How Do We Find Freedom?

Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – November 13, 2017

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. James 1:25

When what I do flows out of what I believe there is freedom. Freedom from the fear of eternity in hell, knowing the security of my salvation is based on faith in the gospel of Jesus. Freedom from guilt, knowing when my conduct aligns with what I believe my conscious is free. Freedom from hurt, knowing the grace of God brings healing to my heart. Freedom from striving, knowing the Holy Spirit fills and empowers my soul to find sustaining strength for life’s journey!

James gives a very insightful, one sentence treatise into the truth of the Christian life. He describes how the creed of what we believe is to define the deeds of what we do. As we look intently into the perfect law of the gospel, our continued gaze on God produces faith’s fruit of good deeds. And, as we continue in this lifestyle of loving the Lord and obeying the Lord we will be blessed in the very act of doing. The Holy Spirit ambushes us with blessings as we do good!

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers” (Psalm 1:1-3).

Do you take time to intently look into the things of God? You may possess faith, but does your faith possess you? Without the exercise of your faith applying what you hear and see, you only work against intimacy with Christ. Knowledge about God is like manure, you can store it up in the barn of your mind: proudly stacked, dried up and useless or you can spread it across the field of life and make other lives grow and flourish. Faith without works finds freedom elusive!

Best of all—you are blessed in the process of blessing others. The Lord prepares you to be a blessing in your “being time” and then He blesses you during your “doing time”. In due time others become infected by faith in Christ and the cycle of becoming a blessing multiplies, as the Spirit draws and makes disciples through your love and obedience. Never forget works follow belief. First, lay the foundation of faith in Jesus then build custom rooms of good works!

“For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:9-11).

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