Live in Freedom! | Internet Cafe Devotions

1 I love You, Lord; You are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my Savior;
my God is my rock,
in whom I find protection. He is my shield,
the power that saves me,
and my place of safety.
3 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise,
and He saved me from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death entangled me;
floods of destruction swept over me.
5 The grave wrapped its ropes around me;
death laid a trap in my path.
6 But in my distress I cried out to the Lord;
yes, I prayed to my God for help.
He heard me from His sanctuary;
my cry to Him reached His ears.
Psalm 18:1-6, NLT

Have you ever found yourself smack dab in the middle of a trap of the enemy; bound so tightly by his chains you could hardly breathe? When I first read these verses; my initial thoughts were “OH. MY. WORD. THAT IS SO ME!” I have been entangled by the ropes of death. Not physically speaking, but there was a time in my life that the enemy had such a strong hold over me that my spiritual death was imminent. I had literally nowhere to go, no person to cry out to except God Almighty. It was either cry out to the only One who could breathe life back into my dying soul or close my eyes and give up. I was worn out and in no condition to continue fighting the enemy.

The enemy had beaten me.

He had won.

His power over me was great.

As I lay there in that moment of life or death I remembered that there was a God who would fight for His people. I remembered that there was a God who desired to breathe life into the dying. With what little strength I had left I cried out to the only One who had the power to give me life and break the chains of the enemy. God heard my cries. I believe He had been sitting on His throne waiting patiently to hear me cry out to Him. God not only heard my pleas, but He acted. He gave me strength; mmm, let me rephrase that, He became my strength. The chains of death no longer held me captive; my God had redeemed me. He breathed new life into my soul and gave me a new story to tell. He set me free.

Here’s the thing though. God has really been speaking to me lately about living in freedom. Yes, God set me free from the chains of the enemy and yes He breathed new life into me. So, why are there times when I don’t live in the freedom He’s blessed me with? Why are there times when I keep silent instead of shouting from the rooftops that there is a God who loves and forgives and sets free the captives? Jesus said Himself, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:36) It’s not a maybe kind of freedom. It’s not an “if I feel good” kind of freedom. God’s freedom is a forever freedom; a freedom that FOREVER frees us from the chains of the enemy. Friends, it’s time that we live in the freedom that Christ died to give us. No more walking around with our heads hanging low singing the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s, but shouting from the rooftops “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free!”

When David penned Psalm 18, he was praising God for rescuing him from the enemy. The love that David had for his God was an intimate, loyal kind of love. He never forgot what God had rescued him from, he just didn’t wallowing in it. He lived in the freedom God had blessed him with. I so want to live in the freedom God has blessed me with. I want to live that abundant life in Christ. I want others to see Jesus in me. I want to be a woman who desires God more than anything else in life. How about you?

Questions to Answer- Thoughts to Ponder
*Are you living in the freedom God has blessed you with? Or, are you still holding on to the past wishing you could have done it differently? Beloved, we can’t do anything to change our pasts, but we can allow God to use our pasts to change the future.
*Is there something in your life that you need to be freed of today? Cry out to God. He’s waiting to hear your voice. He’s ready to break those chains.

Precious Father, You are my strength. You are the rock upon which I will stand forever. I praise You today because You have set me free; You have broken the chains of the enemy. You have set me free to sing Your praises. Help me to always live in Your freedom. May I not look back, but fix my eyes on You, the Author and Finisher of my faith. Thank You for hearing my cries. I bless Your name.

Jenifer Jernigan

Jenifer has a past that would spill over into her present if it weren’t for the magnificent grace of Jesus and His powerful healing hand. She is the wife of Chris and the momma of three precious children, Hannah, Will, and Lydia. Her days are spent homeschooling her kiddos, getting lost in a sea of words, sipping on delicious cups of her favorite coffee, and chasing hard after the One who saved her.You can visit with Jenifer and Diving Deeper Ministries where she encourages all to dive deeper into God's Word and live abundantly in Christ.