Heart Tracks - He Holds The Keys

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32......"You cannot see the unknown until you face the known." Rebekah Lyons

John 8:32 is definitely among the most well known and memorized verses in the Bible. Of all the wonderful promises made by Jesus, this one has to be at, or near the top of them. Since we know that He never makes a promise that He's unable to keep, why then do so few of us ever enter into the kind of freedom He promises and offers? He said He came to set the captives free. So why are so many who profess to be His, indeed are His, continuing to live in some degree of captivity? Why are so many of us who embrace a Gospel message of freedom so obviously not free? I think the answer is found in Lyons above quote, and that answer is telling.

Think of all the things that can hold us prisoner, that keep us in chains. Think of those things that keep you that way. Fear. Fear of people really knowing us, and how flawed we are. Fear of failing to meet what we believe are the expectations of others. Fear of failure, of rejection, of abandonment. Of being alone. Of being forgotten, unnoticed. Of being unloved. Then there are the expectations we hold for ourselves. A drive for success, recognition, status. Expectations that can so often be unrealistic, but still very real to us. These too can hold us prisoner. Really, our "jailers" are about as numerous as our thoughts and attitudes. They rob us of our future and cripple us in our present, and they can set the pattern for our lives. We who proclaim a Gospel of freedom, are decidedly not free ourselves. How can we enter into the level of life He calls us to? What has to happen for the prison door to swing open for us?

This devotional can't begin to say all that must take place in us, and continue to take place, but it has to begin with what Lyons says. We have to face the known jailers in our lives. No matter how much we may fear them, deny their existence, or run from them, they remain. They aren't going anywhere, and they will continue to try and keep the cell door locked. What we need is to have the courage to face them, and then bring them into His presence at His cross, because it is not our jailers who hold the keys to freedom. It is He. In His Presence, their power is not only broken, but has already been broken. But we will not experience that until we gather the courage to face them, confront them, and then see their power over us broken. We stop denying that we have the problem, admit that in so many ways, we are the problem, and then receive His freedom in the midst of it all. Is it painful? For sure, but oh, the fullness of joy we will know in the end.

So what is it we, you, need to face? Who is your jailer? Fear? Expectations? The need for perfection? Unforgiveness? The wounds of yesterday? The dread of tomorrow? Face them...in and with Him. He holds the keys. The cell door you think is locked, isn't. Come out and be free.

Blessings,
Pastor O