Galatians 5:1 “In [this] freedom Christ has made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].          Amplified Bible

 

          With the coming of Easter, this verse should jump out at us. Jesus’ death and resurrection has freed us, notice the word HAS. Your life, and mine, have been set free from the grasp of eternal death. And not only that, but our lives right now have been set free. Set free from the yoke of our past sins, that, for many, have been carried for years and years. Because of the Christ’s obedience to go to the cross and die, Satan’s grip on us is no more! We have been set free, liberated, from our sinful past and been made new.

          With that comes the infusion of the Holy Spirit, giving our hearts the Solid Rock, to hold on to in time of trouble and strife. When we heartfeltly accept Christ as our personal Savior, the shackles that held us fast are loosened, and the gates that ensnared us are opened. Jesus Christ removes the yoke of self and replaces it with His yoke. Instead of carrying the burdens of our sinful past, and all the guilt and shame that goes with that, we begin to carry His burden. That burden is the love for others, justice for the oppressed, food for the hungry. Now some may think that justice for the oppressed means some sort of lawful justice. But I think it means, the sharing of our testimony. Satan is oppressing so many today, Christ died to give justice from Satan and his lies about how bad we are and that Jesus will not accept us because of how we once lived. Feed the hungry, is showing others the word of God, giving them the food that God has prepared for us to share with others. And in so doing both of those things we are showing love to others. It is the same love Christ showed to those around Him when He was alive.

          Letting go of our past sins, giving them up to the One that died for us, hold fast to the Rock, that is Jesus Christ. When we finally come to grips with the fact that He died for us, for all of us, and we finally admit that what we have heard is true, and accept Him as our Savior, are we really giving our sins to Him? NO. He has already died and taken our sins from us, it is us that elect to hang on to them, or at least the thoughts of them and it is those thoughts that chain us to our pasts. Further strengthening Satan grip on our consciences, so, that the guilt of our pasts keeps us in chains. Therefore, it is so important to get into the word daily, allowing the power contained within to break the grip Satan has on us. “Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2 “That the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” Romans 8:21

         

          “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” Ephesians 4:14 By throwing off the chains of our pasts, Satan cannot use the cunning and craftiness of others to degrade us, throwing our pasts in our faces, laying a guilt trip in us. Through the power of His word that we read, and through the Holy Spirit that lives in us, their words no longer can penetrate our hearts. The love that we now know Jesus has for us is the shield that protects us. We can boldly walk through life knowing that Christ's love protects us, and even when storms, hardships, pain, sorrow, disappointment come to us, the strength that comes from the family of God, through prayer, and our own knowledge of Him carries us through those times. So, we exit the other side into a new dawn. The dawn of victory in those trials allows us to then take that victory into other’s lives. Giving them a hope and courage that we have.

          So, at this time of year, take what you know and feel and have experienced, and pass it on to others around you. Give encouragement. Pray for others. Pray with others. And if you have not accepted Christ as your Savior because you don’t feel like He would listen to you, know that He does!! It is Satan that is telling you otherwise. It is Satan that continues to chain you to your past. It is Satan that wants you to continue to be repressed by the guilt of your past mistakes. But I am here, a sinner saved by Grace, that God does love you and Christ did die for the removal of your sins. Use the boldness, that the Holy Spirit is going to give you when you accept Christ, to tell Satan he is defeated in your life. That he will rule over you no longer. Snap the chains, feel the liberations of freedom from your past and begin to live for the future, in heaven where you have always belonged.