There Is Freedom

Transcript

Hello, my friend… so glad you're with me today. This is By God's Call — day 334, There Is Freedom.

"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." 2 Corinthians 3:17.

To understand this verse well, we need to step back a little. Paul had just told the story of Moses coming down from Mount Sinai, his face shining so brightly after being in God's presence that he had to cover it with a veil — because the people feared that brightness, and because the brightness was fading little by little. Paul uses that image to describe what it was like living under the old law: a real glory, but a fading one, and a veil covering the understanding of anyone trying to approach God through rules alone.

And then, right in the middle of that reflection, he drops the line that changes everything: "the Lord is the Spirit." He's saying that presence of God — once so distant, so intense it needed a veil, so reserved for a sacred mountain — that same presence now dwells, through the Spirit, in everyone who believes. It's no longer a rare encounter at a mountaintop. It's a constant, intimate, daily nearness.

"And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." Notice carefully what that freedom is not. It is not freedom to do whatever you want, without responsibility, without care for who you hurt. That isn't freedom — that's slavery wearing a disguise. The freedom Paul is talking about is something else: it is freedom from having to check off a list of rules to try to earn God's approval. It is the freedom to come near Him without fear, without shame, without hiding your face.

And that brings me to a very direct question: is there some fear, some shame, something specific you've been hiding even from God — as if you could hide it from the One who already knows everything? Where the Spirit is, that fear loses its grip. That shame that makes you lower your head, that keeps you from praying honestly, that makes you keep your distance — it gets removed, just like the veil that fell from Moses' face.

And what comes right after this is even more beautiful. Paul goes on to say that, with unveiled face, we are being transformed, from glory to glory, into the likeness of the Lord. In other words — freedom is not the end of the story. It's the beginning of a transformation. You don't come near God freely just to stay free — you come near freely so you can be changed, day after day, more into His likeness.

So today, I want to invite you to do something simple but brave: identify that specific fear or shame — whatever makes you hide your face from God, even though He already sees everything — and hand it to Him in prayer. Not tomorrow. Today. Remove the veil.

Stay close to God. Pray — then act. I'll see you tomorrow, my friend.