FREE FOREVER
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
Galatians 5: 1
King James Version
For those of you who have been on my mailing list for a long time, you know that I experienced a devastating and crippling depression for over forty years. There wasn’t one day go by that I didn’t want to commit suicide. I didn’t trust anybody and I sure didn’t like anybody. I had an ongoing self pity party for years.
I was locked up in a mental hospital a few times because they were afraid that I would commit suicide. When I was in the hospital, I was required to sign a sheet saying what time I was going to the bathroom and what time I expected to be back in the day room. Yes, I really did have to do that.
The sad thing about that is that even today I find myself hurrying in the bathroom. When someone calls me on the telephone while I am in the bathroom, I sometimes jump up and go answer the telephone. God spoke to my heart about this and told me that He had set me free and that I was no longer in bondage and that I didn’t have to jump up and answer the telephone.
We allow satan to keep us in bondage after God has set us free. When we confess our sins to Him and ask Him to forgive us, He is faithful and just to forgive us and He never holds them against us again or reminds us about them. Oh that you and I would treat people who hurt us the same way He treats us. So often when people hurt us, we tell them that we forgive them but we still harbor unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred and resentment in our hearts.
The next time that satan tries to make you feel guilty and bring you under condemnation because of your past sins and mistakes, tell him that you have been set free by the precious blood of Jesus and that your sins are under the blood. Tell him that you are no longer in bondage because you have been set free forever by the precious redeeming and atoning blood of Jesus! Remember, greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world.
I have received several emails from people who are still punishing themselves for their past sins and mistakes even after they have been forgiven and their sins have been put under the precious blood of Jesus. They are still allowing satan to keep them in bondage.
God impressed on my heart a long time ago that when we don’t forgive ourselves when we fail Him and sin, what we are really saying is that we don’t believe that He will forgive us. I’m sure we hurt Him when we doubt His unconditional love and forgiveness. If you are still living in bondage to satan because of your past sins and mistakes, claim the blood of Jesus when satan reminds you of your past and tell him “I am no longer in bondage. I have been set free forever!”
Joanne Lowe
January 14, 2008
