Freedom For Us and Glory For Him

Monday, July 13, 2020
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:8-9

Freedom For Us and Glory For Him

Do you ever feel defeated? Like giving up? What is it that makes you want to throw in the towel? Many things can make us feel defeated – Physical and emotional exhaustion, constant tension in our relationships, not having any down time or time to rest, and the circumstances of life. 

Satan works hard to make us feel defeated.  He wants us to give up. He wants us to quit. He wants us to surrender to him. He knows we have giants in our lives that will keep us down and eventually make us give up if we let them win. These giants are big and overwhelming, and they know exactly how to taunt us and make us feel weak. Satan knows that these giants are no match for our God, but he knows that these giants can brainwash us into yielding to their power over us. 

Giants are anything in our lives that holds power over us and can cause us to be ineffective in our lives.  Giants can cause us to not be able to function at a normal level, to struggle to carry out our normal daily activities.  They can take over our minds and hearts, and take a physical, emotional, and spiritual toll on us.  They intimidate us, deceive us, and cause us to believe that God cannot help us, or worse, cause us to believe we are totally unworthy of His love and rescue and He has no desire to help us. When they attack, they distort truth on every side and it makes it hard for us to know the truth – unless we go to the only true source, God’s word.

Salvation doesn’t make our giants go away, it just makes the victory so much sweeter when God’s power works in our lives for all to see, and His name is glorified.

God knew there would be giants in our lives, but He never meant for us to be defeated by them. He saved us so that His power would be ours in defeating giants, sin, and everything we come up against. The giants in our lives will never go away completely, but God has given us the power to defeat them and live among them. He frees us and at the same time, His name is glorified. 

Grasping this two-fold motivator is important: Jesus stretched out his arms on the cross both to free us and to glorify God. Both of those works happened at the same time. They’re woven together, and one is important, yet the other one always carries more weight. As long as our motivation remains only about getting freedom for ourselves, then we’re missing what’s most important, and we won’t truly have the full power to change. God wants to open our eyes to this understanding. We’re fighting for our freedom, and we’re also fighting for his glory. – Louie Giglio – Goliath Must Fall

He defeats every giant for us. We can walk in the freedom He has given us and His power. We can have courage to take every step, even among the giants, because He walks with us. They may never go away, but we walk with a God that will never leave us or forsake us. 

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10