Posts Tagged: freedom
“Hermione Released”
A great blue heron was released back into the wild on Monday. Hermione had somehow gotten a hook stuck at her neck. She couldn’t eat. The wound became infected with mites. She was a few hours away from dying.
But someone here at the RV resort where we are staying called the wild bird rescue people. Surgery, antibiotics, and a lot of Loving Care led to her return to Lake Ibis. My wife and I were there when they let her out of her cage and she flew across the lake and landed in her favorite tree.
Those who were watching cried, cheered, and laughed. It was a wonderful moment when my faith in the kindness and caring hearts of human beings was restored. I think I was let out of a cage of cynicism that has developed over the past several years of political and social turmoil.
But above all, I thought of my fellow addicts who are in recovery. We have been let out of our self-imposed cages, free to fly again. Was there some effort on our part? Yes, of course. But then there were our fellow addicts who helped get the hooks out of our necks, who helped us to heal, who fed us with her own experience, strength, and hope when we had none of our own.
And then, of course, there was our higher power. Some of us know that that higher power is called God. And some of us not only believe in God, but also in God’s son Jesus Christ. And we believe that he has set us free.
The word for salvation in Hebrew in the Old Testament is a word which means “to give space or to give room to someone or something”. A lot of people, I am afraid, think that Christianity is a matter of constricting people, of restricting people. Frankly, we Christians often give unbelievers that impression. However, the basic word for salvation is a word which speaks of ultimate freedom and not constriction or restriction. We may need to be in cages for our own protection for a little while during the healing process. But that is very temporary.
Faith in God frees us to fly again, to live again.
“The Danger of Following my Heart”
Psa. 81:0 To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. Of Asaph.
Psa. 81:1 Sing aloud to God our strength;
shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
2 Raise a song; sound the tambourine,
the sweet lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
at the full moon, on our feast day.
Psa. 81:4 For it is a statute for Israel,
a rule of the God of Jacob.
5 He made it a decree in Joseph
when he went out over the land of Egypt.
I hear a language I had not known:
6 “I relieved your shoulder of the burden;
your hands were freed from the basket.
7 In distress you called, and I delivered you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, while I admonish you!
O Israel, if you would but listen to me!
9 There shall be no strange god among you;
you shall not bow down to a foreign god.
10 I am the LORD your God,
who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
Psa. 81:11 “But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me,
that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the LORD would cringe toward him,
and their fate would last forever.
16 But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.” (Psalm 81, English Standard Version)
In my Bible readings this morning, I had a fresh encounter with Psalm 81. It was not altogether a pleasant meeting.
The part that especially got to me was the following:
“‘But my people did not listen to my voice;
Israel would not submit to me.
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,
to follow their own counsels.’”
Did you catch that? Because God’s people—God’s own people—refused to listen to God, God gave them over to their own stubborn hearts, to do whatever they had decided to do.
Does that sound like freedom to you? Doing whatever my heart wants frequently does sound like freedom to me. And I have often done whatever my heart told me to do. “Follow your heart!” is a very modern mindset. It is also very ancient.
But what if there is something terribly wrong with our hearts? I believe that there is. This is not because the Bible tells me so, even though the Bible does tell me so. The reason I know that my heart is evil is repeated experience with following my own heart. I’ve done a lot of damage to myself and others by following my own heart. I doubt very seriously that I am alone in this.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Following my own heart does feel like freedom initially. However, sooner or later (and usually sooner), there comes a reckoning. Perhaps I should spell reckoning “wreckoning”, since I have often wrecked my own life and caused great pain to those I was supposed to be loving.
Yes, there is forgiveness. Yes, there is transformation. Yes, God still loves me. And a few very brave people have loved and forgiven me too. They are participants in my transformation. However, my stubborn heart is still a stubborn heart. Daily, I need to listen to God and not my stubborn heart.
And really listening means living differently. Only so am I free in any sense that truly merits being called “freedom”.
“Overcoming ______________ (fill in the blank): Breaking the Wizard’s Wand”
Years ago, a Bible study group that I led was discussing how we tend to let other people define us. This is especially the case when we are little. In particular, parents, siblings, school classmates, teachers, and coaches have a huge influence on us.
One of the members of the study group used the analogy of a wizard. Wizards have wands, with which they can wield a lot of power for good or for ill. When we are little, we don’t have much (if any) choice about who has power over us.
However, as we mature, we ourselves actually are the ones who give people their wands, although we may not realize that we’ve given them power over us.
Then, this member of the group went on to say something I’ll never forget: “When we are adults, we have the right to demand that a wand be returned to us, if the wizard hasn’t used the wand for our good.”
So, here is what I sometimes do: I visualize a certain person to whom I have given a wand. If I do not like the way in which they are practicing their wizardry, I visualize myself saying to them, “I need the wand that I gave you back.”
Then, I visualize myself breaking the wand over my knee.
A friend of mine (who is so insightful that he should be doing his own blog) said to me this morning, “Resentment gives other people a lot of control over us.” Indeed it does! Perhaps it would be helpful if I broke a wand named “resentment” over my knee. Resentment is a wand that places me under an evil spell in a hurry.
Above all, as I have said in an earlier blog, I tend to resent myself. I make a lousy wizard for anyone else. But I’m not good at being a wizard to myself, either. Paul said that he didn’t want the Corinthians judging others, and that he himself did not judge even himself (1 Corinthians 4:3). Perhaps if I stopped judging myself, I would stop having so many resentments against myself.
However, no matter what you want to overcome, whether it is resentment or something else, it may be time that you broke some wizards’ wands. That is why this post is entitled “Overcoming ____________.” You fill in the blank. Whatever evil spell you are under, you have the right to break the wizard’s wand. Indeed, you have not only the right; indeed, you have the responsibility to do so.
And then there is God. God is not a wizard. God does not wield a wand. Rather, God is a loving heavenly Father, who wants all of us to be free. I believe that God will help you to identify the evil, controlling wizards in your life. If you aren’t strong enough to break their wands, rest assured that God is able to do so.
“WHEN SLAVERY LOOKS PRETTY GOOD”
“Isn’t it enough that you brought us out of Egypt, a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us here in this wilderness . . . ?” (Numbers 16:12)
Sometimes, slavery looks pretty good.
The Bible tells about how God freed the people of Israel from bondage in Egypt (Exodus through Deuteronomy). And God’s plan was not simply to free Israel from something. God was also planning to bring Israel to something: their own land, a land that is frequently portrayed as “flowing with milk and honey.”
However, like all of us, the Israelites had a problem: themselves. They could be thankful for short bursts, but for long periods, they complained. In fact, as has often been noted, the most popular outdoor sport of the Israelites during their journey from Egypt to Israel was complaining.
What did they complain about? It would be easier to say what they didn’t complain about. They complained about food—no food, the same food day after day, no meat. They complained about water—or, rather, the lack of water. They complained about the desert they were in. They complained about the “fact” (??) that they were not able to conquer the land that God had given them. (Their penalty for this complaint was that they were not able to conquer the land that God had given them.) They complained about their leadership.
Now, before we go all smug and judgmental about this bunch of complaining Israelites, we should perhaps take a look in the mirror. Let’s face the truth on this Monday morning: Complaining is an equal-opportunity employer. We are all of us complainers. Paul warns believers of this in 1 Corinthians 10:1-13, referring to the stories of complaining (and other sins) Israel committed in the wilderness. Paul also warns us that such complaining and other sins are common temptations that all people face (verse 13). When someone asks me how I am, I sometimes reply, “Can’t complain!” However, I can complain and sometimes I do.
So, in Numbers 16, some of the Israelites are complaining that Moses has not brought them into “a land flowing with milk and honey” (verse 13). In fact, the complainers refer to Egypt as “a land flowing with milk and honey” (verse 12).
Say what!
Wasn’t Egypt where they were slaves? Wasn’t Egypt where they felt the whip of the taskmasters? Wasn’t Egypt where they had to throw their male babies into the Nile River to feed the crocodiles? Wasn’t Egypt where they had cried out to God for deliverance from Egypt and all it stood for?
Well, yes. But now that the Israelites were in the wilderness and not yet in their own land, Egypt looked pretty good. Will Rodgers was a funny guy, but he wove a lot of truth into his humor too. For example, he said, “We are always yapping about the ‘Good Old Days’ and how we look back and enjoy it, but I tell you there is a lot of hooey to it. There is a whole lot of all our past lives that wasn’t so hot.”
So, how about you and me? How did you and I used to be enslaved? How do we remember said slavery? Perhaps we complain because the past seems better than our present. (Notice the operative word in the preceding sentence: “seems.”)
However, maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe past slavery seems better because we’re complaining. Maybe if we practiced the fine art of gratitude right here and right now, we would discover a more realistic attitude toward our past, our future, and (most importantly) our present situation.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- “Even a Sliver of Light” April 9, 2024“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:6, English Standard Version) I missed the total eclipse yesterday. There were a number of good reasons for this, but […]
- “The Process in Miracles and the Miracle of Process” March 11, 2024“2 Kings 5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids […]
- “The Power of Encouragement—Even for Old People” March 10, 2024“But encourage each other every day while it is ‘today.’ Help each other so none of you will become hardened because sin has tricked you.” (Hebrews 3:13, New Century Version) Yesterday, I was walking at a nearby park. There was a large group of young people some of whom were running while other young people […]
- “Endurance” March 10, 2024“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36, English Standard Version) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us […]
- “The Limits of Non-Judgmentalism” February 24, 2024“Matt. 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. Matt. 7:2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2, English Standard Version) This morning, in my virtual 12-step meeting, we discussed the topic of judgmentalism. There were many wise […]
- “Delighting in Being Told What to Do?!?” February 23, 2024“Psa. 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures […]
- “Character is the Real Lesson” January 19, 2024I am often confused about what lesson I’m really supposed to be learning. For example, this morning I was trying to knock out several Spanish lessons. My intentions were a lot better than my internet connection. I’ve done three lessons. Or rather, I’ve done two lessons. One of them I did twice because the internet […]
- “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked” January 1, 2024Each year, I try to come up with one word or a short phrase for what I intend to work on in the upcoming year. 2024 is “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked”. What?!! What does that even mean? So glad that you asked! Jesus said to his disciples, “Why do you look at the speck […]
- “Searching for the Noble One” December 26, 2023My wife and I were reading Luke, chapter 2 on Christmas Day. Luke 2 talks about the shepherds being told to look for this very special child—in fact, this King—in a stable. I prefer the word “barn”. I grew up on a farm. I know what a barn is. A stable is entirely too biblical […]
- “That Don’t Impress God Much” December 14, 2023DTEB, “That Don’t Impress God Much” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Song by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain) Micah 6:8 (MSG) “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be […]
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