Are we ever truly free...?
The question, "Are we ever truly free?" keeps coming to me lately. Is it from God or the enemy that it comes? I don't know. BUt it's got me looking in the Bible for answers so it that's a good thing. Even if it's of the enemy, God will still work it for good.
Anyway...
To find the answers to a question that won't stop echoing through the corridors of my heart, I'm starting in Matthew...
The first section of Matthew is a record of the son of the son of the son, so on and so forth. A story of, "...fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah." (Mt 1:17)
exile
nounverb
- 1. the state of being barred from one's native country, typically for political or punitive reasons.
"he knew now that he would die in exile"
synonyms:banishment, expulsion, expatriation, deportation, eviction; More
The last blog I wrote on this website was to do with Matthew 1:1-17. I had mentioned then that I never thought much of this section of the Bible, and after having read it, I haven't really bothered with it since. In the previous blog, I noted that, upon reading this section, it came to me, "Joseph was chosen, too." Joseph, Mary's husband - Jesus' stepfather, some would say - was one of those 'son of the son of the son' guys. That had me wondering was Mary chosen to be the birth mother of Jesus because she was Mary, or because she was to be Joseph's wife...? But that's another story, which can be found in, "!!!!" I mention it solely to share that upon going back to that section, with 'Are we ever truly free?' in my heart, I find this section speaking to me again.
Actually, it speaks to me in two parts: 1. From the beginning of time, until the time of the Messiah, freedom has been sought after, and set into place... And 2. Even though you have read the Bible, and read certain passages repeatedly, and even though you are bored with those passages of you feel 'that certain part' of the Bible is dead and has nothing left to say to you, the Bible is the Living Word. It can, and will, speak to you - often, and wherever you are at.
I find this very encouraging.
As I step into Matthew, which will lead me through to Revelation and to wherever else God is taking me on this journey, this weary old heart of mine is enriched and empowered, once again, by a section I considered to hold no significance for me or my walk.
"Are we ever truly free?" is not a blog where I seek to give answers to such a question. Rather, it is my journey into a greater freedom, which I know, upon seeing the 'exile' in the first section of the New Testament, is why God has allowed such a question to enter my heart and demand my attention.
There is revelation to be had. God is trying to get it to me. There is greater freedom - which usually comes through emotional healing (ie the detachment from an old wound or scar), or mental healing (ie the removal of a lie, or wrong thinking) which, again, God is seeking to give me.
I've been aiming to start this journey for a few days now, but each time I've found a heaviness pressing down over my heart. As a writer, I find it so very easy to proscrastinate, :) - it goes with the job, I believe ;) - so putting this journey off was easy. However, the longer I stalled the heavier the shadow over my heart; the heavier my heart, the less hope I clung to; the less hope I held, the less power faith held in my hands. This morning, while procrastinating - uh, I mean, while working on my novel - this question of freedom returned, so I opened Matthew on Biblegateway, and, declaring I wasn't reading Matthew 1:1-17 again, I received the thought that this section, and the history belonging to it, has a lot to do with freedom. That instantly grabbed me. That instantly awoke faith, which awoke hope, which awoke confidence, which awoke passion...so, here I go, into this journey that I hope will not only bring greater awareness of freedom and joy to me, but to you, also...
Freedom. Who doesn't want it?
Shall we begin...
Actually, it speaks to me in two parts: 1. From the beginning of time, until the time of the Messiah, freedom has been sought after, and set into place... And 2. Even though you have read the Bible, and read certain passages repeatedly, and even though you are bored with those passages of you feel 'that certain part' of the Bible is dead and has nothing left to say to you, the Bible is the Living Word. It can, and will, speak to you - often, and wherever you are at.
I find this very encouraging.
As I step into Matthew, which will lead me through to Revelation and to wherever else God is taking me on this journey, this weary old heart of mine is enriched and empowered, once again, by a section I considered to hold no significance for me or my walk.
"Are we ever truly free?" is not a blog where I seek to give answers to such a question. Rather, it is my journey into a greater freedom, which I know, upon seeing the 'exile' in the first section of the New Testament, is why God has allowed such a question to enter my heart and demand my attention.
There is revelation to be had. God is trying to get it to me. There is greater freedom - which usually comes through emotional healing (ie the detachment from an old wound or scar), or mental healing (ie the removal of a lie, or wrong thinking) which, again, God is seeking to give me.
I've been aiming to start this journey for a few days now, but each time I've found a heaviness pressing down over my heart. As a writer, I find it so very easy to proscrastinate, :) - it goes with the job, I believe ;) - so putting this journey off was easy. However, the longer I stalled the heavier the shadow over my heart; the heavier my heart, the less hope I clung to; the less hope I held, the less power faith held in my hands. This morning, while procrastinating - uh, I mean, while working on my novel - this question of freedom returned, so I opened Matthew on Biblegateway, and, declaring I wasn't reading Matthew 1:1-17 again, I received the thought that this section, and the history belonging to it, has a lot to do with freedom. That instantly grabbed me. That instantly awoke faith, which awoke hope, which awoke confidence, which awoke passion...so, here I go, into this journey that I hope will not only bring greater awareness of freedom and joy to me, but to you, also...
Freedom. Who doesn't want it?
Shall we begin...
RELATED VERSE:
Matthew 1
New International Version (NIV)
The Genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
~*~***~*~
1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah
the son of David, the son of Abraham:
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac,
Isaac the father of Jacob,
Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
3 Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
Perez the father of Hezron,
Hezron the father of Ram,
4 Ram the father of Amminadab,
Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
Nahshon the father of Salmon,
5 Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
Obed the father of Jesse,
6 and Jesse the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,
7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
Abijah the father of Asa,
8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
9 Uzziah the father of Jotham,
Jotham the father of Ahaz,
Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
Manasseh the father of Amon,
Amon the father of Josiah,
11 and Josiah the father of Jeconiah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
12 After the exile to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
13 Zerubbabel the father of Abihud,
Abihud the father of Eliakim,
Eliakim the father of Azor,
14 Azor the father of Zadok,
Zadok the father of Akim,
Akim the father of Elihud,
15 Elihud the father of Eleazar,
Eleazar the father of Matthan,
Matthan the father of Jacob,
16 and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary,
and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.
17 Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David,
fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon,
and fourteen from the exile to the Messiah.