Be Free of Whatever Binds You

In the above categories, many of the bullet listings share multiple symptoms, descriptions, or cross-category actuality… And this listing is by no means complete where human illness, disease, or conditions are concerned…

Furthermore, it is not my intent to impart that you should stop treatments, or medications, or doctor’s supervision, for whatever condition you may be undergoing treatment for…You should continue to pray about who God has put in your life for healing, counseling, encouragement — for help. Pray they are God-sent, or pray they are replaced by those God will send, if they were not sent by him in the first place.

It is, however, my experience and my observation that most of the things that have us bound involve the mind, and how we think… Even Physical Incarceration in the world’s prisons, is – at root – caused from a mental malfunction (for those that are not wrongfully convicted — for those who are, in fact, guilty of what sent them to prison in the first place).

Many of the other things involve abusing our bodies; Alcohol, Drugs, Cigarettes, Sexual Deviations, Eating Disorders, Workaholics, Self-inflicted Injuries, Suicide…

Still others are conditions that we might be born with, or suffer through accidental happenstance resulting in injuries that disable the body or the mind…

We willingly partake in, and of, some of these conditions — others, we are driven to by compulsion. Still others may be inflicted upon us…

So. What is the Good News, with so many problems affecting humanity; both individually and as a whole???

Romans 12: 1 & 2 Address Both the Mind, and the Body

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform 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.

I have written previously about the transformation by the renewing of the mind, not being something you can do, but something God does, when you learn and begin to practice His Word…

There are, however, several other things that should stand out in the above scripture. The context of this scripture is set by verse one beginning with the word, Therefore… This indicates that Chapter 11 should focus the meaning of what follows in 12.

Chapter 11 involves the inclusion of everyone; Jews and Gentiles. Verse 11:11 asked the question, Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? And the question is immediately answered with, Not at all!

Both the Jews and the Gentiles (which includes everyone in the entire world) were disobedient, and neither the Jews or the Gentiles – for all of their disobedience – stumbled beyond recovery… BECAUSE God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable  and God has bound everyone over to disobedience  so that he may have mercy on them all… (altogether another subject I will address later on)

Chapter 11 was the explanation that God had allowed the Israelites to go their own way and to be disobedience so that others (everyone else in the world, or the Gentiles) could be brought under His Grace and Mercies. It is proof that going our own way naturally leads to disobedience.

It is also proof that, in the worst of your disobedience… in the midst of your darkest actions, you are not too far gone for His Grace and Mercy… for salvation of your soul, and for deliverance from, or endurance for, whatever you are suffering…

Are you tired of the fruits of your disobedience??? Are you suffering from genetic disorders, disease, afflictions, or any other negative circumstance that is no fault of your own??? Are you too weak to overcome whatever addictions you have embraced??? Are you tired of being tired???

Well… of course you are…

Freedom is a Spiritual Condition

All of the illnesses, all of the diseases, all of the addictions; all are conditions, and so it is with Freedom. In point of fact, Spiritual Freedom is the condition that allows endurance, perseverance, revitalization…and makes physical freedom possible, when there seems to be no way that could ever be…

When Spiritual Freedom has never been experienced, or has been absent – especially for a long period of time – it is the waft of a cool wind that reenergizes, refreshes, soothes, and satisfies, during a excessive heatwave…

It is the long, cool, drink of sparkling water, after a long period of exhausting work… It is the Aaaahhhh that follows that refreshing, replenishing, rehydration… and it is the only thing that will allow a troubled or even tortured soul to not only endure, but to actually thrive, in the midst of seemingly – and sometimes even factually – unbearable circumstances of stress and pain and confusion and anxiety and depression and hopelessness…

So, how is it that we can be free in the midst of such miserable conditions??? Well, as with everything else, Jesus has the answer: John 8:36 — But what does it mean: So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed?

IF the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed…

“If” is a qualifier, “sets” is the verb or action the Son performs, and “will” is the promise that guarantees the action the Son has promised. “Indeed” is the quantifier (scope or level or magnitude) of the condition of freedom one enjoys, when it is the Son that sets your freedom condition…

Everything hinges on the word “if” and this would seem to indicate an arbitrary or random decision-making process by the Son, Himself, which is the opposite of the guarantee that it actually is… Let’s look a few scriptures that prove this out:

Hebrews 6:18 declares that God cannot lie.
Matthew 11:28 promises that Jesus will give rest to the weary, the burdened, the laden.
Romans 12:2 commands us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
James 4:8 guarantees that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us.
Romans 8:26 informs us that in our weaknesses, even when we are in a condition of not even being able to pray, or not even knowing how to pray, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings unutterable…
2 Peter 3:8-10 reminds us that one day is like a thousand years to God; that he is not slow in keeping His promise and that He is patient, not wanting that anyone should perish, but providing time for all to come to repentance…
Hebrews 11:6 informs us that it is impossible to please God without faith…and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.
Romans 8:28 promises that God works all things to the good to those that love Him and are the called according to His purpose.
Philippians 4:7 instructs us that in all situations and circumstances – in everything – to make our request known to God, and then promises that the peace that passes all understanding will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus…
Philippians 4:13 guarantees that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us…
John 15:5 informs us that apart from Christ we can do nothing…

So, taken all together, we can know that the Son will set us free and give us a peace that passes all understanding and that John 8:36 is not based on arbitrary or random decision-making by the Son – applied to only those He picks – but that it is a promise that is certain, and irrevocable whenever we make the choice to draw near to God, through prayer and supplication and thanks giving…

What it means is this: In the midst of our worst circumstances, during those times that are otherwise unbearable – whether we brought them upon ourselves through disobedience, or they were placed upon us through no fault of our own – we have the guarantee of an unparalleled peace in the midst of life’s worst storms…

We have the unchangeable truth that God cannot lie, that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him, that it is His Will that we thank and praise Him in all circumstances and that when we do so, He will provide us with a peace that is beyond understanding without the promise and power of God Almighty.

We can rest assured that God is working everything we are going through for our own good, or for the good of those witnessing our perseverance and ability to not only survive, but to thrive in the midst of the unbearable…

We have the confidence that even if… even when… we are in such dire straits that we are unable to pray, or even to know how to pay, that The Holy Spirit is interceding for us… so that we are never, ever, going through things alone…

We can rest in the certainty that when we draw near to God, by following the instructions of these few verses, we have made the choices that meet the conditions of the “IF” and so, the Son WILL set us free indeed: We will be able to bear the unbearable to a degree that cannot be understood or achieved without the Power and Promises of God!!!

Be encouraged in your circumstances – whatever they may be – because: He Whom the Son Sets Free, Is Free, Indeed!!!

With man, some things are impossible; with God, nothing is impossible (Mark 10:27). You CAN be free, spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally… even when… especially when… we cannot do it in our own strength. For, we can do all things through Christ who will strengthen us.

Be at Peace, my Brothers and Sisters; Draw near to God through His Word, through Prayer and Supplication, and be sure to Thank Him for whatever – for everything – you are going through, for then you shall enjoy the peace that passes all understanding!!! And the Son Will Set You Free, Indeed!!!