Daily mantra - Freedom
In a world full of lies about how limited and helpless we are, it is great to have a mantra that keeps asserting our freedom, guaranteed by Jesus the Messiah.
Choose one of these mantras or create your own variation to keep King Jesus, his Freedom Declaration, and his resurrection on your mind as you go through your day. These can all be seen as distilled versions of the "big idea" of Freedom Season.
We see ourselves in Christ as activists in his campaign to bring in the new era of freedom. We will live this day in SYNC with the intentions of King Jesus when he issued the Freedom Declaration.
OR,
This is a day to remember the resurrection of Jesus, and to live like it matters. (This version is included in the "default wording" for the Jubilee Cards.)
OR,
This is a day to remember the resurrection of Jesus. It proved his right to issue the Freedom Declaration, which changes everything.
OR,
This is a Resurrection Day, and we are free.
Daily prayer - Freedom
To go with the mantra or to use instead of it, choose or craft a freedom prayer.
Any of the following Freedom Prayers invite God to SYNC us with the big idea of Freedom Season. The prayers are not a way of trying harder to be a little better. They are a way of inviting Jesus, the Freedom King, to SYNC us. He includes as free citizens of his kingdom so we can become freedom activists, inviting others to become as free as we are.
Using a Freedom Prayer is a way of staying in SYNC with the Freedom King or getting back in SYNC if we have slipped out.
1. Set of seven informal prayers to use in a weekly cycle
These are based on the seven Jubilee Verses that bring out different parts of the Freedom Rhythm. Use this option if you like the idea of "praying Scripture," and if variety helps you focus.
2. Same formal prayer every day for the whole Season
Make us a drum declaring freedom is here. Let it beat. Let it beat. Let it beat.
Use this option if you like repetition and want to drill in the basic idea. Switch the drum to a horn, a "Liberty Bell," or whatever else would be used to make a freedom announcement in your setting.
3. Simplest way -- no cards at all
"SYNC us with your intentions for all citizens of the kingdom of freedom." This ties you each day to the two-word prayer for all seven SYNC seasons--"SYNC us." It is based on the Lord's Prayer. A good option if you want something that will work without having to look at cards.
4. Write/say your own prayer(s)
Prayer is not "one-size-fits-all." Please adjust any of the above to fit you better, or start over and create your own prayers from scratch. Whatever SYNC's you with King Jesus and his Freedom Declaration is fine! (The Declaration is in Luke 4:18-19.)
5. Bedtime prayer
Like mealtimes, bedtime is a great time to thank Jesus for launching the kingdom of freedom and inviting us to become part of it. We even get to be activists for it, inviting others to join. Nothing helps us sleep better than that because nothing else gives us more security or significance than that. With or without the Jubilee Cards, we can look back at our day and thank God for all he has set us free from and all he has set us free to participate in. Good night, you soul-satisfied brother or sister.
FAQs about the Declaration
1. What is the point of us repeating a "Freedom Declaration" every day like a mantra?
Liberation, significance, and a smile that lasts all day.
Liberation because by repeating the Freedom Declaration, we take control of our day instead of letting it dictate things to us. We set the tone for the day, and the tone relates to the new era of freedom that Jesus declared in his hometown. Today is part of that era. Jesus came to bring freedom to everyone, and our declaration--"This is a day to remember the Resurrection, and to live like it matters"--stakes our claim to our share of it.
Significance because freedom activists are the central part of the strategy Jesus launched to spread his freedom to the world after his resurrection. What could be more fulfilling than that role?
A smile because it is so satisfying to discover each day a little more of the meaning of living as free citizens of the kingdom that Jesus rules. We love it but we never really get to the bottom of it. The idea never gets old. The feeling of joy never wears off. The freedom never runs out.
2. Can I honestly use a mantra like this if I'm not convinced about the resurrection story?
Not really, but you can live this day experimentally if you are so inclined. If Jesus was not brought back into life in his body, it means that his Freedom Declaration is only an ideal, not a fact established by a God-appointed King. We can try to live up to great ideals, but it is up to us.
On the other hand, suppose he was actually resurrected. Suppose God set it all up in advance with Jesus as the center of his freedom-bringing strategy for the whole of human history. (Such a set-up does not mean the people were puppets. The people who sentenced him to death did not later say, "What were we thinking? I don't know what came over us when we were did that. We were not ourselves." No, they could have explained their reasons for doing what they did, and why they would do exactly the same again if they were given a do-over.)
Suppose God did set it up and Jesus's body did not stay in that stone burial chamber. Suppose we really are living in an era of freedom, healing, and deliverance. Imagine how your day would be different if you saw yourself as a free citizen of the kingdom of Jesus. Then, as far as you are willing, live your day from that perspective and see what happens.
If you are having a hard time imagining how people live when they see themselves as part of God's "Freedom Strategy," see "What life is like for a freedom activist" or ask a friend who believes it.