Freedom

I hope you live every waking moment with an unshakable belief that God still speaks today and wants to speak to you!

This morning I heard Him speak to me. I have never heard His audible voice but I like to say I feel His voice. I sense His voice deep within, moments like this morning remind me of the reality of eternity. Feeling the voice of God resonates in the eternal part of who I am, deep. So, this morning I am about to read some in Psalms, reading through the Bible in the year puts us at Psalms according to the reading plan our church is using. I am a little behind in Psalms and was considering picking up with Psalm 31 or in the teens and trying to catch up. God spoke to me about beginning with Psalm 31...and now I know why!

Earlier in the morning I was praying about my sermon for this Saturday, July 4. We are having an abbreviated service, just one hour and then two hours of picnicking and gaming on the grounds to celebrate July 4 and create a wonderful opportunity for those who call TCLC their church home to invite a friend who may not attend church. I knew I wanted to talk about what it means to be truly free, spiritually free...in spite of all the others kinds of freedoms we enjoy, especially those at such a great cost to our men and women in uniform, for many, there is still a freedom they have yet to come to have, the freedom of the heart.

So, this morning in prayer, I remembered something I saw years ago when I was outside. I saw a wasp get caught in a spider's web. The wasp was strong enough o create quite a disruption in the web but not quite strong enough to get free. The spider stayed back assessing the situation. It was clear that if the wasp was allowed to continue, the web would be destroyed. The spider quickly moved into action. The spider approached the wasp with such speed that at first I thought it was going to attack...wow, what a fight this is going to be! But instead, the spider came to an abrupt stop just out of reach of the wasp. With it's long front legs, the spider began tapping the wasp multiple times, as if it were attaching something to the wasp. Then, the spider backed up and began to cut the wasp free...had the spider determined the wasp was too strong for it? Was it now cutting the wasp loose to save its web?

When the wasp fell free, it did not fall very far! The wasp flapped its wings with every expectation of flying away but was then surprisingly forced into an abrupt turn. The spider had tethered the wasp to one of the main supports of the web. Picture a person dangling by a rope attached to a bridge above spanning a canyon. The wasp was dangling below to the web, free to fly as fast and as long as it wanted, but in a circle, about an 8 inch circle. After several minutes, the wasp was completely exhausted. The spider then came, and well, you know the rest!

So I sit down this morning to read Psalm 31 at the leading of God and what words do I find there? Verse 4..."You will free me from the net that is secretly set for me..." Can you believe that! Do you think God knows how to speak to us today or what! I can't wait to preach this Saturday...I know there will be some who think they are fee but are really tethered to destruction. Psalm 31 verse 14 says, "But I trust in You, Lord; I say, You are my God!"

So many people believe that God exists but we are not set free from the "web" of Satan until we surrender our heart to Him, our Creator, and say to Him..."You are my God!"

I hope you find a freedom this July 4 that you have never before known, a freedom of the heart...that too came at a great sacrifice...His Son, Jesus.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

Be free!

Pastor Fred