Freedom နမူနာ

Day 5 - Running Free

I’m not going back there! I’m forging a new way, I’m running free!

It can be easy to go through a season of freedom, but the challenge now lies in running free for good. We can get to the end of a devotional like this, and little thoughts can creep in like ‘this is not going to last’. 

Today we can declare over the little and the big things ‘I’m running free!’ 

Hebrews 12:1-2 says ‘therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.’ 

How can we run free for good?

To run free, we must break the cycle of shame & condemnation that comes from sin, fix our eyes on Jesus, and declare with our words that we are running free. 

First, break the cycle of shame and condemnation. Running free does not mean running perfect. Running free means running in the grace of God. 

Our sinful nature means we are likely to make a mistake, no matter how hard we try in our own strength. At some time, in some way, we are going to say or do something that we regret. When we do, the enemy is ready to pounce. He comes with thoughts of failure, shame, condemnation: ‘here we go again…’, ‘I knew it wouldn’t last...’ ‘this is who you are… an angry/lustful/rejected person...’

But thanks be to God that we are not judged according to what our sins deserve. Because of Jesus, we can live in freedom. While shame has us running away from God when we sin, repentance has us running TO God when we sin. 

God’s plan is never to heap shame upon us, but rather that we would repent (admit we have made a mistake), accept forgiveness, and continue to move forward into freedom. 

We must take captive those thoughts of shame and instead declare: ‘I’m not going back there…I’m running free!’

When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we are reminded that it’s not through our own strength that we are justified and made right, but through the salvation of our sins on the cross. It’s God’s kindness that leads to repentance…. He never wants us to distance ourselves from him through shame, but to run to him. 

Thirdly we must declare that we are running free. Remember from Day 1, our words shape our world. Our words shape the quality & direction of our lives. Daily declaring the truth of who you are and who God says you are, is more than a good self-help tool – it’s a Biblical principle. 

Every day, renounce the lie, and replace it with the truth.  

Identify the lie you’ve been believing, maybe it’s that you are rejected, maybe it’s that you are not good enough, maybe it’s that you are angry, or lustful, or dirty. Write down the lie and how it makes you feel. 

Then look in the Bible for verses that declare the truth. For example: ‘I am chosen...’ ‘Before I was born you knew me…’ ‘and then form it into a declaration. For example: ‘I break the stronghold of rejection over my life. I declare that I am chosen, appointed and accepted by God.’ 

Then stick with it! – it takes 21 days to create a habit. Speak these truths out loud over your life, every day, and watch as it changes you from the inside out. 

You can run free today!