Freedom is a choice and no one can make that choice but YOU
I read recently an amazing thought about President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863: It was signed into law over two years before those in slavery actually had their freedom.
They were “legally” free but not “actually” free.
Christ said to the “bent-over” paralytic in Luke 13:12: “Woman, you ARE freed from your infirmity.” He said it as a past tense reality. Then, He healed her.
He was essentially saying, “You have already been set free. ACT like it!”
Could it be that we are living in bondage in some areas we have already been set free from?
If you are living in bondage in some area, think about this:
You need to “read the proclamation.”
The Bible has declared your freedom. It is your “Emancipation Proclamation.”
On the 50th year in the Jewish calendar, the “Year of Jubilee” gave every person freedom from all bondage. Jesus said that He had come to “proclaim the acceptable year (Jubilee) of the Lord.”
Find your freedom in the promises of the Bible.
2. Satan is the oppressor.
Jesus said to the Pharisees criticizing this miracle, “And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom SATAN bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” (v. 16)
God is not holding you captive. It is Satan himself. God has decreed your freedom. Tell Satan you have had this bondage long enough.
He is holding you captive with a “thought”: “you will never be free.” Tell him, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!” (Jn. 8: 36).
3. You must fight for your freedom.
The President’s Proclamation made it legal from that day forward for slaves to fight by any means possible for their freedom. It became legal to resist.
Satan doesn’t turn loose easily. You are going to have to fight for your freedom. Demand it from the enemy. Declare it with your mouth to him: “Satan, I am free from ___________,” (even if your bondage persists for a while).
It may feel like you are prying one wicked finger after another from your soul, your mind, or your body. If you fight, if you resist, if you persevere, you will WIN your freedom!
4. Freedom is a walk, not an event
The same enemy that held you enslaved seeks to “re-enslave” you.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; STAND FIRM therefore, and do not submit AGAIN to a yoke of slavery.” (Gal. 5: 1)
You can never stop being vigilant against the enemy. If you feel that bondage coming back on you, rise up immediately and demand that Satan leave your body or your mind.
“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”
If you are waiting on God to come and set you free, He may be waiting on you. He has decreed in His eternal Scriptures your freedom. Now, it’s up to us to enforce that freedom…and enjoy it!