Beth Moore - Breaking Free Day by Day: A Year of Walking in Liberty

DEDICATION

TO THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE OF

FRANKLIN AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH,

MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME.

I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO THINK ABOUT

THE MESSAGE OF BREAKING FREE

WITHOUT THINKING OF YOU.

WORDS ARE INADEQUATE TO EXPRESS

MY GRATITUDE FOR YOUR LOVING

SHARE IN THIS VISION. YOU HAVE

STOLEN MY HEART.

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD

GOD IS ON ME, BECAUSE

THE LORD HAS ANOINTED

ME TO BRING GOOD NEWS

TO THE POOR. HE HAS

SENT ME TO HEAL THE

BROKENHEARTED, TO

PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE

CAPTIVES, AND FREEDOM

TO THE PRISONERS.

Isaiah 61:1

Welcome to Breaking Free.

I have never written anything that meant more to me than the message of this book. And because this volume is so precious to me, I desperately desire for it to be precious to you.

When I was eighteen, I surrendered to God's call to vocational ministry. Some years later, God spoke to my heart and said something like this: I sent my Son to set the captives free. You will go forth and ring the liberty bell. Sweet thought. Even a little poetic for a romantic like me, but it sounded awfully evangelistic for a young woman like me who was fairly certain her calling was in the area of discipleship.

Oh, how could I have thought that the only people held captive in this generation were the spiritually lost? To confirm this fact, God proceeded to work on my own heart from the inside out. I had no idea I was in captivity myself until God began to set me free.

That's why today I am desperate for you and for your freedom. I long for you to join the unshackled multitude that is breaking free!

As we launch out on this year together, I need to challenge you. We will consider many biblical keys to liberty in the days ahead, but don't expect to find a magic potion inside. Real freedom requires real work. And a key part of this work involves God's Word. We need to hide His Word in our heart so that we might not sin against Him (Ps. 119:11).

So I urge you not to skip lightly over the Bible verses that introduce each day's short reading. These Scriptures are crucial! You need to read them, meditate on them, and look them up in your own Bible to study the context from which they come. I believe God's Word brings freedomHis incarnate Word through His written Word.

Here's some of what we'll discover this year. We'll see how captivity came to the kings and people of ancient Israeland how true freedom comes through the King of kings. We'll encounter the benefits of the Christian life that make freedom possible. We'll see how the Father intends benefits for every one of His children, and we'll pinpoint the major obstacles that block the way to that freedom.

I'll ask you at times to take a look back at your life, knowing that in facing some ancient ruins and broken hearts, you will begin to find the freedom God promises. We'll see how strongholds take such deep root in believers' lives. But we'll also see that God wants to surpass our best dreams, bringing us into a place of obedience that really lasts, into a love that will not fade or fail, and into a genuine freedom that can grow only in the light of His unfailing love.

This is the promise of God for you, to be discovered and experienced Day by Day.

This is the land I promised Abraham,

Isaac, and Jacob, I will give it

to your descendants.

Deuteronomy 34:4

Like Moses, we will scale the heights this year to gaze over into the promised land, the land of freedom and splendor. But unlike Moses, we will have the opportunity not only to see it but to cross over and live there.

So come with all haste. Come to the place of breaking free. The place where we truly know God and believe Him. The place where we seek His glory and forget our own. The place where satisfaction comes from the only true satisfier of our souls. The place where we experience His peace no matter what the world may throw our way. The place where His presence is our constant desire and daily joy.

For I satisfy the thirsty person

and feed all those who are weak.

Jeremiah 31:25

Can you think of anything you've worked hard to attain that ultimately failed to bring you the satisfaction you expected? We can easily be led into captivity by seeking other answers to needs and desires that only God can meet. Perhaps we each have experienced an empty place deep inside that we tried our best to ignore or to fill with something other than God.

A crucial part of fleshing out our liberation in Christ means allowing Him to fill the empty places in our lives. Satisfaction in Christ can be a reality. He can make us feel complete. I'm not talking about a life full of activity. I'm talking about a soul full of Jesus.

My body faints for You in a land

that is dry, desolate, and without water.

Psalm 63:1

What do you usually do when you're hungry or thirsty? You seek what will meet your need. If you ignore your physical needs long enough, not only will you be miserable; you will be ill.

You can easily recognize the signals your body gives for food and nourishment, but great wisdom lies in learning how to discern the signals your spiritual nature gives. The most obvious symptom of a soul in need of God's satisfaction is a sense of inner emptinessthe awareness of a hollow place somewhere deep insidethe inability to be satisfied. Let this longing drive you to your Savior.

There will be times of security

for youa storehouse of salvation,

wisdom, and knowledge.

Isaiah 33:6

Obedient lives flow from obedient days, and victorious lives flow from victorious days. Likewise, constructive lives flow from constructive days, built on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ.

When was the last time you felt that everything in your life was quaking except your stability in Christ? I love the thought of God's being our stability, don't you? Words to a familiar hymn ring in my soul: On Christ the Solid Rock, I stand / All other ground is sinking sand / All other ground is sinking sand. God's benefits include the daily treasures of His strength and a sure foundation.

The Lord will not forsake His people

or abandon His heritage.

Psalm 94:14

Anything passed down to us through our family heritage that inhibits the full expression of freedom we should have in Christ qualifies as bondage. These yokes can be caused by severed relationships, lives left in ruins because of a loss or tragedy, or ancient family arguments and inheritances of hate. We need to examine areas of devastation or defeat that have been in our family lines for generations.

But be assured that the cross of Calvary can set you free from every yoke. His Word can make liberty a practical reality, no matter what those who came before you left as an inheritance.

The imperishable quality of a