Fly FREE!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free"  (Galatians 5:1)

God gave me two words yesterday. "Fly Free"! Each time my eyes would land on a bird soaring through the air, my heart said, "Fly Free!" The word "free" has such a sentimental place in my heart and has since 2003 when Jesus set me FREE from the sin and shame of having an abortion. My heart longed to truly be free, but somehow I just didn't know how as long as I was carrying the chains of shame behind me.

Watching birds is so soothing for me. Flying from tree to tree, methodically manuevering between branches, knowing where the food is, and singing all the while. My heart was drawn to birds that I see in the pet stores. I feel so sorry for them, because the cage is all they'll ever know, and in reality, if they were released into the free space of the sky, they would probably die from the predators that lurk, waiting for the weak.

Up until seven years ago, I was that caged bird, willingly bound, because I felt too weak, too ill-equipped, too worthless to "fly free", but oh, how wrong I was! For every truth, there is counterfeit, a lie, waiting to take up residency in our hearts. Through the Truth of God's word I have embraced that...

I am God's child (John 1:12); I am Christ's friend (John 15:5); I have been justified (Romans 5:1); I am a saint, a holy one (Ephesians 1:1); I have been redeemed and forgiven of ALL my sins (Colossians 1:14); I am complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10); I am free forever from condemnation (Romans 8:1-2); I cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39); I may approach God with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12)

The door to the cage is open...FLY FREE!!!!

Roots Exposed

The roots of our faith grow deep as we journey in our walk with Jesus.  With each passing year, the roots should grow deeper and stronger as they search for the "Living Water" that nourishes them and makes them take deeper root.  Life happens though...storms of disappointment, anger, disease, failure, shame, deceit, and struggle try to erode the foundation of our lives in Christ.  With each storm, the erosion has to be tended to, filled in, and rebuilt, otherwise the roots become exposed and vulnerable.  But no matter how many storms crash against our lives, our foundation is always secure in Christ Jesus.

"It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain."

(Isaiah 4:6)

Rushing Water

"6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."  (Colossians 2:6-7)

It was a gorgeous, Spring-like day this past Saturday in the South.  Temperatures in the 60's beckoned our family to take an extended ride on the Greenway.  As God would have it, one of the tires blew on a bike about 7-8 miles from our starting point.  I volunteered to stay back and let someone come back and get me and the wounded bike.  I had some time to look at the river as it rushed by.  We've had quite a bit of rain so the river has been consistently up .

As I was basically in a trance looking at the water, my eyes happened upon these two scenes.  Looking up and down the banks of the river from where it had swelled, there were large logs and debris that got caught in the current.  But then I looked down and saw this tiny twig.  It swayed with the current, but it was never uprooted.  Why?  Because it's foundation was planted far enough into the river bed that that current couldn't sweep it away.  The larger log couldn't stay in its place because it had nothing to hold it there.

In this crazy fallen world that we live in, we have to be deeply rooted and established in Christ, otherwise the troubles, challenges, heartbreaks, and just the busyness of life will sweep us away.

The Wounded

So, I'm on my run this morning, being very "God aware", asking Him to teach me as I ran.  I'm finding that I see Him lots more when I get OUT!  I encourage any of you reading that do not get outdoors much to bundle up and get ready for His Glory!  He's out there waiting!  Now, I'm not saying that He can't give you spiritual truths while you're doing laundry, scrubbing toilets, or vacuuming, but it's much prettier outside.

I'm running down Riverview Drive when I happen upon a squirrel that had been hit and killed by a car.  It was obvious that it hadn't been there long because of the way it lay as if it just looked like it was taking a nap in the road.  As I passed, my mind went to a place of, "Maybe it's still alive, and I just need to gently move it to the grass so it will survive.  Next thought, "If I pick that wounded thing up, it will surely BITE ME"!  It was obvious that it was dead, but here's where God began weaving His teaching into my heart.

Just like it was very probable if I picked up a wounded animal and it bit me, that is very true of humans as well.  Mike and I have an awesome privilege of walking with wounded people every day.  Unfortunately, as we try to pick them up and move them to the side of the road, they BITE.  Hurting people have a tendency to hurt people, but even as Jesus was being spat upon, whipped, scourged, ridiculed, and ultimately slain, He did not bite back. 

It is so hard as imperfect humans to grasp that fact, but as I learned in a great way at Passion in Atlanta, "3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2Peter 1:3)  We have EVERYTHING THAT WE NEED when life, or the people in life BITE US.  We just have to access that Divine Power instead of relying on our own strength.

Purity

Soccer on a snowy Saturday...The beauty of falling white snow is purification for me. It's as if God's cleansing, perfect Self is covering me. All that is blemished and imperfect covered by the white snow. The snow will melt, and all that's underneath will be exposed, but I am so thankful that Christ's purification through His blood on the cross will never leave or ever melt away. I am pure because of Him. Nothing that I will ever do or not do will change His total acceptance of me. Because of Him, I am transformed as the snow transforms the Earth. Praise Him!

"To appreciate the beauty of a snowflake, it is necessary to stand in the cold."

Daffodils

The daffodils bend as the wind pours over them. They sway, but they never lay down. They are resilient...they continue to bloom no matter how much they are blown...if it rains on them it doesn't destroy them. In Christ we have the strength to be like the daffodil. The winds, storms, and rains of life may try to make us buckle, lay down, or even be destroyed, but in Christ we can always rise above and bloom.

"The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." Matt. 7:25