It seems appropriate that we are finishing up our Set Free series on Memorial Day weekend. A lot of men and women sacrificed and worked hard so that we could be free and this series has shown us that we also need to work hard to experience the freedom God has for us. But let’s be clear, over and over again what we have heard is that what we need to work hard at is trusting God and leaning into God’s grace and power to experience freedom. On our own, we only get so far, but with Christ, full freedom is possible.
I hope that at some point during the last month you heard God speaking to you. Maybe you heard God say that it is time to stop worrying, or to overcome that thing that has mastered you for years. Maybe you heard God say that you need to let go of anger and resolve the bitterness that is poisoning your life.
I also hope that you responded to what God said, and replied, OK God, I’m going to do it. I am letting this go. I am going to trust you and step into the freedom that you have for me. And maybe you actually stopped worrying… for a day. And then the worry came back. Or maybe you bought that ice cream at the store and then realized you didn’t need it so threw it out the window on your way home (ok David, really… who does that). But then when you saw that Turkey Hill ice cream was “buy one get one free”, you bought some more. Or maybe you forgave someone and gave your anger to God before the sun went down, but then found yourself angry when the sun came up the next day.
If you are like me, you experienced something like this during this series and when you did, you told yourself, you know what, this is just who I am. I have tried to change and I can’t. I want to do better but this is just the best I can do. We say things like this to ourselves all the time. We really want to do better, we set out and try to do better, but then we struggle and fail. With that failure comes guilt and shame and condemnation. We tell ourselves that we aren’t good enough. We aren’t faithful enough, and things will never change.
Today we are going to finish our series by looking at how to overcome lies. The lies we tell others can literally tie us up so that we can’t experience freedom, but it is the lies we tell ourselves that really hold us hostage. What lies have you told yourselves that have shaped your life? What lies have you told yourself that have held you back in school, in relationships, at at work? Many of those lies are part of one particular lie that we are going to face head on today and that is the lie that says, we aren’t good enough, we aren’t faithful enough, and our lives will never change.
If we can be set free from this lie then we can find the faith, the strength, and the power to experience the fullness of life God has for us. If we can overcome this lie then maybe we find the power to face down all the other lies that hold us back. So let me ask you, what is it that sets us free from a lie? Truth! Truth sets us free.
When I was in junior high school my sister and I got off the bus after school and realized we both had forgotten our house key, so we did what any enterprising young teens would do. We took out the extension ladder and got in through an open second story window. We then put the ladder back thinking no one would know. The problem was that we have a Dad who notices when things in the garage are out of place and of course, the ladder was out of place. When my dad asked my mom who moved the ladder, my mom asked us. And we lied. We don’t know. We didn’t use it. So my mom decided to go and ask the neighbors if they had seen anyone use the ladder and we knew that we were busted. I was smart enough to get to my mom before she talked to the neighbor, but we were still grounded. Not for using the ladder but for lying.
While we were grounded for a week, we were set free. We were free from guilt and shame and having to live a lie. We were free from worrying about what my parents might ask the neighbors about the ladder and when we might be found out. It was the truth that set us free.
Jesus said, if you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. John 8:32
So it is God’s truth that sets us free from lies, which means it is God’s truth that can set us free from the lie that we can’t change, or that we aren’t good enough, faithful enough, or loved enough. So here is one truth of God that we need to remember when we think that our lives now are as good as it gets. Ephesians 2:10, (LT). For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
What I like about this translation is the word masterpiece. Most other translations use the word workmanship, which is fine, but I like to think of ourselves as a masterpiece. A masterpiece is something unique. A masterpiece is one of a kind and priceless. A masterpiece can’t be improved upon, and if we are a masterpiece created by God, then we are NOT limited by our sin or failure. We are not limited by our own strength and faithfulness.
We are also not just what God created us to be in the flesh - we are all God created us to be IN CHRIST. Which means that we can overcome all things. It means we can change. We can grow. We can do more than we ever thought possible. We can experience freedom from worry, bitterness and anger. We can overcome all that seeks to master us because we are a master-piece, created anew in Christ Jesus for the abundant life God has for us. We have the power of Jesus in us and if Jesus rose from the dead, defeating sin and death, then there is a power working in us that can change us.
So we overcome the lie of Satan, who accuses us of never being good enough or strong enough or faithful enough, and who daily tells us we can’t overcome our failures, with the truth that we are God’s masterpiece. We are the work of His hands and are created anew in the image of Jesus. So we overcome Satan’s lie with God’s truth, and here is a biblical strategy on how to do this
1. Capture lies. 2 Corinthians 10:5. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
God’s word says we are His masterpiece. That's the truth, so when we tell ourselves that we are mastered by something else and can’t change, that’s a lie. We have to capture that lie. We capture that lie by first acknowledging that the thought is there. We have to face it, own it, and shine a light on it. We have to be honest and say, yes God I do worry too much. I don’t want to forgive and am allowing bitterness to take root in my life. I am mastered by things that aren’t good and I feel helpless to do anything about it. We have to capture these thoughts and not allow them free reign in our minds and hearts. We have to take them hostage so they don’t shape our lives.
It’s important to be honest about what we are thinking because we can’t overcome the lies until we are willing to see that it is a lie that we are allowing to speak to us. So we capture the lie. Maybe we write it down so we come face to face with it. Maybe we share it with someone so that we can get our hands around it. But capture the lie. And then we overcome the lie with truth.
2. Speak the truth. Proverbs 18:21a The tongue has the power of life and death,
While we might read this and think that this verse is talking about our words to others that can either build them up or tear them down, which is true, this is also talking about our words to us. What we say to OURSELVES can bring life or death. If we speak truth to ourselves we will experience life. If we speak truth to ourselves we experience freedom. So once we have captured a lie we need to speak to that lie the truth of God.
Notice that Proverbs 18 specifically says the tongue has the power of life. So it’s not thinking the truth that brings life. It’s not believing the truth that can overcome lies and set us free. It is what we say to ourselves. It’s our words to ourselves. There is something important about speaking God’s truth to ourselves. It’s important that we actually say the words out loud and hear God’s truth.
So what is God’s truth when it comes to who we are? What does God think of us? What does God see in us? What does God see in you when God looks at you? Here is just some of God’s truth:
● I am fearfully and wonderfully made
● I am a child of God
● I am part of the Body of Christ
● I am forgiven
● God has wiped away all my sin
● There is no condemnation of me in Christ Jesus
● God is for me
● I can do all things through Christ
● I am loved by God
● Nothing can separate me from the love of God
We could keep going for the rest of the hour quoting the truth of God we find in scripture, but you get the idea. These are the truths that can set us free from the lies of Satan. Once we capture the lie that tells us we simply can’t stop worrying about things, we need to speak to that lie and say out loud, I can do all things through Christ. When we capture the lie that says I can’t be forgiven for my sin, we need to say out loud, I am forgiven and there is now no condemnation for those who trust in Christ Jesus. When we think this is all there is and we simply can’t become any more like Jesus, we need to tell ourselves, NO, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is at work in me. I am God’s masterpiece and God has so much more for me.
We need to speak these truths to ourselves over and over and over again. I want to invite you to write down 10 things that God says about you. You can use the 10 we just said together (next steps) or you can find your own ten, but find 10 truths and write them down. Then every day speak these truths to yourself. Set a timer, maybe at 10:10 every morning or evening, and speak these 10 truths to yourself. When you start feeling hopeless and lost, say out loud the 10 truths. When you have failed and feel trapped in your failure, say these 10 truths out loud. Our tongues can bring life. God’s word of truth can overcome the lies we tell ourselves, the lies others say about us, and the lies Satan accuses us of every day.
Capture lies, speak truth, and then 3. don’t quit.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 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, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14
The Apostle Paul talks about our faith like a race and if you want to win a race, you have to keep running. If you want to just finish a race, you have to keep running. If we are going to be set free from anything and everything that holds us back, we have to keep going. We can’t give up. We can’t quit. We can’t say, this is as far as I can go. We can’t say, this is all there is. There is always so much more for us. God always has so much more for us.
This Memorial Day weekend we remember and give thanks for people who didn’t quit. They kept going, at times they kept fighting, at times they kept dreaming, at times they kept trusting, but they always kept going. If there is a place in your life today where you are ready to give up, to say I can’t go any further, then let me speak some truth to you, you can go one more day. You can go one more day. YOU CAN GO ONE MORE DAY!
I also believe that God has much more for us as a nation. After seeing violence so much violence recently, and another school shooting this week, we begin to feel like things can't change. We start getting numb to the violence and simply accept it as part of life. But things can change, and our communities can improve, and we need to keep praying for peace, keep working for the wellbeing of our children and youth, and keep asking God to change all of our hearts. God has so much more for us, for all of us, and we can’t quit. As a family, a church, a community, a nation, we can’t quit but keep working for God’s peace and blessing and kingdom.
So we speak one more word of truth. We capture one more lie. We go one more day, and the freedom God wants us to experience can be ours. This is God’s truth, hear it one more time: you are God’s masterpiece. God has created you anew in Christ Jesus for His purpose and plan. Speak that truth again and again and it will set you free.
Next Steps
Set Free - Lies
What lies have you told yourself that now shape your life?
What one lie do you wish you could overcome?
Through this Set Free series, how have lies about yourself crept into your thinking?
1. Capture Lies: Read 2 Corinthians 10:5
● Identify the lie that you need to capture.
● Name the lie. Write it down. Share it with someone.
● How has this lie held you hostage?
● What would your life look like if you could overcome it?
● How has the lie, I can’t change, held you back?
2. Speak Truth: Read Proverbs 18:21a
Write down 10 truths that God says about you. Here are some suggestions:
● I am fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14)
● I am a child of God (1 John 3:1)
● I am part of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27)
● I am forgiven (Ephesians 1:7)
● God has wiped away all my sin (Psalm 103:12)
● There is no condemnation of me in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)
● God is for me (Romans 8:31)
● I can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13)
● I am loved by God (Romans 5:8, John 3:16, 15:13)
● Nothing can separate me from the love of God (Romans 8:37-39)
Speak these truths to yourself daily.
Speak them when you are ready to give in and give up.
3. Don’t Quit: Read Philippians 3:12-14
● Hear this truth of God:
○ YOU CAN GO ONE MORE DAY!
○ Pray for peace and healing this Memorial Day.
