So when I read a letter John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, about Independence Day in 1776, I found this interesting.

“I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” (Wikipedia, emphasis added)

Like Adams, many of our founding fathers looked to God for “the day of deliverance.” Likewise, we looked to God for our spiritual day of deliverance.

Jesus’ blood spilled on Calvary’s cross to set real freedom in motion. Truly a day of deliverance.

But it never stopped at the cross. Jesus rose from the dead securing our freedom for all time.

My day of deliverance happened at sixteen-years-old; the Lord delivered me from sin and spiritual death giving me eternal life—something worth remembering and celebrating. Accepting grace became my first act of devotion to God Almighty.

Jesus’ blood spilled on Calvary's cross to set real freedom in motion. But it never stopped at the cross. Jesus rose from the dead securing our freedom for all time. #JesusChrist #freedom @FridayKaren
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America’s founding fathers commemorated freedom as the day of deliverance: Independence Day. Our heavenly Father commemorated spiritual freedom as the day of deliverance: Resurrection Day. 

Therefore, here’s a list of 20 Bible verses to help us remember and celebrate.

Free in Jesus Christ

(1.)  “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind.” (Isaiah 61:1, TLB)

(2.)  “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36, ESV)

(3.)  “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17, ESV)

(4.)  “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1, ESV)

Free From Sin

(5-6.) “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:1-2, ESV)

(7-8.)  “Brothers! Listen! In this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins! Everyone who trusts in him is freed from all guilt and declared righteous—something the Jewish law could never do.” (Acts 13:38-39, TLB)

(9-10.)  “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.” (Romans 6:6-7, NLT)

Free for Holy Living

(11.) “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13, NASB)

(12.)  “But now you are free from the power of sin and are slaves of God, and his benefits to you include holiness and everlasting life.” (Romans 6:22, TLB)

(13.)  “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.” (1 Peter 2:16, ESV)

Free From Distress

(14.)  “Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.” (Psalm 118:5, ESV)

Free Through God’s Word

(15.)  “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.” (Psalm 119:45, NIV)

Free From Death

(16-17.)  “With eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.” (Romans 8:20b-21, NLT)

Free in Truth

(18-19.)  “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, ESV)

(20.)  “But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” (James 1:25, NIV)

** The featured image is of my grandchildren.

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Even when we let go, Christ our anchor’s hold is still strong. We’re still in His grip when we lose our own.
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Likewise, as we lean into the hard and heavy, forging our way along a difficult path, we’re often reaching out to see if God is there with us.

But He, in fact, goes before us, with us, and behind us.

“The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” –Deuteronomy 31:8

“For the LORD will go before you, the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” -Isaiah 52:12

If the Lord will never leave us, then indeed we are not alone. We are not forsaken by our anchor or abandoned by our guide along the unknown path. Our light will not go out nor will our protector fail to have the victory in the end.

It’s so easy to look upon the goodness and the kindness of the Lord in wonder, and miss that the things He kindly does for us are not dependent on us.

This isn’t an excuse to live flippantly or to believe that the Lord will reward us for taking advantage of His grace. But it certainly is a comfort, and a shift in perspective we often need when we feel like we just have to try harder or hold on tighter.

“Here is a trustworthy saying:

If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

-2 Timothy 2:11-13

Amy Carmichael once described that when the going was rough, the trouble “was His burden not mine. It was He who was asking me to share it with Him, not I who was asking Him to share it with me.”

Sweet relief.

The nature of our God is compassionate. Loving. Hopeful. Gracious. Merciful. Kind. Stable. Steady.
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In all that you and I grasp at and cling to, just trying to hold on, we can know that we will not be abandoned or put to shame. We can be certain that we will never be lost, even when we lose hold.

We are held by one who does not let go, even when we do. Praise the Lord!

{A version of this post was originally published here}

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As a thinker, I like details. I like to organize them all and fit them together to create a big, powerful picture. I love making points that lead up to a concept that sticks. And I suppose, as a writer, that’s a good thing.

But sometimes, my best writing is my simplest.

Sometimes, my best…anything…is simple.

My best worship is often a single lyric stuck on my lips, stuck on repeat. My best witness is often a sincere sentence spoken in regular conversation about ordinary things. My best praise is often a simple “thank you” thought-prayed to the Lord who knows what I’m referring to.

Though there is certainly a place for going in-depth, I think simple really is more powerful than we often realize.
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Some of the most powerful words in Scripture are the simplest- so simple a child could understand them.

“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.“

–1 John 5:11-12

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us.” –Romans 5:8

“Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” –Colossians 3:17

In fact, the Gospel, the good news that leads to salvation through Christ, is simple enough to be shared around the world, in a few sentences, in every language, and in any circumstance.

While it’s important to dig in deep, there’s also grace and growing that happens in the little. When we read His Word for a few moments, we can take in just a simple line and be grown by it. A simple prayer can change our perspective. Simple blessings can boost our faith.

Following Christ’s example, I’m believing that when my best is really simple, God makes it more than enough. 

<A version of this was previously posted here>

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It is after a major accident that we are glad to be alive, or post-loss that we are grateful for those who truly love us. It seems that we need disruptions to remind us that life isn’t actually in our control and that there is something more important “out there”.

Yet the faster we get over things, the sooner we tend to forget lessons learned.

Reminders seem fleeting and unable to impact us in a way that changes something in our hearts when our hands and hearts feel full.

This, the Bible suggests, is why opportunities for endurance can be a blessing. Troubles and suffering that endure teach us, rather than remind us, to rely on our Lord and to look on our lives in light of Him.

Because of what we learn through hardship, we are to glory in our sufferings.

“And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” -Romans 5:3-5

If God chooses to, He can heal the sick, prevent accidents, and delay the time of death. There are certainly times that He has. We often find that this is what we pray for. Or, if not such extreme miracles, we pray that recovery is speedy or that joy come quickly.

Why do we feel it’s best to hurry grief, hardship, and uncomfortable emotions?

Surely no one needs to desire or wish for trouble, but when it comes, as it did for Jesus, we are to trust in God’s will. As someone (I’m sorry I can’t recall who) pointed out- there isn’t a single emotion Christ didn’t feel and yet there wasn’t a single moment Christ wasn’t honoring God. Yet we think we should get to avoid hard things and uncomfortable feelings because they could lead to sin?

God produces much in our hearts in our times of enduring.

Consider what Psalm 105:19 says about God’s work in the suffering of Joseph (who was sold into slavery and thrown into jail for no sin of his own!):

In Psalm 73, we are given an example of one who begins to slip from righteousness because He focuses on how wicked people seem to have no trouble at all. The writer begins to look around and grow envious of how happy others’ earthly lives seem to be. Meanwhile, his own Godly life is one of affliction. He comes to this conclusion in verses 20-28:

and my spirit embittered,

I was senseless and ignorant;

I was a brute beast before you.

Yet I am always with you;

you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel,

and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

Those who are far from you will perish;

you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

But as for me, it is good to be near God.

I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;

Sometimes life is a lot to endure when we look around and see how other’s lives seem to go. Particularly when we’re struggling. But…

Enduring, when rooted in the perseverance of the Lord, can be a blessing.
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The “end goal” of our lives as Christians is that we are near to our God. Happiness is not the goal. Prosperity is not the goal. These might be a means to our end goal, but we must realize that suffering can also be a means to grow closer to Him.

It is good for us to be near our God. He is our desire and our glory. If it is in suffering that we spend our days seeking Him, learning from Him, and relying on Him, then we can count our having to endure as a blessing.

In light of our Savior, our hope is secure. He is faithful. His love is unfailing. Time and time again, He has proved Himself merciful. Our suffering does not change the Lord, but the Lord can certainly draw our hearts, shaping them as His, through our suffering.

{A version of this post was originally published here.}

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Once upon another time in Ecuador, classmates had a phobia of the little eight-legged reminders that evil has corrupted this world. In the safety of my own room, I gave the beasts a wide berth. But among my peers a bigger fear reigned: admitting weakness. So I feigned courage as the designated squasher when all the guys had gone off and every girl was arguing over who would check the rooms for creepy, crawling terrors.

On the other hand, those who already know me well enough to disbelieve my fake bravery are more accustomed to the sound of screaming and stomping in the shower when anything else moves in there. I’m not afraid of these people or what they think of me so I’m rather free to exhibit my fear of arachnids with full gusto.

My fear of spiders seems directly proportional to my fear of people’s thoughts of me.

But I’ve been learning fear is always proportional. How we measure our fears matters.

As a freelance writer, I work from home. Previously, my office was a little room with a sharply pitched roof and a solitary window. It was tacked on top of what was once a garage and the insulation was so lacking that at times it was warmer to walk in the snow or cooler to go sit out in the shade. Still, it was (mostly) charming.

Too often though, as I worked, I discovered spiders an inch from my nose. They bungee jumped from the ceiling and it seemed I was their target.

Because I work from home, I was usually alone when their escapades occured. Since my arachnophobia corresponds to my fear of other’s thoughts, that was a dilemma.

I had no one to call for immediate rescue.

I also had no one to prove myself to by faking bravery.

To decide between paralysis and action, I needed something new to measure my fear against.

The pickings were slim.

If I weighed my fear of spiders against my fear of missing deadlines, the competition was close. If I weighed my fear of valiantly relocating or crushing spiders against my fear of allowing them to run free, the answer was clear: they’d learned to parachute onto my head! There was no telling what more they might do!

The real secret to actionable courage, it seems, is finding a bigger fear.

“Fear of the Lord,” Proverbs 9:10 says, “is the beginning of wisdom.”

God backs up this claim.

When God called the Israelites to courage in the face of fearsome enemies, he offered no encouragement that they were strong enough or brave enough. Instead, God directed them to someone more fearsome than their enemies: himself. God’s response to our fears is the same.

He stands beside our fears and invites us to compare the proportions.

My tactic for courage in the face of eight-legged risks and two-legged threats has changed. I’m starting to measure them against the God I revere. Not surprisingly, God always proves mightier.

Fearing God makes other fears seem foolish.
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That proportionate perspective, to me, makes sizing up life’s spiders much less intimidating!

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I’ve got files and folders physical and digital stretching my future hopes into step-by-step endeavors. If you’ve got a topic to talk about, I’ve got a project you’re contributing to. The most visited destination in my mind is my idea mill. It’s a busy place!

Trouble is, it’s right next door to my idol factory. The one I’ve tried to shut down, condemn, and demolish. Someone keeps sneaking in and borrowing electric from the idea mill anyway.

Pushing Productivity

This became apparent when I recently asked my too-patient husband to spend time studying the Bible about a certain topic with me. He happily agreed. We went out for dates and opened the Word and dug into a topic I’d been wondering about. The man has wisdom and I treasured the time.

That was until the topic reached the end of the line and I had no product to show for it.

When we wrapped up and I had nothing to hold, no shiny piece to present, I didn’t count the time a blessing or the wisdom any gain. The idea of Bible study, pillaged and carried off to the idol factory, had been reshaped. And, as idols do, it demanded more. It failed to satisfy.

When Productivity Pushes Too Far

A few too many conversations later God convicted me in the quiet: let it be as it is.

At the time, I was studying Ezekiel.

In Ezekiel 16, God tells the story of His taking Israel for a bride. He tells of adorning her- how He gave her precious jewels and metals. He invested in her, marked her as His own, and it was all for His (and her!) delight.

But she saw the opulence as opportunity.

She turned in what she had freely received for a profit. What started as a blessing became an idol because she thought it would be better when it became something more.

Ironically, I read the passage twice, put it through processing, and took down notes for something else I’m working to produce.

But God, in His mercy, let it catch up to me again.

Calling It Good: Taking In Without Taking Over

I asked my husband to Bible Study more. With all sincerity and gentleness, he said he didn’t want to frustrate me again. His heart isn’t for generating, but savoring. He’s never been one to have an agenda.

When God gives that man gold, he treasures it.

I tend to look at gold and wonder what I can make if I melt it.

To be fair, there’s a place for both. There was another time in Israel’s history when God blessed people with plenty of gold and also commanded them to melt it and shape it! He makes people producers too.

But there’s only ever one agenda- His glory.

What God wants to build, He will build. When He’s calls it good, it’s good enough already! He doesn’t need my plans to craft more cunningly. He doesn’t need my design to produce more efficiently.

Thank the Lord that no defense arose when my guy explained why he was hesitant to venture into the Word with me. I understood because God- the One reinforcing the eviction notice at the idol factory- had already given me a new idea: taking in without taking over.

For us idea-mills and doers, it’s can be tough not to over-produce.
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Vision can cloud our view of what God has already adorned. What a blessing that there are natural-appreciators to remind us that God is also glorified in receiving well!

Do you try to take over what God gives you simply to take in?

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