The truth wont set you free

"The truth will set you free" is one of Jesus' phrases that has resonance in a much wider context than just religion, so much so that I have even seen it as a strap-line for a movie poster. It is one of those sayings that nearly everyone knows, although many are not sure where from. But sadly most people, even Christians, don't pay enough attention to the discourse in which it is set. This is really how I come to be writing this blog, I took it out of context, not intellectually but intuitively. And I found myself wondering, why exactly the truth did NOT set me free, as I had been promised.

You see, the 'truth' seen as simply a hard, cold fact, can actually leave you helpless. To expose my flaws will only leave me with a sense of condemnation. It may not necessarily offer a solution.
I recently watched the movie 'Flight'  (spoiler alert) where Denzel Washington plays an alcoholic commercial jet pilot who's level headed actions save a doomed flight, albeit whilst under the heavy influence of alcohol. Initially hailed as a hero, his life soon comes under heavy scrutiny as an investigation ensues.
We discover that his life, and not the plane crash, is the real disaster area of the movie narrative. In the course of the film he hooks up with a recovering drug addict/alcoholic, who takes him along to an AA meeting that she attends. He cannot take it, and walks out when he hears one of the members start to talk about his denial and self deception. Later, facing jail, and a hairs breadth away from getting away with it, having lied through all the questioning, he is finally asked to tell one more lie, to incriminate (falsely) a member of the crew who died in the crash, saying that it was her who had drunk the vodka miniatures that were found in the bin.

It is at that moment that he comes to his senses, like the prodigal with the pigswill raised to his lips, and, to the dismay of his legal team, he confesses to having drunk the vodka, because, he says, in a final admission and embracing of the truth (from which he has long been running), 'I am an alcoholic'.

You could say, in one sense, that the truth set him free, but as a result of this truth he actually becomes imprisoned.
The truth does not set him free, but is impossible for him to get free without an acknowledgment of that truth.

It seems coincidental that I had watched this film recently, but a personal struggle of mine led me to this question just days later and it was not until commencing this blog that I saw the connection between my issues and the film. You see, acknowledgement of the truth is not enough. Exposure to the truth is not enough. It does not set you free, in and as of itself. Sometimes knowing the truth and being unable to change, seems to compound our sense of being enslaved. The more frequently I recognise a truth and do not change, the harder my heart becomes.

So I look at the context (John 8) in which Jesus said these most famous words of his and I find the subtext is of significant value.

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

If you hold to my teaching, he says. So we see that this is not a generalisation of the concept of truth, of cold, hard facts, but of a specific truth, moreover a truth that trumps all other truths. I have not really seen this condition of Jesus before, the 'If' factor. If you hold to my teachings. Wow.

But then my being set free would seem to depend on my ability to hold to certain teachings, and that seems a rather flimsy basis for freedom. If it were will-power alone it would surely be possible without Jesus.

Jesus says in the passage that everyone who sins is a slave to sin (So that's all of us) and that slaves have no place in the family, but if the son, the rightful, inheritor of the headship of that family and belongs to it forever, frees you, then you are truly free.

So receiving the pardon frees us from the status of slavery, but there is more. If we are academically free only, then it is no freedom. Jesus stresses, free indeed. There must be more. And there is.

If we are holding to Jesus teachings then we will have to become familiar with ALL his words. And later, in John 14, he tells us what is the truth that really sets us free. he says

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ~John  14:6

The 'Truth', must be Jesus himself. To know him, to be intimately acquainted,  to be familiar, to be his friend rather than his servant, is truly to know 'The Truth'. Rules and adherence to doctrine cannot free you. Acknowledgement alone cannot free you, but you must be freed by the Son, to be free indeed. And as Jesus goes on to say "If you really know me, you will know my Father as well".

There are no shortcuts to intimacy. It takes time to develop, time and experience but way more importantly, trust.  A putting of your weight onto the object you are relying on to help you. And I picture the writer of this gospel, reclining, leaning on Jesus at that last meal. I'm reminded of the words from the hymn.

 

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus name,

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

Forty Facebook-free days in the wilderness; Ep 1

Like an ex -smoker rarely feels financially better off, I am scratching my head and wondering where the time I used to spend on Facebook actually came from? I used to spend hours a day checking statuses, reading notifications, writing  some status or other, responding to comments. My days, if anything, seem fuller now I am off the book of face. Perhaps, I might say, I have even less free time without it.

I called this experience, before embarking on it (in my head, not to any human ears), the cyberwild. I was compelled to spend 40 days with no Facebook connections and that felt, at the time, like a testing time ahead, a time of isolation and withdrawal for (partially, at least) prayer purposes. I think how I viewed this fast/experiment before I commenced it, was as a rather daunting challenge, although admittedly nowhere in the vicinity of the sort of trial awaiting Jesus in the Judaean desert. The reality was far more sedate and mediocre but, like any addict when threatened with the withholding of their favoured substance, I was rather panicked at the thought of doing without. Always the sign of the addict. Deep down, however, I knew it could be a good thing.

I think I had been aware, for some serious time, although I kidded myself to the contrary, that, to a certain extent, Facebook was controlling me, and not the other way round. Or rather, my unchecked appetite for Facebook was controlling me. I had made many excuses in my head as to why not to examine the affect of this habit in any depth but the primary reason is that, like the time that I did not want to draw back the dressing after putting my hand through a window, I knew I would not like what I saw. And so, after God eventually led me to a place of grace, where I felt able to challenge the mighty Facebook for the supremacy of my main affection, I decided that it was time that the Goliath created by Zuckerberg, took a pebble to the head.  Finally I was going to follow the advice I saw on Axl Rose's T-shirt all those years ago that urged us to 'kill your idols'. Yes, hands up, it was an idol and, as an idol, at least, it needed to die.

At first I was going to attempt to keep a diary style blog of my withdrawal symptoms, day by day but I think that moment has well and truly passed. Instead I am going to write a short series of blogs based on my facebook-free phase. I am just over a third of the way through my experience now and all seems to be going well.  There will be a post to follow in the near future, God willing.

Freedom In Christ #8

Handling Emotions Well

This, more than any of the other sessions has highlighted how I have failed to grasp the earlier principle, from session 3, of choosing to believe the truth.

Do you remember the flow chart from that session (see my blog Freedom in Christ #3)

Truth

 

Belief

 

Behaviour

 

Feelings

 

 

Well, this session examines what happens if you invert this chart. If you live life led by your feelings this directly impacts on your behaviour and your belief. Your view of reality is shaped by the former.

 

 

A phrase that jumped out at me from that session, which, in the style of the course, is repeated often is; 'If what you believe does not reflect the truth, then what you feel will not reflect reality.

 

I often find myself primarily led by my feelings. My view of what is really going on is often dictated by my emotional reaction to it. And sometimes my emotional state is a factor even before anything happens. In the session from last Sunday it was stated that our feelings are like a barometer. They are to our soul what pain is to the body. But they can't always be trusted. As I just stated in that quote, what you feel does not always reflect reality.

 

A few weeks back I had a prime example of this. I was in a bit of a slump, mainly because I felt that I was losing a grip on some of these lessons that I felt I had been learning. It seems that being free requires hard work! And so on the morning in question I gave myself a bit of a kick up the bum, reminding myself that I was 'Significant, Accepted and Secure' and as a result, something spiritual seemed to shift and I felt elated. Now the reality is that I wouldn't have been any more significant, accepted or secure than I was when I wasn't feeling it, but my perception had changed and the world seemed brighter, the grass so much greener.

 

And then I read a message on facebook that rocked me. A friend of mine from Australia had sent out a personal message, which I read, stating that her daughter had gone missing. And would I/we pray for her safe return. I was devastated by this. I felt so bad for my friend and was praying constantly through the day, unable to think about anything else. I did not understand how God could do such a trivial thing as 'making me feel better' and simultaneously allow this little girl to go missing. Messages came back throughout the day to say that there had been no news. As I went to sleep all I could think about was this poor little girl and my poor friend, worried to death for her daughter. I got others to pray for her but all the time my feelings towards God were growing colder. I was miffed, at best, angry at worst.

My friend posted a picture of a missing girl on facebook, sometime the next day. It wasn't her daughter and I wondered if she had found this image whilst looking for her daughter and decided to post it out of solidarity. But that didn't seem right. I checked and reread her original message. The message read "To my praying friends" and on the next line 'My friends daughter has gone missing'.

My eye had filtered out the word 'friends' because it lay in the same position as the word 'friends' above it!

 

So I had been worried about a situation that didn't even exist. Initially I felt relieved for all the grief and angst I had felt on behalf of my friend. and then just as quickly, guilt at the relief I felt because this actually was someone's daughter. And so I redoubled my prayer efforts.

 

Miraculously the daughter was found, unharmed and healthy.

So my feelings had caused me to go into a tailspin based on  a set of circumstances that were not even reality. I felt like such a fool to lose faith in God so easily, a God who loved me even enough to let me know my significance in the midst of my self doubt and to answer the prayers of faithful friends for this daughter. He had not changed, like the shifting shadows. He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. It does not mean that things that we cant understand never happen. Inevitably they do. But God is unchanged throughout. His love doesn't waver. Had I really been choosing to believe the truth over my feelings of despair, that whole episode could have been handled entirely differently.

 

 

There is a great deal more to this session, but I think my story really illustrates the fallibility of being led by our feelings and the reliability of Gods truth, whatever the circumstances and however they appear. Without supressing our feelings or being uncontrollably and explosively led by them, we need to honestly acknowledge them before God and make a conscious decision to follow the truth.

Let me finish with a quote from the book;

 

You don't feel your way into good behaviour. You behave your way into good feelings. We start by choosing to believe the truth, which works itself out in our behaviour. This then over time leads to a change in our feelings.

 

 

 

 



Freedom In Christ #7

The Battle For Our Minds


In true, self fulfilling prophecy style, I think I lost mine this last few weeks. I mean the 'Battle', not the mind. Although.....


I must say that I found the last session really helpful. We mostly looked at how Satan primarily attacks us by putting thoughts into our minds. I haven't thought, for a long time, about the parameters of Satan's 'power'.   I found it really helpful to be reminded that he is not 'like God'. He is not Omniscient, (all knowing) Omnipotent (All powerful) or Omnipresent (Everywhere). The likely hood, if we are undergoing a spiritual attack is that we are not meriting Satan's personal attention. And in comparison to God, Satan is like an Ant compared to an atomic bomb. Phew.

But we are susceptible to attacks from organised networks of fallen Angels (Eph 6:12).. 'Satan' can put thoughts and words into our minds and make them sound like our own (highlighting the need to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ).

He uses

• Temptation
• Accusation
• Deception

Unfortunately falling into sin through these methods, especially repeatedly, means that we can give the Devil a foothold, or footholds. Although he cannot posses a child of God he gain influence of your mind and so 'neutralise' you or even further his agenda.


Fortunately we can have a defence against these strategies of the Enemy. We can;

• Understand our position in Christ (Eph 1:19-22)
• Use the resources we have in Christ. (Eph 6:11-20, James 4:7)
• Do not be frightened (1 John 5:18)
• Guard our minds (1 Peter 1:13)
• TURN ON THE LIGHT (John 17:16-17, Phil 4:6-8)

I think, for me, the issue has been being attentive to these issues.

I mentioned at the beginning that I thought I had been losing the battle. I think, primarily, because I haven't been living in a place of recognition of the fact that I am IN a battle. A soldier on a battle field who doesn't know where he/she is, is in a pretty vulnerable state, I reckon.

Paul says, in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians, that we are 'Not unaware of his schemes' he says it to back up his claim that Satan cannot outwit us. If we are not aware that we are in a battle then we are hardly in a place to ensure that we are not outwitted by an enemy.

The above is a list of some of the ways we can ensure that we are not unaware of his schemes. I am going to attempt to be more vigilant in the coming week to submit to God and resist the devil where ever I find opportunity.

I am also thoroughly looking forward to tonight's session on handling emotions. Definitely an area for development and growth.

See you next week.

Freedom in Christ #6

Strongholds



The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ~ 2 Cor 10:4-5

Freedom in Christ defines a stronghold, amongst other things, as; mental habit patterns of thought that are not consistent with Gods word.

In short, these can stop us laying hold of truths because our patterns of thinking are captive to some untruth, some deep rooted lie.

They can be established through our prolonged exposure to this fallen world which conditions us, through traumatic experiences and through repeated falling to temptations. The effects can be to give us a faulty view of reality.


The good news is that they can be broken with this 'divine power'. We can break their power and take captive every thought, making it obedient to Christ.



Again, none of this is teaching that I am unfamiliar with.  I asked myself where the strongholds were in my life, and for the first time in a long time, largely because of what God has been doing through the period I have been on this course, I felt there were no obvious strongholds.

But then, that was the obvious ones. I bet if you asked anyone who lived with me, or knows me well, they may be able to spot some strongholds in my life. What worries me more are the more subtle patterns. By nature, if we are deceived, then we do not realise that we are.

I cant claim to have come that far on the journey, since my last blog. If I am honest, I feel like I have hit a bit of a bottle neck. But it also feels as though there is a lot of pressure in that bottle neck waiting to go phwooosh, when the cork gets popped. I can't help feeling that the 'Steps to freedom' day may be a little bit of an uncorking experience.

Until then I want to ask God for wisdom in discerning these strongholds and in walking by the Spirit.

Holy week; Easter Sunday

 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ~ Luke 24:30-31


Since we have been following in Luke I want to move to Luke's first recorded encounter with the risen Jesus. The encounter that two disciples have on the road to Emmaus. 

I love this story. Some of the disciples get the shining angel experience, some get the personal revelation, some get indisputable proof. But some of us simply have our eyes open that he has been with us on the way but we didn't perceive it.

Something simple. Something we do every day, something as basic as eating a meal and it is transformed, when our eyes are open.

And for many of us Jesus appears to us, in our mundanity and reveals that our despair was unfounded, our hope was not in vain, that despite appearances, he never left us. And he is, very much alive.

And it gives me hope that when I am not aware, whatever my circumstances and I am lost, once more, that all may not be as it seems. This ordinariness can still be transformed because Jesus is alive, I only need my eyes open to that fact.

The hope of resurrection, the glorious miracle, taking place, unlike the crucifixion, not in public, on display in full view of the world, but in a concealed tomb, Just The Son, The Father and the Holy Spirit and a pile of grave clothes. Do we not perceive it?

And so hope in us begins, very often in a private place, and resurrection hits us in the most ordinary of moments. And Jesus transforms everything.



Happy Easter everyone!

Holy week; Holy Saturday

Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my saviour.


Today I don't want to write much. I watched a short clip this morning from 24/7 Prayer, whose lent series I have been following this year, and It said, pretty much everything I would want to say. So below you will find a link to that clip, please watch it and afford Pete Grieg the space you would have afforded me. He is much more worthy of it and it only lasts a few minutes.

Before I go, I just want to say that I concur completely with what Pete says. We so often want to rush from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. But I think it is so important to dwell on the Saturday experience. We forget, because of how significant the cross is to us in saving us, what a shattering blow it is. The silence of heaven after the death of its champion speaks as strongly as the cross itself. Judgement has been met. Our sin has caused the heaviest of prices to be paid. Before we embrace the hope and power of resurrection we need to sit with that for a while.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2gX_fMa44E