PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• When I was looking for an image for this morning’s graphic, I came across this picture of a birdcage.
I think birdcages can be quite beautiful though I have no desire for a pet bird (my mom would never come to my house again—she feels about birds the way I do about bugs).
But this particular birdcage was sad and depressing to me.
Beyond the wires that seem to be extra dense, the ring of wire that encircles the cage reminds me of barbed wire.
However, it was the setting that unsettled me most.
Here’s a birdcage sitting in the middle of lush greenery, clearly outdoors.
And while no bird is kept captive in the picture, can you imagine how sad it would be for a bird to be in there?
Entrapped by a cage, when the freedom of the outdoors surrounded it?
It would be a terrible form of mental torture to be separated from all the possibilities by a hinge and a lock.
Yet, so many of us go about our lives locked in a similar cage of our own making.
We read about and know the promises of God.
We know He has offered us freedom by the blood of Jesus and yet, we lock ourselves up, holding ourselves prisoners from all the potential He has planned for us.
We have made ourselves mental captives, imprisoned by the lies we tell ourselves.
Lies that over time, sound true, though they are contradictory to Scripture.
The thing is, Friends, we can’t claim the truth of the Bible if we aren’t willing to break the lock on the very lies that hold us prisoner.
In 1 John 1:9, it says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
This promise negates all the lies we tell ourselves.
It removes the rust of our broken pasts.
It liberates us and allows Jesus to set us free.
Today, as you pray, thank Jesus that because of His death and resurrection, we don’t have to be imprisoned.
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you recognize the lies you tell yourself and to point you to Scriptures that will free you from your self-imposed sentence.
Ask Him to help you embrace all that God designed you to be.
One Response
This is a profound insight. Thanks for sharing.