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judgment

Freedom Day 5 The Freedom of the Gospel

August 4, 2017 by Sara Colquhoun Leave a Comment

Read His Words Before Ours!

Galatians 2:1-14
Isaiah 61:1
Philippians 2:1-11

One afternoon while my husband and I were dating he made reference to a line from a movie that I had never heard before. He immediately started asking me how I had never seen this movie, as it’s a classic, and told me that before we get married we had to watch it.

Just a few weeks before we walked down the aisle I found myself diving into the story of Sir William Wallace, a 13th century Scottish Warrior, fighting for his country’s freedom.

I was captivated throughout the entire movie. William Wallace had watched terrible things happen to his country once King Edward invaded after Alexander the III passed, leaving no heir. William’s mission was to fight for Scotland’s freedom, making sure they were not molded into mini-me’s by the English government. They were, after all, a completely different country and they should’ve been able to act like it.

There is an extremely famous scene towards the end of the movie where William is saddled up on a horse in the middle of the battle field. His speech charges the citizens of Scotland, imploring them to keep their freedom. The end of the speech goes like this:

“Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you’ll live — at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they’ll never take our freedom!”

This charge that William gives can be translated into a multitude of areas in our lives, but in particular, I’d like to channel it towards the Gospel today. You see, Christ has set each and every one of us free by way of dying on the cross. He came so that those who believe in Him shall have eternal life.

No one can take this freedom that God has given us; it is what is so beautiful about this gift.

But what we do with this gift of freedom is crucial. I’m not sure about you, but I’ve spent many moments nitpicking others actions as a believer. It’s sad really, because while I should’ve been cheering them on, and fighting alongside of them towards victory and freedom, I was part of the problem that held them back. I showed more hatred than love, and in turn only hurt myself more in the long run.

Why is it so easy to tell others what they’re doing wrong and how they aren’t meeting our standards when those standards never existed in the first place?

This struggle? It dates all the way back to the early church. Peter and Paul and the other disciples had all been grounded in the same truth that freedom in Christ was for them all. They were no longer bound by the law of Moses or by circumcision or by doing “all the things” to attain righteousness. Freedom was theirs, righteousness was theirs, simply because of Jesus and His sacrifice.

But pride was sneaking in. Peter was all for living as Christ had set him free when he was hanging out with Paul, but when he wasn’t, he fell back into living with legalism….and condemning those who weren’t following the letter of the law.
Peter had the chance to help others see that righteousness through the law wasn’t possible.
He had the opportunity to love deeply.
But he chose condemnation and judgment instead.
And Paul rightly confronted him about it!

Galatians tells us exactly why Peter (or Cephas) fell back into his old ways of condemning those who wouldn’t follow his rules…it was fear.

We are called to love, and to love in abundance, while always having our actions point back to the Gospel.

Yes, it’s easier to fear. It’s easier to judge.
I wish I could tell you that this practice is easy, but it requires work.

It’s not my job to control others, and to make them act and process the same way that I do, that’s why God created each and every single one of us as individuals.
If we’re trying to mold each other into OUR own image, didn’t we miss the mark somewhere?

Our goal of love and humility should be more along the same lines of what Paul wrote to the church of Philippi. In my Bible, the top of chapter two says “Be Like Christ.” I think that this is a perfect title for us as Christians who are walking in this freedom, while also trying to make disciples.

Philippians 2:3-4 states:
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,
but in humility count others
more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests,
but also to the interests of others.” 

When we count others as more significant than ourselves it leaves us tender-hearted before The Father and changes our posture from being on the defense, to allowing us to be His workmanship.

My sweet sisters. Let’s come alongside one another, lifting each other up for the sake of the Gospel. This gift that we’ve been freely given should be shared!

If you haven’t tasted this freedom before I encourage you to seek after it. Dive into scripture. Find a mentor to walk alongside of you. Send us an e-mail and ask the hard questions. We’re here for you, and we can’t wait to walk alongside this life-giving journey with you!

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Freedom Week One! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!
Click the above image for today’s Digging Deeper!

Looking for other journeys from this theme?
Here’s a link to all past studies in Freedom!

Posted in: Believe, Bold, Character, church, Community, Courage, Faith, Fear, Freedom, Galatians, God, Gospel, Grace, Hope, Pain, Peace, Power, Praise, Purpose, Trust, Truth Tagged: courage, defense, discipline, faith, judgment, salvation, scripture, training, Truth

Safe Day 12
A Love Without Fear: Digging Deeper

August 30, 2016 by Brie Brown 2 Comments

Digging Deeper posts are intended to help us go farther into God’s word than a simple surface reading
and are designed to help us discover new tools in the process.
Curious as to why we Dig Deeper? Here’s Why! 

The Passage

Looking for yesterday’s Journey Post? Check out A Love Without Fear

1 John 4:13-19 English Standard Version (ESV)

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us.

My Questions

1) There are a couple of key words in this passage. What exactly does “abide” mean? “Love” is also a key word, and it can have many meanings. What kind of love is being talked about in this passage?

2) How is love perfected in us?

3) How do we abide in God? In love?

The Tools

A trip to www.studylight.org is in order here.
We will get super cozy with this site as we study Scripture together!
Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom!
It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse?
Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage?
Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

The Findings for Original Intent

1) In every case in this passage, the word translated “abide” is the Greek word ménō, which means to remain, or stay. Each instance of the word “love” in this passage is the Greek word agape. This type of love is not a romantic or sexual love, nor is it a brotherly love. It is the word that describes God’s love for us, and is characterized by good will and benevolence.

2) Pay special attention to the linking words and phrases in this passage–words like “by,” “because,” “for,” and “so.” These linking words explain how the different truths fit together. Verse 17 begins with “By this is love perfected with us.” What does “by this” refer to? God abiding in us. And we see from the first verses in the passage that God abides in us when we confess Christ as our Savior. So love is perfected in us when we truly trust that Christ came to die for our sins—when we “come to know and believe the love that God has for us” (verse 16).

3) What does it mean to abide in God, or abide in love? Verse 16 tells us that God is love. God’s nature, his character, is love. So abiding in God and abiding in love are the same thing. There is a sense in which God always abides in us once we become believers—we are sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and God will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). But there’s another sense of abide, which means to remain or stay in a certain state. We remain in love when we keep God’s love for us at the front of our minds, when we are confident that He has saved us and He will keep us, and when we operate our daily lives in that confidence.

Some Applications for Our Everyday Lives

1) It’s important to understand the truth of God’s agape love. It isn’t like the imperfect love we humans have—it is constant, unchanging and doesn’t depend on circumstances or behavior. We can trust that we are perfectly loved by God, all the time!

2) If our love has been perfected, that is, if we have trusted in Christ for salvation, then we have no need to fear judgment. Christ took our punishment for us on the cross, and no condemnation awaits us. We do not need to fear what will happen to us after we die!

3) What are the clues in my life that I am forgetting to abide in God? (Do I find myself getting selfish, irritable, entitled, etc.?) How can I keep God’s deep love for me at the front of my mind and in every interaction I have with my spouse, my kids, my co-workers, etc.?

We’d love to hear how God challenged you through today’s Journey Study! Share your thoughts, comments, and questions with the GT Community!
Can we pray for you? 
Looking for faith stories?

Want To Try It For Yourself?!

1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read through it (always more than a verse or two).
3) Write down your questions as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers.
Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes
(click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and
embrace the fullness of God in your everyday!

Share Your Thoughts with the GT Community!

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!
Tap and hold on your mobile device to save.

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Safe Week Three! Don’t miss out on the discussion – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

Looking for other journeys from this theme? See all past studies in Safe!

Posted in: Faith, God, Grace, Hope, Jesus, Life, Need, Peace, Purpose, Redemption, Safe, Security Tagged: abide, condemnation, faith, fear, God, judgment, love, Safe, secure

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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14