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PASTOR'S CORNER
FREEDOM
To be free means ‘not in bondage to or under the control of
another; having personal rights and social and political
liberty’. It also means ‘unrestricted, unimpeded and
unrestrained; not subject to an undesirable thing.’ May I also
suggest that it also encompasses having spiritual liberty?
Freedom also means ‘absence of slave status; the quality of
not being controlled by fate or necessity.’
We now appreciate the relevance of being covenant children, so
let us examine one of the benefits, which we enjoy under this
covenant; freedom.
Health
There are people, who face various debilitating health
issues, which restrict their progress in life. These may be
physical, emotional, mental or spiritual. As covenant children, we
have been liberated from sickness and disease.
Psalm 30:2 says, ‘O
Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me…’ The
same Psalm also states that the favour of the Lord lasts for a
lifetime. When God has mercy on us, the effects last forever and
transcend generations.
Psalm 107:20
says, ‘…He sent his word and healed them; he rescued them
from the grave…’ Isaiah
53:5 also affirms that ‘…he was wounded for our
transgressions…and with his stripes we are healed…’ Christ
endured so much so that we would not have to experience pain and
suffering. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, ‘…for God has not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind…’
God’s plan is for us to be whole – to be healed in body, and also
in mind. Every part of our being should enjoy good health. When
God touches us, we would be made whole from the crown of our head
to the soles of our feet. The Lord is our strength and shield; He
is the saving strength of His anointed. We must bear in mind that
we have the authority to speak to our bodies and evoke change. As
Christians, we do not need a priest to lay hands on us and heal us
because we have authority to do so ourselves, through Christ
Jesus.
Prosperity
We are free from poverty. The bible reveals to us
that our heavenly father owns the cattle upon a thousand hills, so
how can heirs of the wealthiest and most powerful God be
destitute? 2 Corinthians 9:8
says, ‘…God is able to able to make all grace abound toward
you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,
you will abound in every good work…’
Isaiah 55:10 confirms
that ‘…the rain cometh down…that it may give seed to the
sower, and bread to the eater...’ God’s intention is
therefore for us to be capable of receiving the things, which we
need in order to survive. Psalm
23 says, ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not
want…surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life…’ As covenant children, we are ordained to be
prosperous. As God promised Abraham, we will be ‘exceedingly
fruitful and kings shall come out of us. Our seed shall inherit
the earth and we are destined to experience incalculable
abundance. The Jabez blessing is ours should we ask for it.
The Power of the Cross
As Christians, we have been blood-bought and
blood-washed. The price, which was paid for us on the cross,
is so much more than we could fathom. When Christ was
crucified and placed in the tomb, He defeated the devil;
plundered the gates of hell; obtained the keys of the lower
parts of the earth and set the captives free. All power in
heaven and on earth was given to Him. He bequeathed power to
us and secured our freedom.
As a result of the Cross of Calvary, we are
now free from death: spiritual death. We are no longer
slaves to sin. Sin can no longer control us, because we
rejected it when we accepted Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
We have been ‘re-created’ because we surrendered all to
Christ. God’s word reveals to us that Jesus came to set the
captives free. That includes us – we have broken out of the
gaol, in which we were once incarcerated.
We are no longer subject to the control of
those things, which once held us to ransom. For example,
drugs, food, alcohol, promiscuity, perversion, gossip, etc. As
covenant children we control these issues and we have the
power to sever all ties to these through our covenant with God
and the word, which He gave us to reinforce it.
We are more than victorious. The
battles, which we fight on our journey to our destiny, must
first be won in our minds. Do we believe that we have liberty?
Are we apprehensive about our future? Do we trust God as our
Father and our Lord? Our state of freedom is first established
in our minds, so the diktat is simple: conceive it,
believe it, achieve it!
God’s word for us this year confirmed that
this is our year of rest. We shall no longer struggle to make
ourselves visible or audible. This month, let us operate with
the knowledge, which we have acquired. Let us learn to always
operate in the liberty, which has been granted to us through
our covenant with God.
This is our year of rest and the word of God
shall come to pass in our life.
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