Barbies and Ex-cons

I never got a sec to finish blogging about what Daddy had shown me about Freedom.

THEN...our amazing Bishop COMPLETELY stole my thunder yesterday morning. Sheesh! I mean, doesnt he know that I'm the only one allowed to have epiphanies like that??  Haha. Yall better know I'm playing, lol.

But seriously.

He said everything that was on my heart and more.

Remember the afternoon that Shane and I went to Tyus Park? Later that afternoon, I was still rolling around in my mind everything that God had dumped on me. Especially when he had asked me why I ask for something that was already mine.

Then, as if on cue, I saw a prison cell and the door was open and there was no guard, but there were ppl inside the cell...sitting and weeping and crying out, "GIVE US FREEDOM!!!SET US FREE!!! OH,GOD!!! RELEASE US FROM THESE CHAINS!!!" which-BTW- were laying at their feet.

I remember thinking, "What the heck? The door is OPEN, duh. Just get up and walk out."

That's when He told me, "This is the state of many believers. Crying out for what has already been purchased and given to them."

"But," I began, "this makes absoLUTEly zero sense."

He agreed.

"What point is there in being given freedom if you never USE it??" I demanded.

"I agree."

Then I thought about criminals who have spent their lives in prison and get released. All the time that they are in prision they DREAM of freedom...imagine the things they will do, the people they will get to hug and be with again, the life they will have..once they are freed.

The day arrives and they are released! OH GLORIOUS DAY!! But then....

There's no one there to wake them up. No one there to tell them to get dressed and go to breakfast. There's no one to tell them what to do with their time...or their day.  No one to give them the plan they are to follow. No warden to watch them and make sure they do not stray from the path....they are now, suddenly, responsible for their own actions and decisions...and it scares the crap out of them. 

Statistics show:

Each year, nearly 650,000 people are released from U.S. prisons,

and over 7 million are released from jails.

Approximately 2 out of every 3 people released from prison in the US are rearrested
within 3 years of their release. 3

As staggering as that is...its just a physical picture of what is happening in the spiritual.

PPL! We dont need our pastors to tell us how to live! Did I just say that OUTLOUD?? Yes. Yes I did.

God sets us free, OH GLORIOUS DAY! Then, suddenly, we are faced with the responsibilty to govern our own actions and it scares the CRAP out of most of us, and thats when we put pressure on the Man of God. "What do we do...?When do we pray..? Can I still do this...? Can I go here...? Can I have these friends...? Can I date this guy...?"...the list goes on and on.

Understand that pastors are and EXTENTION of God Himself, but they are NOT God Himself. They are glad to help us, happy to answer questions, happy to disciple...but if we need them to push us to be in the Word,  push us to spend time with God, push us to make the righteous choices, then we are NOT free. We are the ones sitting in our comfy prison cells while our pastors are pushed and pulled and worn slap OUT from doing a job they werent made to do.

Why not ask HIM all those questions that have to do with your own relationship with Him? He loves to answer them..if we will listen...I mean...if we REALLY want to know His answers (cuz buhLEEEVE me..His answers are not always what we think they will be and He gets pretty stern at times)...If we have courage to walk out of our cells and step into the Freedom that He paid such a high price for.

...and we wonder why pastors are leaving the church left and right...wake up and walk out of your cell.

Their calling is to seek God, Pray, and educate and exhort us(among other things)...not to be our Holy Spirit. As amazing as our pastors are, they are a cheap imitation of the real thing if we are depending upon them to be God to us.

Example: 
My daughter loves Barbies. Infact, I believe Barbies are her mission field. She has taken it upon herself to save, sanctify and fill every Barbie in existence.

That being said, she KNOWS the difference between 'Barbie' and a store brand Barbie-like doll.

Sometimes, the Barbie she wants is a bit more than we are comfortable paying, so we try to encourage her to get the cheaper one...still a Barbie, right? Oh, no. It is NOT a Barbie and no amount of convincing her that they are practically the same will persuade her against the real thing.

One fateful time, we put our foot down(we do that because we are her parents, not her pals) and said "the cheaper one or none at all." Reluctantly she agreed and we brought home the imitation. Immediately when I...

(pause that...what in the world is my husband doing standing in the flowerbed with a grocery sack and talking on his cell phone??? Lol, okay.....?)

(resume)

Immediately when I opened the package I could tell the difference. Her legs were hollow and cheap plastic. Her hair was glued on instead of stitched on. Her shoes didnt fit right and her legs didnt bend. Within minutes of playing with this cheap thing, the leg came off. She was so devistated, but the disappointment in her eyes what was the worst. We apologized to her and from that moment on, it didnt matter how much more the real Barbie was. We would not be accepting the imitation anymore.

See, that's what happens with us spiritually. Real Freedom is expensive...It costs us more than we really like to pay and so we will settle for a cheaper FORM of Freedom...disguising it under the guise of "Pastor, can I get your opinion on this.." or "Pastor, I really need some wisdom in this..." Then..when we get that home and start working with it (like Maddie Rose playing with her cheap Barbie knock off) something doesnt feel right, iteh formula doesnt quite work like we thought, or it becomes disfunctional. Then we get mad at our pastors for something that was OUR fault. We are the ones that settled for the cheap Barbie instead of paying the price to get the real one...and somehow, it's our pastors' fault when we fall off the bandwagon and go back to prison.

Granted, sometimes we legitimately need guidance from our pastors, but that's not what I'm talking about, and I think you know it.

hmm...(tapping fingers) what else was there...? There was something else to go with that...OH! YES! ThankyaDaddy!

Bishop said something like this Sunday morning, "It's like this: Your kid asks you for a video game and so you get it for them. 6 months later, they ask you for the same video game. And you say, "I already got that for you, dont you remember? What did you do with it?"  You find the video game unopened tucked away in the bottom of a drawer somewhere. Why would I go get you another game #1 when I already gave it to you and #2 when you never even used the one I got you."

God is saying to us, "Why give you more Freedom when you havent even used the Freedom I already gave you."

The prison door is open. The chains are on the ground. Stand up and walk out of your self-imposed captivity and walk into the Freedom He died to give you....and give your pastors a break...take responsibility for yourself....hahaha talk to the REAL Barbie. HAHAHA! jk.