Liberty Show Notes

If you love something set it free. If it returns to you it is yours, if it doesn’t it never was. This phrase is well known and often quoted but it’s origin is unknown. Three possible contenders show up during a search but who initially said it does not matter, the profundity of the saying is useful to start many a conversation or sooth a broken heart.

The Key is Liberty

Jesus told us to let your light so shine that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven. Together, we have looked at B for believer, R for rest, I for identity, and G for gifts. These four representing our foundational personal relationship with God. The foundation of your building as part of a bright city on a hill. Then we began looking at the walls of our building representing you horizontal relationships with those around you. Starting with H for honor, honoring others as children of God touch by His very hand and important to Him. And T for tribe recognizing we need a circle of people who believe and support us in living brightly as well as the ripples that radiate from that throughout the world. Now, we come to L.

As we continue exploring what it means to live BRIGHTLY, having arrived at the letter l proposes a quandary. The obvious idea of l being representative of love satisfies the soul with respect to be God so loving the world He would send His son that whosoever believes in Him would have eternal life. Additionally, Jesus command to love God and love others.

Alas you have read the title and know already the concept is not love but liberty. And I know you are now asking, ‘why is Elayne talking about love?’ I do this because liberty and love are intrinsically linked. Hence, if you love something set it free. Liberate it. Allow it liberty. Conversely, do not cage it, hold hostage, or restrict it. Therefore, the key word in the aforementioned phrase is not love but free – liberty. However, to fully embrace liberty as a construct of living BRIGHTLY, we must examine this plausible and somewhat expected alternative, love.

What is love?

I was reticent to use love because it means so many different things to everyone. If I asked a hundred people what love is, I would probably get close to a hundred different answers that can be easily separated into a few buckets.

First, the concept of romantic, parental or even relational affection for another human. I love my spouse. My children hold a special place in my heart. I love you man.

Secondly, some would attempt to quote verses from Scripture such as 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 stating love is patient, kind, does not envy, does not boast, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeps no record of wrong, does not delight in evil, rejoices with truth, always protect, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails.

Ultimately, do you consider these things when you say you love turkey at Thanksgiving? Love is one of those words we use to describe many different things at many different levels. You may have even balked at my lumping your love for your wife with the love you have for your children and friends. Why? Because they are different types of love.

Similarly, there are four different words translated love in the New Testament alone. First we see Philadelphia, brotherly love or love of brethren, a noun. Also we hear agape, affectionate love, also a noun. Additionally, there are two words, almost sisters, if you will, to those words but are verbs. There is phileo love which is approving or affectionate. Finally there is agapao, love of persons or things.

Turkey love

So with what kind of love do you love with your turkey? My husband loves turkey. It is one of his favorite meals. Maybe that is a better way to describe it, he really enjoys a turkey dinner. Because, if he really loved turkey, the last thing he would do is eat it. Yet. He so enjoys a turkey dinner that he would prefer I cook it once a month.

Therefore, because of this confusion or dis-clarity, over what love is and what love means, and that is to say we will be talking about what love is, define it, describing it, and talk about love. However, a better way of examining and quantifying what it means to live BRIGHTLY via the letter l is liberty.

If you love something set it free. If it returns to you it is yours, if it doesn’t it never was.

What begins with L? Liberty.

Liberty is a different idea that puts your mind in a different place than love. Love is often emotionally driven and, as we who live BRIGHTLY know, we should not be guided by emotion.  Moreover, if I talk about liberty, or you talk about liberty, we can understand what each other is saying. Furthermore, because this is about other people and our horizontal relationships with others as the third wall in our building, clarity is important.

Though liberty was a profound and unique concept in the establishment of the United States of America, but it was not now and novel idea for people in general. We are born with a drive to be free or in charge of our own life. Just go observe a toddler somewhere, at church or a party and see how at two years old this drive compels the child’s actions. A two year old desperately, passionately, sometimes loudly, expressing its will to make its own life choices.

Loving parents know they cannot allow a two year old to make all the decisions about their health and wellbeing. It’s unhealthy to eat just sweets and no meat. Albeit, they can walk and run but it is best done in the yard not the street. Parents create a safe place for their children to learn how to be independent and free within the construct of their society. Whatever the society you find yourself in.

Home as a microcosm of society

My children had chores to complete as part of the family. One day my son decided his chores where too oppressive compared to his much younger siblings and refused to complete them. In response, I informed him his participation in the family household was not negotiable. Subsequently, he gathered his belongings and moved into the play-house outside.

“What are you up to?” I asked

“I’m moving out on my own” his eight-year-old self responded.

“Okay.”

A few hours later he tried the door finding it locked, he knocked. I opened the door.

“Hello” I said.

“I’m hungry, what’s for dinner?” He asked.

“Oh, we had a lovely dinner but you no longer live here.”

“But I need to eat.”

“Do you have money to pay for a meal?”

“But I live here you have to feed me.”

“No, you no longer live here and I do not have to feed people who don’t live here.”

“Well, I want to move back home.”

“If you chose to live here then you must participate including the household chores. Are you ready to complete your chores?”

“Yes.”

“Then bring your belongings back inside, put them away, and complete the chores I gave you to do. After which you may have some dinner.”

Guiding a child as they grow takes great effort and vision. My vision for my children is for them to be a productive member of society. Possessing liberty must be balanced by staying connected to your tribe and honoring the touch of God in others. Yes, as adults many people lead fulfilling and productive lives living alone, but they do not live life isolated from others. Liberty must be balanced with the whole of life.

Oppression

Jesus spoke about slavery to people who were physically oppressed by cruel taskmasters. At the time Jesus walked the earth the Jews were wholly oppressed by the Roman Empire. We do not have a full understanding of the details of what that looked like but we do know there were many cruelties inflicted on many of the Jewish faith at that time and in Jewish history. Joseph went to Egypt because he was sold as a slave by his brothers and he suffered as a slave both by the Egyptians and by other slaves or prisoners in the jail.

One prisoner assured Joseph he would petition for his release if his interpretation of a dream was accurate, which it was. Unfortunately, the man forgot him until the Pharaoh had several dreams his soothsayers could not interpret. God brought Joseph to the cupbearer’s mind and he suggested Pharaoh see if the slave Joseph, who was sitting in prison, could help. God then elevated Joseph through Pharaohs ranks to be second in command resulting in salvation from a drought as well as great wealth. Through this, Joseph’s family was re-united and lived an abundant life.

It is a story of love but also liberty. Joseph was liberated from the confines of his family and life as a shepherd by being sold into slavery. In Egypt Joseph learned how the Egyptians ran their society. He was not going to learn about being a leader to that level in a secular kingdom as the eleventh son of a very rich and powerful albeit Godly man. God liberated Joseph from his family so he could learn many things while being a slave. Subsequently, God used that to bless Joseph’s whole family.

Liberation

Nevertheless, over many years the Egyptians forgot Joseph and all he had done. The Israelites, an odd group of people, had grew to a great number. Fear struck the Egyptians so much so that they made the Jews into slaves to control them. Where one had been brought as a slave now all of them had become slaves and the Egyptians were cruel, brutal, and rough taskmasters. The Israelites were oppressed.

But God did not abandon them there either. If you celebrate Easter or Passover, and I hope you do, the whole event is a memorial to how God used Moses to liberate the Israelites form the oppressive control of Egypt. Furthermore, almost fifteen-hundred years later, now the Jews are in their Promised Land but they are once again under oppression. This time by the Roman Empire. The final Passover Jesus and His disciples celebrated is about God, through Jesus, liberating whosoever will from the bondage of sin.

The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, Jesus is preaching liberation not just of physical bonds but of spiritual bonds. We are called to love our neighbors and love God but Jesus clarified that we are also called to love those who hurt us and love our enemy. To be so different so as to stand out as a light against the dark evil of this world. Jesus proposed a paradigm shift from viewing all things from the physical to a spiritual perspective.

Dreams

I have a friend who came up to me one day after church and excitedly told me she had a dream about me. In the dream I was rich, really really rich. I wondered, in my mind, if this was for me or for her. Usually, dreams are for the dreamer, not someone else, even if another person is in the dream. I’m not going to lie, I liked the sound of it, though I didn’t know what to do with the information. Afterwards, my husband nudged me and said “You say you are rich all the time.”

Immediately, my perspective shifted. I am rich, not in the physical sense but abundantly in the spiritual. Though I would enjoy being a conduit of abundance to those around me I would not choose to be spiritually poor to get physically rich.

I have never been what the world considers rich. Nor am I part of the upper middle-class and certainly not in the top percentiles. There have been times in my life when I didn’t have sufficient income to know I would have food to eat, and times when I depended on government welfare. Though I am not rich according to the world, I am abundantly spiritually rich.

Yes, I want to earn a sufficient wage and I want to find satisfaction in what I do to earn my wage. Accordingly, this satisfaction comes from our concept of honor I have the liberty to serve others as I would God Himself because my perspective is not focused on the physical.

Two-Year-olds

As adults we hide our shortcomings and selfishness. Children have not learned the nuances of success in covering up. They will lie to your face, steal what they want, blame others, hide things, deceive you and attempt to circumvent any external control over their life often to their own peril. Good parents do not let two-year-olds run the household. As children learn to live within the rules of society, aka their family, there is a little more peace in their life.

Between the ages of let’s say four to twelve children become more compliant though the drive for liberty still runs deep within. Sometime around twelve this drive to be an authority over their life clashes with the parents and teachers responsible for keeping them safe.

As a side note I believe parents can better serve their children by allowing them as much liberty as they can stomach so children learn through natural consequences fundamental laws of life. That is a discussion for another day but worth mentioning.

Ultimately, we are all slaves to sin no matter our age. The cravings of our body, the need for selfish independence, and the mistrust and competition we feel against others. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1John 2:16)

Selfish sin

Sin drives us to want things that satisfy our body and its five senses. The lust of the flesh is everything from a sweet tooth to sex. Whatever your flesh craves, food, alcohol, or porn.

The lust of the eyes is what you want that is not yours or someone else has. The desire to get a new riding lawn mower because the guy down the street has one, the promotion at work, or that flaming desert that just passed your table in a restaurant. This is seeing what someone has and wanting it too, or something just a little bit better.

The pride of life is that recognition from others. We want the accolades of others, the title, or the promotion. Alternatively, we want to feel elevated, cheered, and recognized.

Now none of these things are evil and bad. Conversely, we can achieve all these things and not sin. It is sin when we compare yourself with others out of a fear of being left behind or a jealousy to prove your value. If you experience an emotional reaction. A comparison of you position on the hierarchy of life. You should ask yourself, did I want this before he got one? Am I feeling a challenge to compete? Is my identity diminished or lessened because she got the promotion not me? Are you comparing your good deeds, your value, your righteousness to their perceived evils or less appealing deeds? Is your perspective that they aren’t as good, work as hard, or do as much as you do?

Comparison, competition, and drive to satisfy the body is sin. Jesus came to liberate us from sin and its ultimate consequence, death.

The Matrix delusion

In the movie the Matrix the leader of the resistance Morpheus, identifies Neo as a potential new member and explains the Matrix.

“The Matrix is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth”

“What truth?” Neo replies

“That you are a slave Neo. Like everyone else, you were born into bondage. Born into a prison that you cannot smell, or taste, or touch. A prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is, you have to see it for yourself.”

Morpheus then offers Neo a blue pill or a red pill. The blue pill will return him to the world he has always known where he can believe whatever he wants to believe. However, the red pill offers an opportunity to “stay in Neverland and see how far the rabbit hole goes.” Neo accepts. Neo awaken to reality and then experiences a series of events that sift his paradigm of life and the Matrix.

Matrix desires

Simultaneously, another character in the first movie, Cypher, becomes increasingly disillusioned with the mission. The writers managed to expose Cypher through the three categories of sin discussed above. In a short clip you can view on YouTube by searching Matrix, eating steak and protein. The clip shows Cypher eating a steak and he says

“I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.

“then we have a deal.” Mr. Smith responds

“I don’t want to remember nothing, nothing you understand,” Sniffing a glass of wine he continues “and I want to be rich, and I want to be someone important, like an actor.” Cypher continues

The lust of the flesh – steak and wine, the lust of the eyes – ignorance of the war, and the pride of life – being important like an actor.

The clip goes on to show the members of the resistance eating protein goop and Mouse reviews the same temptations, pride in his coding skills, dreams of other foods, and woman in a red dress.

Paradigm shift

Being liberated from the bonds of sin doesn’t mean you automatically know how to live in freedom. My son continues to have a fiercely independent streak in him because, from his perspective, others may not be as dependable or giving of their time and talent as he is. In recent years I continue to remind him of God’s plan for us to live interdependent of each other’s skills and talents.

Yes, many chores are simple enough to handle by yourself. However, when your time and talent is better served else ware, you bless others by allowing them to complete some. Can I patch my roof, fix a leaky drain, or mow my grass? Yes, I can do all those things, but it doesn’t mean I have to do them myself. It only means I need to ensure the job is completed.

I can hear you say you can’t afford to pay someone to do everything. Or you may be saying, I like mowing the lawn. I get it, this is a thought experiment. Let’s say you own a lawn mower, and you have had a youth from the neighborhood ask if he can mow your lawn. Now you have to choose.

• • Deny the request and continue as is.
  • Allow the youth to mow your lawn and pay for his service.
  • Or, strike up a conversation and gather information.

You discover, he wants to work but has little skill and no tools. Now you can offer to teach him how to operate your mower and work out a business arrangement including that he stores it properly and maintains your yard. The benefits include an enterprising youth learning valuable work skills and ethics and you both build new connections. The ripples of light you radiate go further.

See others as God sees them

How do you let your light shine? Well, you are free! You are liberated from those desires of sin, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life which push is into competition and judgement of one another. If we decide to let our light shine and be different from those around us we get to authentically, abundantly, outrageously, celebrate when someone else gets something, even if it’s something you have wanted for a long time. Conversely, you get to stop constantly thinking;

• • Where is my raise?
  • What about me?
  • Where is my break?
  • Why don’t I have fill in the blank?

Slavery to sin is very sneaky. All you have to do is drive down the road and see someone has a nicer house than you, a more athletic husband or prettier wife. You will see someone with a nicer car and well behaved children. On social media someone with brag of their new promotion or raise. It is so easy to see but it is also your mind with its ideas, thoughts, and drives that push us to compete and compare with our neighbors.

The muscle memory of your thoughts try to drag us back into slavery to sin by judging others. Judge not lest you be judged. Jesus was judged. He hung on the cross to stand judgement for you and for me. Moreover, He was found to meet those standards to pay the price so that we can be free from sin and death. Freely it was given to you, freely give it to others.

Shine Liberty

How do you let your light shine? You speak life and liberty to the captives. Yes, there are people trapped in physical bondage such as sex slaves and subjugated cultures. Nevertheless, that is not the only slavery we will talk about. It is not the only slavery to be liberated from. The spiritual bondage of sin making everyone your competitor and comparison has a greater hold on many, many, more people and dare I say the consequences are higher. The consequences are eternal. It is a matter of life and death not of the body but the soul.

The biggest thing that would set you apart as a bright light in this dark and crazy world focused on competition and comparison, and judgement of each other is to be liberated from all of that. To be honest and celebrate with a friend when he gets a new car and not even consider how far in debt he is. Celebrating with God’s other children when they are blessed, regardless of where you are comparatively. It is liberating and elevating to your soul because liberty is a spiritual construct.

There are CEO’s and custodians who are struggling under the burden of oppression and judgement whispered into their ears every day. That they see with their eyes, and their body craves. By offering the liberty Christ offered you, you can set them free. You can set the world free by living BRIGHTLY.

Renewing your mind

Yet, how do you get there? How do you reach the point where you celebrate someone else’s success because it doesn’t come naturally? Moreover, it is not immediately imparted to you when you accept what Christ has done on the cross for you. Therefore, the only way to do this is the renewing of your mind.

When you get saved you are thinking only of yourself. Undoubtedly, you have to come before God as an individual, lay your life down, and say I can’t do this I need your help. Immediately, God meets you there and takes you on a journey of learning and understanding. Shifting from a physical perspective to a spiritual perspective takes time and practice.

Muscle memory is no joke. If you do something over and over again it become rote. Accordingly, athletes and musicians practice long hours to achieve excellent muscle memory. However, it’s not just physical, ever find yourself on auto-piolet in your car when you intended to go somewhere else? Therefore, how you train your body to do a specific task becomes ingrained in you. Subsequently, your body will take you to that ingrained pattern physically or mentally.

When you come to Christ you are at a point of surrender. Nevertheless, your body and mind have well-formed muscle memories, coping skills, and interpersonal skills that have to be unlearned and replaced.

Subsequently, you can learn new interpersonal skills, and gain spiritual muscle memory by renewing your mind through His Word. The first and primary place to go to change how you view the world, to gain a spiritual perspective, is the Word of God. Memorizing Scripture, completing Bible studies, and connecting with a spiritual tribe (church) are tools to assist you as you develop your relationship with God and develop a spiritual perspective.

Liberty for liberty’s sake

God loved you so much He offers an authentic choice to follow Him or not. God’s love is liberating.

In Dennis Prager’s The Rational Passover Haggadah he states “Freedom is a value, not an innate human desire. Most people prefer to be taken care of than to be free.”

There are four questions asked during the Passover sadder. The first asks why they have unleavened or flat bread this night? Chiefly, because they had a small window to leave Egypt and waiting for bread to rise was not an option. In his answer to the first question Dennis states “it is better to eat a “poor man’s bread” and be free than to eat tasty soft bread but live in slavery.” Living free is not a call to a prosperous and easy life that all will eagerly run to obtain.

As you know, God command us to do things that do not come naturally. We discussed this concerning honoring your parents. The thing is, God cannot command you to freely accept His offer. Similarly, you should not expect the renewing of your mind from dependency on your flesh to spiritual living an instant transfer.

Likewise, not everyone you share liberty with will accept it. Regardless, when you act in love liberty is the consequence because love is a verb. When you give love to others, liberty is the consequence because love is a noun. A profound experience occurs when you are acknowledged and treated as someone God loves that changes and liberates your soul. When you live BRIGHTLY in love you liberate God’s other children. If you love someone set them free, liberate them. Do not confine them or oppress them. Liberate others by being God’s love to and for them. So that they can return to Him. 

Believing in Christ you are liberated from those desires but learning to walk in those freedoms takes practice. Shifting from being controlled by the physical to exercising the freedom to live for God.

Pray with me

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your Word and Truth. Thank You for loving me while I relearn what it means to honor, and love others. At times Your ways seem so foreign but I trust You to guide me and help me learn. Holy Spirit guide me to a tribe where I can grow and practice my new truths. Help me become useable in whatever way You have planned for me.

In Jesus name, Amen.

© 2021 Elayne Cross

Liberty Scriptures

Renew your mind with His Word!

Serve in Love

Galatians 5:13-14 you’re called to freedom not for your flesh but serve in freedom

1 Corinthians 6:12 All things lawful but not helpful

Philemon 1:14 your goodness should be by your free will not compulsion

1 Peter 2:16 live as people who are free not for evil but service

Romans 14:1-23 exercise your freedoms while honoring limits of others

1 Corinthians 8:9 be careful not to use your freedom to cause others to stumble

James 2:12-13 Act as one judged by law of freedom, show love and mercy

1 Corinthians 10:29 why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience

Hebrews 2:14-15 Jesus freed others who have been enslaved through fear of death

1 Corinthians 9:19 though I am free I make myself a servant

James 2:25 whoever becomes a doer of the law of liberty will be blessed in what he does

1 Corinthians 16:13-14 stand firm in faith and do everything in love

Ephesians 4:1-6 walk in a manner of humility, gentleness, patience, bearing each other in love

Laws Bind

Galatians 3:22 but Scripture (the Law) imprisoned everything under sin

John 8:34 ‘everyone who commits a sin as a slave to sin’ Jesus

Joshua 24:15 choose who you will serve, flesh or Lord

Galatians 4:3 when we were children we were held in bondage under the principles of the world

Proverbs 22:7-8 rich rule over poor, one who sews injustice reaps disaster

Jesus Liberty

John 8:36 Son set you free – free indeed

Galatians 5:1 Christ set you free, do not submit again to slavery of sin

John 8:31-32 if you are in Christ you will know truth and truth liberates

Acts 13:38-39 Through Jesus Christ forgiveness is proclaimed liberating you from Law of Moses

Luke 4: 18-19 the Spirit of Lord is upon me to set at liberty the oppressed

Romans 6:14 sin will have no dominion over you

John 3:16-17 God sent Jesus not to condemn but to save (liberate)

Titus 2:14-15 our savior Jesus Christ who gave Himself to redeem (liberate) us

Revelation 1:5 from Jesus Christ who loves us and released us from our sin

Galatians 4:4-7 Jesus redeemed us, adopted us, and made us co-heirs with Him

Romans 14 do not judge each other as Jesus liberation has drawn each of us to our own

Spirit Liberty

2 Corinthians 3:17 where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom

Isaiah 61:1 Spirit is upon me to bring good news and proclaim liberty

Romans 8:2 Spirit of life set you free from law of sin and death

2 Timothy 1:7 God gives us a spirit of power, love and self-control

Romans 6:22 You have been set free from sin and become slaves to God

2 Peter 2:9-19 once freed by Christ, do not return to the entanglements of the world

Copyright © 2021 Elayne Cross