Who do you think you are?
You know some people who see themselves as victims, whether individual victims of personal abuse or members of an abused group in society. Victimhood consumes their entire being and influences their every thought. It hangs over them and their mood all day every day, It influences their choices, undermines their motivation, and saps their strength.
Jesus came to turn these people's lives around. He sets the victims free, authentically free, and he does it without crushing their victimizers and demanding compensation for all the damage they have done. If you get the message of Freedom Season, you will see where the Messiah fits into the freedom story of the world—the story that God has been working out through the centuries.
Once you get your mind around that story and picture your destiny in it, your life will never again be chained by any abuse or victimization you have suffered. You will be free to move on as a Person of the Future (POTF) and to invite all the victims around you to come along.
Side effects of knowing you are free
Hope—up; Helplessness—down
Possibilities—up; Despair—down
Energy—up; Fatigue—down
Sense of joy and confidence—way up
The good news of Freedom Season is that we don't have to spend a lot of time, money, and emotional energy breaking free from our past or getting even with our abusers. We do not have to create our freedom; we have it handed to us on a platter as long as we understand who we really are—free citizens of the new era (or "kingdom") that Jesus created with the Freedom Declaration. We are part of an amazing, positive plan that is way bigger than we are.
This gift doesn't come to us automatically at birth, but we can opt into it if we choose to believe that the Freedom Declaration is valid. What makes it valid? It was issued by the proper authority--Jesus, the authentic Messiah, the leader God appointed to bring the freedom of the future into our lives today.
Living under his Declaration is a great way to live. We are free from our past, free to move toward our destiny, free to be positive People of the Future who bless everyone.
Freedom energizes us
Freedom is exhilarating. Free people ride a wave of energy through life. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Future, pumps us up with the energy of the future.
If we thought the Bible was a rule book, we have to un-think that. The Bible is a freedom manual--one long story that centers on Jesus, the Freedom-bringer. As we get clued in to Jesus and his Freedom Declaration, we feel as energized as kids putting on a new pair of basketball shoes, feeling like we can soar and dunk the basketball now.
The more we understand the freedom of Jesus, the easier it is to dump the burdens that weighed us down--resentment against abusers, memories of old traumas, regrets about blunders, guilt about things we wish we could do over. "God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!" (Romans 8.14, The Message)
Getting real about the present
As we get into the idea of Freedom Season, we gradually realize who Jesus really is—the Messiah—the King who brings the freedom of the future into the present. He frees us from our past and liberates us to move on to our destiny.
Once we receive this gift of freedom, we want everybody to enjoy it. We turn into freedom activists, telling our story and urging others to experience this freedom themselves in Christ. They can become People of the Future along with us.
All this happens because God wants it to happen, not because we are so good at it. We do participate in the process but it feels almost like we are watching it. A power far beyond ours is at work, the power of the Messianic future, and that power cannot go wrong.
Some people cling to the past because it has made them wealthy, famous, or powerful. Naturally they want that to continue for their benefit. When Jesus says, "The past was corrupt and it is over. The future is here!" unfortunately they reply, "Not so fast." They become enemies of his announcement of freedom. They can do a lot of damage, but they cannot stop Jesus, the Freedom-bringer.
Don't be chained to the past. Are you ready to break those chains and discover the free life of the future? Why not? It will be the smartest move you will ever make.
See the biblical story: Jesus issues the Freedom Declaration