Breaking Free: Week 10

This is it… we made it to the end of Breaking Free! Although ten weeks of Bible study may have turned into more like twelve or thirteen, I still cannot believe this is the final week. I pray that, despite my faltering, you were still blessed, encouraged, and changed through this study!

Looking over my notes from the final week’s homework, I cannot help but consider all that Beth {and God} asked us to face, to conquer, and to release in just ten short weeks. In Day One from this week, Beth states this:

“If you have fully participated in every lesson and every exercise, you have withheld nothing from Him. This… has been an exercise in loving God.”

It is my deepest desire and prayer that you have fully participated in these lessons {even if not “on time” with the group}, and that this truly has made you stretch your loving God muscles a bit!

In Isaiah 61:3, we are referred to as trees planted by the Lord and are given a specific purpose ~ to display His splendor. I like Beth’s reference to Moses’ face after he had spent several days on the mountain top with the Lord! We are literally to shine with the splendor of God! His beauty will shine through our brokenness. It’s not about us. It’s about HIM, and the work He is doing in us!

In Day Two we began to revisit the five benefits of our covenant relationship with God. Beth made a powerful statement here ~ “…any benefit missing in our individual lives for any length of time is an indicator of a stronghold, an area of defeat.” As much as we studied these five benefits throughout Breaking Free, I had never stopped to really absorb that concept. If I am in a dark place in life, and lose sight of any of the five, I have opened myself up for a stronghold ~ for captivity.

A review of the five benefits:

To know God and believe Him
To glorify God
To find satisfaction in God
To experience God’s peace
To enjoy God’s presence

I wonder, in hindsight now, which of those five is where you struggle most? I personally can attest to continued struggles with #3. It’s not that I possess a greedy spirit or have a need for more, but rather I struggle with allowing God to be enough in me, through me, around me, so that I might feel like I am enough for those around me as well. Rather than finding my satisfaction in the Lord, and who He made me to be, I battle feelings of not measuring up, or needing to do more!

The key point in Day Three for me was her emphasis on Exodus 12:21-30, the story of the final plague in Egypt.

“While God set His plan in motion, He demanded preparation out of His people. The same is true for us… He wants us never to forget that blood was shed by the perfect Lamb of God so we could be delivered. We have no door of escape unless the doorpost has been painted with the blood of Christ.”

As we have reiterated throughout this entire study, true healing… true freedom is only possible through Christ. I pray that each one of you has made Him Lord of your heart, mind, soul, and life, and are well on your way to freedom and liberty through Him!

What do you consider to be your “plunder” from the trials you have faced in life? Also in Day Three of this week, Beth says that we do not have to come through trials, hardships, and captivity with nothing to show for it! An example of spiritual plunder from our personal journey would be our determination in our marriage. We have walked some low roads even after our reconciliation, but knowing the heartache and heartbreak from our first marriage makes us so much more determined to fight for each other, to value our family, and our togetherness. That determination, and knowing we both feel the same way about it, are invaluable to us! I pray God has opened your eyes to the spiritual plunder from your own captivity!

To be continued… Come back tomorrow for some final thoughts and an opportunity for you to share!

Tagged as: Breaking Free