Freedom for the Captives

“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners ...” —Jesus (Luke 4:18)

On the cusp of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He makes the bold declaration to a sin-captive world that He came to set us free. Isaiah had prophesied centuries before that the Messiah was coming. It is no coincidence that Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah 61:1-3 that defining day in the ancient Nazarene synagogue. Jesus’ whole mission flies in the face of all human effort to earn, to be good enough, and to work our way to our freedom. Some rejected the gift of rescue. Others embraced God’s mercy and grace in full surrender and trust because they had come to the end of themselves and their self-effort. I must also choose how to respond.

It takes humility to admit I can’t fix myself.

So in this month when the whole world watches America as a beacon of freedom, let me shine like the stars and celebrate my freedom with the humility of knowing … 

… that I haven’t arrived. I am a work in progress. This month I will take inventory of where I am still enslaved in bondage to the lies of Satan, our soul’s Enemy. I can pray, “Jesus, where are the dark places in my heart where I don’t quite believe that I’m good enough to receive Your free gift? Where do I believe that there are parts of God’s Word that don’t apply to me?”

  I need to know that I am free so that I’m able to speak freedom into others’ lives with the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Let me celebrate my freedom with the humility of knowing …

… that I didn’t do anything to earn or deserve the freedom that Christ offers me. This releases me from that bondage of not feeling “good enough.” I can’t offer freedom in Christ until I’ve received it for myself.

Let me celebrate my freedom with the humility of knowing …

… that not only women in my own “backyard,” but also women on the other side of the world in places like Cambodia, still languish in the hopelessness that they will never be free from the prison of the sex trade.

Let me celebrate my freedom with the humility of knowing ... 

… that with freedom comes responsibility. Paul writes in Galatians 5:13,

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.

But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh;

rather, serve one another humbly in love.

Pray and ask God how He would move in and through you to humbly serve women who are unable to extricate themselves from not only the human captors of human trafficking, but who also wrestle with the spiritual and emotional grip of abuse and victimhood that lingers after women make the choice for freedom. Commit to asking Jesus to release women from their bondage by attending our upcoming Global Prayer Night on August 24th from 5:00-6:00 pm. For there is power in prayer and a love that stems from knowing Christ’s sacrifice for me, which releases the Holy Spirit to work through me to release others from bondage.

Let freedom reign.

—Tonya

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly;

defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Proverbs 31:8-9