LIBERTY

LIBERTY
Liberty is the condition of being free from control or restrictions.
Liberty is the condition of being free from imprisonment, slavery or forced labour.
Liberty is the condition of being free to act, believe or express oneself as one chooses.
Liberty is the freedom from excessive government control.

In this present world, the devil aims at controlling the lives of men, setting up restrictions at what and what they are permitted to enjoy or suffer, literally and actively imprison them, pressing them into forced labour in line with his instructions refusing them to act freely neither does he allow to express oneself even as they please. All in all, the devil runs an excessive government control. A government in which one cannot gain liberty or freedom from except by the power of JESUS.

I should say quickly too that you need not deceive yourself into thinking that all seems well, at least I'm not suffering, I can eat when I like, spend money as I please and live like royalty, this offer of liberty isn't for people like me, WRONG. Being outside JESUS CHRIST means being inside the rulership of the devil, no middle point in this case and the devil for all time has been a terrible task master.

Without mincing words, this is simply what the Lord JESUS came to do for entire creation. At the fall in the garden of Eden, man fell into bondage- the bondage of sin, one which we could only be delivered from by the blood sacrifice of a lamb without blemish, JESUS CHRIST the perfect sacrifice in this case.

Gal. 5:1-It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

As Christians, liberty is our inheritance, infact it is our right and we not living in liberty means we are short changing ourselves out of that which should proudly be ours and we need to make use also of that which we have given to us on the much part on a platter.

Scriptures report of a man from the town of the Gadarenes (Mark. 5:1-19, Luke 8:26-37), in whom dwelt a legion of demons, they had made the life/body of this man their home and inflicted as much pain, disappointments and shame as possible, who in one of JESUS's visit was encountered and delivered straightaway.

Now though we don't know for sure how long the demons had been in the man or how old he was at the time of encounter with JESUS, one thing was sure which is that a huge part of his productive years as a young man had been stolen away by the torture of these demons. He was confined to the caves, bound hands, legs and neck with chains, numerous number of bruises and deep cut wounds on his body etc.

This here is an example of the consequence of a demon possession, one for which the Lord JESUS came to die so that we can be free from. Yes we were born in sin, infact it was in sin that our mother conceived us (Psalm. 51:5), but at believing in the finished work of the Lord JESUS on the cross of Calvary, we become set free, totally liberated from whatever chains or restrictions of this present world set by the devil. Restrictions could vary and could be equally numerous, a restriction could be denial of a deserved opportunity, a delay in marriage or child bearing, academic failure, downward spiral of a business, inability to lay hold on a breakthrough etc.

This here is the joy of the devil on the lives of human beings perhaps simply because of the love showered upon us by GOD (Psalm. 8:4-8). So he constantly as a lion is on the prowl looking out for whom to devour (1Peter. 5:8), seeking out methods to put men into bondage, making sure that those who haven't encountered CHRIST do not meet with the liberty He could offer and those who have encountered Him, loose it. (Gal. 5:1).

Now, I'd like to be very clear about this part of this write up, the fact that you are a Christian, saved eternally doesn't exempt one from being a target for bondage by the devil, infact they are the more juicy targets making the devil to put in many efforts to try distract and eventually derail Christians from that which truly matters.

A friend once asked me, why is it that those who are not believers are still being tormented by the devil, since they were already on his side, why torment them further? The quick response I gave on the day was that, it is the interest of the devil to drag them further down into deeper bondages, force them into entering into deeper difficult covenants with him, such that it seems almost impossible for them to get free.

Liberty we have received in CHRIST, but this equally comes with cautions as we are to be very careful on how we use the liberty we are given in CHRIST JESUS. (1Cor. 6:12; 10:23) Paul equally identified how in order to fulfil the assignment of soul winning, he had to be cautious about his liberty (1 Cor. 9:19).

Herein lies my question to you, Are you saved? Have you been set free from the slavery of sin? Have you been to the cross for the cleansing power which alone gives you liberty. Let me reiterate again that the devil is here simply to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10).

GOD BLESS YOU.