Break Every Chain

We've been studying the book of John for the past month of Sunday Worship Services and wow, it's so good!

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of light." - John 8:12

"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" - John 8:31

Later on, Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).

Listening to these verses just sounds really good. These are verses that I've heard countless number of times while growing up. Of course, Jesus is the light of the world! And of course the truth will set me free. But then I thought about it. What do I need to be set free from? When Jesus died on the cross for my sins, he took care of it all, but God has been revealing to me that there are things that I subconsciously was holding onto. For my gems100 class, we watched this Ted Talk on false memory and it really reveals how the enemy can implant lies in you! The line that caught my attention from the talk was when she said that your memory is like Wikipedia. You can go back and change it and others can go back and change it as well. It's really interesting if you want to listen to it.

God is continually changing me, but there's a part of me that holds onto who I was before. I realized that by holding onto these lies, it prevents me from being able to see who I am now and who God is making me to be. I didn't realize how much of my past mentality affects my actions today, but I think it really does. For example, I just have this mentality that I am really shy and timid, but that was how I used to be, not who I am now. And this really does affect the way I approach people or greet someone new. Jesus said "the truth will set you free" and by truth, meaning himself. Jesus has the power to break all these holds the enemy has over us!

Sometimes I think that if it's God's will, God will easily just hand it to you. But then, this is not true. I'm learning that even if it's God's will, he wants us to work hard for it because by working hard for it, we will learn to value what he has given us. Although this is only the beginning of a long journey of school, I am trying to work really hard. But I need to lean on Him because I cannot do this on my own! I pray that this will all be for God's glory.

In YDJ we are covering different topics each week with the theme "What does a Christian look like?". Two weeks ago, Fred led the discussion on the Holy Spirit and I learned that the Holy Spirit is a person. I want to have a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit because through His power, Jesus rose from the dead! How amazing is that? We have the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead living in us. This perspective changes everything.