Author: Lori Casto

And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So, they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. Exodus 14:10-15

As I continue to think about the freedom that comes when we let go and move forward, my mind goes back once again to the children of Isreal before they cross The Red Sea. They had 2 choices:

1. They could stand still & keep complaining, questioning, blaming, and living in fear, or
2. They could Go forward like Moses instructed them to do.

Are you at a “Red Sea” of life? Maybe you have a choice to make? You can continue to complain, question, and blame, or you can go forward. If the children of Isreal had stood still, they would have died. If Moses would have continued crying to God instead of walking in obedience, He would have died, too.

Simple obedience caused a major miracle

Is God calling you to go forward? You can never leave the past behind if you refuse to move forward. What amazing miracle is ahead if you simply move forward?

How will you devote2day?

There is Freedom When:

1. We Obey God
2. We Step Out in Faith
3. We Move Forward after Letting Go

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1

For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, (1)He asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, (2)“Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. Luke 5:1-11

“They left everything” or “let go of”

What do you need to let go of or leave?

There is Freedom When:

We Release the Past–

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, (reaching forward) I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:13-14

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter (Author & Finisher) of our faith.” – Hebrews 12:1-2

“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” – Colossians 3:13

• Release– to relieve from something that confines, burdens, or oppresses; dismiss; Relinquish; let go of;

The act or an instance of liberating or freeing (as from restraint)

*** The Holy Spirit showed me this, then I listened to a sermon that talked about this same thing.

There is Freedom When:

-We Crucify Flesh

-We Walk by the Spirit

-We Serve Others in Love

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh rather, SERVE one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “LOVE your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want….

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 5:13-26

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.

 Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Matthew 8:31-36

I woke up at around 2am and these words came to my mind- “There is freedom when…” That’s all I was given. The Holy Spirit is prompting me to dig deeper. Honestly, I have no idea where this will lead. Stay with me. We’ll find out together.