something that can be stored up and taken for granted, because than it turns sour and we don’t have it anymore. It states the heart of our faith and our greatest temptation. It is that which we most want, and yet every calculation effort to secure it is fraught with problems. It is always a delicate reality in our lives. That freedom, when it comes, comes from God; yet at the same time those who do not care for , nurture, and celebrate freedom when it is given are likely not to enjoy it very long." (Walter Brueggemann, Living toward a vision, pg 41)

When I read this I was blown away! The way that Walter is able to word what freedom is so powerful and profound. It made me look into freedom and what it had to be for the Jewish community in the days of Christ. To speak the words of Freedom had to shake the very spirits of the people, here are Jews once again in captivity by a nation. The former time, it was by a man named Pharaoh, who had Israel in captivity as was over-lording over God's people. Made them bound under his yoke, and made the Israelites slaves and treated them horrible with his own motives for them and not letting them live in their own community. Than Moses stepped onto the seen with a message from God [Yahweh]... "Let My People GO!" At first Pharaoh refused to give up his authority over Israel and challenged the Lord, and when God changed the water to blood so didn’t Pharaoh’s magicians [Ex. 7:22], and also with the frogs [Ex. 8:7] but then God sent gnats and the magicians could not imitate this and said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God.” People who practice evil so that they can rule over people see that a new and true God is here and He wants to set His people free. Hear this at the Brickyard had to bring great hope for the Israel nation, for here the person that they are serving has been shown up by God! And this God wants to bring them into freedom. I can’t even imagine what had to be going through the minds of the slaves, as to what was going to happen at the dawn of freedom. A word that most likely never entered their mind, they before that word was spoken was bound to the idea of being slaves. Then a spoken truth of Freedom awakened their spirit to go worship the God whose desire is to save them and bring them into a Godly peace.

Now that freedom in the Exodus alone did not come without a price, and many people complained and desired to go back into slavery for they did not understand nor desire for true freedom. For the path of freedom is a hard one and can bring with it many trials, for it’s a path that most people don’t understand how to walk along the path. There can be fear when you don’t fully grasp the value of freedom, also fear creeps in when you don’t give up your old life. Some of the Israelites were still clinging onto the intolerance of living in the captivity of Egypt because that was certain, following freedom and Christ is strictly by faith. This is still something that also catches my attention people who were complaining to God because of their slavery; would rather go back into the same thing that they pleaded to be taken from because what they are doing now is new and uncertain. How does that happen so fast? Why is the comforts, of our old life, so strong that is distorts the thing we are earnestly asking for?

Now we look at the gospel and see what Jesus did, we see the same thing happening but in a stronger and more definite way. Jesus arrives and again Israel is in bondage; this time it’s not only to another nation, but also to the religious leaders that were to be shepherding them instead were burdening them with tasks. This freedom that Jesus had to bring had to be superior and even overshadow the freedom brought by the exodus, for the people already knew God but they didn’t have any understanding of who He was. And here comes Jesus first words of His ministry “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”[Mk. 1:15] Speaking words of freedom! Here is a nation that has been taken captive again to work for the country that owned it. A Jewish man stands up and says the Kingdom of our God-Yahweh is coming, the God of Freedom, the God who has watched out for us throughout the generations… His Kingdom is comes. Telling people to get ready the radical shift that happened in Egypt is nothing compared to the shift that you are about to encounter. Speaking the new life of freedom and showing what freedom was to the people who needed to experience freedom the most: poor, unaccepted, sinners, leapers, and sick. Think about the group that He set free while His ministry was going on; a leaper was able to reenter society because he was healed! The freedom this man felt not to be an outcast we could never understand, for he had fear being around people and had to keep bells on himself… But after Christ no more bells no more fear but freedom to be. And one more to mention, a man was blind from birth that’s right from birth, and he receives his sight! He didn’t even know what society was he had no vision of what it could be, and now he has a vision of Freedom because of Christ. He was free from relying on everyone, free from asking for things, another person free to be.

Now Jesus finishes His ministry by taking our sins and going to the cross to bring our freedom to the fullest extent it could go. Even a Roman centurion a man who is an oppressor of God’s people says “Truly this man was the Son of God!”[Matt. 27:54] Could you envision this, a strong, emotionless, and powerful person goes and says boldly that Jesus was the Son of God, the mindset that this person had to have at that point to say this out loud is astronomical. Also, Matthew shows an amazing point “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs where opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”[Matt.51-53] This is the power of Christ and of freedom, it works before good Sunday! His power was not limited it had been finished so the freedom had begun, there was no need for more, and three days later he himself rose and spoke with his disciples.

Then Jesus does something that is still even more powerful, He gives His Spirit to live in us so that we can embrace and walk in the liberty that we were saved into. We are free from discouragement, fear, unworthiness, temptation, anger, and anything that coerces our lives that isn’t God. Here is some great wisdom by Paul, “For freedom Christ has set us free; sand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”[Gal. 5:1] I absolutely love this verse; it has so much wisdom for a verse that is said so often. Christ desired for you and me to have freedom so he fought for you to have true freedom challenged the authorities of the day and won, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”[Col. 2:15] So, now Christ showing His Kingship gives us freedom! Paul also gives a warning, as the Israelites desired to go back to Egypt because it was easy, Paul is giving the same warning. Don’t! Even beyond don’t he says don’t “submit again” the idea that you have to give up your freedom to become a slave this time. Also, a great word in that passage is “a” Paul sums up every style of slavery in one word. So let’s rejoice in the freedom that Christ has given and not abuse it by seeking false safety.

Washing his disciple's feet.

• John 13:1-20
• Jesus is talking to his disciples, and having dinner with them. Drawing close and showing the real heart of Jesus, and the compassion that He has for those who are His.
o Enjoying being real and not setting himself apart from them, he would continually sit with them, and fellowship over food.
• Now Jesus Gets up from the table and removes his outer garment, and places a towel around his waist…
o I feel that this is a symbolization of what Jesus did with his eternal holy garments; He took them off and came down here to show us love that He, the Father, and the Holy Spirit have had for us since the beginning. Also, to bring us to eternal life, so that we may experience their love throughout all time.
• Jesus the True King of the world is now down on his knees with a towel and a bowl of water, to wash His disciple’s feet.
o To quote Jesus from Mark 10, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." So than if Jesus himself came to serve what are we to do?
• As Jesus was washing their feet, He continued to tell his disciples that they were clean but yet it’s still possible to become dirty so he needed to wash their feet.
o We are the same way when we walk in sin or just have the world come and cling onto us, we need a continual washing of our feet so that we can stay pure.
• Afterward Jesus returned to place his outer garments back on, and then began to speak to them. Telling them that they are to act and treat other people in the same manner as he treated them.
o I feel that this also, in the same manner, is what Jesus did when he died and rose again. His last words to them from Matthew,” And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” So now Jesus has been clothed in His Glory, and we are to follow what he has asked us to do.

Being content with what God gives us.

In second Samuel 15:23, 26, Abiathar the king talks to Zadok the priest after he returns the Ark of the Covenant. And Abiathar says to Zadok, "Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me back and let me see both it and his dwelling place. 26But if he says, 'I have no pleasure in you,' behold, here I am, let him do to me what seems good to him." I feel that this statement should be our hearts cry to God, not to be worried about what he does with other but more concerned with what he wants to do with us. We continually look at other Christians or other churches and desire to be like them, but that is not what we are to be.
Peter was talking to Jesus and Jesus told peter how his ministry would be, and Peter responded with wondering what was going to happen to John, and Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!" Here Jesus is trying to show that we are not to be concerned with other people’s ministries but with what God has planned for us.
This is so ingenious because so many people look at other people and want to have their ministry or they point a blaming finger at them. This is something that shouldn't happen because we’re all bondservants so it shouldn't matter what we do but that we feel blessed by what we are allowed to do. We are to be a light to the rest of the world, how can we be lights to the world if we are bickering or being jealous of other?
Furthermore we are not to do this alone, for we are to build each other up corporately as to become complete together. So as Romans says we should, "Outdo one another in showing honor."

Matthew 5:43-48

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus is explaining what righteousness is, the righteousness that he fulfilled truly is. That his righteousness involves freedom to love and serve regardless of other peoples words or actions towards you. We must as a community of believers shows what the love of Christ truly looks like. This section is connected with the previous passage about retaliation, and they are both dealing with righteousness, to love others even if they don't love or care for you. People, who are completely following God, are relying on God's overflowing love, so that they can treat their enemy in a more love service.
Jesus starts off by quoting an Old Testament verse that tells the Israel to love their neighbor, but it never tells them to hate their enemy. That was most likely added by scribe’s years later, but it was still common enough to have most of the crowd agree with that statement. With that being said Jesus shows that the idea of loving your neighbor was to love everyone not just your fellow countrymen, and men of faith. Jesus has us move towards our enemies in a new and surprising way, to deal lovingly with them, so that we may be able to lead them to the Father. Jesus' good news is that they that seem like enemies are now treated like friends so that they will not remain His enemy.
So when we begin to love as Jesus had asked us to, we are living as His children and mirroring the Father. We begin to resemble Christ in this love; we begin to be peacemakers and as Jesus said earlier in this chapter, peacemakers will be called sons of God. So when we are peacemakers we can show God's shalom to others in the mist of conflict. God is the one who gives us the strength to give peace, forgiveness, and healing in the mist and place of evil.

Amazing love

“An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others.” A.W. Tozer

I truly love this quote the thought that God gives everyone of us, all of him and there is no difference in the amount of love that is shown. One of the only differences is how we receive his love, and make it our own and how our view of that love affects the way that we live out our lives, and how we view the Father. For God ways are infinite so therefore His love is infinite, how can something that is infinite give less than all of Himself to people. Also, if He is unable to give everything too all, than He is no longer god but makes himself a liar. What an amazing God we have that all of his attributes are infinite and because of that we can fellowship him completely in all aspects of life, knowing that we are embraced equally that God makes no separation. This is such a wonderful thought to dwell on seeing as even when we are sinning or have made horrible decisions, that there is no difference between us and the most righteousness and purest person. God simply loves you with all of him, and the love is so powerful that it destroyed death, and it is so pure that there is no fear involved with this love. For as 1 John says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” This is the love that the Father has shown us time and again, and this is the love that we need to lean into and place our faith and trust in. Knowing that God will never leave us nor will he forsake us.

Meekness, and gentleness shown.

I have always admired these traits that are talked about in not only the Sermon on the Mount, but also in Paul's letter to the Galatians. And Jesus shows this not only in his death, but also the way he treated other people who he spoke to and the people that followed him. In Luke 4:23a, "And He said to them, "No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ' Physician, heal yourself!" Even after prophesying of how they are going to treat him, and what they will say to him while He is dying on the cross and paying for their sins; He still love the people and treats them with loving compassion. Still heals the sick, changes the hearts to care for the oppressed and speaks words of life to the people. He knew that the will of the Father was to a greater good, so he had no reason to seek for his own will or even to defend himself. I believe that many times we should try to see what the end outcome and know that the affliction that we face now will come out to be good in the end. I feel that many times we get caught up in the present, and we react in ways that if we would have been calm about it we would react in the way that Christ wants us.

Truth of People.

“Do you not know that there comes a midnight hour when every one has to throw off his mask? Do you believe that life will always let itself be mocked? Do you think you can slip away a little before midnight in order to avoid this? Or are you not terrified by it? I have seen men in real life who so long deceived others that at last their true nature could not reveal itself;... In every man there is something which to a certain degree prevents him from becoming perfectly transparent to himself; and this may be the case in so high a degree, he may be so inexplicably woven into relationships of life which extend far beyond himself that he almost cannot reveal himself. But he who cannot reveal himself cannot love, and he who cannot love is the most unhappy man of all.” -Soren Kierkegaard

I just love this quote because it deals with both our relationship with the Father, and also to one another. Everyone understands the idea of people wearing mask, but I love the curiosity of his question, "Do you believe that life will always let itself be mocked?" We all know that God can not be mocked as said in Galatians 6:7a, "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked." So Soren pushes the idea that even this world can't be mocked. How won't it be mocked? He says that they who wear mask can't trust nor love, and if you can't have true love than you are the most unhappy person of all, so therefore you will reap what you sow. I feel that so many times we are like this with our relationship with our Father. First, we wear masks when we are with the Father we are one way, yet when we are with our friends we are not the same person. We are two different people, who may look similar but we are lying to one of them. If God we are not as sincere as we thought we were towards him, and if to others than we are lying to both them and too God for we are flesh with the flesh, yet act like spirit when with God. But we cannot be that way we have to be the same with God as we are to others.(Not in our love for we are to love God far more, but in the way that we act, and in our speech.)Also, if we are not transparent to our God whether we like it or not one day we will stand bare before our God who will be able to look though us and see who we truly are. Soren ask again the question, "Do you think you can slip away a little before midnight in order to avoid this? Or are you not terrified by it?" This is something that should be feared because we are called to let Christ reign inside us and let his light shine forth from us. How can his light shine forth from us if we are hiding it by making ourselves more comfortable.