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The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. 2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies.3 To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory. Isa. 61:1-3(The New Living Translation) When we experience freedom, it always springs from a time when the liberating Word is given at the proper time. The written, spoken, or prophesied Word becomes the word that binds or looses when it is spoken as the right word at the right time in the right place. (Isa. 61:1) Then the word that comes from outside penetrates and sets free the inner energies of faith, hope, love, deliverance and healing. We call these declarations of independence (enfranchisements) “the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit.” The Word is received and effects in us what it promises. It goes into our spirit and begins to energize us, builds us up, invigorate us, activate us, set us free, heal and strengthen us...sometimes, to such a degree that we are quickened, or shout out, or speak in tongues, or all of our natural energy is drained out and we are slain in the Spirit. Many believers express the feeling of being seized and moved by something overwhelmingly powerful. They describe a movement of the Spirit that sweeps people off their feet, which possesses and excites not only the conscious levels but the unconscious depths too, and sets those affected on the move towards inheriting the promises of God by faith. When people are deeply impacted by God, they require less maintenance than those who quench the move of the Spirit when they feel themselves losing control. The Word “happens”, but this is only one side of the event. The Dunamos opens up external potentialities (doors), too...just as it can of course also stifle or close evil or negative potentialities (doors). As God’s Spirit opens doors which were shut before....that is, He throws open new chances, opportunities and possibilities for the gospel that is hidden in you. This is the Spirit of the One who created the world and guides its history by bearing and enduring (patiently) its contradictions. |
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| Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Gal. 5:1 Out of His hidden, divine, mysterious providence...new possibilities develop (often) where no one expected them. The person who waits for God is always ready for these surprises in personal, social and political life. For instance, from 1981 and onwards, prayers for peace were held every Monday evening in the basement of a small church in Berlin , Germany , the congregation joining together in proclaiming the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount over the dry bones of their country. The congregation was small and seemingly without any influence. In 1989 these prayers for peace began to spread to other Protestant churches in the area. In October 1989 thousands of people who were praying began demonstrating for democratic change. On November 9 the Berlin wall fell and the dictatorship disappeared. This is a good example of the way the Word and Spirit of Christ, and the timing and providence of God work together. |
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To experience God is to experience freedom. |
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Our natural attitude toward freedom is usually ambivalent, we want to be free from our burdens, anxieties, worries, mood swings, fears, sicknesses and inward pressures, but generally speaking we are afraid of the responsibility for our own lives which we would then have to assume. Many people are on the search for their own freedom, and discover that they are on the run from freedom at the same time. To lead a free, self-reliant life, with independent judgment and independent conviction, in Christ, is often a conflicting happiness at the beginnings of our walk of faith. But it is not only freedom that has it risks. A life without freedom has them too. And the risks are apt to take the form of resignation, and the renunciation of a life of one’s own. People cease to be alive before they have ever lived. They make themselves small, and as unnoticeable as possible. We creep into our shells and protect ourselves against the hurtful and hostile world outside through indifference and callousness. When we shut down like this, we are blocking our own vital energies. Our self-esteem diminishes. We cease to believe that we are capable of anything. We stop living. Often, when God begins the task of awakening in us the hope for life...or success...or joy...or healing...we begin to rebel against the apathy within us...and the barbed wire that we have so carefully wrapped round about ourselves. We rub ourselves raw. We begin to suffer consciously, and to cry out...We become free...The sighs and cries of prisoners are always the first signs of life they show... and these sighs and cries are anything but sighs of death! So then, we are faced with the alternative of being free and living dangerously...another way of saying that we are living by faith,...or renouncing a life of our own and living in fear and bondage. There can be no doubt about the decision to which we are challenged by the Bible’s testimonies of experiences in God. The person who loves life loves liberty, and the person who loves liberty says, “yes´ to his own life, in Christ....in spite of all outward intimidations and all inwards fears. True security is to be found, not in the renunciation of freedom, but only when we embrace the freedom and abundant life offered in Christ. When you are full of the liberating Word, no person, situation, hardship or anything else can put out your fire (passion). Paul lived his life in fullness...Acts Chapter 20 (The Message Bible) 1 With things back to normal, Paul called the disciples together and encouraged them to keep up the good work in Ephesus . Then, saying his good-byes, he left for Macedonia . 2 Traveling through the country, passing from one gathering to another, he gave constant encouragement, lifting their spirits and charging them with fresh hope. Then he came to Greece 3 and stayed on for three months. Just as he was about to sail for Syria , the Jews cooked up a plot against him. So he went the other way, by land back through Macedonia , and gave them the slip. 4 His companions for the journey were Sopater, son of Pyrrhus, from Berea ; Aristarchus and Secundus, both Thessalonians; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and the two from western Asia , Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 They went on ahead and waited for us in Troas . 6 Meanwhile, we stayed in Philippi for Passover Week, and then set sail. Within five days we were again in Troas and stayed a week. 7 We met on Sunday to worship and celebrate the Master's Supper. Paul addressed the congregation. Our plan was to leave first thing in the morning, but Paul talked on, way past midnight . 8 We were meeting in a well-lighted upper room. 9 A young man named Eutychus was sitting in an open window. As Paul went on and on, Eutychus fell sound asleep and toppled out the third-story window. When they picked him up, he was dead. 10 Paul went down, stretched himself on him, and hugged him hard. "No more crying," he said. "There's life in him yet." 11 Then Paul got up and served the Master's Supper. And went on telling stories of the faith until dawn! On that note, they left—Paul going one way, 12 the congregation another, leading the boy off alive, and full of life themselves. 13 In the meantime, the rest of us had gone on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we planned to pick up Paul. Paul wanted to walk there, and so had made these arrangements earlier. 14 Things went according to plan: We met him in Assos, took him on board, and sailed to Mitylene. 15 The next day we put in opposite Chios , Samos a day later, and then Miletus . 16 Paul had decided to bypass Ephesus so that he wouldn't be held up in Asia province. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem in time for the Feast of Pentecost, if at all possible. 17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the leaders of the congregation. 18 When they arrived, he said, "You know that from day one of my arrival in Asia I was with you totally— 19 laying my life on the line, serving the Master no matter what, putting up with no end of scheming by Jews who wanted to do me in. 20 I didn't skimp or trim in any way. Every truth and encouragement that could have made a difference to you, you got. I taught you out in public and I taught you in your homes, 21 urging Jews and Greeks alike to a radical life-change before God and an equally radical trust in our Master Jesus. 22 "But there is another urgency before me now. I feel compelled to go to Jerusalem . I'm completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there. 23 I do know that it won't be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead. 24 But that matters little. What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God. 25 "And so this is good-bye. You're not going to see me again, nor I you, you whom I have gone among for so long proclaiming the news of God's inaugurated kingdom. 26 I've done my best for you, given you my all, 27 held back nothing of God's will for you. 28 "Now it's up to you. Be on your toes—both for yourselves and your congregation of sheep. The Holy Spirit has put you in charge of these people—God's people they are—to guard and protect them. God himself thought they were worth dying for. 29 "I know that as soon as I'm gone, vicious wolves are going to show up and rip into this flock, men 30 from your very own ranks twisting words so as to seduce disciples into following them instead of Jesus. 31 So stay awake and keep up your guard. Remember those three years I kept at it with you, never letting up, pouring my heart out with you, one after another. 32 "Now I'm turning you over to God, our marvelous God whose gracious Word can make you into what he wants you to be and give you everything you could possibly need in this community of holy friends. 33 "I've never, as you so well know, had any taste for wealth or fashion. 34 With these bare hands I took care of my own basic needs and those who worked with me. 35 In everything I've done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You'll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, 'You're far happier giving than getting.' " 36 Then Paul went down on his knees, all of them kneeling with him, and prayed. 37 And then a river of tears. Much clinging to Paul, not wanting to let him go. 38 They knew they would never see him again—he had told them quite plainly. The pain cut deep. Then, bravely, they walked him down to the ship. |
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