Podcasts religion Freedom Church Asking for a Friend, Week Three

Asking for a Friend, Week Three

Published: Nov. 17, 2019, 5:01 p.m.

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The Spirit of the Lord\\xa0God\\xa0is upon me, because the\\xa0Lord\\xa0has\\xa0anointed me to bring good news to the poor;\\xa0he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and\\xa0the opening of the prison to those who are bound; 2\\xa0to proclaim the year of the\\xa0Lord\'s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3\\xa0to grant to those who mourn in Zion\\u2014\\xa0to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning,the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the\\xa0Lord,\\xa0that he may be glorified. 4\\xa0They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Isaiah 61:1-4 (ESV)

6 Keys to Freedom

  1. Surrender\\u2026

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,\\xa07\\xa0casting all your anxieties on him, because\\xa0he cares for you.\\xa08\\xa0Be sober-minded;\\xa0be watchful. Your\\xa0adversary the devil\\xa0prowls around\\xa0like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:6-8 (ESV)

  1. Spiritual Order

So here\\u2019s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life\\u2014your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life\\u2014and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don\\u2019t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You\\u2019ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:1-2 (MSG)

  1. Confession

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that\\xa0God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.\\xa06\\xa0If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and\\xa0do not practice the truth.\\xa07\\xa0But\\xa0if we walk in the light,\\xa0as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and\\xa0the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.\\xa08\\xa0If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and\\xa0the truth is not in us.\\xa09\\xa0If we confess our sins, he is\\xa0faithful and just to forgive us our sins and\\xa0to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\\xa01 John 1:5-9 (ESV)

  1. Stay in the light

\\u201cRepentance, the first word of Christian imagination, sets us on the way to traveling in the light.\\u201d \\u2013Eugene Peterson

  1. Shift our focus

But we have this treasure in\\xa0jars of clay,\\xa0to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.\\xa08\\xa0We are\\xa0afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;\\xa09\\xa0persecuted, but\\xa0not forsaken;\\xa0struck down, but not destroyed;\\xa010\\xa0always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,\\xa0so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies\\u2026\\xa016\\xa0So we do not lose heart.\\xa0Though our outer self\\xa0is wasting away,\\xa0our inner self\\xa0is being renewed day by day.\\xa017\\xa0For\\xa0this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,\\xa018\\xa0as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:7-18\\xa0(ESV

13\\xa0You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.\\xa0But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh;\\xa0rather, serve one another\\xa0humbly in love.\\xa014\\xa0For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: \\u201cLove your neighbor as yourself.\\u201dGalatians 5:13-15 (NIV

  1. Forgive

14\\xa0Strive for peace with everyone, and for the\\xa0holiness\\xa0without which no one will see the Lord.\\xa015\\xa0See to it that no one\\xa0fails to obtain the grace of God; that no\\xa0\\u201croot of bitterness\\u201d springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled\\u2026 Hebrews 12:14-15 (ESV

31\\xa0Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.\\xa032\\xa0Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,\\xa0forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32 (ESV)

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