It's for freedom...

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." ~Galatians 5:1

This is the theme verse for my group at Grace Adventure. (http://graceadventure.org/) It's amazing to me how much my life and my views have changed in the last month. The things that I have experiences at GA- the exercises, the relationships, the Lord- all have worked together to cause so many "T"ruths from my head to transfer to my heart.

I became a Christian in the fall of 1998. For me, there was a heart change, but there was also a lot of just finding the religion that was true. Head knowledge. Head knowledge is great, but it does not change too much about the way you live your life. The Christian life is very much a set of rules if you only have head knowledge. Christ came to give me a key to heaven, because it was only head knowledge.

I have gained a heart knowledge about Christ and what He has done for me. Yes, He came to restore that relationship so I can spend eternity with the Lord. But there's more to it than that. There is freedom in the here and now. Whatever junk is in our past (whether committed against us or by us) is fully within His hands. My freedom comes from not having to live out my own personal coping mechanisms, but from truly walking out who He created me to be.

This song is actually about the day when the whole Church becomes the bride and enters heaven. But when I heard it, I was taken back to the moment at GA when I met the Lord face to face and asked Him what He thinks of me. What He thinks of the things that have hurt me. What He thinks of the ways I have hurt others.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_as9yxrf6E

"When love has come and finally set you free." In that moment, I was set free. Free from the pain of my past. Free from all the masks and defenses I use to protect myself. Free to be a me that I never even knew existed.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.