What if you are free?
What if you just don’t fully realize it yet?
If this is indeed the case, doesn’t it make sense that the enemy would do everything in his power to keep you from realizing your freedom?
What if you could live free?
Is freedom possible? Absolutely! In order to see how, let’s take a look at one of the largest and most wide-spread occurrences of freedom from bondage in all of history—the deliverance of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.
The Israelites
God’s chosen people, the Israelites, were in captivity for 400 years. Despite the brutal conditions, they were able not only to survive, but thrive.
The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied (Exodus 1:12).
Suffering and hardship is a necessary part of the Christian life, however the bondage from the hardship is not. God wants His people to be free—free to worship Him, raise their families, grow, and thrive.
What if your past attempts at obtaining freedom were not failed attempts? What if you just stopped too soon? What if you came into an understanding of how God was working in your life, and partnered with the work of the Spirit to enter into a greater freedom than you ever thought possible?
God wants you to be completely free. He wants to undo layers of bondage in your life, one at a time, not to frustrate you, but so that you may be ultimately more free than ever.
Beginning Your Journey to Freedom
Are you ready to embark on this journey to freedom? Here’s a few things that will be important to understand:
- We ALL have areas in our lives where we need freedom.
It wasn’t just some of the Israelites who needed freedom—they all did, from the least to the greatest, including Moses. When we think of “freedom from bondage,” we might think, “well, I’m not an addict, why would I need freedom?” However, what about anger, materialism, fear, worry, insecurity, the opinions of others… you get the idea. We all need freedom from something.
- Sometimes it will get worse before it gets better.
We have to understand the “bricks without straw” principle. Pharaoh’s first response to Moses’s plea for freedom was to force the Israelites to gather their own straw for the bricks. Similarly, when we begin the process of engaging freedom, the enemy will try to make life harder. In fact it is often the very area in your life where you are experiencing the most resistance where God wants to bring your next breakthrough. Many who don’t understand this tactic of the enemy will quit. Breaking through to freedom is not for the faint of heart. Not only this, but the plagues stirred up opposition from the enemy; he doesn’t want to let you go because he’s scared to death of the power of your freedom.
- When God exposes something in your life, it is for the purpose of freeing you from it.
In the next 21 days, you will uncover things in your life that will make you uncomfortable. Do not feel embarrassed, discouraged, or defeated. The underlying root cause of your bondage needs to be brought to the surface so it can be defeated and removed. God is exposing these areas not to shame you, but to free you!
In many cases, people want freedom but they’ve tried and failed, can’t envision life on the other side, or they don’t know how. Thus, we need:
What if someone gave you the roadmap to get there? What if you dared to take steps forward again?
Method and Rhythm
It takes twenty-one days to build a habit, so for the next twenty-one days we are going to follow this rhythm:
- Five Days of Content
- One Day of Review
- One Day of Rest
For the days of content, each day will contain:
A Passage of Scripture
We encourage you to begin by reading the entire suggested passage as it will provide context. Also, the Holy Spirit will reveal additional insight to you as you read.
A Key Verse
While the entire passage is important, we have highlighted a key verse that can be used to bring focus to what the Holy Spirit is doing. It can be used for meditation throughout the day or even memorized.
A Key Thought
- The Voice of the Enemy – In the style of C.S. Lewis’ classic Screwtape Letters, we will expose the works of the enemy by using dialog written from his perspective, as if he is writing to one of his young demons.
- The Voice of the Father – Words from the passage are then written from the perspective of the Father, speaking over your life.
Questions
You will then find several questions; we encourage you to engage with them by writing out your responses. It is here that the work takes place. These questions will force you to confront things you have been avoiding, to face some demons you’ve been hiding, and to expose some things that perhaps you’ve been trying to cover up. It is here that the Holy Spirit will be at work, exposing these things not to bring shame, but to bring victory!
Review
On the sixth day, we encourage you to re-read your responses from the first five days. Remind yourself of what God has been speaking to you.
Rest
Remember the Sabbath. Take a day of rest. While you can begin this journey at any time, we encourage you to consider beginning on a Monday so that the review can occur on a Saturday and the day of rest would correspond with your day of worship at your church.
Are you ready to be free? God is going to lead you on this Journey to Freedom.
