City Life Starter

Written by Aisha Darwesh

The Word

For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father! 

Romans 8:15 (AMP)

Aisha’s Analysis

The truest kind of freedom you can experience is when you can be totally free from the grip of self.  Letting go of our own wants and needs seems like the most reckless thing one can do.  After all, if we’re not looking after ourselves, who will?  It’s a tricky decision to make because it requires going against the grain of everything we’ve ever known.

We were born in bondage to ourselves.  The driving force embedded in sinful man and this crumbling world system is the consuming desire to fulfill the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).  This mindset cheapens life and ultimately spells out emptiness, misery, and destruction.  We were never meant to satisfy ourselves.  

Loving the world’s way sets us at odds with God.  But how can we break free?  We’ve got to go deeper.  Deep within every human being is a God-shaped void.  Our desire to know and have fellowship with God is our deepest, most urgent desire, our reason for being.  Without Him, we’re all just on a road to nowhere, looking for ways to mask our misery, a walking tomb, slowly dying, and fading away in obscurity—hopeless.

In comes Jesus Christ, and with Him, a whole new world of hope and light.  Now, we’ve got a chance.  The only way to have freedom from self and experience real and lasting life is to completely give ourselves to God by way of Jesus Christ.  If we give of ourselves to anything else, it will mean our bondage.  But if we give God our hearts in their entirety, seeking nothing of our own, then God will give Himself freely to us.

When He comes pouring into our lives, in comes purpose, in comes meaning, in comes our brand new identity in Christ.  We can live the way we were always meant to—walking hand-in-hand with our loving Father.

He takes on all the burdens and demands of self, and guess what?  He does a far better job of meeting our needs than we ever could.  He does it right!  He satisfies us to the core.

When we are walking in this kind of supreme satisfaction, knowing God will back us up in every situation, then all we’ve got to do is seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness.  Find out what He would have us do—not to earn His approval or strive for His acceptance, but out of a beautiful love relationship that He’s won for us.

“The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him.”

John 14:21 (MSG)

When we are free from self, we are free to obey God to the Nth degree.  Fulfillment is finally realized in a true and authentic relationship with God that operates out of faith, hope, and love.

“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.”

John 12:24-25 (MSG)

Application

Take the plunge, go for it!  Declare emancipation from yourself and submit to God.  He’ll transform you from the inside out.

Prayer

God made my life complete

when I placed all the pieces before him.

When I got my act together,

he gave me a fresh start.

Now I’m alert to God’s ways;

I don’t take God for granted.

Every day I review the ways he works;

I try not to miss a trick.

I feel put back together,

and I’m watching my step.

God rewrote the text of my life

when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.  (Psalm 18:20-24 MSG)