My Freedom Fight: The battle to live in my Place of Freedom and Rest in Christ to be BOLD for Him

Remain in Christ in the Place of Freedom and Rest. In Christ, we are free. For more detail about our freedom, read through My Daily Lane Check. In the book of Acts chapter 26, Paul demonstrates how he has lived in this place of freedom and rest as he speaks to King Agrippa in defense of himself from accusations of the Jewish people.

He boldly shares the testimony of God in his life, stating he can be so bold in his claims because he is certain “none of these things has escaped his [King Agrippa’s] notice, for this has not been done in a corner.” [emphasis added] Paul has been free to serve and share and grow in his faith - and not hide.

That last phrase captured me; it convicted me. Over the course of my faith journey, I have often been in a corner. I reflected for some time on this, asking God for more clarity. He revealed to me the truth is that I’ve not only been in a corner, but I’ve been stuck at a specific corner. While Paul lived in the Place of Freedom allowing none of his life in Christ to escape people’s notice, I have been stuck hiding at the Corner of Assumption and Judgement. It could also be the Corner of Ignorance.

Regardless, I was stuck with a deep rooted, but undesirable assumption that God may be unworthy of my total dependence. Thus, I judged myself unworthy of depending on Him, paralyzing my ability to freely grow out of this assumption.

I was also stuck making assumptions about who people are and how they will respond to me. I care about how they respond to me, so I wanted to control their response. In so doing, I controlled what they saw of me more than I controlled what I saw of them. I kept more of myself in the Corner while I often opened up an invitation for them to discover the Place of Freedom and Rest we have in Christ.

While this is true, I was also stuck making judgements about their responses to me along the way. I felt left out, uninvited, unwanted, undervalued, not respected. I also felt superior and more experienced. I certainly didn’t want anyone to see this part of me, keeping even more of myself in the Corner, paralyzed from growth.

I didn’t realize this at first, but what I really wanted when I fell into the arms of Jesus at 19 years old was not freedom, not Jesus, but simply relief. I have heard his call to want Him more than anything else. I have wanted to want him more than anything else.

But over time, I have found myself wanting other things more, and I retreated to the Corner in the wake of disappointments, discouragement and uncertainty rather than running to the aisles and crowds openly sharing my questions, concerns, hurts and lack of understanding with freedom to grow.

Being thus in a corner, I’ve been paralyzed to freely grow in lots of ways. I’ve been residing in the Place of Bondage where self-protection and performance thrive, even as I claim to have come to Jesus to be relieved of them both. But Jesus has more for me than relief; He has freedom. He wants me to move from my Place of Bondage to His Place of Freedom and Rest instead of tucking myself deep into the Corner, fighting Jesus for relief more than trusting Him with his plan for my life.

Well, fighting Jesus isn’t a fight I’m going to win and I praise God for the day I realized I was utterly defeated, tired of seeing the fruitless results of my time in the Corner resulting in financial, relational and personal chaos. I just laughed when I realized that “duh!” I felt defeated because I was defeated.

Today, I happily share not that I am defeated, but that I have been defeated and disarmed by Jesus. He sets me in a Place of Freedom and Rest, not of relief.

He gives me power and purpose and he is my hope.

I want to rest in the arms of the one who has disarmed me. I want to rest in my hope and yield to his Spirit and design in me to live out the BOLD Presence he creates in me. I want to be here even if it feels uncomfortable, undesired and unsafe.

I wonder what corner you may be stuck in?

Being stuck at the Corner of Assumption and Judgement likely relates to your corner, too.

Why? Because we often feel safer if we know things. So we often assume we know things. Because we often assume we know things, when we do hear something that doesn’t align with what we assume we know, we make partial judgements. Judging in and of itself is just – as long as we are impartial in our discerning between one thing and another. It’s when we are partial in our judgements that our judgements become unjust. Even if we are stuck at a corner of ignorance – do we intend to learn or do we intend to remain, assuming we know and making judgements based on our assumptions?

I daily want to get out of this Corner and stay out of it, living instead in the Place of Freedom and Rest. How about you? Do you want to get out of the Corner?

How do we do it?

Getting out of the Corner requires us to admit we have and can again put ourselves there. Then it requires us to turn to Jesus and stand firm in the Place of Freedom and Rest he died to provide for us.

We must daily pre-decide to resist the Call of the Corner. We will find each day that indeed in Christ we are free (Gal. 5:1). This freedom charges us to serve one another – serving others and allowing them to serve us. (Gal. 5:13) No matter how far in the Corner we may be, the way out is the same. Turn and go the other way.

Self-protection and performance live at the Corner of Assumption and Judgement. BOLD Faith, BOLD hope and BOLD love live in the Place of Freedom and Rest.

Join in the battle to remain in the Place of Freedom and Rest.

It grows up the unique BOLD Presence our hope creates in each of us and this unique BOLD Presence our God shows through us that His watching world will see Him.

We grow up when we yield to the Spirit in us to do so. Our choice to yield to God, to stand in the Place of Freedom and Rest He has given to us, to serve one another in love as He has loved us and to resist the Call of the Corner is a daily choice.

BOLD exists for driven individuals who want to get out of the Corner of Assumption and Judgement and into the fight to live in the Place of Freedom they have in Christ.

BOLD offers safe, confidential and professional one to one coaching and group training and group cohorts where you will be heard, where you can process and where you will grow and develop your unique, brilliant God-given design.

Let’s strive together to persevere in faith and freely show the faith, hope and love we have in Christ. It’s how God puts His love for His creation on display to His watching world - through us.

To print out Your Freedom Fight Daily Battle, email me directly or use this link to have it sent directly to you.

Each morning to start out your day read through it and memorize the scriptures – setting your place firmly, one day at a time, with Christ. This is what I do daily, and I greatly benefit from the reminder.

If you want to read more about the freedom we have in Christ, read through The Focus Fight.

The BOLD Team