Heart Tracks - Movable Prison Cells

 "The thief's purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy.  My purpose is to give life in all it's fullness." John 10:10....."It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."......"As much as we may know about His Truth, we are still so often governed by our natural lives."  T. Austin-Sparks

So many today are living their lives out in movable prison cells.  Unlike our usual idea of a cell, that it is stationary, we who live in these cells are able to easily take them wherever we go. Such cells are found in many different churches every week.  Songs are sung, sermons are heard, fellowship is entered into, all while sitting in the cold, confining loneliness of our cell.  They're invisible to all who are around us.  Sometimes they're even invisible to us.  We've grown so used to the cell's presence in our lives that we are able to move about seemingly free on the outside, yet imprisoned in our spirits and lives.  The presence of these cells and their ability to hold us captive may remain unseen and unknown to us, but they will surely make their presence known in every area of our lives and relationships, including the one we have with Christ, as well as how we "do" our jobs, and especially, as to how we carry out our ministry for Him.  They show up in our attitudes, belief systems, and especially in what we believe about Him.  They are often lies that disguise themselves as truth.  These movable cells affect, even control some, many, or every aspect of our lives.  We may use various addictions to medicate them, or busyness to ignore them, but they remain, and their power over us grows stronger. And the size of the cell grows larger, while our space within smaller. I know something of these movable cells because I have lived in one or another for too much of my life, even my life in Him.  Perhaps you're living in one right now.

I love the truth of John 10:10 and Galatians 5:1, yet the reality of that truth was lacking in many areas of my life and walk with Him.  Jesus said we would know the Truth and the Truth would make us free. But too often, though that truth is known in our minds, the very real strongholds that exist there keep it from ever traveling that huge distance between our mind and heart, so keeping it from being our reality.  And so the devil's, not the Lord's purpose is what gets carried out.  The devil is able to steal real life from us, kill our hope, and destroy our faith, as he stands outside our cell mocking, accusing, and above all, lying to us.  He convinces us that we can never be free of that cell.  His overall purpose is to keep us from seeing Christ who also stands there, and it is He, not the enemy who holds the key to that cell.  In truth, He's already unlocked that cell for us by His blood and resurrection.  He is not coming to give us life, He has given us life.  He is not coming to make us free, He has made us free. Satan has deceived us into thinking we are locked up, but Christ calls us out.  Do we, will we, have we come out?

What might be your movable cell?  Where might it be found?  In your emotions?  Your spirit?  Your past?  Do you know, really know, that He has given you life in all its fullness?  A fullness that is rooted in eternity.  In Him.  The devil's purpose is to convince you that you can never leave your cell.  Christ's is that you know a freedom that no cell can hold.  One of the two is being worked out in your life today.  Which?

Blessings,
Pastor O