Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,
and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
Galatians 5:1
God
has freed us thru the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and yet we are
not standing fast in that liberty.
Do you ever wonder why it’s so hard; no matter how hard we try, to live the
life that God promised us when He expressly told us through Apostle Paul’s
epistle to the Ephesians that He can do so many awe-inspiring things,
immeasurable things, things greater than we could ever ask or imagine?
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
It’s hard when we put forth our own effort and ignore the power of God with in. It’s only through His power at work in us that we achieve those awe-inspiring things.
This is not to say that God’s power is insufficient within us, it’s about how much we trust God to work in us! Do you believe in the sovereignty of God? This is a faith walk! God lets us know:
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of
hosts. Zacheriah 4:6
It’s God's desire that every yoke of bondage including sin, self, and man in
our life be broken, but we have to follow His plan. He tells us to
cast our cares on Him –
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. 1 Peter 5:7
– that
we shouldn’t put our faith in the wisdom of man
That
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:5
The
old man-made traditional network is no longer inadequate, broken, and empty. We’ve
advanced so far in ingenuity and technology that worked in the 70’s, 80’s and
90’s but that doesn’t necessarily work today; most of those methods can’t accommodate
the abundant glory of God. The message and indeed the foundation has not and
does not change, but the old yokes of yesterday’s tradition, denomination,
self-effort, and unconcern must be broken for the move of God today. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t throw away the
foundation, what we do is go back to the old path; the original path – His
word!
The
old path is not what grandma or grandpa said.
They told us out of love and out of the best of their ability and their understanding of the word. The old path is not the ritualist following
of the set program of those days – they served their purpose then, but we’re in
the now; same word, new methods. This
sounds like a misnomer; or a contradiction particularly when we read in His
word:
Thus
saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where
is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. . . Jeremiah 6:16
But it’s not when we understand that it’s God’s word that’s the old path. God’s word stands forever; it does not change. Against God’s word, new foundations, new yokes, new networks are not what is necessary to bridge the gap between mankind and a righteous God. We all want new things – I know I do, but consider this: in the old path, we find new life. A life where our soul prospers;
a life where our wellbeing is
as healthy as our soul is prosperous. 3
John 1:2
Let
me explain, a new life is more than accepting Jesus because of a 'Prosperity
Plan', or 'Faith Healing'.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not
teaching against wealth and health, but up against the welfare of my soul,
there’s no comparison!
But
what we’re dealing with now is the broader perspective of God's purpose in our
life – it will only be fulfilled by men and women who have experienced the
anointing, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is what breaks the
yoke!
So
yes, we can have prosperity and, yes, we can be and are healed through Jesus
but that is not the purpose of salvation nor is it the way to break the yoke of
bondage. We must come to God with sincerity of heart and faith to believe that
it is God and only God who can free us and cause us to loose our self from a
life filled with disappointment, degradation, false hope, unwise entanglements
and other influences of the world.
Faith
in God is necessary if we’re to shake our self-loose! It’s impossible to be
effective or pleasing to God when we’re burdened down by the cares of this
world. God expressly tells us to come out from the world, to be separate, to be
holy, to be peculiar. No doubt, for some, this is a difficult thing to do but
with God it’s possible to live unshackled from sin and free of the burdens
pressed on us by the standards and cares of the world. This is only possible
with the help of the Holy Spirit within us.
But
ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me . . . Acts 1:8
The
bible tells us that greater is he within us than he that is in the world.
Peter describes us as 'strangers' or 'pilgrims’ passing through this land' on
our way to a place prepared for us and urges us not to partake of the things of
the land.
Dearly
beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts,
which war against the soul; 1 Peter 2:11
This
is exactly what the children of Israel were doing; making a pilgrim and God
helped them all along the way!
Jesus
himself tells us not to be concerned with the cares of this world:
Wherefore,
if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is
cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little
faith? Matthew 6:30
God frees us from
bondage so His purpose can be fulfilled.
God shows us through His word that when He is for us, it doesn't matter who
or what’s against us.
Consider
when the last plague came upon the land of Egypt. God told the children of Israel exactly what
to do as he prepared the way to free them.
They had a choice to follow the plan of God just as we have a choice
today. (Exodus 12). God gives us the tools and the wherewithal to
walk out the door and down the path that He has opened and prepared for us.
The
yoke of bondage had to be broken for the children of Israel so they could begin
the process of letting the world know of the one true living God! By the time God got finished with Egypt, they
were more than happy to see Israel leave.
They couldn’t do that as long as they were bound and neither can we.
In
another Old Testament account, Israel was surrounded by the enemy army of the
Assyrians. God spoke to Israel and declared:
The Lord of
hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass;
and as I have purposed, so shall it stand: That I will break the Assyrian in my
land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: Then shall His yoke depart
from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. Isaiah 14:24-25
God
wanted to break the yoke from off the neck of Israel. But His purpose extended
beyond Israel to the nations of the world:
This
is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: And this is the hand that
is stretched out upon all the nations. (Isaiah 14:26)
What
was God's purpose? His purpose was that the yoke of bondage be broken from the
nations of the world. A few chapters
later in Isaiah, it’s recorded that:
The
angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred
and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning,
behold they were all dead corpses. (Isaiah 37:36)
God
wants every yoke in our life to become as a dead corpse. He wants it destroyed
in order to bring us under submission of His will.
.
. . and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. (Isaiah 10:27)
√ It won’t be destroyed by
deep teaching. It will not be destroyed by
psychology or education.
√ It won’t be destroyed through
counseling or through an organization
or denomination.
These
things may help, but ultimately the yoke will only be destroyed by the
anointing of the Holy Spirit which is the power of God.
God's purpose for breaking the yoke extends beyond our life to the nations of the world. He wants to break the yoke of bondage in our life to enable us to fulfill the vision of breaking the yoke from the nations of the world.
Remember,
the yoke of bondage from the Egyptians had to be broken for the children of
Israel in order for them to fulfill the vision of God which was the whole world
would know of God through them. They
couldn’t show the Egyptians, let alone the world who God was as long as they
remained shackled. Keep in mind that
even though God freed them, there was some preparation that they themselves had
to do.
That
last plague that swept through the land required some prep from the Israelites
if they were to make it through it.
There are some spiritual and natural prep that must take place in our
life in order for us to shake our self loose from the bondage that Jesus has
already freed us from
Jesus teaches that if your hand or foot offends you, you are to cut them off. He says if your eye offends you, pluck it out:
And if thy hand offend thee,
cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two
hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is
not quenched. And if thy foot offend
thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having
two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is
not quenched. And if thine eye offend
thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with
one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is
not quenched.
(Mark 9:43-48)
Jesus
means that anything which causes sin in our life must be removed. Even if it is
something we consider needful or precious, it must be removed. He uses the
example of the hand, foot, and eye. In the natural these are needful and
precious body parts. But Jesus says if they cause you to sin, it is better to
remove them than to let them prevent your entrance into the Kingdom! That’s just how serious our salvation is. Take Jesus at His word when He says:
Come unto me, all ye
that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye
hall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30
and when he lets us know that
The
thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am
come that they might have life, and that they might have it
more abundantly. (John 10:10)
When the yoke is broken the results are: (Isaiah 58:9-12)
® We will know the voice of God. We
will call, and the Lord will answer, "Here I am.” (Verse 9)
® We’ll be successful in the
fulfillment of the vision. Our light will rise in obscurity which speaks
of success. (Verse 10)
® The Lord will guide us
continually. (Verse 11)
® He will be our provision.
(Verse 11)
® We’ll be reproductive. (Verses
11-12)
® We’ll be like a watered garden
which is fruitful. We’ll be reproductive and those we produce in the
spirit world will follow suit and also be productive.
God promised Israel in the natural world:
And
the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her
increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the
Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke... (Ezekiel 34:27)
The
same is true in the spirit world. The breaking of the yoke results in spiritual
productivity. Break the yoke, set yourself free from the yoke of bondage so that
God can use you in a mighty way!
