Freedom Road

 Author and pastor Dutch Sheets has written of the steps he believes must happen in a Christ followers life in order to come to the fullness of life Jesus offers through His life, death, and resurrection. He calls it "The Freedom Road." I thought I'd give a little of my own insight as to what's involved in these steps.

Step #1 - BELIEVE - Friends, we are going nowhere with Him if we have not made, once for all, the decision to believe Him. Not just in our heads, but in our hearts. There are no conditions. Whether we understand all that is happening or not, we believe Him. Whether circumstances contradict His promises or not, we believe Him. Our position is like that of Paul on the Roman ship that was slowly sinking, threatening the lives of all aboard. Jesus had appeared to him and promised his and the crews deliverance. As the ship sank, Paul declared, "I believe it will happen just as He promised!" Such must be our position in Him as well.

Step #2 - ABIDE IN HIS WORD - To abide in His Word is to stay there, live there, and persevere there. We live in it and are surrounded by it. Just as we unconsciously breath in life-giving oxygen, so do we live and breathe in the atmosphere of His Kingdom through His Word. It is our life. It is what gives us life. Christ is His Living Word and as Scripture says, "In Him we live, move, and have our being." He is our permanent residence.

Steph #3 - KNOW THE TRUTH - Again, this is not a mental knowledge, but a heart centered one. We know the truth by our living experience of it, of Him who is all Truth. Jesus said we would know the Truth and the Truth would make us free. The enemy and his world spirit have done a very good job of deceiving us into believing his lies. Christ offers His Truth. He invited us into it. We live in it as we live in His Word. His Truth reigns in our hearts and saturates our minds. We don't just know about the Truth. We know the One who is Truth.

Step #4 - BE FREE - This is the natural result of walking this road. When we believe, abide, and know Him as the Truth, we enter into real freedom of the heart, mind, and soul. The chains of all the lies we've believed have been broken. Lies about ourselves, others, and most of all, about Him. We are free of the prison cells that these lies have held us in. Just as the prison door that held Peter swung open by the miraculous power of God, so too does every prison door holding us do the same at His word. He speaks "Be Free." May we be so,

Step #5 - BE FREE INDEED - Jesus said that, "He who is free in Me is free indeed!" Freedom, His freedom is emphasized. He adds His exclamation point. It means that the freedom He gives is beyond whatever idea we have ever had of what freedom is. There's an old hymn with the lyric, "It's the song of the soul set free." This is what it is to be free indeed. Our souls, who we really are, are set free, fully free in Him. The shackles of sin, the world, even our own flesh have been broken by His resurrection life. We are free....free indeed.

These are the steps of the Freedom Road. May we, you and I walk them today and every day. May we Believe, Abide, Know, Be Free, and live each moment free.....free indeed. It's our destiny in Him, but we reach that destiny only through this road. His road. The Freedom Road.

Blessings,
Pastor O