So…. don’t forget your homework!

1. Get your spiritual journal.
2. Spend 60 minutes with God each week just to listen.
3. Record your obeservations in your journal.
4. Read the following pages of Scriptures on listening.

AND – Come to worship on August 2 to see what we learn experimenting with the life of the Spirit.

Scripture Lessons on Listening…

READ these Scriptures before August 2 and note how they speak to you.

Some Scriptures on Listening
“It is in the classroom of silence that we learn to listen.”

Exodus 15:26, “He said, “If you listen carefully to the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.”

Exodus 23:20-22, “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.”

Leviticus 26:14-29, “But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands, and if you reject my decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will bring upon you sudden terror, wasting diseases and fever that will destroy your sight and drain away your life. You will plant seed in vain, because your enemies will eat it. I will set my face against you so that you will be defeated by your enemies; those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee even when no one is pursuing you.
     “‘If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over. I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. Your strength will be spent in vain, because your soil will not yield its crops, nor will the trees of the land yield their fruit.
     ”‘If you remain hostile toward me and refuse to listen to me, I will multiply your afflictions seven times over, as your sins deserve. I will send wild animals against you, and they will rob you of your children, destroy your cattle and make you so few in numbers that your roads will be deserted.
     “‘If in spite of these things you do not accept my correction but continue to be hostile toward me, I myself will be hostile toward you and will afflict you for your sins seven times over. And I will bring the sword upon you to avenge the breaking of the covenant. When you withdraw into your cities, I will send a plague among you, and you will be given into enemy hands. When I cut off your supply of bread, ten women will be able to bake your bread in one oven, and they will dole out the bread by weight. You will eat, but you will not be satisfied.
     “‘If in spite of this you still do not listen to me but continue to be hostile toward me, then in my anger I will be hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times over. You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters.”
If we don’t listen to God we will always be dissatisfied! Striving for what will not fill the God-shaped vacuum within!

When in your life are you quiet to listen to God?

Deuteronomy 6:3-4, “Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

Deuteronomy 27:9, “Then Moses and the priests, who are Levites, said to all Israel, “Be silent, O Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the LORD your God.”

Deuteronomy 30:19-20, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
     Don’t we listen to those we love??

Deuteronomy 31:12, “Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.”

Joshua 3:9, “Joshua said to the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God.”

Nehemiah 9:16, “But they, our forefathers, became arrogant and stiff-necked, and did not obey your commands. You warned them to return to your law, but they became arrogant and disobeyed your commands. They sinned against your ordinances, by which a man will live if he obeys them. Stubbornly they turned their backs on you, became stiff-necked and refused to listen.”

Job 36:12, “But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword and die without knowledge.”

Listening and knowledge: we can’t learn if we won’t listen.

Psalm 34:11, “Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”

Psalm 37:7, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.”

Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Psalm 66:16, “Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.”
     Listen to God working in the testimonies of His people.

All of Ps 81 is about listening to God.
     “Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre. Sound the ram’s horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our Feast; this is a decree for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. He established it as a statute for Joseph when he went out against Egypt, where we heard a language we did not understand. He says, “I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
     “Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.
     “But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. “If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes! Those who hate the LORD would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. But you would be fed with the finest of wheat; with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Psalm 85:8, “I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints— but let them not return to folly.”

Psalm 95:6-8 was read every evening before the Sabbath in Jewish homes. It is quoted extensively in the book of Hebrews. “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the desert.”

Proverbs and listening to hear wisdom
Proverbs 1:8, “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”

Proverbs 4:1,10,20, “Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding… Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many… My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words.”

Proverbs 5:1,7,13, “My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight… Now then, my sons, listen to me; do not turn aside from what I say… I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors.”

Proverbs 19:20, “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.”

Proverbs 22:17, “Pay attention and listen to the sayings of the wise; apply your heart to what I teach,

Pro 23:19, “Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.”
     Listening is essential for wisdom.

Pro 23:22, “Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”

Isaiah 1:10, “Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah!”

Isaiah 28:11-12,23, “Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”; and, “This is the place of repose”— but they would not listen… Listen and hear my voice; pay attention and hear what I say.”

Isaiah 32:9, “You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who feel secure, hear what I have to say!”

Do you think God sometimes has a hard time getting our attention?

Isaiah 42:23, “Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention in time to come?”

Isaiah 46:3-4,12, “Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all you who remain of the house of Israel, you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, an have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you… Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, you who are far from righteousness.”

Isaiah 48:1-2, “Listen to this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel
and come from the line of Judah, you who take oaths in the name of the LORD and invoke the God of Israel— but not in truth or righteousness— you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city and rely on the God of Israel— the LORD Almighty is his name.”

Isa 48:12, 14,16, “Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last… “Come together, all of you, and listen… “Come near me and listen to this.”

Isaiah 49:1, “Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations: Before I was born the LORD called me; from my birth he has made mention of my name.”

Isaiah 51:1-4,7, “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn; look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth. When I called him he was but one, and I blessed him and made him many… The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing… “Listen to me, my people; hear me, my nation: The law will go out from me; my justice will become a light to the nations… “Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults.”

Isaiah 55:1-3, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.”
     Listening is connected to being satisfied in life.

Isaiah 65:11-12, “But as for you who forsake the LORD and forget my holy mountain, who spread a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you for the sword, and you will all bend down for the slaughter; for I called but you did not answer, I spoke but you did not listen. You did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.”

JEREMIAH – and the results of not listening…
Jeremiah 6:10, “To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.”

Jer 6:16-17, “This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.”

Jeremiah 7:12-13,16,21-26, “Go now to the place in Shiloh where I first made a dwelling for my Name, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. While you were doing all these things, declares the LORD, I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen; I called you, but you did not answer.” Jer 7:16, says what happens when we do not listen to God. “So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you.”

Jer 7:21-26, “This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Go ahead, add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the meat yourselves! For when I brought your forefathers out of Egypt and spoke to them, I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices, but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in all the ways I command you that it may go well with you. But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. From the time your forefathers left Egypt until now, day after day, again and again I sent you my servants the prophets. But they did not listen to me or pay attention. They were stiff-necked and did more evil than their forefathers.’

Jeremiah 11:6ff, “The LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.” But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.’”

Jeremiah 13:10, “These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!”

Jeremiah 17:23, “Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline.”

Jeremiah 22:21, “I warned you when you felt secure, but you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your way from your youth; you have not obeyed me.”

Jeremiah 25:7, “But you did not listen to me,” declares the LORD, “and you have provoked me with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves.”

Jeremiah 26:3-6, “Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from his evil way. Then I will relent and not bring on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: If you do not listen to me and follow my law, which I have set before you, and if you do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again (though you have not listened), then I will make this house like Shiloh and this city an object of cursing among all the nations of the earth.’”

Jeremiah 32:33, “They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.”

Jeremiah 35:17, “Therefore, this is what the LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel, says: ‘Listen! I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I pronounced against them. I spoke to them, but they did not listen; I called to them, but they did not answer.’”

Jeremiah 44:4-5, “Again and again I sent my servants the prophets, who said, ‘Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!’ But they did not listen or pay attention; they did not turn from their wickedness or stop burning incense to other gods.”

Ezekiel 2:3-8, “He said: “Son of man, I am sending you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me; they and their fathers have been in revolt against me to this very day. The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or terrified by them, though they are a rebellious house. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

Ezekiel 3:27, “But when I speak to you, I will open your mouth and you shall say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says.’ Whoever will listen let him listen, and whoever will refuse let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.”

Ezekiel 12:2, “Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.”

What role do silence and listening have in your worship practices?

Ezekiel 20:8, “But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt.”

Hos 4:1. Hosea heard God’s directions – he listened! “Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites, because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land: “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.”

Hos 5:1, “Hear this, you priests! Pay attention, you Israelites! Listen, O royal house!”

Amos heard the Word of the Lord.
Amos 3:1, “Hear this word the LORD has spoken against you, O people of Israel—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

Amos 5:1, “Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lament I take up concerning you.”

Amos 7:16, “Now then, hear the word of the LORD. You say,”‘Do not prophesy against Israel, and stop preaching against the house of Isaac.’”

Micah 1:2, “Hear, O peoples, all of you, listen, O earth and all who are in it, that the Sovereign LORD may witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple.”

Micah 3:1, 9, “Then I said, “Listen, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel. Should you not know justice… Hear this, you leaders of the house of Jacob, you rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right.”

Micah 6:1-2, ‘Listen to what the LORD says: “Stand up, plead your case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. Hear, O mountains, the LORD’s accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the LORD has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel.”

Micah 6:9, “Listen! The LORD is calling to the city— and to fear your name is wisdom— “Heed the rod and the One who appointed it.”

Zechariah 1:2-4, “The LORD was very angry with your forefathers. Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the LORD Almighty. Do not be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier prophets proclaimed: This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and your evil practices.’ But they would not listen or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.”

Zechariah 7:11-14, “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry. ”‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty. ‘I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land was left so desolate behind them that no one could come or go. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate.’”

One of the consequences of not listening to God is that God will not listen to us!

Malachi 2:1-2, “And now this admonition is for you, O priests. If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.”

And now, Jesus on listening!
Matthew 15:10-11, “Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand.”

Mark 4:2-3, “He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: “Listen!”

Mark 7:14, “Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.”

Matthew 13:10-17, “The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:”‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

Mark 9:7, “Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”

Consider carefully how you listen!
Lk 8:8-21, “Other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, ‘though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.’
     “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.
     “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him.”

Those who belong to God hear what God says!
Jn 8:42-47, “Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Do you know the voice of Jesus?
Jn 10:1-4, 27, “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice…. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

He who has ears to hear, let him hear. – Mtt11:15, 13:9, 13:43, Mk 4:9, 23, 24, Lk 14:35,

Acts- Ananias in Damascus and Phillip with the Ethiopian both heard direct instructions from the Lord and acted upon what they heard.

Heb. 2:1 “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

James 1:19, “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22; 13:9, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” … He who has an ear, let him hear.”

What is the purpose of listening to and hearing God?  Hearing is designed to lead us to holiness and righteousness!

James 1:22-25, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.”

Hebrews 3:7-11, “So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’” Listen with your heart! (Each Sabbath evening Ps 110 is read in Orthodox Jewish homes – “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”)

     It is chilling to me to hear from the Bible that thge result of refusing to listen to God is that we will not be able to enter His rest.  What does our busyness reveal about our lack of listeningto God?

REFLECT…
What do you take away from all these Scriptures on listening?

What gets in the way of your listening to God?

OTHER OBSEVATIONS…

July 4, 2009

(Please forgive the bland look, this blog is still under construction)

This fourth of July weekend we will celebrate our national freedom – which privdes us with a perfect launch to celebrate our personal freedom as the followers of Jesus Christ.  In working through my sermon this week on John 8 (7 Explosive Claims of Christ), I reflected on spiritual freedom and I wanted to explore it further.

Remember, freedom is the absense of retraints on our ability to act or think.  So reflect with me a bit here.  

• What do you want to be FREE FROM in your life? What is holding your life back?  What is restraining your ability to think and act as you want to think and act?  What burdens you?  Journal 3-5 things you really want to be FREE FROM in your life.  And if you want, post it here and we can share our longings for freedom together.
• But, most of us don’t want to just be FREE FROM things.  Don’t we also want to be FREE FOR other things?  FREE FROM is the negative side.  So what do you really want to be free FOR? Journal 3-5 things you want to be free FOR in life.  What do you really want to become or do?  Taking the time to reflect on this could change your life.  What are your greatest longings and hopes?  And again, if you want to share, respond here and we will continue the dialogue. You may want to rank order what you want to be free from and free for, so you know where to put your energy first.

To guide our thinnking about freedom here are some Scriptures I gathered this week on freedom in Christ.  And after that are my beginning ideas on a Christian Declaration of Freedom.

Some Scriptures on Freedom

• “In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and he answered by setting me free.  The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?  The Lord is with me; he is my helper.  I will look in triumph on my enemies.” Psalm 118:5-7
• “I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.”  Ps 119:32
• But the Lord is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.” Ps 129:4
• He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free.” Ps 146:7
• “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” Ps 119:45
• “The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Jesus. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  Luke 4:17-21
• “Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  Jn 8:31-32
• “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Jn 8:36
• “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  Gal 5:1
• “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” Ga 5:13  (See also 1Pe 2:16)
• “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.” 1Cor 9:19
• “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” Ro 6:18
• “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.” Ro 6:22
• “For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Ro 8:20-21
• “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.” Col 1:22-23
• “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” Rev 22:17
• “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  2Cor 3”17-18
• “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”  Eph 3:12
• “But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:25

Are there any Scriptures you would add?

A Christian Declaration of Freedom

Send back to me what you would add so we can have an ongoing dialogue.

FREE FROM…

• I am free from failure for “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil 4:13).
• I am free from always needing more and more for “my God shall supply all my needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).
• I am free from fear for “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind” (2Tim 1:7).
• I am free from the power of Satan “for greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world” (1Jn 4:4)
• I am free from defeat “for God always causes me to triumph in Christ Jesus” (2Cor 2:14)
• I am free from ignorance for “we have the mind of Christ” 1Cor 3:15)
• I am free from inferiority for I am “complete in Christ” (Col 2:9-10)
• I am free from inadequacy for “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” (2Pe 1:3)
• I am free from shame for “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin” (1Jn 1:7)
• I am free from worry for “I cast all my cares on him because he cares for me” (1Pe 5:7)
• I am free from bondage for “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” (2Cor 3:17)
• I am free from condemnation “for there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Ro 8:1)
• I am free from fear for we know that “God works together all things for the good of those who are called in Christ Jesus” (Ro 8:28)
• I am free from worry of what people think of me for “I am hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:1-4)

What would you add here?

FREE FOR…

• I am free to be loved for “we know and rely on the love God has for us” (1Jn 4:16) and “I have been chosen by God and adopted as his as his child (Eph 1:3-8)
• I am free from defeat for “in all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Ro 8:37
• I am free from the fear of death for “death has been swallowed up in victory… But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1Cor 15:54-57
• I am free from frantic busyness for Jesus says “I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28
• I am free to dream “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.” (Acts 2:17)
• I am free to rejoice “in the Lord always (Phil 4:1)
• I am free to be a friend of Jesus (Jn 15:15)
• I am free to be nurtured by my Father in heaven for I am a child of God (Jn 1:12, 1Jn 3:1)
• I am free to speak with God face to face and to expect his mercy and grace (Heb 4:16)

I had less time to work on this one, what would you add here?