Breaking Free Intro

Well, here I go. I only have 30 minutes before I have to go get some shoes for my niece.
I can not type word for word what the outline said at Breaking Free esp since it hasn't hit the shelf...but I will share what I have learned.

Isaiah 9:4
4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat,
you have shattered
the yoke that burdens them,
the bar across their shoulders,
the rod of their oppressor.

Isaiah 61

The Year of the LORD's Favor

1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners, ^[a]

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

Judges 6:1-6

Judges 6

Gideon

1 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.

I hope you read all of those scriptures because they are important to the points.

Usually in God's word when He is speaking of freedom He is speaking to those who are free yet who are living in captivity. That is HUGE. So often I used to think well after so many years I will get this life down. Why do I still struggle? Why am I disobedient? Why have I gotten into my own pits of sin? I love church but so often you will have the message relayed that you can only be used of God if you haven't done the dirty dozen or whatever. But where does that leave people who knew better yet sinned anyway? As if to say Christians don't get in a pit. We couldn't be more wrong in relaying that message and I would like to say that that is part of how we get there. This is all just me but say you are really struggling with something and you have prayed about it yet it is still gnawing away at you. You sit in a room week after week with people that are believers and you think man they all have this thing together and I am really struggling over here. I bet no one else struggles with the things that I do. That is not true it is just that we tend to mask our sin and we sure don't want to let our guard down too much to let other people know that we don't have it together which is duplicity. Do you air all of your business...no. But for goodness sake let's get real people. What would things look like if you accepted God's forgiveness and could turn back after you have denied Christ and strengthen the brethren. What if your testimony could be a wake up call to someone who is dying on the inside to know they are no alone. For example, I have a lot of single women ask me (and guys) how do I know if I am called to be single? My pointed question is this: Do you desire to have sex? Most always the answer is an honest yes. Then, you aren't necessarily called to be single. So keep giving your desires of your heart over to God in prayer. I am not saying that is an easy one. Especially to the woman who is in her 40's and has had the desire to be married yet where is her prince charming. My whole point is that we are all fellow travelers in Christ and I am so blessed to have a friend who I can call up at any given time and tell her listen to what I am struggling with and it just sort of snuck up on me. Will you pray for me? Thank you for letting me expose this to the light and nip it in the bud. If you don't have someone like that pray for that. There is no telling what this has saved me from. So as children of God we can live under great oppression...

The enemy of our souls wants us to be unfruitful. He is not worried about unbelievers. His goal is to smear the testimony and witness of the believer. I am so thankful that God is greater still than even our deepest darkest sin. He is greater than our enemy.
The enemy is wanting us to live in a constant state of distraction. He wants to oppress us to make us just waste our life. So what do we do? Examine yourself today and see if he has got you ensnared with too many distractions. When I hear people tell me that they have to love themselves before they can love anyone else I WANT TO SCREAM: THAT IS A FARCE. Nothing could be more incorrect. Jesus has called us to die to ourselves. Our problem is that we are lovers of ourselves instead of lovers of God. Yesterday Morgan and I went round and round. She cried so bad because she does not want to share with anyone. I mean she was stinking hysterical. It occurred to me as the day went on that in her sin nature and her just plain being 3 years old, she thinks that this world revolves around her. We think the same way at times. Get up in an airplane and look down from thousands of feet above and you can see that the Lord looks down and we are like grasshoppers (Isa. 40:22). My time is up and I haven't even gotten to one of her points...to be continued.