You are Free!

Identity Christ day 1

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. Galatians 5:1

 “I am free to run, I am free to dance, I am free to live for You; I am free!” Desperation Band

 

  • Call your prayer partner for your 10-minute prayer call! What a gift it is to have a friend to pray with! If you are having continual difficulty connecting with your prayer partner, pray and ask God for wisdom about what to do. If you are feeling that she is no longer interested in praying together, call her and ask her about it. She may have a good reason for being unable to pray. Always try to assume the best! If she says that she can’t be your prayer partner right now, pray and ask God to bring you someone else. Be on the lookout for her! God will bring her to you!
  • Take the time and start your day with a special quiet time of prayer, Scripture reading and listening for the Lord to speak to your heart. Ask the Lord to speak to you specifically about your identity in Christ this week. Also, take the time to light a candle, and get something delicious to sip during your quiet time today.
  • Read Galatians 5:1-15. Write verse 1  in your journal.

You are free!

I absolutely love being with young mommies! It reminds me of the days when my children were little, and I was a young mom myself. When I look back, I remember sweet, precious times as a family, and all of the goodness and blessings that come from having young children in my home.

Sadly, I also remember many times when I was discouraged, anxious, and fearful. There were frequent  times in my life where I have suffered from what the Bible calls, “The fear of man that brings a snare.” Proverbs 29:25. This fear of man led me to compare myself and my children to other moms I knew who seemed to have it all together, and had families who appeared perfect, at least from the outside. I worried too much about what other people thought about my parenting and listened to their advice instead of asking God and my husband. I allowed myself to worry and be stressed out because I didn’t realize that I was free! Free to be the mom God has called me to be, walking out His own particular plan for my family.

God’s desire for you is to live in freedom, trusting Him to give you wisdom and help for your family. He doesn’t like it when we compare ourselves to one another. He wants us to trust Him with our particular family, our individual puzzle. In fact, God says:

“Let everyone be sure that he is doing his very best, for then he will have the personal satisfaction of work well done and won’t need to compare himself with someone else.”  Galatians 6:4 TLB

My heart’s desire is to encourage you, dear reader, and to tell you that because of who you are in Christ, you are free! You are free to live your life in the power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, making decisions that reflect God’s will for your family. Your family doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. In fact, there is freedom in knowing that God knows what’s best for your family, and in His infinite wisdom, He gave your children the perfect mom for them- YOU!

Stop and think about that for a minute. YOU are the mom that the God of heaven chose to raise up those little eternal souls living in your home.

This one fact should make you feel free to be empowered and confident knowing that God knows you and your family best, and He promises to help you, give you wisdom and the freedom to raise those little gifts in the way He has chosen, which is the best way for them. The key to living your life in freedom is not to look around at everyone else, but to “fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author, and Finisher of our faith.”Hebrews 12:2.

My charge to you is to pretend you are a champion race horse running the race of his life- the Kentucky Derby! Before your race started, the jockey had the foresight to place blinkers (blinders) around your eyes, so that you won’t be looking around at the other horses, or be distracted while you are running. Because of these blinkers, you can run as fast as you can, only looking forward until you reach the finish line.

Don’t focus on other moms or their opinions, focus on Christ and His personal plan for your family! Run your race. Run it well, and fix your eyes on Jesus, remembering that you are free!!

Questions to ponder

  • Pray and ask the Lord to help you to identify any area that you are allowing yourself to be affected by peer pressure, or are coveting in someone else’s family. Write this in your journal and pray to the Lord for forgiveness and help to overcome these areas.
  • Begin with the end in mind. Write a vision statement of what you see God preparing your family for. What can you do now to help them be ready? What would your faith look like if you were living in this belief? What ways should you treat them differently to help them grow in this vision? What things or activities can you invest your time and resources in to help prepare or inspire them? For example,  I would have said, “I would treat my family like God is going to do mighty things through them for His kingdom. I would invest in lots of time in scripture, Bible story books, Bible memory, worship, and service to others. My faith would be stronger because I would know that God is there and my Helper! I would pray harder not to listen to the voices telling me that I can’t do this!” I did do this exercise when my children were little and tried to begin with the end in mind. The Lord helped me in more ways than I can count, but I still wish I would have trusted Him even more! Trust Him today!

 

 Faith Filled Idea

  • Write Galatians 5:1 on three sticky notes and put one in your car, on your bathroom mirror, and at your kitchen sink. “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.”

identity-in-christ-day-1

 

 

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Join the Community! Answer today’s question in the comment box so we can all get to know one another!

We at the HCFM are praying for our online community to build relationships, even if they are across the country or the world! -What would you say is one of your most important family values? I think that most of us would say to be Christ-like, so what else would you say? For instance, I (Deb) would say, “One of our most important family values is being others-centered, meaning, we tried to raise our children up to notice other people who might be struggling or people who are out and about who need prayer or help, etc.

What would you say?

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Deb Weakly

10 Comments on “You are Free!”

  1. Deb, this topic rings so true. I especially love this phrase: “The key to living your life in freedom is not to look around at everyone else, but to “fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author, and Finisher of our faith.”Hebrews 12:2.”

    Thanks Deb, for leading well and giving us Moms permission to be the person God created us to be in our home.

    1. I am SO grateful for you MariJo! I have learned MUCH about this concept from our friendship!! You have taught my heart to live free for Jesus and accept His GREAT love for me and my family! I feel so hopeful because of YOU! Love you!

  2. The thing that stood out to me the most was “God wants us to trust him with our particular family.” This study helped me to remember that we have the family we have because God knew it would be best for us!:) thanks for the encouragement ❤️

  3. So many great parts to this study! One of my favorites is: “YOU are the mom that the God of heaven chose to raise up those little eternal souls living in your home.” What an empowering statement!

    One of our most important family values would be that we try and make it a priority to help others when there is a need. We try to give of our time and serve. Time is so valuable, so by sharing this we really feel it’s an expression of our love.

  4. Great devotional. This is exactly the season I am in right now. Giving me the confidence to be who God created me to be. No one else can tell you who that is. Walking with him in the spirit is something that has really helped me learn who I am in Christ. Thank you for the continued encouragement.

    1. What great wisdom Brandi! You are so right! Only God gives the confidence we need to be who God created us to be! Thank you for your kind words! I am so thankful for you!

  5. What a great devotional Deb! Galations 5:1 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. And I love the Desperation Band song you quoted from. 🙂

    One of our main family values is being generous and having a grateful heart. I yearn for my girls to see that “things” are not what we should desire and that our happiness is not tied to receiving them. Some of our most powerful memories have come while traveling in Mexico and letting our girls see how little other families have. Yet, at the same time, these people are extremely joyful and content.
    I love that and pray my girls develop generous and grateful hearts toward others!!!

    1. Thanks so much Rachel! What a wonderful perspective to be able to go to Mexico and see those wonderful people’s precious hearts! I completely agree! It’s so important to keep our eyes on Jesus and what he says is most important. We have such a short life on this earth, and I pray that I will make a difference for Jesus as much as I possibly can. You are such a wise mama!?

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