Breaking the Chains

First I want to share that I wrote a new post at A Community Chaplain  about 180 days of waiting and I hope you will go and read my first post about that subject which was written February 3, 2010.

The following post was inspired by a sermon by Mark Warner, Lead Pastor at Vineyard Church in Overland Park, KS.

Do you feel like you are bound by chains? Chains of greed, being a workaholic, pornography, lust, anger, drugs, alcohol, or any other thing that keeps you locked up. 

Are you managing your sin? If you are it will eventually come back and be even stronger. 

I am going to show you through this post that you can break the chains that have you bound to some addiction.

The keys are not found in some self-help book although there are many good books that can help you manage your sin.

I believe one of the things God is calling me to do is found in Luke 4 which Jesus quoted about Himself but I believe it is also a calling for His followers.

Luke 4:18 (New Living Translation) 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,

During the 180 days  of not being involved in a leadership role I learned that my most important calling is to help men discover they can be free of those things that keep them bound.

I claim the following scripture in my life and I claim it for any man who desires to break the chains that have them bound.

Galatians 5:1 (The Message) The Life of Freedom
1 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

Here is my role in you being set free: I am here to encourage you and point you to the one who will set you free, Jesus.

John 8:36 (New American Standard Bible)  36"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

How refreshing it is to know that I am not the one who will lead you to freedom. The reason that is refreshing is I am just as likely as you are to fall into relapse but Jesus is our perfect example. It is He that will live in us through the Holy Spirit and help us gain freedom by breaking the chains that bind us.

 If you want to hear more about breaking free I encourage you to listen to the sermon, "Hope for the Sexually Broken", by Mark Warner, Lead Pastor at Vineyard Church in Overland Park, KS.

I you are struggling with something that is keeping you in chains I believe God can and will break those chains. Here is what you must do:

1. Admit you are bound.

2. Lay it before God.

3. Get into His Word and pray.

4. Seek an accountability ( or what I call an Encouraging ) Partner.

5. Realize it will not be a quick fix but a process.

6. Thank God for breaking each link as you journey along the road.

7. Use what God does for you by serving another guy who is struggling with being chained. 

Galatians 5:1 (The Message) The Life of Freedom
1 Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand! Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

John 8:36 (New American Standard Bible)  36"So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

Begin to live the life of freedom found in Grace of Jesus Christ.

Amazing Grace from Northeast Christian Church on Vimeo.