Day 99 "Living in Absolute Freedom"

What is it like to live in absolute freedom? For me, it is to live completely and totally free from any fear, both now in this physical dimension that we call life and also for the spiritual world which awaits us. One is based temporarily, the other eternally. In either case, this absolute freedom comes when we unequivocally come to an understanding and acceptance that God has set us free from any possible condemnation for our actions where he is concerned- and God is concerned about everything.

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those in Christ." Romans 8:1

How can this possibly be? Yesterday completed our walk-through of the book of Hebrews. Earlier in the year we also went through the book of Romans. Together, these books unlock our shackles of fear which has caused most of us to live out our lives motivated by fear- that which we are concerned about not getting or worse, that which we can lose. But love changes all of that and transforms our thinking upon a new pathway that is purely motivated in freedom and births the desire to "want to" do things as opposed to begrudgingly feeling that you "have to" do things. By faith, these two books shed light upon what motivates our hearts and moves us to understand what God through his unconditional, never-ending love, has accomplished for us that we could not bring about for ourselves. Just picture it: all of our wrong-doing, our unrighteousness, everything involving our lives past, present and in the future, completely and thoroughly exonerated

from any condemnation or guilt before God. Christ's death on our behalf accomplished it all! Jesus became the eternal atoning sacrifice, crucified upon the cross, shedding his blood to cover and settle the bill due before God for all of our unrighteousness. No, not just for a portion or a part of it, but all of it!

By faith, Jesus has become the moderator of a new covenant with God- one that is based on faith in Christ-and allows us to let go of the old, insufficient covenant- one that was based on our actions and performance. Imagine it! Christ's righteousness, his holiness, has now become ours. We completely accept this truth by faith. The old law is dead to us, for God has given us something better to guide and direct our lives, his Holy Spirit within us. That's right, when we invited Jesus to come into our lives as our Lord and Savior, he promises to come in! Not only that, but God's word also tells us that God will deposit his Holy Spirit within us to help lead and direct our lives. God's laws and ways are to be written in our minds and upon our hearts. Jesus, the creator of our universe, lives forever. Because he lives forever, it means our forgiveness and redemption also lasts forever. It will never end! There is no possibility in Christ, that our guilt and unrighteousness will ever be held against us!

"I will never leave nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5

Now, this is not to say that we won't experience hardships and trials along the way. We live in an imperfect world. But what it does do is lead us to a new understanding and a new mindset of how to live our lives in peace and rest despite our circumstances. How do we do that? We live life by the motivation of love.

"We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

There are only two things that are required of us, from which everything else flows.

"And this is his command; to believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." 1 John 3:23

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:6

Do you see it? The only thing that truly matters on an eternal basis is to place your faith and belief that Jesus died for you and to live the rest of your life here on earth learning how to love others and putting their interests before our own. This doesn't change the things you may want to do in life. But, what it does do is change the motivation and desire of your heart as to why you now want to do them! The more you place your own interest first before others, the further you walk away from the prompting and leadership of God's Holy Spirit to live a life on your own, trying to flesh out by your own actions your acceptance by others and your self-esteem. But God has already established a pathway of peace and joy for us, if we so choose. There is an expression, "Why reinvent the wheel?" The wheel has already been made. Why try to establish our own self-worth when God has already ascribed it to us through his one and only Son, Jesus Christ. In Christ, we are loved perfectly and unconditionally. God's love accepts us just as we are. God's love and guidance in our lives can only bring out the best in us if we surrender the reins and control of our lives over to him. Of all the things that I have resisted giving God control over my life, I have later looked back and wondered why did I resist so long in giving that up to God?

There is a verse found in the book of Romans that has helped me to release more and more of my life to God's love and control:

"What benefit did you reap at the time from the things that you are now ashamed of?

Romans 6:21

When we live our lives in selfishness and self-centeredness, we often miss the better picture. When we find the esteem and security for our lives through the acceptance of God through his love, we are then set free from ourselves and our selfish insecurities to explore and embrace God's higher purpose and will for our lives. You cannot out give God. He has already given his best, his own Son, on our behalf. No matter what your status in this life is, through Christ you have already been made a child of God, co-heir with Christ. Spiritually, by faith, you are already spiritual rich! Through Christ, you have been set free from your old fleshly nature to become someone much, much better. The things that you will go on and do for God will now take on eternal ramifications and no longer perish and wither away

along with everything else that is temporary in this life.

Some people feel that submission is giving up one's will and becoming nothing but a subservient servant to another. When it comes to God and his love for us, submitting our will to God's will allows us a marvelous and majestic opportunity- to let God's Spirit flow in us and through us to impact the lives of everyone around us to their betterment and to God's glory. It become a privilege. It is no longer a duty. We are always free to choose.

Absolute freedom brings peace of mind, absolutely! In Christ, you are freed from all fear of condemnation and ever losing God's love for you. And if you are completely freed, what better way to live out your life than by fear's antitesis- love.

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I don't do it enough, but I am working on it. What ever I am doing, I question the motive and reason for why I am doing it. If I cannot answer honestly that it is for love, then I try to reassess my real reason for doing it and begin to conform the reason back to loving. I believe you will find that loving is the highest and purest motivation for doing anything in this life and is the noblest calling upon your life. It comes as no surprise, then, to find that God's word states that love is the fulfillment of the law.

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law." Romans 13:8

Blessed is the one who comes to the understanding that the best way to live in absolute freedom is to love absolutely.

In his love, I'll see you tomorrow....

"Carpe Momentum in Love" (Seize the moment in love)