[He] took off his prison garb and from then on ate his meals in company with the king. The king provided everything he needed to live comfortably for the rest of his life.Jeremiah 52:33-34 (MSG)
I am stripped of my prison garb – colorless, ugly, black sin – washed clean with His blood shed for me, made white and pure, made sufficiently blameless to come before the King without fear, without restraint. I am given freedom to worship, freedom to pray, freedom to live; and even freedom to express my anxieties, my frustrations, my anger without concern of offending Him. I am invited to partake of bread and wine with Him and remember His pain which gives me comfort, His sacrifice that gives me provision, His price which gives me life.
But today…I’m setting you free, taking the chains off your hands. Jeremiah 40:4 (MSG)
The garb I wore did not resemble a favored coat of many colors, but a shroud, entwining and entangling, a robe that robbed me of life, binding me to death, keeping me captive. I hoped to escape its clutches, covering the ugliness with the perfume of a good performance and a cosmetic smile. For a while the stench of my vulgarity was hidden from those around me, a smokescreen of righteousness; yet quickly I was yanked back into a pit of deception, a dark, dank, lonely jail cell.
I became desperate. I had to escape. I yearned for liberation. And yet I knew I couldn’t get away in my own power. I needed help.
I called to the Beginning and the End, the One who formed me in my mother’s womb and knows the number of hairs on my head. I cried out to the One who shed His blood on the ground at Calvary. I invited His light into my life, my heart and the darkness fled. I was immediately pardoned, my sentence served.
I am unshackled. I am free.
Yes, I’ll most certainly save you. You won’t be killed. You’ll walk out of there safe and sound because you trusted me. Jeremiah 39:18 (MSG)
My emancipation wasn’t because of anything I did, except trust and believe. My liberty is limitless, unbound, unhampered by guilt or shame. It is a gift of grace from the only Living God, the One who died and rose again. It is a gift of mercy from Him who was, and is, and is to come. The redemption I now walk in is a result of His everlasting love for me, a relationship born out of His blood, sweat, and tears.
So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into “the Holy Place.” Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The “curtain” into God’s presence is his body. So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out. Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Hebrews 10:19-23 (MSG)
And like every great love story, no matter what happens, no matter how many times I falter or fall, He is always there to help me. I am always able to turn confidently to my Heavenly Father, to ask for the help I need. And He is there, before me and beside me without question, without a second thought.
Yesappa, Thank you for Your sacrifice, for Your giving of life that paid the price for my freedom. Thank You for extending the grace and mercy that I so desperately need, over and over, time and again. Thank You for loving me no matter what, loving me so much that the chains have broken and this prisoner is no longer captive. Thank You for Your promises and for keeping Your word always. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Blessings – Julie, Vadipatti, India
Sixty-six books in a year 