In all Circumstances

Today we are wrapping up our / / Running to the Light series. Looking at what it means to be free, not because we worked hard at it. Not because we did the right thing. But because we ran to the right place! Running to the light of Jesus Christ is the best way to be free.

I’ve said this before, and I know that in my own life I will need to remind myself of this a million times over.

/ / Freedom does not happen by focusing on the problem.

/ / Freedom is received by focusing on the one who sets us free!

Jesus Christ is the freedom bringer. The blood of Jesus Christ, shed on that cross on Calvary is the reason we are saved, the reason we are healed, the reason we are set free. And the moment I believe that it’s by my own works, by my own hand, by my own grit and grind that I’m made free, is the very moment I will lose control of that freedom.

Actually, that’s kind of the point. / / You can’t get free by taking control - you get free by releasing YOUR control!

We often hear people say, “God is in control. God is in control.” But I believe that God chooses NOT to take control because he gave us free-will. You can’t have both. You can’t want to be free, and then expect he’ll just take control at any time you really need it. Ok, you can be free right now because it’s safe and nothing can go wrong, oh wait, it’s getting a little dangerous, a little difficult, i’ll take control here, no no, you don’t have the freedom of choice anymore. That’s not how God works, is it? So we CHOOSE to rely on His work in our lives rather than just assuming he’s taken control.

So, there are things to do. Yes, there is a path to walk. Our faith isn’t a passive faith, it’s a purposeful faith. It’s a faith that has legs, so to speak. And because our faith has legs, we don’t just say we believe something, but when we say we believe it, we do it. When we say we believe it, we act upon it. When we decide that this is something worth believing, we put our everything in it.

James 1:19-25 says this, / / Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

/ / Get rid of all filth and evil in your lives.

That’s what we’ve been looking at the last 3 weeks, isn’t it? Removing the things in our lives that are getting in the way. And we do that, not by trying to be clean, not by trying to be better, but by choosing to run towards the light! James says it in the next line, the solution is simple, humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts... what is this word? It’s the gospel message of Jesus Christ, this is what they were preaching. This is what the church was founded on. The simplicity and beauty that Jesus Christ is the solution! That God doesn’t want us to feel like we need to hide because we feel dirty, but that he wants us to be washed clean and free!

And then he says one of the most powerful things in the bible.

/ / But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says.

James, buddy....come on....why did you have to say that? I mean, reading the bible, OK, I can get behind that. But actually DOING what it says? Like, all of it? All of what Jesus said? And this is the key to being free? OH LORD…here we go.

How many know the story of the house built on sand vs the house built on the rock? Jesus told it in Luke 6. But before he starts talking about the houses he says this, / / So why do you keep calling ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it.

And THEN he starts talking about houses, and the he says very simple, listening AND doing is like building a house on a foundation that is solid rock. When the wind, rain and storms come, it will stand. And then he says, / / But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house right on the ground, without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.

See, we can build a house, but it’s what we build the house on that matters. Following His way is building the house of our lives on a solid foundation, but following our way is like building the house of our lives on dirt, on sand, it will not sustain the trials of life.

This is WHY I say over and over again that trying to be free by sheer will power and grit just won’t work. Trying to get and remain free by our best efforts will never last. Freedom doesn’t come by us focusing on the problem and trying to “overcome it”. / / Freedom is found in chasing the one that has already overcome.

Jesus said in John 16:33, / / Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.

He has overcome. He doesn’t say, You’ll experience stuff, so buck up kiddo. NO, he says, Yes, you’ll experience things, but don’t worry, I’ve overcome, and if I’ve overcome, and you are following me, you’ll be in the path of the overcomer!

Remember last week I said if we keep Jesus behind us, and our problems in front of us, the problem lives in a shadow, because aren’t following the light, we’re following the problem. BUT this is saying the exact opposite, or the solution, with the light in front of us, with Jesus in front of us, we’re following HIM, what is now between you and the problem?

Think of it this way. The things in my life, the things in your life, are incurable in this world.

These things that truly effect our lives: Sin, conflict, turmoil, racism, contention, all these things we are facing in this world, my realization of addiction, they have no human answer. So, lets call it what it is, it’s an humanly incurable disease. Sure, will-power might get you so far. Actually, if you think about it, the ability God gave humans to overcome is actually pretty impressive. And trust me, in my 30+ year battle with food addiction I’ve realized that my will power is pretty amazing..... for a season. Sure, we’ll be able to be nice for a while, hold our tongue for a bit, stay sober for a few weeks, or not sleep around for a few months. But eventually will-power fails us.

So, I have an humanly incurable disease. Whatever that is. My anger, my hatred, my addiction, my inner conflict, my depression, my whatever… What if someone came to you and said, I have this miracle product, it’s like a sauna, you go inside, you sit in the light that this thing produces, for 30 minutes a day, and if you do that, every day, without missing a day, EVERY DAY, you’ll be free.

Here’s the thing, if you stop, the symptoms of your incurable condition will return, but as long as you rely on this box for your sustained healing, you’ll be free.

Am I saying that the freedom of Jesus is temporary, like somehow he didn’t do a good enough job?

No, not at all. If you’ve ever heard the phrase, The finished work of the cross, you know it to be true. Jesus doesn’t need to die again. Jesus doesn’t need to pay a *NEW* price. Our freedom is completely purchased.

So, we’re going to look at something that Paul talks about in his letter to the church in Galatia. Galatians 5,

vs 1 / / So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.

vs 7-8 / / You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom.

vs 16-17 / / So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

I mean, we can talk in theory all day long, but Christianity is NOT theory. The life, death and resurrection of Christ is NOT theory. It’s reality. It’s real. It’s true. It’s powerful. And we have the opportunity, every day to walk in the light of the overcomer. How powerful is this truth! / / But take heart, for I HAVE OVERCOME the world.

You wanna know what that really means? Take heart, the greek word for heart there means / / To be firm or resolute in the face of danger or adverse circumstances, be enheartened, be courageous.

THIS is what Jesus is calling you to. In the face of trial and sorrow walking in the light of the overcomer will give you a firm and resolute ability to face any and all circumstances. You’ll be encouraged AND courageous!

So, here’s some realities that Paul talks about in Galatians 5, when we decide that we are going to live a life of Running to the Light of Jesus Christ.

/ / You ARE Free!

Paul says in vs 1, so Christ has truly set us free. Make no mistakes, the power of Jesus Christ has set you free.

Jesus said in John 8:36, / / So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

We talked about that last week, the Jewish people he as talking to had a hard time with that because they didn’t see how they were trapped, or slaves to anyone? “We are free...”, they said…

But, this truth is all throughout the scripture. Romans 6:18, / / having been SET FREE from sin.

Paul said in Acts 13:38-39, / / through [Jesus] forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Good deeds didn’t cut it, but belief cuts every bondage!

Don’t ever let someone tell you that Jesus forgot to pay for something on the cross. It’s not true. You are free.

But then Paul says something a little interesting…

STAY Free! Now make sure that you stay free...

I’m sorry, what???

BEING Free doesn’t always mean LIVING free. Being Free and Living Free are two different things. I struggled with this, because if Jesus has set me free, but I’m not experiencing that freedom in my life, then how is that fair? How is that right? Did I miss something?

If Jesus paid for all disease, why do people die from disease?

If Jesus paid for it all, set us free from everything, if the grave couldn’t even hold him down.

The prophet Isaiah says of Jesus, / / He will swallow up death for all time...

2 Timothy 1:10 says, / / Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

1 Corinthians 15:55-56 says, / / ”O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So what happened? Why is there still pain, why is there still sickness, why is there still struggle? Because we know there is. Jesus even said flat out we would experience it. “In this life you will experience trial and sorrow...”

So, how do we wrestle with BEING completely free, but not FEELING completely free?

It’s like this. Have you ever seen one of those invisible animal fences? You put a wire under the ground, you put a collar on the dog, the dog goes to the wire and zap!

It takes a while, but eventually the dog knows where the wire is, it’s figured out it’s prison boundaries, it is sufficiently acquainted with its boundaries, its limitations.

You keep that dog there long enough and what happens if you take the collar off?

The consequence is still there, the wire is still underground, but the dog is completely 100% free.

Does it go past that line? No, of course not. Why? It has to now learn what it means to be free because all it knows is how to be in bondage.

The same thing, and I hate to use this as an analogy, but animals and children alike who have suffered abuse. They have learned behaviors and learned reactions. They live in fear of consequence, they live in fear of punishment, they live in fear of abuse. Because it’s all they know.

Now, if Jesus said that the enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy. What does that look like? Do you think that maybe just maybe sin has had a way of beating us down into submission? In fact, Jesus said in John 8:34, / / everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

And this idea of being a slave to sin is carried out through the writings of the new testament.

Galatians 5:1, which is our main scripture today, in the ESV says, ...do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Romans 6:6, / / We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.

2 Peter 2:19, / / …you are a slave to whatever controls you.

These things we struggle with, have had such control over us for so long, it’s all we know. Remember, we talked about the things in our lives we want to hide, that’s control. These habits, sins, character deficiencies that we deal with, we’ve been controlled by them, we’ve been slaves to them.

So when freedom comes, like a child who’s been freed from abuse and captivity, we need to unlearn what sin has done to us, and learn what it means to be free. Like a dog freed of the collar but still afraid of the wire, we need the gentle compassion of Jesus Christ to lead us past the boundaries we have been living in.

Listen, some of you have been beat down by the devil in your life. When he came to kill, steal and destroy, he left no part of that out of your experiences. This is why we can be so thankful that Paul says, Now Christ has TRULY set us free. Yes, you are free, and yes, Jesus wants you to WALK in that freedom.

Ya know, the other translations of this scripture, Galatians 5:1, say this a bit differently. They say it this way, / / It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Not just that we are free, but that we are free with the PURPOSE of living in Freedom, and those are two separate things.

This is why the bible says don’t allow yourself to fall back into slavery, into the bondage of these things. Freedom is step two. Living in this freedom is the byproduct of being set free.

/ / Keep Your Focus!

This series has been about Running to the Light, and specifically as a better way to be Free. But as we’re seeing it’s not just about GETTING free, it’s about LIVING free. This requires us to keep our focus. To not just turn to Jesus to SET us free, but that we truly understand running to the light of Jesus Christ is the way to STAY free.

Galatians 5:7-8 says, You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth? It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom.

/ / You were running the race so well.

What is the race? Great question.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, / / …let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.

The race is to run with endurance, keeping our eyes on Jesus. He’s the source of setting us free, He’s the source of keeping us free.

When we put these two things together, Hebrews 12, / / keep your eyes on Jesus, plus Galatians 5, that asks, Who has held you back from following the truth? Who is the truth? Jesus said in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

So, Jesus IS the truth. Paul is asking, who held you back from FOLLOWING the truth, or following JESUS…And then further clarifies that in Hebrews saying the race literally IS keeping our eyes on Jesus. FOLLOWING THE TRUTH.

Freedom is maintained by keeping our focus on these two things. Pursuing Jesus, and Listening to His words. And by Listening I mean hear and obey, because we know that hearing alone doesn’t do it. James 1:22, / / But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

So, the last few weeks I’ve been sharing my own personal journey, my struggle with food addiction, and the reality of it hitting me with all of this. A 30 year struggle suddenly had a name, and it was no longer you’re too weak and you’ll always fail, but it was, Your weakness is an opportunity for HIS strength.

I believe that God brought me to these scripture and this series in the midst of this realization in my life because I believe it is important for people to know two things.

/ / #TheStruggleIsReal - we all have struggle

SO

/ / #RunToTheLight - we all have the same solution

But, one thing I’ve heard and learned over and over again in recovery is this. Those who STAY recovered are those who recognize, understand and DO these two things:

/ / Have a personal experience with God

But, not just one time, but an experience that becomes a lasting relationship with God. Not just a one time moment, but the recognition that we need a constant connection to God as our strength. 2 Corinthians 12:9, God says to Paul, / / My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

So, I recognize that I am weak, but that isn’t a condemnation or even a judge’s sentencing that determines I won’t ever succeed, it’s actually the access point for the grace and strength of Jesus Christ in my life. BECAUSE I have a weakness, I am perfectly positioned for HIS strength. So, I recognize that I NEED that experience with God

/ / Follow the steps.

AA has twelve steps. I’m walking those steps through my recovery of food addiction. But same as the connection with God, it’s not a one time thing, it’s a life long journey. Why? Because Galatians 5:1 warns us that although we are free, we always have the potential to fall BACK into slavery to what previously controlled us...

Today I am free. I haven’t had sugar in 7 1/2 weeks. And yesterday we bought pizza for the volunteers at SpringFest. At the end of the day we were cleaning up and I had a great little moment, I was the only one left in the building. Kelley had just left with Kaylee, and there sat 2 pizza boxes. Each with one single piece of pizza left in them.

Now, my answer to, “What’s your favorite food” for the last 20+ years has always been the same answer, “pizza”. Without question, without doubt, don’t need to think about it. And here I am, standing in front of the very substance of my addiction. The wheat, the carbs in that pizza will set me off into a tailspin.

But in that moment this is the thought I had, “I WANT to WANT to eat this, but I actually don’t WANT to eat this.” And that’s not because I’m strong, or because I’m great, or because I’ve mastered anything. It’s because I’m weak and reliant on God’s grace and strength and HE is the source of that strength.

And as I was thinking about that moment later I realized this is the strength of God active in my life.

BUT, / / I am only AS FREE as I am committed to LIVING.

Is the power broken? Did Jesus Deal with my sin and my pain and my disease on the cross? YES, of course. But does that mean I’m always living in the freedom he paid for?

I spent years, as a Christian, with Jesus in my life, with the Holy Spirit filling me, but like that little dog..... no collar, but not knowing HOW to walk over that line.

So, those two things. / / Follow Jesus, pursue Him, pursue his presence, AND, do what he says.

/ / So, Works?

No, not works, because one without the other doesn’t work.

James 2:17, / / …faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds [if it is not accompanied by action // if it does not have works], it is dead and useless.

So, we end today with the last two verses we read in Galatians 5

/ / So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.

There are steps to freedom. There are keys to our freedom. It starts with running to the light AND it continues with running to the light. Every part of our freedom is running to the light. And when we get there, listening to God’s voice, be that through his word, through prayer, through whatever means he chooses to speak to us, and following through with action.

YOU ARE FREE, that price is already paid, and the desire of God is that you LIVE FREE by living in His light and following His word!

I said earlier, sin, life, our experiences have had a way of beating us into submission, and sometimes we are Free, but all we know is what we learned in bondage, and we need that gentle compassion of Jesus Christ to carry us over that line where we’re too afraid to cross.

Listen, I understand that. When I realized how strong the addiction was that I was facing, it took me weeks to build up the courage to give it up. I was afraid. How would I live without what I’ve become so accustomed to, what I rely on? This is why people return to their sin. People return to relationships they shouldn’t be in. People return to old habits, old patterns. Because it’s all we know.

I want you to turn to your neighbor and say this in the most genuine, caring, loving way you possibly can, “Give yourself a break...” It’s for Freedom that you’ve been set Free. Today is the day we start living more free than we ever have. You don’t have to be strong enough. You have to recognize that you need help, and that’s ok.

Let’s pray.