Are you in bondage to negative thoughts and habits? If so, Jesus gave you His freedom recipe!
Let's examine its ingredients to finally experience the peace and joy that the Lord desires for us.
He wants you to taste and see that He is Good.
John 8:30-32 says:
Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'”
So let's look at this scripture more closely so you can see the ingredients and instructions for freedom:
Ingredients:
- Believe
- God's Word
- Abide
- Time
Instructions
- In the scripture, Jesus only gave this recipe to those who believed Him.
So you must Believe that God's word is true and that He does not lie. Believing is essential because if you do not believe, the recipe will fail.
Numbers 23:19 says,
“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
God surpasses the integrity of any man. So if you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, then you can live free of whatever negative stronghold has you bound.
Jesus lives in you through the power of the Holy Spirit:
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4)."
The Holy Spirit gives you power to do what you can't do on your own.
2. Add God's Word.
While all of God's Word is good, one scripture in particular challenges you to examine what you choose to permit or not permit in your life:
All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any (1 Corinthians 6:12)."
As sons and daughters of the Most High God, we were created to glorify Him in our bodies and spirits.
Glorify means to display His character and excellent qualities to others.
So when evaluating your habits and the way you are thinking, a good question to ask is:
How does this help me glorify God?
If it does not help you, then you must decide whether to permit or not.
If you decide revoke the permission, then humble yourself and ask God for His wisdom about how to remove that tormenting thing.
He will supply you with the wisdom and the strength to overcome because your heart is to glorify Him!
3. Next, Abide in God's word.
Abiding means to "live in." If you believe God's word, you study and meditate upon His word daily and live out what you learn.
You don't rent God's word based on how you feel; you make God's word your home.
The English churchman Thomas Fuller puts it best:
He does not believe that does not live according to his belief."
4. The last ingredient to add is Time.
It takes time to make something, doesn't it?
Here is what the Lord is making in you:
"Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord"
2 Corinthians 3:17-18"
You are being changed into the glorious image of the Savior you are beholding, Jesus Christ.
It is not something that happens overnight.
It happens as you live His word daily, pray, seek His direction in your daily decisions, and then do what He says!
When you live in freedom yourself, you are able to share this recipe with others so that they can taste and see that our Lord is good!