Where the Spirit of the Lord is...

'Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom' - 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV) Many people spend their time searching for some sense of freedom. Whether that is freedom from an old habit that dies hard, like saying like, like, way too many, like, times, or freedom from something more serious, such as domestic abuse, we all crave it. Even the celebrities among us can't hide their craving for freedom: From Ariana Grande's need to Break Free and Elsa's wish to Let It Go to Queen's Want To Break Free.   The one question that hovers closely in all of these songs and situations is 'How can I get that freedom?'. Does it come from 'running away'? Does it come from 'drowning your sorrows'? Does it come from 'allowing yourself to feel the pain'? All of these suggestions might well give you a sense of temporary release but they're far from being a permanent fix. What good does it do to run to no place in particular, drink with no intention of stopping, feel hurt for the sake of feeling hurt? There is an easy answer, a short term struggle might just be your road to a secure, free future: God. Jesus. Saviour. Awesome. Healer. Hope. Our one true route to freedom is God. We can't take all matters into our own hands, in fact despite how much human nature wills for us to fix things ourselves, God wants just the opposite: for us to rely fully on Him. F.R.O.G. Fully Rely On God. Every issue we face, 'every step [we] take', 'every move [we] make' God is watching us. All He is waiting for us to do is ask Him for help and after receiving His grace, thank Him! That's the hard part, the small struggle, to ask God for help and trust Him. Doesn't sound too bad? It's not, just remember that He loves you, take a deep breath and ask. I pray that each of you reading this will feel a sense of freedom. A feeling of flexibility and movement, a feeling of peace and understanding, a feeling of love. I was listening to a pastor of a local church preaching about the parable of the Good Samaritan recently, he gave me an insight into a new way, well new to me, of interpreting the story. He was explaining that the man laid on the floor, beaten and bruised represents our spiritual beings after The Fall. The priest who walks past represents the earthly 'men of God' who may seem as though they are the bridge to God on the outside but they may not be so on the inside. The second passer by, one who was supposed to be all about 'being nice to humankind', did exactly that and passed by. This represents the people who mean to do good in the world but how they fail to satisfy our every need, especially spiritually. The third man, the Samaritan, represents Jesus, a man who came to save us. The oil He poured over the beaten body represents a flow of the Holy Spirit and the wine: the Blood of Christ. When the Samaritan pays the inn keeper to look after the beaten man He says 'until I return' which is exactly what Jesus promised to do: return. Thanks to His death we can be free.

Forever - Kari Jobe The moon and stars they wept The morning sun was dead The saviour of the world was fallen His body on the cross His blood poured out for us The weight of every curse upon Him One final breath He gave As Heaven looked away The Son of God was laid in darkness A battle in the grave The war on death was waged The power of hell forever broken The ground began to shake The stone was rolled away His perfect love would not be overcome Now death where is your sting? Our resurrected King Has rendered you defeated Forever He is glorified Forever He is lifted high Forever His is risen He is alive, He is alive We sing Hallelujah, we sing Hallelujah We sing Hallelujah The Lamb has overcome