Sunday, 26th July 2015
Rev. Daniel Poon
Everyday we hear and see bad news on TV, from the radio, or in the papers. This is Satan’s scheme, to feed us all the negative things slowly, day by day, until we are filled with fear and worries, and eventually lost our freedom from God. Jesus came to this world to set us free. In Luke 4:18, it says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free.”
God wants us to live freely and to reach to those poor in spirit – those who worry, scare and live like prisoners. Too often Christians lock themselves in a box, they are too scared to go outside to this world, the world becomes bigger and the Christian community becomes smaller, they make themselves too comfortable. God gave us freedom not for us to do whatever we desire, but to choose to say ‘no’ to this world. God has already given us the knowledge to use this freedom but the world tries to take the freedom away from us.
The world gives us lots of excuses to not attend church meetings and gatherings, but Rev. Daniel reminded us to seek God first. In II Corinthians 3:17, it says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” Also in Galatians 5:1, it says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
There are so many promises of freedom God has given to us, but we make ourselves burdened and yoked. In Luke 22:54-62, it tells us the story of Peter disowning Jesus three times. After Peter realised his action to disown Jesus, he went outside and wept. Too often when we recognised our failures and mistakes, we run away and weep, feel sorry for ourselves. But Jesus has already forgiven Peter, and He also wants to do the same for us, as long as we are willing to come before Him.
Running away or feeling sorry for ourselves are never the solutions to our problems. Only Jesus is the solution. There is always a door in the Kingdom of God and there is always hope. It’s for freedom that Christ has set us free; He loves us so much and today we should also look back to our first love for Him, and remember that He will never let us go.