From Bondage to Redemption...

Things have been so busy for the last couple weeks... mostly good, but a few not so good things too... life is staying in balance, more or less.  Today I just need to share my heart, I don't really have anything crafty to share, but I hope you will read this post even though it is a little lengthy.

I was reading in Exodus about the children of Israel. Exodus 6:6 says, “Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.”

I could see how that the children of Israel are like us today, in that they were in bondage to Egypt… Pharaoh was keeping them enslaved to Egypt… they saw their lives as having no choice of what anything in their lives would be… they seemed to just throw their hands in the air and surrender to being slaves for the rest of their lives.  Just like them so many of us today are living in bondage… bondage to our past, our circumstances, our defeats, our sin… we have thrown our hands in the air and said, “I surrender, life is just too hard and unfair.” But we have a choice, will we continue to live in bondage and let the enemy continue to tighten up the shackles we have on our hands and feet and our hearts or will we surrender to God who will rescue us from our bondage… He will redeem us… He is waiting with an outstretched hand to release those chains of bondage.

I am talking first about salvation… surrendering your life to Christ… asking for forgiveness of your sin and asking Him to be your Lord and Savior… that is the first step needed to remove the bondage of sin.  If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” Romans 10:9-13

But I believe this is also talking about people who are Believers already... there are many times in a Believer's life that we let circumstances bring us so low it is hard to even look up. Not only can Satan deceive us but we can deceive ourselves… we can get so far off the path God has for us, we may not even look to His Word for help, comfort, or understanding… or in some cases we look to His Word for bits and pieces that we can construe to fit the way we are feeling and deceive ourselves into believing we have every right to feel the way we do and that everyone else must be wrong. Instead of dealing with the problems in our lives head-on we talk about it with others and if we can get others to agree with us and whatever the “injustice” is, then they can take on that offense with us and we can shackle them to us in this bondage. You know the old saying, “misery loves company,” well I believe that also could be said of bondage, “bondage loves company,” because it can get to be a very lonely road to travel.

Please understand this is coming from my heart, not from condemnation of these… I know what it is like because I have been there too. (Romans 8:1) My heart is sadden when I see people that are trudging along in the Christian life so unhappy they have anguish of spirit (Exodus 6:9 So Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of anguish of spirit and cruel bondage.) I pray I never let myself get bound to lies, deceit and sin again. I also pray for those Christian friends that seem to be spiraling downward from whatever hurts they have taken on… I pray they would look up and see God’s Truth… I pray they would confess, forgive, and let restoration begin in them so they can step out of bondage. There may not be any good answers or what we think are good answers, but we can continue in bondage or we can choose to just give it ALL up to God. I believe this is breaking God’s heart and it is also breaking mine, but I will not let others’ circumstances put shackles on my heart… I can’t.

Life can be tough enough, so why would anyone want to live a life in bondage if they know better. I am not saying I am perfect I just believe there is a difference between sinning and being bound to sin... I would rather die than go back to that bondage. We as Believers need to continuously be on guard… I Peter 5:8-11- Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

God impressed this so much on my heart... I knew I had to share it.  I don't know who might need it besides me, but my hope is that these words God has given me will be a help to someone reading this.  It was written with a spirit of love... believe that if you believe nothing else.

Blessings, with a grateFUL HEART, carin