God has set me free to be the person He created me to be!

Exodus 6:6 – Therefore, say to the people of Israel: “I am the Lord, I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery to Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment.”

The Lord makes a number of statements in this particular passage of Scripture. The Lord affirms that He has heard the cry of Israel; The Lord declares that He has remembered His Covenant with the people of Israel; and the Lord proclaims that He will respond and free them from the oppression and slavery that they now face. It is the pronouncement that a new day is on the way that the captivity they now experience will not last forever. This is a pronouncement to a people, not just a person; it is a promise of deliverance that is focused on the whole instead of the individual parts. The announcement of deliverance is for the community. No one will be left out; all will be delivered. In these declarations the Lord makes it clear that He Is the chief actor and that when He acts His Deliverance will take place. The Israelites are totally dependent upon The Lord for their deliverance; they are helpless until The Lord steps in.

I guess I’m trying to think of those places in my life today to see if I feel enslaved and oppressed and then remind myself that it is only through The Grace of God, The Blood of Jesus Christ, and by The Power of The Holy Spirit that I am right now and for all eternity delivered from this enslavement. There are no self help books, no classes, positive thinking, etc. that can truly set me free; but The Grace of God in Jesus Christ has already set me free, and it is The Power of God that continually keeps me free and allows me to live a life of freedom in service to Him. It’s interesting to realize that when I (we) am enslaved to someone, something, some place, etc. – I am not free to be the person God is calling me to be. Through Jesus Christ, God has freed me from those things, emotions, feelings and insecurities, that kept me guarded and looking for ways to numb the expression of those feelings. Now, through Jesus Christ, God has given me the freedom to know that I am loved and welcomed to be totally myself redeemed by His blood. This is a freedom that I’ve never known until I knew Jesus; this freedom to be me is God’s promise of deliverance in my life. In Jesus Christ, God has heard my cry and broken the chains that sought to hold me down; now I am a new creation that is covered in The Blood of Jesus. Through His Blood I am free to be the person God created me to be regardless of the opinions of those around me. Its funny how liberating Jesus Christ can be; it really comes down to knowing Jesus; because the only way to true, lasting freedom is through Jesus Christ. There is no person, place, or thing that can ever take that freedom away; it is A Gift From God.

Lord, thank you for hearing the cry of your people; Jesus, thank you for not leaving us abandoned in this world, and enslaved to our sin. Thank you for delivering me from this enslavement and empowering me to be completely me, regardless of the world around me. Use me as an agent of this freedom; put me in places where I can proclaim to others that You have heard their cry for help and that true freedom can only be found in Jesus Christ. Inspire me to be the kind of Christian that points to the freedom that only comes through You; protect me from any temptation to make faith into a self-help novel; protect me from evil’s attempt to pull me away from this freedom and dull down your work of Your Grace in my life. May today be all about You Lord, and may every single breath I take today be a celebration of the freedom and deliverance I’ve experienced through Your Work Of Grace in my life and the world. Amen!

Through Jesus Christ, God has set me free to be the person He created me to be!