ON THE VANGUARD

SET FREE
“That night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance.”
Acts 12:6

It was seven days ago that I shared with you a devotional titled, Prison Breaks. In fact, I even used the same text from Acts 2:16 about Peter being chained between two guards. Today, though, I want to expound a little more on this topic. I know that I am not ordained as a minister, but that put aside, I know God has called me to ministry. With that said, my aim is to not only bring people to Christ, but also help strengthen the saints through God’s Word. I pray that today’s devotional will do just that. I pray that today’s devotional will help you be set free from the chains you may find yourself in.
God speaks to me in a number of ways. Sometimes He speaks through a song, a billboard, a book, or even just straight from the pulpit. I have learned that when He speaks I need to listen. In listening lately, God has pounded in me the need to be set free from chains that still bind me, and a starting point for such deliverance. The first step toward this deliverance is to fight my battles with the knowledge of God’s will. I shared this point yesterday in speaking about Timothy. Timothy was close to being shipwrecked because he was beginning to listen to the voices of others as opposed to remembering the calling that God had given him. When he was reminded of God’s call, he was then able to stand against his foes in the knowledge of God’s will. Timothy then stood on God’s promises.
A second point God has been showing me concerning being free from my chains is a key found in I Thessalonians 5:16-22. While I should strive to rejoice always, give thanks, not quench the Holy Spirit, despise not prophesy, test spirits, hold to what is good, and abstain from the appearance of evil, the piece that pops out is praying always. In praying continually I keep my mind on God. In keeping in a mindset of prayer I keep myself in tune with the spirit and can hear the warnings of the enemy attacking as opposed to warring them out after they have their firm grip on me. There will come times when a deep intercession is required to bring a breakthrough, and there will be times when prayer and fasting are both required. We see this in Mark 9:29 where Jesus pointed out to the disciples that “this kind of spirit can only come out by prayer and fasting.” So being in a state of constant prayer is key toward deliverance.
A third piece I am beginning to realize is that I can stay bound because of soul ties. I know that when I mention this concept some people think I have flipped out of my mind, but I guarantee it is true. In making a relationship, be it friendship or dating or business or what have you, a tie is made. In being tied with someone outside of God’s will, we open the door for the enemy to come in. I will give you a personal example. Following my divorce I began dating a girl. At first all seemed nice. I noticed, though, that my son began to have many nightmares. I didn’t put the two together until maybe after six months of dating her, but my son was being attacked because of a door I was opening in dating someone of another faith. The day I stopped dating her was the final day that my son ever had a nightmare, three years ago. It ending it with her, I prayed against the spirit’s I had let in, commanding them to leave. Call it coincidence, but I know that this torment came as a result of the door I was opening. When the tie was broken, the door was closed.
But the forth piece I want to share was another one of those stones that hit me between the eyes. We must be delivered from the expectations of others. What people expect us to do or be can also put chains on us. It is in these times that we again, must listen to what God is saying to us and over us. The words that people say can bind us or limit us, but God’s Word washes over us and breaks off the limitations that work to keep us under.
So how does all this relate to Peter in prison? Peter was bound physically, representing our binding spiritually. His hands were bound, which shows that the enemy works to prevent our hands from the work of God. Peter was bound to another person, showing that the enemy wants to control our steps and pull us away from God’s work. And Peter had guards at the door that show how other hindrances are placed in our way. But when the angel came to release Peter, the chains were broken off, the guards were blinded to what was going on, and the doors were opened. The yoke holding him down was destroyed and so Peter was free. This should also be us. We were not meant to be chained down, but free to move in Christ. One last piece, though. Deliverance takes us out of prison, but discipline keeps us out of prison. Let us be set free, but let us also never return to our chains.