Growing in Freedom

"And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power..." (Colossians 1:10-11a).

Focusing today on "growing in the knowledge of God," my mind does not leap to what verses or Bible trivia I need to know (mind knowledge); rather, I think of my desire to grow in heart knowledge of God's true character.  Simply, I want to know God, the real God, the faithful God, the loving God.

I too often fall into false notions of who God is and what He thinks of me.  Is he mad? Disappointed?  I try to make God fit into my little world when, in fact, he is huge.  Staring at the stars, I am reminded of my smallness, and I need to remember that God is bigger than the stars.  It's not all about me.  I need to pay more attention to the whole truth of God's character, not dwell on half-truths.  God is loving, but do I realize the extent of his love?

One of the truths I have only partly swallowed is the freedom I have through Christ.

"It is for freedom that Christ set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Galatians 5:1).

"He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Isaiah 61:1b-2a).

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Corinthians 3:17).

I have come face-to-face with my lack of freedom lately.  I care too much what people think.  A friend reminded me recently of this verse:

"Am I trying to win the approval of men, or of God?  Or am I trying to please men?" (Galatians 1:10).

Wow.  Wake up call.  I have freedom from this!  I do not have to be a slave to what people think of me, to being a people pleaser.  What are ways to let go of this habit?

A friend had asked me to her house last night to hear about a women's retreat she has attended twice.  Each time she has left feeling rejuvenated.

The woman who started this retreat, Melissa Tamplin, told us part of her life story that led to launching these retreats.  When she told about the name PURE, she gave its definition: "thus and no other..."  She was talking about a ministry aimed at helping women grow in this way, the purest form of themselves, not mixed with the world's influences.  I heard this definition and thought about my desire to grow in freedom, to celebrate the total person God made me to be, not be affected by the approval of others or the influence of the world.  I don't know if I'm going to this conference yet (http://pure2011austin.eventbrite.com/), but I am thinking about it.