Chapter 6
HIS FREEDOM FOR YOUR BONDAGE
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
JOHN 8:32 NIV
50 What’s Your Defining Passion?
Deb Hoffman owned the world’s largest collection of Winnie the Pooh memorabilia (14,314 items as of 2017).1 It’s her defining passion.
Your passions reflect your values and thought life and often monopolize your leisure time. They’re what people remember about you.
Obituaries often include them. Does it matter what items are on that end-of-life list? For Christians, it does!
I read an obituary that identified a man’s defining passion as his love for hunting, fishing, and the outdoors. Reading it made me uncomfortable.
My picture amid all the fish I’ve caught would include far more than 14,314 items. My collection would stink more than Deb Hoffman’s collection! I love fishing. But that’s not what I want people to remember as my defining passion.
I met a man whose passion was exercise. He once did more than four hundred consecutive pushups. He pushed himself so hard that he had a heart attack. His passion nearly killed him.
Your life is a cart, and your passions are the horses that pull it. You choose the horses, but later you often lose the reins. They run wild.
Your passions can easily become your idols. They get more attention than God does. That’s idolatry from which you must flee (1 Corinthians 10:14).
Is your defining passion loving God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself? If not, you’re leading others astray who are watching you. You’re living like something is more worthy of your time, energy, and money than God.
What’s your defining passion? Read Luke 6.
51 Never Saw It Coming
I was an 11-year-old on my most memorable Christmas Day. Our family wasn’t flush with cash when my brothers and I were growing up.
A family of five boys and only my father working outside the home limited us. We didn’t get or expect many presents.
Well, we finished the festivities that Christmas Day in the living room. We had completed unwrapping our gifts for another year. We didn’t get birthday presents.
My father told us to take the torn-up wrapping paper out to the garage to dispose of it. When we entered the garage, we were shocked.
We saw three red bicycles parked there for the three of us who were “bike-ready.” They were our very first bicycles.
We were as excited as cats at a milk factory spill! It was a total surprise. We never saw it coming. Christmas Day celebrates another gift we never saw coming.
Now, the Jews had been looking for their promised deliverer throughout much of their history. They imagined He’d be like King David who had reigned about 1,000 years before Jesus was born.
What they never saw coming was that He didn’t come as a political deliverer. He arrived as a spiritual deliverer. They didn’t recognize that their spiritual bondage was far more serious than their political bondage.
What they never even imagined was that the Lord Himself would enter the world. He appeared as a fully human, helpless child. He grew up to be their Savior. The infinite invaded the finite.
The expected “he” would be a “He.” “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us,” Matthew 1:23 NIV).
How have the blessings of following Jesus been gifts you never saw coming?
Read Luke 7.
52 What Is Salvation?
We’re not the Wright brothers or Kennedy brothers but the Melanoma brothers! Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer.
I alerted my brother about a dark mole on his back about 35 years ago. He had it checked. It was in the process of turning into melanoma, and a doctor removed it.
My dermatologist detected mine on my left cheek in 2015. He arranged for its elimination. I still have a scar. The intervention of another saved both of us from premature death.
Going your way independent of God also kills. Like melanoma, in the beginning, the threat to your well-being isn’t obvious.
God sees it with perfect clarity. Jesus intervened to spare you from eternal death (unending separation from God).
The first aspect of salvation is deliverance by God’s undeserved favor from the penalty of living life for yourself instead of for Him. It happens all at once when you trust in Jesus’ death in your place as payment in full for your waywardness.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV).
The second aspect of salvation is deliverance from the addictive grip that living for yourself instead of for God has on you. The Apostle Paul described it: “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it” (Romans 7:19–20 NIV).
Unlike the all-at-once initial aspect of salvation, deliverance from sin’s power is ongoing. It’s a life-long cooperative process between God and you.
God is like a woodchipper. Your sins are the branches you need to let go of and throw into it. “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13 NIV).
The third aspect of salvation awaits a future day. When it arrives Jesus will deliver you from sin’s presence, with its penalty and power eternally behind you.
Like deliverance from sin’s penalty, deliverance from its presence is all at once. “But in keeping with his promise we’re looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13 NIV).
In what sense do you already experience salvation, but not yet in its fullness?
Read Luke 8.
53 Building a Wall
The proposed border wall between the United States and Mexico was controversial. Whatever the advantages or disadvantages, building a different kind of wall is far more vital.
I can’t build yours. You can’t construct mine. It is in place to protect you from yourself. Your greatest threat, you see, is not someone of a different race, color, or creed.
It’s not a scoundrel outside the wall that’s most likely to breach it and harm you. It’s the rascal inside the wall. Your errant thoughts and uncontrolled emotions lead to self-destructive decisions and actions.
You’re your own worst enemy. Stinking thinking plus emotional commotion produce deeds deep in the weeds. We’ve all been there.
The wall is your thought life bodyguard. Your thoughts shape you. They affect your feelings which, in turn, affect your actions. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23).
You guard your heart by controlling what you think. You can’t stop a crow from flying over you. But you can keep it from building a nest on your shoulder. Jesus in Matthew 9:4 asked the Jewish religious leaders, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts?”
You’ve done that. You’ve provided popcorn for those thoughts. You’ve engaged them in prolonged conversation in the private rooms of your life. You’ve stirred up their forbidden fires with leaf blowers. Later you wondered how things got so out of control.
God gives us specifications to build a wall. It eliminates self-destructive California wildfires of the mind.
“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 NIV). That wall protects you from untold self-inflicted harm.
Do you agree that you’re your own worst enemy? What first step could you take to build a wall to protect yourself from yourself? Read Luke 9.
54 It Came Upon a Midnight Partly Cloudy
I was fine the previous evening. The next morning, I wasn’t. I felt so weak while showering that I almost fainted.
The flu had claimed another victim. My immune system drew so much energy to fight it that I had an energy crisis.
You get the flu by inhaling tiny virus-containing droplets. An infected person’s coughing or sneezing launched them.
You sometimes inoculate yourself by touching your eyes, nose, or mouth after touching a virus-covered object. The virus attaches to your cells, enters them, and replicates. Then it infects other cells. Fortunately, it’s usually over within seven days.
Another “virus” attaches to you, replicates, and infects your life. It’s far more dangerous than the flu virus. No shot can prevent it. No doctor can treat it.
You often feel fine physically, although forms of it steal decades from your life through life-destroying addictions. It hamstrings your moral and spiritual life. You don’t even know it.
You’re born with it. You also get new “strains” of it from others.
Like cancer, it spreads unannounced. It takes over your whole life. Seven years from now, you’ll be no better without outside intervention. The Bible calls it sin. Its unmistakable symptom is living for yourself in a God-centered Universe.
What symptoms of the virus of sin do you see in others? In yourself?
Read Luke 10.
55 Letting Go of Yesterday
I didn’t consider calling 1-800-Got-Junk and pointing! I did it myself. I threw away the ancient boots I wore when I last worked for the Pennsylvania Fish Commission in 1976.
I’d worn them little in the previous 43 years. Still, it was hard to part with them. Although they didn’t fit, they were spit-polished with nostalgia! They were the last concrete link to my PFC days.
Focusing on the past interferes with being and doing your best today. Crippling memories persist like smog in Beijing. They clutter the closets of your mind. Got Junk can’t haul them away, even if you point at them.
Crippling memories might include yesterday’s stinging, demeaning words that undermine your confidence and sense of worth today. They could be foolish mistakes you made in the past that still make you feel guilty in the present.
They might even involve remembering yesterday’s victories and successes and bathing in their glory, real or imagined. Yesterday was a wonderful teacher. But it’s a terrible master. The rent is way too high to live there!
The Apostle Paul wrote, “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14 NIV).
Paul let go of both his past accomplishments and mistakes. Both equally hindered attaining his goal of fully accomplishing God’s purpose for his life.
Like Paul, learn from the past but refuse to let it master you! Forgiveness is God’s remedy for your mistakes. Humility is His prescription for your success.
How do yesterday’s victories and defeats still control you today? What will you do about it? Read Luke 11.
56 What Is Real Freedom (1)
On July Fourth, the United States of America celebrates freedom from Great Britain. Political freedom is good. But there’s something better.
The worst tyrants are the enslaving lies you believe. Knowing and living the truth is true freedom. Knowing the truth frees you (John 8:32).
A lie you believe is that more _______ will make you happy. Jesus said it won’t (Luke 12:15).
Another lie: “I’m a loser because I messed up.” Let the one who never messed up cast the first stone!
Another lie: “Feelings are a good guide to reality.” They aren’t!
An additional lie: “Life should be fair.” It’s not. Get over it! Countless other lies enslave you.
What controls you? Addiction is the dominant face of evil in the 21st century in America. Real freedom and addiction can’t co-exist.
Common addictions: Alcohol, tobacco, drugs, work, internet, gaming, caffeine, television, love, negativity & self-doubt, exercise, shopping, food, gambling, and pornography. The addicted are like a mosquito riding on an elephant thinking it’s the navigator.
What controls you? “Got to” is not your friend even if you “got to” go to church or “got to” read the Bible. Healthy spirituality is “want to.”
You can escape “got to” by the Holy Spirit’s power. Christian freedom is the ability to do what you ought through God’s power. Political freedom is great. Spiritual freedom is greater by far.
What “got to” motivations still control you? Trust the power of the Holy Spirit to set you free from each one. Read Luke 12.
57 What Is Real Freedom? (2)
In November 1976 I was driving a back street in Fargo, North Dakota. My wife and I had just recently moved there. A car whizzed through the intersection one hundred feet ahead from right to left.
When I got there, I was shocked. There were no traffic signs at the intersection. I was free to zip through Fargo’s intersections. But I wasn’t free to feel safe.
God’s natural laws foster harmony and predictability in the natural world. Light doesn’t travel 186,000 miles per second today and one mile per hour tomorrow.
The Earth doesn’t constantly change its rotational speed or the path of its orbit. Water doesn’t freeze at 32 degrees today and 80 degrees tomorrow.
God’s spiritual laws are detailed descriptions of how to love Him and your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37–39). They all reduce to that.
Natural laws undergird harmony in the universe. Similarly, the law of love underlies relational harmony. Freedom isn’t doing whatever you want whenever you want, wherever you want. A “Whatever” sign is not your friend.
The health and harmony of your physical body depend on each body part’s doing what is best for the whole. If the fingers hold a cigarette and the lungs inhale the smoke, the whole body suffers the consequences. Underneath real freedom is the ruling principle of love.
You’re free if you can love God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself. Unfortunately, selfishness often disrupts harmony.
Like a spider, it crawls into every corner and crevice of human relationships. You crush the spider by repeatedly choosing to do what is best for God and others for the long haul.
Consciously choose to do what is loving rather than what is best for you at least once today. Read Luke 13.
58 Habit Stitched
Habits are stitches that hold your life together. Good ones, like back stitches, are strong. They help you reach your potential.
Bad ones, like running stitches, are easy but weak. They decrease your effectiveness.
You have running stitches in too many places. They pull loose and hurt you relationally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, and financially. They offend others and diminish your influence.
Moreover, habits like overeating, overstressing, overspending, and overmedicating can dominate you. Like a screaming drill sergeant, they make your life miserable.
Good habits empower you and keep you functioning effectively. The challenge is to replace the running stitches of unhealthy habits with back stitches of good habits.
In the last forty years, I’ve replaced my ineffective oral hygiene habits with good habits. For example, I now use an electric toothbrush twice a day.
I’ve replaced criticizing others’ unhealthy habits with more tolerance. Now I only have about 147 unhealthy habits left to work on!
It’s best to pull and replace running stitching as soon as possible. You can pull young habits, like young oaks with a gentle yank.
Over time, habits and oaks root ever deeper and resist removal. When habits are forming, you’re wise to evaluate if you should keep them.
The Apostle Paul wrote, "’ I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive” (1 Corinthians 10:23 NIV).
You’ve got the right to burp, pick your nose, and say “Ah” frequently while public speaking. But it’s not beneficial or constructive for your communication!
Evaluate the stitches of your habits. As pouring water into a glass displaces its air, good habits poured into your life displace the bad.
Identify at least one of your unhealthy habits and begin a good habit to replace it.
Read Luke 14.
59 Are You Content?
A bathroom remodeling commercial showed “before” (the old shower facility) and “after” (the new shower). The “before” would have been a significant upgrade to my shower.
Somehow it still manages to get me clean! You accumulate debt by buying things you don’t need and can’t afford.
The debt problem in the USA springs from terribly expensive, widespread discontentment. Commercials nurture it. They’re the peanut butter that baits the mouse trap of credit card debt.
The average debt is $5700 per household in the USA. Those 45–54 years old have the most. Millennials and those older than seventy-four have the least.1
By contrast, contentment is a calm, quiet spirit. It’s satisfied with new enough and good enough. Those with it feel good even if they’re driving a 12-year-old car. They feel better than those without it driving a three-year-old model.
The Bible links contentment with trust in God. The fear of the Lord enables contented rest (Proverbs 19:23).
The Apostle Paul learned to be content with whatever material things he had. That was because Jesus Christ was his trusted resource. He provided everything to accomplish whatever Paul needed to do (Philippians 4:11–13).
Contentment with your food and clothing plus godliness is a path to wealth. It’s available (1 Timothy 6:6, 8). You can be content because God is always with you and won’t forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).
Contentment with what you have unlocks the door of the “love of money” prison. Learning contentment allows you to avoid unnecessary debt or to escape it.
Contentment is satisfaction with new enough and good enough.
How would satisfaction with new enough and good enough improve your financial situation? Read Luke 15.