I was on a walk and anxious feelings had been pressing in. I was talking to the Lord about it, and asking questions, as I often do. Then I heard, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
I had heard this verse so many times, but God chose that day to bring it to life in me. The verse opened up. Peace, joy, and awe came in and anxiousness lifted as I thought on what that meant. If we have the Spirit of the Lord living inside of us, there is freedom available to us. There is no reason for us to live in any kind of oppression, like anxiety.
If there is freedom where the Lord is, then we walk in virtually, a liberty bubble. There is potential for not only freedom within us, but for those around us. Those who have the Holy Spirit living inside, literally carry around the King of freedom wherever they go. There is no reason for any of us, marked with his name to be walking in anxiety. God is so good. I had prayed to be a peace carrier, and God was telling me that all who carry the Spirit of the Living God are peace carriers.
The full verse from NIV reads, “Now the Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Cor. 3:17
Freedom! For those who are God carriers, who house the Holy Spirit, there is complete freedom available. Of course, the devil doesn’t want God’s people to know this, so he tries to keep our eyes on the troubles of this world. He tries to keep our eyes focused on the difficulties and the struggles, because then we are not dangerous to his kingdom.
When we walk in his liberty, we can interact with others more freely. God can use us as a conduit for change in the lives of others to bring freedom as well as our own. If walking in oppression can effect the ones around us, just think how walking in freedom could effect them.
We can have the Word of God in our head, but it must get down into our hearts, so that it goes beyond head knowledge to heart knowledge. Some of the ways that the enemy keeps people bound is by a lack of knowledge of his Word and deception. Other common things that keep the Word from reaching our hearts is by wounds that have not been healed, sin, and living in unforgiveness.
There have been times that I knew what the Word of God said, but I couldn’t get that word deep into my heart. Other things were blocking its entrance. Anxiety has been one of those things. While I have experienced times of great peace in the presence of God, there were words of others, who had been close to me, that would come back to me later. Those words had an effect on me over the years and God needed to heal that.
There came a point when I would try to do something and those words would stop me in my tracks. I may not have been thinking about them continuously or consciously, but when I stopped to delve into the anxiety that I was feeling, I could see that I had taken their words on as part of my own belief system.
As I began to try to move forward, there was a subtle thought of, what if they were right? What if I can’t do this and it proves they were right? That created an inner war within me that I couldn’t seem to stop on my own. That inner war was fuel for great anxiety. Even when I knew that God had given me the ability to do the task. I knew that these were lies, but for some reason they held on.
There were some of those times that I would hear their words and see their face, as they said that I would never be able to do it. As they said that I’d never do anything, that I was worthless. I knew these were all lies of the enemy, but inside that ‘what if’ remained.
It frustrated me when I knew the truth of what his Word said, but I couldn’t make it or will it to enter down into my heart. God is a thorough worker. He does the job in the right way and in the right timing when we submit to his will. Sometimes there are things that need to occur in our lives first. Sometimes there are layers that must be taken care of.
Days before hearing that verse in 2 Corinthians, again I was on a walk when I heard the Lord ask me, “Are you ready to get rid of that?” I thought, why would God even ask that? Of course I was. Then he told me to let it go, followed by showing me that there were things that I needed to forgive.
That was a surprise to me, because I thought that I had forgiven, but the Holy Spirit showed me that there were still some things that needed to be released. I believe that those things acted like a block, preventing the Word of God from reaching those places of my heart where they needed to be. Shortly after that came greater healing and greater release.
Real peace is hard to come by in this world. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, sent us his Holy Spirit, so that we might have His peace. He tells us that where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty. We have been given freedom in Christ. His word says that it is for freedom that he came to set us free. (Gal. 5:1)
If you are having trouble breaking anxiety, and you know Jesus, His Word says that where his Spirit is there is freedom. Invite him in show you anything that may be hindering you from receiving his peace. I pray for new release, healing, and freedom for you.
If you don’t know Jesus, and you would like to, ask God to forgive you of your sin, and ask him to come and live in your heart and have his way in your life. Get a bible. Start reading in the New Testament. Then, contact me, a bible believing church or individual, to find out what’s next.
(The photo above is taken from upsplash.com)
Melicia Evans 