Friday, May 05, 2006
Freedom Future
bjk left a comment on this morning's post: That's a cool truth that I want to hold onto......freedom....looks different to and for each person.....He's that personal of a God right???....!
Yes, he is just that personal. It's very interesting to me. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever." He's the same but how he works with each person is unique, made of that person's needs and state at any one moment.
I need one kind of freedom. bjk needs another. Lu's freedom involves car payments, which are something I see only as a kind of bondage. God led her to that position for his own purposes, just as he has led bjk and me to where we are today.
So, where's the heart of this matter? God's heart, naturally. He never changes. He made each of us, and knows each of us. I think problems come in when people hear what some well-intentioned teacher starts standardizing freedom. We're told not to compare ourselves to others, but to walk our own path. This is the reason: someone else's path is designed, by God, for that person. It won't help me except in the general idea that God loves that person enough to establish a path, and I can expect Him to do the same for me.
There's comfort in being part of the herd, which is why freedom can be so quickly standardized. To blaze your own path is very much more difficult. You have to scout it yourself, see where you're going, and you have to keep on going. The herd sort of carries you along. When it's just you and God, you know what's happening, and you can hear God's voice.
I'm probably biased toward the solo path too much, which is part of my own freedom program. I've been so involved in making sure no one notices what I'm doing that I monitor my own state by how others react. If they see me, I've failed. This isn't a good plan when God's goal is to have each life shine in a way that attracts others. So I need to be independent enough to remain standing out in plain view.
Only God knows what your freedom is. He will teach you if you want him to. It's a difficult path. The last year of my life hasn't been much fun, but I think I'm finally beginning to learn some of the truth of love, freedom and truth. God is a good teacher and leaves nothing out, and he repeats the lessons until they really have been taken to heart.
Yes, he is just that personal. It's very interesting to me. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever." He's the same but how he works with each person is unique, made of that person's needs and state at any one moment.
I need one kind of freedom. bjk needs another. Lu's freedom involves car payments, which are something I see only as a kind of bondage. God led her to that position for his own purposes, just as he has led bjk and me to where we are today.
So, where's the heart of this matter? God's heart, naturally. He never changes. He made each of us, and knows each of us. I think problems come in when people hear what some well-intentioned teacher starts standardizing freedom. We're told not to compare ourselves to others, but to walk our own path. This is the reason: someone else's path is designed, by God, for that person. It won't help me except in the general idea that God loves that person enough to establish a path, and I can expect Him to do the same for me.
There's comfort in being part of the herd, which is why freedom can be so quickly standardized. To blaze your own path is very much more difficult. You have to scout it yourself, see where you're going, and you have to keep on going. The herd sort of carries you along. When it's just you and God, you know what's happening, and you can hear God's voice.
I'm probably biased toward the solo path too much, which is part of my own freedom program. I've been so involved in making sure no one notices what I'm doing that I monitor my own state by how others react. If they see me, I've failed. This isn't a good plan when God's goal is to have each life shine in a way that attracts others. So I need to be independent enough to remain standing out in plain view.
Only God knows what your freedom is. He will teach you if you want him to. It's a difficult path. The last year of my life hasn't been much fun, but I think I'm finally beginning to learn some of the truth of love, freedom and truth. God is a good teacher and leaves nothing out, and he repeats the lessons until they really have been taken to heart.
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MY plan was to buy a car for cash and have no payments. MY plan involved me waiting till October or so, because then I'd have had about $10K to put down and that would've gotten me a decent car with decent mileage. That way I could use all my "extra" money to pay for school.
Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."
I'm becoming more and more convinced that there are no accidents in a Christian's life; that is, God is a at work in everything that happens -- even down to the red lights we encounter on the way to work. I don't pretend to understand how it all works or how He does it.
But every time I look back over the last few years of my life -- even just the last few weeks -- I cannot deny that God worked in every single thing that happened in my life. And he has taken all that pain and all that loss and all that confusion and used it to strengthen me, to help me grow up and look a little more like Him (I hope) and gave me wonderful gifts along the way. Like the gift of your friendship. I couldn't have made this journey without you, bro.
I thought I needed a certain kind of freedom in Christ, freedom from car payments, which I hadn't made it 10 years. But it turns out that Jesus knows better. I guess that's the key to it all, really. Live the best you know how, but hold your plans loosely because God has a habit of changing them. :)
Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."
I'm becoming more and more convinced that there are no accidents in a Christian's life; that is, God is a at work in everything that happens -- even down to the red lights we encounter on the way to work. I don't pretend to understand how it all works or how He does it.
But every time I look back over the last few years of my life -- even just the last few weeks -- I cannot deny that God worked in every single thing that happened in my life. And he has taken all that pain and all that loss and all that confusion and used it to strengthen me, to help me grow up and look a little more like Him (I hope) and gave me wonderful gifts along the way. Like the gift of your friendship. I couldn't have made this journey without you, bro.
I thought I needed a certain kind of freedom in Christ, freedom from car payments, which I hadn't made it 10 years. But it turns out that Jesus knows better. I guess that's the key to it all, really. Live the best you know how, but hold your plans loosely because God has a habit of changing them. :)
Larry I read this poem and thought of you.....
http://wildgrace7.blogspot.com/
Freed but she has some other good words as well....
I don't know just wanted you to know I am thinking of you...
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http://wildgrace7.blogspot.com/
Freed but she has some other good words as well....
I don't know just wanted you to know I am thinking of you...
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