Spiritually speaking no one is free. We are either a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness. If we are enslaved by habitual sin, we cannot free ourselves from it by our own efforts. It’s only done through surrendering ourselves to God. True freedom is found only through Christ, believing that the blood he shed on the cross has paid the high price for our sins. Some may say that they don’t habitually sin and therefore aren’t enslaved by sin. That is a great thought but in reality, we all seek freedom. We might be a slave to things that we don’t consider to be sin. For instance, maybe we don’t let go of our fears, past hurts, negative self-image, or obsessions with things or people, all which enslave us and rob us of peace. We can’t fight sin by focusing on it. The only way we can fight it is to let God change our way of thinking, replacing the world’s lies with the truth found in the loving word of God. That’s when we become slaves to righteousness. It’s a life filled with peace, joy, and harmony with our Creator.

“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.” (Galatians 5:17)

Although I have felt the tug of war inside, here’s what I have come to realize; I must muster the courage to stop bowing to desires of my flesh and let the Spirit of righteousness free me from slavery to sin, leading and guiding me to peace and freedom.   I wanted to release myself from the desires of the world. But I couldn’t do it by my own effort, I needed a bigger power, the Almighty God to strengthen me.

While I was craving for freedom from the chains of the world and the flesh, heaven was calling me again, with new visions to consider. I dreamt I was sitting at the foot of a mountain for quite a long time. I meditated, prayed, and pondered whether or not I should take the journey it offered.

 I asked myself, “Do I want to stay here in this land of pain, in a land filled with empty promises, selfishness, fear, pretentiousness, and deception, or should I take this journey – a walk up a path with signs pointing to hidden treasures along the way?” The treasures were love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I had no doubt that this path was filled with truth! I was eager to know God, I wanted to know how to live a life filled with enduring peace. Also if you remember in my previous vision, I was standing at the bottom of a mountain when I saw, what from a distance, appeared to be a small, white bright house. I wanted to find out who owned this house, located at the end of the road that I had been called to take on my journey.

I awoke and it was back to reality again!!! My crawling on this steep road in the dream mirrored the struggles that I was having in real life. I wanted to release myself from the shackles of the world’s distractions and bondage. To be free from the need to always please others or the desire of my own flesh. To live my life concerned only with pleasing God. For I knew that then everything else would fall into place. Spiritual freedom sounds so incredibly sweet – sweet as honey and precious as a jewel. I was craving it! So I finally took a step of faith and began the journey. There were many turns, twists and even a few setbacks. But it was in the detours that I learned the biggest lessons! I was slowly getting to know myself and others, and most importantly, I was beginning to know my God.

(Psalm 119:45) “I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.”

During this journey I was completely aware of the visible world. But I needed to put all my trust into what I could not see with my eyes. How could I trust and keep going forward toward the heavenly treasures promised? Praise God! I had an army of godly people who were praying and supporting me. This army included my dear husband and children who were each on their own unique journey. But they all were witnessing God’s miraculous work in my life. I was getting fixed from the inside out. The changes were happening as the Lord unveiling His mystery. I could hear that the “deep” was calling to the depths of my soul.

Stay tuned for “Deep Calls to Deep”.