There is freedom in the perfect law of liberty. (There is Freedom is the name of our current series.) Freedom is not withheld or hidden; it’s available to anyone who needs it.
You want to be free in every area of your life, not just some areas, right? Then you need to make room for God; He wants to take you deeper in Him, but you need to choose to go deeper. I was reminded of REVELATION 3:20 where Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock.” I could see Jesus standing at the door and knocking and knocking and knocking (and yet the door was never opened).
See, Jesus is not going to intrude into your life, kick the door down and tell you He’s going to save the day. Jesus died at Calvary so that we can experience genuine freedom in our lives. But when we DO say “come on in”, He’s going to come in and sweep the house and clean and do everything He needs to do…things that you’re not capable of doing.
What you DO need to do is to open the door. How do you do that?
Consult the Schematic!
I have a large lawn that needs regular mowing. One day after I was done and I started to put the mower away, it just stopped. Nothing. I got out my volt meter and started troubleshooting everything (I have some basic knowledge of electricity). I pulled lines and checked things, sweating out in the heat for hours and hours. I was going to do whatever it took to find out what the difficulty was.
After hours went by, I finally thought, “I need to look at the schematic of this thing to find out where my difficulty lies.” Doing so made it possible to see the details of the mower’s electrical system. It turned out to be a little green wire that had come loose. Had I gone to the schematic (the blueprint) originally, I would have saved hours of sweat.
A lot of people spend years trying to figure things out to understand where their difficulty lies. “Why isn’t this working for me? Why am I not where people said I should be?” You need to grab the schematic, the Word of God!
2 Corinthians 3: 17 says, “Now, the ‘Lord’ I’m referring to is the Holy Spirit, and wherever he is Lord, there is freedom.” Wherever you let Him in, there is freedom! I’m a free man because of what I’ve found in God’s Word.
The Perfect Law of Liberty
“22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” – JAMES 1:22-25 (NKJV)
Look, it’s great to come to church and hear a message; but, if the only thing you do with it is hear it, it does you no good. Don’t deceive yourself. You need to pursue a real understanding of what the Holy Spirit is trying to get across.
Church, God wants to BLESS you, to promote you and advance you. You’re supposed to be the head and not the tail. God created everything and we’re His children. He is extravagant in everything that he does; I believe He wants us to demonstrate and display His extravagance (His goodness, His mercy, His lovingkindness)! But, too often, we’ll hear a message in church and say, “Man, that was good!” but then we walk out the door and never give it another thought…and we wonder why we don’t experience the victory of that message. We think we need to get back to the church service; being there is good, but we need to dig further ourselves.
If you want to experience true freedom, you must look into the perfect law of liberty continually.
Being a Christian is not a part-time thing! Continually doesn’t mean haphazardly. We should be continually meditating on God’s Word, seeing who we are. Much of the Church lives their life based on past experience – what happened to them before, how they grew up, what they were told when they grew up, and the perception people gave them of God – the thought that God was out to get them. I was the same way: I knew I wasn’t doing right but didn’t know how to fix it. But I thought God was waiting with lightning bolts to get me.
Look at this truth:
“7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.” – PSALMS 19:7-11 (NKJV)
Does that look like God is out to get you?
God’s law is perfect, converting the soul. Our mind hasn’t been redeemed yet; one day, our body is going to be transformed to be like His glorious body, but until then, our mind needs fixing. Look at the law of liberty: it’s perfect, it’s sure, it makes wise, it’s pure, true and righteous. We should desire it more than pure gold! All that’s great, but look at verse 11…it says, “Moreover…” As good as pure gold and honey are, God’s saying that keeping His law promises something even better!
We’re admonished that in keeping the law of the Lord there is great reward! God has always blessed those who keep (believe) His Word; you see that all though the Bible. You cannot convince me that God wants you poor, broken and beat down. He wants you to live in absolute freedom!
Verse 7 talks about “converting the soul”; that means “to return, turn back, restore, refresh, or repair.” All of us have had soul damage. But the law of the Lord is perfect, converting – repairing and restoring – the soul (mind, will and emotions)! God’s got it all worked out for us…but if we don’t spend time in the Word of God, we’ll just sit back and say, “I guess it’s not for me.”
I’m changing processes because I want to be where God wants me to be. (Remember, He wants us to advance.) So, changing the processes means I’m going to spend more time studying the Word of God and praying, making myself available to Him.
Look at this contrary mindset:
“Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.” – ROMANS 1:18 (NIV)
Realize, God didn’t make them have a depraved mind; it’s just what happened since they chose to not retain His knowledge. The way you think determines what you do. That’s why Ephesians 4:23 says to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Then there’s Romans 12:2:
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” – ROMANS 12:2 (NIV)
We have to renew our mind with the Word of God.
Joshua 1:9 says to not let the book of the law depart from your mouth, and meditate in it day and night, “that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” When we dig into the Word of God (the Spirit of God), following after His lead and allowing Him to be Lord in our lives, we find freedom in those areas.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” – PHILIPPIANS 4:8
Think about such things, THESE things! God’s not telling you to think about your problems or what so-and-so did to you; He said to think about what is excellent, praiseworthy, admirable. We’re to redirect our thinking to the things of God!
When you get a thought, you need to find its origin. Is it from God or elsewhere (the devil or your past experiences)? But how can you measure it unless you know the truth of God’s Word? Go back to Romans 12:2…our only measuring stick to know the will of God is the Word of God!
“1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.” – PSALMS 1:1-3 (BSB)
To watch the August 7, 2022 service on which this post is based, CLICK HERE.
