Free Shackles

Over the past year God has radically brought some disturbing news to my attention. It was simply put, "You are not living the way I want you to when it comes to your finances." When God spoke this to me He didn't speak it in anger, disappointment, or impatience. I heard Him speak it to me in pure love. Because God loves me so much He longs for me to live a great life as John 10:10 says, "the thief's (Satan) purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy. My (Jesus speaking) purpose is to give life in all its fullness." He is not trying to keep me from having nice things, or to "miss out on what everyone else is doing". I realized more than ever God so deeply desires for both you and me to be 100% financially free. Free from stress of not making enough to pay the bills. Free to give generously as He prompts us to. Free from headache and heartache. Free from relational stress due to money related issues. Free to live however He calls us to live. I saw that without ever realizing it I had caged myself inside a jail cell of debt. And because I only know fellow inmates I never realized I was in "jail". I never realized there was an outside world. A world where people were not shackled down by financial burden and stress. For the first time the light bulb went off after reading the verse in Proverbs 22:7, "Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender." Servant I am okay with, after all that is what I signed up to be, a servant of Christ. But look closer, it is not saying a servant of Christ but someone else servant, servant to the lender. Meaning I'm not free, I'm not even Christ servant completely. My debt has caused me to have two masters and scripture later on tells us that no one can have two masters and serve them both completely. So this just rocked my world. I didn't sign up for this. I didn't sign up to be anyone else servant other than my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This revelation is what keeps me up at night. It's what is driving me to get rid of my current lifestyle and adopt one that doesn't come with shackles. In our American culture this is extremely difficult. Even in my Christians circles this is masked which is probably why I am just now getting help at 27 years old. After many conversations within my community I realized that my circumstances are nothing compared to those my brothers and sisters are facing. If I am in "jail" then I have far to many friends on death row. Yes death row. No light at the end of the tunnel. No hope, no future glimpse of freedom, just a downward spiral into the abyss. I know it sounds extreme, but I think because we haven't called a spade a spade we as a society are now dealing with an overloaded crowd of inmates on death row. The beauty of Jesus is that He is a God of redemption. No matter how far gone we may be He is always there, always, to welcome us back home. To offer redemption no matter what our circumstances may be. I love that. So there is hope. God longs for us to turn our financial choices over to Him. Philippians 4:13 Paul reminds us that we can do anything through Christ. My hope and prayer for us as a Christian community is that we lead the way of hope for ourselves and others that are currently living on death row. From: an inmate planning an escape. For help pursuing a financially free lifestyle go to www.crown.org