I began this article on the 6th of June, D-Day. A day of remembrance for what is called the beginning of the end of WWII. On June 6, 1944, the Normandy invasion turned the tide against the enemies. Fully secured beaches gave unified forces footing to secure troops, vehicles and equipment enough to take the land and wage war on the occupying force to secure freedom. As I complete this article, we have just celebrated our Independence Day in these United States. July 4th, 2025, is our 249th birthday as a Constitutional Republic. Young, really compared to cultures and nations around the globe, but forging forward none the less. All of this to say is that the topic of “Freedom” has been on my mind.
Freedom is an interesting topic with many levels of application that lend to its definition.
It can be a decree that defines nations around the globe, such as D-Day and Independence Day.
It can be institutional, relational, generational, and personal.
To define freedom depends upon the scope of the definer.
Freedom is free, but it can also be costly.
Freedom can be gained.
Freedom can be lost.
Freedom can be an excuse for chaos, or a rationale for defined boundaries.
By large sweeping choices or incremental degrees, freedom can be given away.
Freedom can be physical, it can be mental, and it most definitely is spiritual.
As I type these words, there is a scripture running through my head (2 Corinthians 3:17), but as a song, a cadence, if you will. “Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is Freedom…. There is Freedom!”
The genuine gift of freedom that underlies all the others is a God ordained freedom that He desires for everyone.
Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is FREEDOM: Bondage.
In the Old Testament stories about freedom, we find God’s people in Egyptian bondage at the end of the book of Exodus. Enslaved to a taskmaster, God sends in his 80-year-old servant Moses to confront Pharoah and his magicians and demand Israels’ release. A showdown incurs between the stubbornness of a man pharaoh and the power of the One True God. With the miracle of the Red Sea Crossing, Israel sees the hand of God as the oppressor’s army washes away. They are no longer slaves, but they are not truly free.
As the old saying goes, Israel was out of Egypt, but Egypt was not out of Israel. When generations upon generations raised in an inherited slavery mentality that does not go away with a change of location. The bondage was so ingrained in the Israelites that it was it was just who they were.
Born into bondage is a truth that every human born on planet earth must address. The very sin nature of humanity traced back to Adam and Eve, the generational junk that is handed down from family lines, the world, the choices that we make all define our personal bondage. Some might be obvious, but most hide in “that is just who I am.”
Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is FREEDOM: Identity.
The purpose of the wilderness season was for God’s people to meet and establish a relationship with their God. The God who called Abraham, the father of the nation, summoned them to the mountain in the wilderness to know HIM. He was their healer, their provider, their victory banner against their enemies. He gave them fire by night and clouds by day. He gave them manna from heaven and water from rocks and made bitter waters sweet. His actions toward Israel were about national identity. They were no longer subject to Egyptian taskmasters, defined by slavery and submission. They were people of The Most High God, who loved them and had a path of victory in mind for them. He wanted them to find their identity in HIM.
How do you define your identity? By family name? By job title? By success? By failures? By your emotions? By your wounds? By your trauma experiences? By your lack? By your abundance? Or By Christ? Identity in Christ is KEY to open the door to true freedom in our lives. God knew about us before our parents knew each other. He has a plan and a purpose for us all and a joy set before us to walk out. We cannot know that unless we know who we are in the eyes of the one who created us. Holy Spirit strips all false identities that make up the prison we don’t know exists and sets us free from the very soul of our being. “Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is Freedom.”
Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is FREEDOM: Relationship.
Galatians 4:6 tells us that “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
The victory of the Cross of Christ and the precious blood He shed for The New Covenant need to be seen and honored for all that it accomplished. One cannot simplify it to “died for my sins–the end.” No, my friend…that is just the beginning!!! His obedience to Abba Father established a NEW COVENANT of relationship for God’s human family to live in. God, our Heavenly Father sends Holy Spirit – the Spirit of the victorious Christ into our hearts! We are to become SONS and DAUGHTERS that are in a relationship with The Father. This is not an earthly father/child relationship, but a heavenly one.
The Father, Jesus our Lord, and Holy Spirit are three in one, but also relationally they are three individual expressions. Just as Israel learned the facets of God in their wilderness, we have times where we need to encounter God as a Father, a Good Good Father. Sometimes we are dealing with sin and struggles that we need to encounter our Savior and His victorious cross as we apply His victory to our struggle. Then there are Holy Spirit times of leading and teaching by the comforter that is with us and in us. Oh that we would learn to honor the fullness of New Covenant relationship! “…according to the riches of his glory…be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being…to comprehend…the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:16-20)
Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is FREEDOM: Trust.
There was a time when my children were little, maybe a Vacation Bible School activity, that was held at a ropes course. The kids would stand up on a platform one at a time, blindfolded. The rest of the group would stand at the base of the platform. With their back to the group and unable to see, they would ask, “May I fall?” To which the group would answer, “You May Fall.” The child would then fall backwards into the arms of the catchers. A Trust Fall. In that moment between the child asking and then actually letting themselves blindly lean back into the fall, there is a moment of trust that is holy.
To truly trust in the Spirit of the Lord means letting go blindly. It means relinquishing your illusion of control that guards your decisions and manipulates your choices. It requires an intense, momentous choice to do it His way, even when every cell in your body is screaming in fear. There is no way to learn trust in God without a relationship–and there is no way for a relationship until we learn trust. Take the fall!
Romans 8:15 “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
Where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is FREEDOM: Humility.
The journey to sonship in Yahweh is one of increasing humility. Peter says it this way, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper times he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7) In our desire for true freedom, we must learn to hold loosely to those things that have defined us in the past. We learn to let go of old cycles and paradigms and embrace hunger after the heavenly revelation that gives us our next steps. We must allow Holy Spirit to shine a light onto our bondage and walk through the prison doors we did not even know were there. It is the practice of humility to “cast our anxieties” on Him and TRUST that He will lead us to victory. All these practices invite a saturation of His presence into our lives- Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, there is FREEDOM!
Honor Him by pressing deeper into true freedom.
Blessings,
Kammy