freedom and authority

15 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. John 14:15-21

Obedience is the crucial flame that ignites the liberty of Jesus and makes it a reality. The liberty of Jesus was ours the moment we received him as Savior; but if this internal gift is not released externally through obedience, we may never experience it.

Only the Lord possesses true liberty. When we receive Jesus as Savior, we receive his liberating Spirit. But we must understand that freedom never leaves the bounds of his Spirit. Therefore, our liberation is expressed as a reality only in the facets of our lives where the freeing Spirit of God is released. We are free when—and only when—he is in control.

Reflect on the words of 2 Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Freedom and lordship are inseparable partners in the believer's life. When we read that freedom can be found wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, we can take it literally.

Freedom becomes reality when we yield to God's authority. We are as filled with the Spirit as we are yielded to God's lordship. Although the Spirit is always in us, he saturates only the parts of our lives where he is in authority. Freedom flows where the Spirit of the Lord floods.

This point brings up an interesting question. Have you ever noticed that you can experience freedom in one part of your life and remain in bondage in another? Sometimes we allow God to have full authority in one area while refusing him elsewhere.

How, then, can we be fully liberated? Can we study God's Word until we finally experience freedom? Can we pray ourselves into freedom? Can we rebuke the enemy so thoroughly that we experience freedom? No. Only by surrendering all of our life to God's authority will we experience full freedom. Liberty is found in submitting to him. —Beth Moore bethmoore.org

seeking: Lord, what freedom in the Spirit have I experienced this day? What joy have I found in surrendering to you?

responding: Am I withholding any part of my life from God's authority and forfeiting the freedom he has offered me? What is liberty in Jesus all about?

Lord, thank you for showing me that freedom and submission to your authority go hand in hand. Please help me see the areas of my life that are not fully yielded to you. I want to experience the freedom that accompanies your Spirit.

following: Freedom becomes a reality when we yield to God's authority.

our journey