Encounter FreedomSample

Day 1: The Need To Be Free

Humanity needs to be free. Many people suffer day by day, moment by moment, bound and in prison. Perhaps today you are not free emotionally, but enslaved by the torment of fear, anxiety, rejection, loneliness, depression, discouragement, or hurt in the deep places of your heart. You may be battling physical bondage through sickness and other ailments that keep you from wholeness and great health. Spiritually, you are addicted to some sort of sin. You fight, but fall. Then you get up and fight, but fall again. Jealousy, envy, unforgiveness, cursing, lust, greed, and dishonoring others may be part of your list of struggles.

This is how the enemy, Satan, works in your life. His desire is to deceive you so you will suffer the consequences of bondage. John 10:10 says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.” The will of the devil is to make you enslaved and stuck in the chains of bondage, far from experiencing freedom. And much like the Egyptians made life harsh for the children of Israel in the book of Exodus, Satan desires to see you bitter, depressed, hurt, without purpose, and ineffective as you experience spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical bondage.

The good news today is that God hears your heart’s cry to be free. God is love, and He never hears our cry without action. God is not a passive, uncaring God. God responds with an answer to our bondage in order to set us free. In fact, freedom is why Jesus came. In Luke 4:18-19, Jesus declares His mission of love and freedom to all of humanity.

Do you see that? Jesus came to set people free. Jesus came to set you free. He came for those in need; the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed. Jesus offers the gospel, or good news, that saves, heals, and brings freedom.