Crestwood Church Blog

Freedom is one of the greatest needs of mankind, just ask Alan Johnston who had been imprisoned in Gaza for 114 days and has now been released. I am sure however strong that man’s character has been that there were times of doubt, fear, loneliness and a catalogue of other emotions. To be imprisoned by an enemy that we cannot escape from in our own strength must be torture in itself.

What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat: What if the
Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us? They would have
swallowed us alive in their burning anger. The waters would have engulfed us;
a torrent would have overwhelmed us.
Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.
Praise the Lord,
who did not let their teeth tear us apart! We escaped like a bird from a
hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free! Our help is from the
Lord...Psalm 124

And yet, the reality is, not knowing Christ is to be caught in a trap far greater than the hands of Palestinian extremists. It is to be caught and imprisoned with the great imprisioner, Satan. Where in our own strength there is no hope.

As believers we have little understanding of what the future holds for those who cling onto their own lives and fail to hand over the keys of it to Christ, and as a result we have only a small understanding of what we are saved from in the first place.

Christ has come and torn down the walls of separation and has rescued us as a bird out of a trap, without him we are swallowed up, we are beaten.

How we feel in this world, may seem hard to handle at times, but when we realise what Christ has done in setting us free we should rejoice and praise him with all that we have.

In the past when as a nation we have won victories in war over our enemies there is mass celebration, there will be celebrations in the Johnston house this week, there will celebration when people are released from prisons, there will be celebrations of freedoms of different kinds right across the globe. And yet at times the people of God fail to get excited about the victories that are already theirs in Christ.

We often hear, "but to get excited outwardly is just not a part of our character, we’re British," lets put aside our “Britishness” and be Children of God first and foremost and celebrate more enthusiastically when we join together what we are free from...sin, death.
And what that freedom has bought us...union with the Almighty God, for eternity.
Children and Heirs with Christ...Halleluiah for all that Christ has done.

Labels: Celebrate, Children, freedom, victory