THERE. IS. FREEDOM.

“This is the message of faith that we proclaim: If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” Romans 10:9

We live in a broken and fallen world. We carry chains that the enemy has convinced us we have no choice but to bear. We are full of sin, baggage, false identity, and mistakes that we have made. But good news came thousands of years ago, and remains today and forever- WE ARE SAVED by grace alone! God sent his one and only son, to die on the cross for OUR SINS. That WHOEVER believes in Him shall have ETERNAL life! No matter what chains we are wearing, no matter what we have done, no matter where we are at in life, WE CAN BE FREE!!

Jesus will break every chain so that we can live in His grace and freedom.

I have mentioned before that I was raised in a Christian home, so for a long time I have accepted Jesus into my life. If I am being honest though, it has taken me a really long time to understand the weight of what Jesus did for me, and it still is. I knew that by me doing so meant that I would have eternal life and my sins would be forgiven, which are both sooo important. What I didn’t fully grasp though until this past semester of college, is that I am FREE in that. I have dealt with anxiety for a while and seasons of depression have waved through my life since my sophomore year of high school, and during all of that I learned to give it to God. I learned to go to Him in my darkest moments, and to put my trust in Him. Here is the thing that I missed though- I never allowed myself to be fully free from all of it. I would tell myself that Jesus is with me yes, and it is wonderful knowing I am not alone in this battle, but I would simultaneously be telling myself this was a battle that would never leave me. I believed the lie that I was an anxious person, and that was my identity. Then this past February I went to a worship night with some friends from school, and I was so incredibly anxious for no reason! I was so overly aware of everything around me that I couldn’t even worship without thinking about what everyone around me was thinking. I began praying for God to take away my anxiety because now it was taking over my time with Him. That night I was prayed over for healing and that God would break down every lie that I was allowing to manifest in my life. Right after, the band began playing the song Break Every Chain and it hit me that because of what Jesus did for me he truly can set me free from that anxiety. The song repeats that there is POWER in the name of Jesus. That he will BREAK EVERY CHAIN, and I cannot explain to you the peace that rushed over me knowing that through the power of His holy name, I am able to now walk free in my life.

So I don’t know your story. I don’t know what you have been through, what you are carrying with you, the mistakes you have made. But I do know that you have a father in heaven who LOVES you! He loves you to the point where He would have his son die a death that he did not deserve, that was painful, all so that we could walk in freedom. A freedom that we do not deserve, but as it says in 1 Peter 1:3-5, “because of his GREAT MERCY he has given us NEW BIRTH into a LIVING HOPE through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time”. We can now have a life that lets go of all the lies that the devil tells us and we can start residing in Jesus. Whether it is depression, anxiety, guilt, fear, grief, whatever it may be, Jesus calls you to step out of those lies and give that all to Him because he died on the cross for that very purpose. He died to break all of the chains that are weighing you down and welcome you to step into His grace that he freely gave. There are no good works that you have to do to earn His forgiveness. There is nothing that you have to do to make Him love you more. There is nothing that you can do that will push God away. You can rejoice and have peace in knowing that all of your burdens are gone because if he defeated death, he can defeat anything. My friend, you are free!

♡ Lindsay

Reflection: I would encourage you to take time to read the resurrection story in each of the gospels. There are similarities and differences in each of them, which can all help deepen your understanding of the price Jesus paid for each of us, and the grace that he pours out to each of us. If you have already made the decision to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then I would encourage you to take time to reflect on what is weighing you down in life. What chains are you carrying, what are the lies that you are believing? I would challenge you to give them ALL to God. Spend time in prayer and just simply ask Him to break every one of those lies and to heal you from every bondage. He is so incredibly good and on top of being our Savior, He is our healer. Give God the opportunity to work in your life, so that you can walk in joy and peace knowing you are free.

If you haven’t made the decision to accept Jesus into your life, but you want that freedom, you want that relationship, then I would encourage you to take that step and make that decision. Many people often think you have to know how to pray or that there is some specific prayer you must pray. God just wants you talk to him. You can start by praying a simple prayer asking God to come be the Lord of your life, to forgive you of your sins and to help guide you each day. If you have questions about what that looks like, what this means, please reach out through the contact section and I will walk through that with you! No matter where you are at in life, continue reflecting on the grace that he so freely gives to each of us.