We have a term in the United Kingdom, B.O.G.O.F. Buy one, get one free. Many have bought countless amounts of stuff and never used it, just because it was “free”. The world has corrupted the word “freedom” by its inference that freedom has no value, but the freedom that Jesus Christ gives to us has a price and an immense value.

Jesus declared in John 8:31-32 “…..If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

v 36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”

What is this freedom? I can sing about it, talk about it, shout it all about but there is only one way to walk in it. It is easy to bury your head in the sand, declare that everything is going to be alright because you are trusting God, but are you when nothing in your life changes? Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price for it with His life blood on Calvary to make it available to me. I can receive His costly gift by using the currency of heaven: surrender, humility and truth. Proverbs 23:23 instructs us, “Buy the truth and sell it not.” How do I buy truth? With the heavenly currency of humility. I humble myself, acknowledge the truth of my condition and need of my Saviour to deliver me from my selfish ways. I need to be delivered and set free from self, my judgements of others and God, my opinions about my adverse circumstances. Why? Who has permitted my circumstances? The Lord with His grid, the grid of God, (see previous blogs). I need freedom from allowing my emotions to judge God for allowing adverse circumstances, resulting in my being dragged down into a pit of delusion. Learning obedience is an on-going lesson. Jesus, our Pattern Man, had to learn obedience in humility, so it is for us, (Hebrews 5:8)

God has an altar. On this altar the wood, hay and stubble (1 Corinthians 3:10-15) of my life is burned, producing ashes. I cannot give God what I do not own, but when I own it (buy truth with humility and confess my lack/sin/need), then the divine, royal exchange takes place – beauty for ashes – His beauty, the character of the Son of God, the Indwelling Christ, for the ashes of my life, (Isaiah 61:3). As I surrender my will, my wants, my desires, I learn to count the cost and settle the account with God. If I do not settle it, things will surface again and I remain on the same tired old “merry-go-round” of wilderness wanderings. When I demand my rights and my will, this becomes my identity and security, when Christ has offered me His will and identity. My security is not in hanging on to the right to myself, but in finding my identity in Christ. Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me…..no comparison to the me in me!!

Progress does not happen without change. QUOTE: “When the pain of remaining the same, is greater than the pain of change, then will I choose change” (Anon.)

God seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. When I refuse to worship HIm in spite of my circumstances, I am not walking in truth. This is the truth: God is righteous in ALL His ways, I may not understand them, but that is of no importance, I am here to worship Him for who He is. As I worship Him in surrender, the discord in my heart is silenced and replaced by the peace of His presence. This is true freedom. One line of a particular song portrays this. “Freedom isn’t really freedom, till I bind myself to Thee.”

The following is part of a hymn by Mrs. C.H. Morris: My stubborn will at last hath yielded:

verse 3
Thy precious will, O conqu’ring Saviour
Doth now embrace and compass me,
All discords hushed, my peace ariver,
My soul, a prisoned bird set free.

Chorus:
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer,
Till I am wholly lost in Thee,
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer,
Till I am wholly lost in Thee.

The freedom Jesus Christ gives is of great value. There are no B.O.G.O.F’s in the spirit realm. Who the Son makes free, is free indeed! As I surrender to my Heavenly Father, He bathes me in His peace that passes my understanding, unspeakable joy independent of my circumstance, and a security in the knowledge that I can trust Him with the unknown.