Sent Part 6 | What Acts 16 Teaches About Freedom! | Lessons On Liberation

``Because when their owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, when they realize they can't manipulate her anymore, when they realize that she's been freed by an evil spirit, when they realize that they can no longer control her, they are hostile because they didn't care about her, they cared about profiting off of her. They are disrupted. They are concerned because their money making machine has been disrupted. And as a reminder, there's a reminder that everyone is not excited when you get freed from some things in your life. [00:11:40] (38 seconds)  #FreedNotForProfit

Because some people benefit off you being in bondage. They they they they they want you weak. They want you insecure. They want you needy. They want you addicted. They want you desperate. They want you calling them all the time. They want you not at your best. They want you doubting yourself. They want you in a toxic relationship. They want you forgetting your worth. They want you shrinking back. They want you in idol in isolation because some people are intimidated by the fact that you can be liberated. [00:12:19] (40 seconds)  #ProfitFromBondage

Truth of the matter is that life can sometimes feel like a cage. There are times when life tries to constrain and cramp our lives. Sometimes that cage can be caused by unresolved trauma and grief that blocks our healing. Sometimes it's addictions to substances or technology or even approval. Sometimes that cage is caused by limiting beliefs like I'm not enough or it's too late. Sometimes that cage is found through negative sex talk or abusive relationships, even debt and financial stress, even racism, sexism, and prejudice, even the cage of sickness and disease, where the physical, mental, or emotional life can be like a cage sometimes. [00:02:18] (52 seconds)  #LifeCanBeACage

We meet this female servant. We don't know her name. We don't know her background. We only know that she's a female servant with a spirit in her that allows her to predict the future. Her owners hire her out exploiting her for economic gain. They are trafficking her for financial gain. She's a victim of exploitation and injustice as they control and manipulate her so that others can benefit from her fortune telling skills. She is manipulated and exploited both by the evil spirit and evil men. It is a reminder that injustice is an everyday occurrence. [00:03:58] (43 seconds)  #EndHerExploitation

Jesus has come to set us free. Jesus has come to give us hope that no cage can contain those who belong to Jesus Christ, that Jesus Christ comes to bring the key to our freedom. And not only can he free us, but he can so free us that he gives us the power to free other people. [00:03:30] (24 seconds)  #JesusGivesFreedom

They've been doing the work of the Lord, but now they're in chains in prison, but about midnight. Somebody knows you've had some dark days, but about midnight. You've had some long days, but about midnight. Stuff hadn't always made sense in your life, but about midnight. You've had some lonely times, but about midnight. And the text says they are found praying and singing hymns to God. [00:20:41] (30 seconds)  #SingingInChains

And yet, it's good to know that the God that we serve, the Jesus that we serve, is the Jesus of liberation. That he doesn't care who tries to chain us. When Jesus gets involved, he came to break the yokes of those who try to oppress his people. We're not new to this, we're true to this because our parents and our grandparents and generations before us have faced it in their own time, and we will address it as well. [00:15:50] (35 seconds)  #GodBreaksYokes

I want you to understand you can make a good decision. You can use your voice. You can leave a bad situation, and yet you can still end up in a bad place. Just because you end up in a bad place, it does not discount that you didn't do the right thing, the righteous thing, the honorable thing, and the thing that God has told you to do. Don't let the consequences of a bold decision for Jesus Christ make you doubt that you are doing God's will because the persecution could be a sign that you're headed in the right direction. [00:17:31] (40 seconds)  #RightChoiceWrongPlace

It's a reminder that sometimes you can do a good thing and end up in a bad place. These men, all they did was liberate a woman that was living under exploitation and manipulation. All they did was introduce this woman to the liberating power of Jesus Christ, And they were so offended that they then would rally other people that look like them, act like them, talk like them, and would then begin to at target these two men, Paul and Silas. I want somebody in the room to understand you can do a good thing and end up in a bad place. [00:16:49] (42 seconds)  #GoodActsGetBlamed

And yet, there we are trying to break free. It's exactly what happens in Acts chapter 16. It is a picture that life can sometimes try to trap us. But even though we've trapped may be trapped by the circumstances or situations of life, Jesus has come to set us free. [00:03:11] (23 seconds)  #Acts16Freedom

What do you do when times get hard? What do you do in a world that seems to be in confusion? What do you do when you get more frustrated by the day? Do you fuss and cuss? Somebody said sometimes. Do you complain and have a pity party? Do you bury your head in the sand? Do you become apathetic and disengaged? Do do you run from it? Do you pretend that it's not there? This is not what Paul and Silas do. [00:19:31] (45 seconds)  #PrayDontPanic

Trafficking is not just a woman's issue, It's a man's issue. Because men are often the ones controlling her and buying her services. If men would stop, it would bring a halt to this $100,000,000 operation. Tragically, men's consumption of pornography and strip clubs and online pornographic sites only feeds this corrupt system. [00:05:22] (36 seconds)  #MenMustStopTrafficking

What do you do when times get hard? What do you do in a world that seems to be in confusion? What do you do when you get more frustrated by the day? Do you fuss and cuss? Somebody said sometimes. Do you complain and have a pity party? Do you bury your head in the sand? Do you become apathetic and disengaged? Do do you run from it? Do you pretend that it's not there? This is not what Paul and Silas do. [00:19:31] (45 seconds)  #FaithOverFear

Friends, we must learn that persecution will happen in our lives. Some of the stuff we're dealing with now is persecution. Some of the issues in your own life is persecution. That the enemy wants to oppose everything God is trying to do in your life. Some of the stuff happening in your family is persecution. [00:18:55] (33 seconds)  #PersecutionIsReal

It's a reminder that some people around you are not there for you, but are there for the attention. Oh, this woman is a groupie, and you got some groupies in your life too. They show up when you get paid. They show up when you're doing well. They show up when you're winning. See, everybody doesn't have the right to introduce you to when people when you show up. [00:07:27] (25 seconds)  #BewareGroupies

It's a reminder that some people around you are not there for you, but are there for the attention. Oh, this woman is a groupie, and you got some groupies in your life too. They show up when you get paid. They show up when you're doing well. They show up when you're winning. See, everybody doesn't have the right to introduce you to when people when you show up. [00:07:27] (25 seconds)  #GroupiesExposed

Because some people that wanna claim you in your success don't wanna claim you in your struggle. Some people want don't wanna claim you for sincere motives, but they wanna use you for ulterior motives, and Paul gets tired of this woman and the spirit and her antics. I love the text of what Paul said when he got annoyed with all of this. Somebody can relate to that in your life. Every now and then, you're just tired of some stuff. [00:07:52] (27 seconds)  #NotClaimedInStruggle

Because some people that wanna claim you in your success don't wanna claim you in your struggle. Some people want don't wanna claim you for sincere motives, but they wanna use you for ulterior motives, and Paul gets tired of this woman and the spirit and her antics. I love the text of what Paul said when he got annoyed with all of this. Somebody can relate to that in your life. Every now and then, you're just tired of some stuff. [00:07:52] (27 seconds)  #TiredOfTheFakes

Because some people benefit off you being in bondage. They they they they they want you weak. They want you insecure. They want you needy. They want you addicted. They want you desperate. They want you calling them all the time. They want you not at your best. They want you doubting yourself. They want you in a toxic relationship. They want you forgetting your worth. They want you shrinking back. They want you in idol in isolation because some people are intimidated by the fact that you can be liberated. [00:12:19] (40 seconds)  #BenefitFromBondage

And g and Paul says, I'm a fix this. And he cast that evil spirit in the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her. And that evil spirit leaves her, and that woman is liberated. She is no longer bound in bondage. She's no longer telling fortunes. She has been set free. For the first time in her life, she can think for herself. She can reason for herself. She can function for herself. She has been free. [00:08:20] (35 seconds)  #CastOutInJesusName