Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

The Freedom To Say "Yes"

Have you ever noticed that when we talk about freedom it often includes a desire to learn how to say "No"? So many of us are ruled by feelings of obligation, duty and a general desire to be charitable that we struggle to say "no" when asked to do something beneficial or noble.

Then, somewhere along life's journey, this wonderful thing called "freedom" presents itself and we begin to realize that we no longer have to be bound by these feelings! We don't have to be ruled by guilt, shame and fear. We can actually live a life led by the Spirit of God living inside of us. The next thing we know we are discovering how good it feels to say 'no'. There is a huge sense of relief - of freedom - that we have finally learned how to excercise our free will. Gone are the shackles of slavery and burden.

Today I was having a conversation with my best friend Larry about being led by the Holy Spirit and no longer functioning out of guilt/shame and suddenly it struck me - freedom is more than just the ability to say 'no' - true freedom also gives me the ability to say 'yes' (and an emphatic "YES!") to the things of God.

True freedom does more than simply empower us to close doors, it creates in us the ability to run through the doors of heaven into the deepest desires of our hearts and not feel like if we don't do it again tomorrow that somehow we have failed, given up or no longer make the grade.

So, if today in my freedom, I choose to fast, study my bible and spend the evening worshiping and praying it by no means obligates me to do the same thing again tomorrow, or the next day or ever again! BUT, it also does not mean that I can't do it again tomorrow, and the next day and every day after that for the rest of my life (yes, a very long fast!) and not feel like I have lost my freedom and suddenly become enslaved to these things.


True freedom is the freedom to say 'no' when we want to say 'no', as well as the freedom to say 'yes' as often as we desire!

In freedom I can run after Jesus with all my might, for as long as I desire, and never have to feel the burden of it being religious (even though it may have the appearance of religeon to some). Why? Because He longs for me run after Him. He longs to spend time with me and He never grows tired of me being with Him! I don't have to wait for Him to invite me by His Spirit - in my freedom I can simply choose Him; because the door is always open.

Some might say "I only do what the Spirit tells me to do", but the truth is that the Spirit has already invited us to come and make our home is Jesus. Jesus said we should remain in Him. So we can choose at any moment of any day to run with total abandon into Jesus presence and never have to worry that we are acting outside of the direct will of His Spirit.

It is much like my friend Larry - He doesn't need an invitation to come to my house! He is free to stop by whenever he feels like it. Why? Because the invitation was given many years ago and that invitation still stands. The door is always open.

Do we believe that is also true of our relationship with Jesus? If we knew Jesus was going to be at someones house tonight, do you think that we would sit at home waiting for an invitation to be there?! I think we would show up at the door 2 hours early and play the "I'm with the band" card!

"No. Really! I'm His best friend!!"

I hope today you know this - that there is an open door to the presence of Jesus, and each and every one of us has the freedom to come as much as we desire. He will never turn us away. He will never tell us we've overstayed our welcome. And He won't ever condem our freedom as being religous.

So here's to the pursuit of intimacy with Jesus and the freedom to say a resounding "YES!!!!!" to Him today.

Demos and Diddies mirror site

I have decided to host Demos and Diddies on my personal site instead of my blog site. You are still welcome to come hear and read my writings (which will increase, I promise!) but the musical part of the journal will be at www.jonloeppky.com

See You There!