John 8:36 NIV
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
INSIGHT
-Jesus Christ has freely given us the gift of salvation and we are free forevermore. He is risen. Since He is the Resurrection and the Life, those who believe in Him have everlasting life. Christ has set us free from the law of sin and the death by His grace. Therefore sin has no power over us for we are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:14). Because Christ lives, we are alive in Him. Let us therefore rejoice in the Lord always, for He is risen and we have life forevermore. This is the testimony of truth that we have, and remain confident in His salvation for He loves us and He got us, and no one can snatch us out of His hand.
PRAYER
The earth is Yours Jesus and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein. For You have founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters. Lift up your heads, O you gates and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory. The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates. Lift up, you everlasting doors and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory, the Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Jesus You are truly the risen One. You are risen and we are free indeed. Thank You for setting us free by Your sacrifice on the cross through the forgiveness of sin. By Your tender mercies and unending love, You the Rising Sun have come to us from heaven to shine on all those who are living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into Your path of peace. You came for us dear Jesus, died and resurrected so that we may be free. We believe in You Lord Jesus and our hope is in You. May You touch the hearts of all those who do not know You, that they may believe in You and live. Thank You for redeeming us with Your blood, and because You live we live, forevermore. We rejoice in You for the victory that You have won for us. Hallelujah. Amen
Further reading: John 8:32, John 11:25-26
Galatians 5:1-2 NIV
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.”
INSIGHT
-The Easter season has been a great time for most us, as we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It has been a season of rejoicing as Christian all over the world declare that Christ has died, Christ is risen and Christ will come again. We have been cautioned through the above scriptures that unless we know Christ and have been circumcised by Him in our hearts, He has no value to us. Matthew 7:21 tells us that, “not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” We know that those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we are called to keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:24-25). Christ has set us free from eternal death through His death and resurrection, and each one of us is called to carry his/her own cross and follow Him.
PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus You are our God, You are our good Shepherd and our Stronghold. At Your name Jesus, every knee should now and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ You are Lord to the glory of God the Father. You are our Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Shammah, our God in Whom we put our trust. May You circumcise our hearts and grant us the grace to abide in You as You abide in us. May You train our hearts to know You more, to fear You and to love You with all our hearts dear Jesus. May You wash us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. May You answer all our prayers and hearts desires loving Master. May You bring Your promises for us to pass for Your names sake. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us now and forever more. Amen
Further reading: Romans 6:6–7
Psalms 119:45 NIV
“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.”
INSIGHT
-The commands of the Lord deliver freedom as a guide to life in entirety. This verse does not refer much to external troubles or hindrances to being oppressed and straitened by external foes, as to internal chains and the servitude of sin, that is the slavery of appetite and passion. In this regards, 1 John 5:1-4 delivers that, “everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
PRAYER
How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to Your word Lord. I seek You with all my heart, do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You. Praise be to You, Lord; teach me Your decrees. With my lips I recount all the laws that come from Your mouth. I rejoice in following Your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on Your precepts and consider Your ways. I delight in Your decrees; I will not neglect Your word. May You remember us with mercy Lord and all the youth all over the world Lord that You may draw us to Yourself. May You deliver us from every fleshly passions that has become a snare in our lives and fill us afresh with Your Holy Spirit. May You impart our heart’s with Your love merciful Savior and teach us to for follow Your statutes and remain free from evil pleasures. May You fill our hearts with Your grace and teach us precious Holy Spirit how to do Your will. We deliver all our plans and desires unto You that You may lead us on the way that we should go. All glory and honor belongs to You now and forever. Amen
Further reading: Romans 7:7-12, Psalm 119
Ephesians 3:12 NIV
“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”
INSIGHT
-Once we were separated from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world, Christ brought us near by His blood (Ephesians 2:12-13). Though our faith in Christ we have been made children of God. In Christ we have freedom from reproach, when imbued with God’s truth, that adds great boldness onto our faith. We then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. This is the confidence that a child has when approaching his/her father. Since God is our Father through faith in Jesus Christ, we have confidence when we approach God in prayer and while interacting with Him, knowing that He hears us and He answers us.
PRAYER
We approach Your throne of grace with confidence Lord Jesus that we may obtain mercy and grace to help us during our time of need. We need You Lord every second of our lives. May You increase our faith in You dear Jesus and prosper all our ways. May You reign and be glorified in all we do. We surrender ourselves to You and submit to Your will and purposes for us. We humbly ask that You may forgive our sins and cleanse us from all iniquity with Your precious blood Lord Jesus. We pray that You will guide our steps and straighten our paths. May You teach our hands to prosper and give us wisdom and knowledge in all we are meant to do. May You bring forth destiny helpers to help us in our calling and gifting. We pray that You will show us Your way and go before us. We thank You that You always hear us Lord our Father. Thank You for You are able and are faithful. We pray this in Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.
Further reading: Hebrews 10:19-22
Acts 13:38-39 NIV
“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.”
INSIGHT
-We have been justified through faith and have peace with God through Christ Jesus. As Abraham believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness, we are called to believe in Christ, in whatever circumstance we could be faced with, having hope that He will deliver us. Also, since Christ set us free from the law of sin and death, we should forgive one another.
SUMMARY
-In Greek, freedom is written as eleutheria which means liberty. Eleutheria comes from the Greek word eleutheros, which according to Strong’s Concordance depicts the impression of not a slave or not under restraint. Apostle Paul in Galatians chapter 5 writes that we should stand firm in faith and not allow ourselves to be burdened by the yoke of slavery. He points out that circumcision on the heart allows us to access the freedom that Christ gave us for free. Christ bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness and by His wounds we have been healed (1 Peter 2:24). Through His precious blood shed on the cross we have the power over sickness, infirmity and all powers of darkness. We have redemption through His blood, and the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace (Ephesians 1:7). By His grace we we have been set free from indulgence in the flesh but leave freely, serving one another humbly in love in the Spirit. As we love one another as ourselves, we fulfill the law (Galatians 5:13-14). It is through love for God and our neighbor that we sort out God’s precepts and walk in liberty (Psalms 119:45). Christ brought us near when we were alienated from God and enemies because of our evil behavior (Colossians 1:21), and has made us children of God. We now have confidence to call God Abba Father because He surely is our Father and can approach Him with freedom and confidence (Ephesians 3:12), for He loves us with an eternal love.
PRAYER
Abba Father You are our Friend and Father. We thank You for allowing Your beloved Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. Thank You for Your sincere and everlasting love upon our lives. We thank You for Your grace and favor working in us. We thank You for making us Your beloved children. We humbly ask You to remove all unforgiveness from our hearts and heal all our pain and wipe away all our tears. We humbly implore You for forgive us all wrongs and remove all accusations against us in the courts of heaven. May You protect us, our children, family members and nation from harm. May You protect all our school going children from calamity and harm. May You bless all the street children and give them strength to do Your will as it is in heaven. May You respond to our prayers and hearts desires Holy Spirit. May You bless us and keep us. May You make Your face to shine towards us and be gracious unto us. May You turn Your countenance towards us and give us peace. Amen
Further reading: Romans 6:18, Romans 8:15