For the longest time, I was bound by fear. My emotions and need to control were rooted in my fears. But praise God, through being rooted in God’s truth and love, I found His love perfecting me to a place where fear no longer has a stronghold in my life.

I went through a process of healing as I encountered the love of Jesus. As I sought Jesus and came to Him in my pain, the Lord perfected me by His love and cast out fear.

That’s when I found true freedom.

Jesus says in John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” There is freedom in Christ, and His perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18).

There is no way we can experience freedom when we are bound by sin. Fear, lust, anger, unforgiveness, selfish ambition, and jealousy are forms of sin.

Maybe your struggle is not with fear, but whatever your struggles may be, know there is freedom as we surrender our lives to Jesus and encounter God’s love.

As we approach Holy Week and Easter (Resurrection Sunday), I want us to reflect on the passion of the Lord, His immense love for us, and how the Passover beautifully points to Jesus as the Lamb of God, who sets us free from the bondage of sin.

What is Passover?

The Passover meal is first mentioned in Exodus 12.

Exodus 12:1-11 says, “Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire—its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.”

God continues to explain why it’s called the Passover meal in Exodus 12:12-14, which says, “For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.”

The Passover meal was meant for the Israelites to remember God’s mercy upon them because of the blood of the lamb that protects them from God’s judgment. The purpose of the Passover meal was to be a foreshadowing of Jesus, the ultimate spotless lamb of God, who shed His blood for us to save us from God’s judgment.

God instructed the Israelites to find a lamb without blemish, a perfect, spotless lamb. Only Jesus can be the spotless lamb because He is God, which makes Him perfect.

The Passover meal is a powerful meal that now points us to Jesus.

Now we get access to Salvation by faith, as we believe Jesus to be our Lord and Savior and follow Him. We get to abide in the shadow of the almighty God as we dwell in the secret place of the Most High (Psalm 91:1).

Egypt as a Symbol of Bondage

During this time, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Egypt represents bondage, sin. The Bible tells us that sin leads to death, and when we are overcome by sin, we live in bondage, not freedom.

Often, we mistakenly believe that following Jesus restricts our freedom because of the rules we have to follow. However, these rules are designed to protect us. Think of a roller coaster. Roller Coasters are designed with parameters and boundaries to ensure a safe and enjoyable ride.

God’s rules and boundaries aren’t restrictions, but rather guidelines that set us up to enjoy life with freedom.

When we are trapped in sin, like the Israelites were in Egypt, we are not truly free. Moses was a foreshadowing of Jesus, who leads us out of bondage (Egypt) into freedom and everlasting life. We now have freedom because Jesus died on the cross for us, redeeming us by making us right with God through the shedding of His blood.

Abundant Life in Christ

John 10:10 is one of my favorite verses. Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

When you’re bound by sin, you’re not free. Addiction is an example. Whether it’s pornography, drugs, or alcohol, addiction causes you to be bound to practicing certain behaviors. That’s not freedom.

But Jesus came to set us free. In Jesus Christ, we are set free to live the holy and righteous life that He called us to live.

Jesus has his last supper, the Passover meal with his disciples. Luke 22:14-20 says, “When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

Jesus made a new covenant, in what we now call communion, where we no longer have to sacrifice animals for our redemption (being made right with God), but instead, we get to look to Jesus, who is the ultimate lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Jesus also chose to die during Passover, when lambs were also being slaughtered (Luke 22:7-8).

Jesus shed His blood for us, died, and on the 3rd day, He rose from the grave. Jesus’s last words on the cross were, “It is finished!” (John 19:30).

Jesus finished the work for your freedom and your salvation.

When we accept Jesus into our lives and obey Him, we receive the gift of eternal life. Will you give your life to Jesus and follow Him daily? What is distracting you from following Jesus? Are there sin patterns you are tolerating that are preventing you from experiencing the freedom Jesus died for you to have?

Look to Jesus and invite Him to reveal Himself to you. Jesus is your passover lamb who is also alive. He is your redeemer. So remember, there is freedom in Christ.

Prayer: Jesus, reveal yourself to us as our Savior, the spotless lamb of God. I thank you, Jesus, for what you’ve done. We celebrate your resurrection. We celebrate you as our Savior and the freedom we have in You.

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Bible Verses on Salvation

• Hosea 13:14: “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction!” (NKJV)
• Revelation 1:18: “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.” (NKJV)
• Isaiah 25:8: “He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.” (NIV)
• 1 Peter 1:18-19: “…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” (NKJV)

We are prone to stress and grumble when we do things without Jesus. My days can get super busy, especially with a toddler and newborn, but as I take time to slow down my thoughts and look to Jesus, I am filled with His peace and love.

When complaints arise in my mind, I am reminded to fill my thoughts with gratitude as I look to Jesus. I find that negative thoughts leave as I fill my heart with gratitude for Jesus and His love for me. 

When negative thoughts come, that is our cue to turn to abide in Jesus.

With Jesus, we can overcome negative thoughts that come our way. The flesh will always gravitate us towards grumbling and finding the wrongs in our lives, but we are to put off our fleshy desires and put on Christ (Ephesians 4:24). Jesus invites us to abide in Him always so that we may bear fruit: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). 

Life is not always easy, but with Jesus, we can persevere and still bear fruit through difficult times.

Jesus says in John 15:4, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” Remember that Jesus is always with you. Jesus promises that we will bear fruit as we abide in Him, even during dry and trying times. You can fellowship with the One who is the source of rivers of living water.

The word “abide” means to remain or to cling to. 

So how do we abide in Christ? By choosing to cling to Him in our thoughts and actions. When circumstances tempt us to complain and pull away from Jesus, we must choose to remain in Jesus by encompassing all that He is such as being patient and kind.

To follow Jesus will require us to deny ourselves and carry up our cross (our willingness to die to our fleshly desires). Jesus says in Matthew 16:24, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

If we want to abide in Jesus, we must deny our fleshly desires and choose to walk by the Spirit in our thoughts and actions.

Our natural instinct is to do things with our own strength and ability. This is why sometimes God lets us go through challenges and asks us to do things beyond what we can do to show us that it is through Christ that we can do all things. 

Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In our weakness, we can still experience the grace and transformative power of Jesus as we choose to yield to Jesus. 

No matter the hardships you are going through, remember that God’s strength is available for you. As you abide in Jesus and choose to lay aside your worries and whatever is of the flesh, you will find His supernatural strength.

Make this your prayer: Jesus, help me to do nothing apart from You.

Remember that you are not alone and God is here to help you live a victorious life through Jesus. God says in Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected so that we too can die in the bondage of sin and instead experience a life of freedom in Christ here on earth and for eternity.

We are called to live with God’s perspective and not our own. When we see from His perspective, we can believe in big things and have faith in the impossible. Ephesians 2:6 says, “and He raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus…” 

When we accept Jesus as our Savior and abide in Him, we get to see from His perspective — a heavenly perspective. By the Holy Spirit, we have access to the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). 

Let us not dwell on negative thoughts but instead ask the Holy Spirit to show us His perspective.

May our knowledge of God through the Holy Spirit cause us to be kind, patient, thankful, gentle, long-suffering, faithful, and filled with self-control. Colossians 1:9-12 says, “We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

Let us not continue to live in our flesh, but rather walk by the Spirit that we may inherit eternal life with Jesus. 

God has given us His Spirit to strengthen us and conform us to His image — the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29). All we need to do is yield to the Holy Spirit and we will see Him strengthen us. So remember, abide in Christ.

Prayer: Jesus, thank You for calming our minds and spirits when negative thoughts arise. May we always stay connected to you when life becomes too hard and always trust in Your ability. 

Listen to our Podcast “How To Abide In Christ”

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Recently, I was battling unforgiveness. I was asking God why it was so hard for me to let go and forgive. He then said, “It’s because you are beholding your anger. Behold Me and you will find rest.”

It was at that moment when I realized that, as long as I kept beholding my anger, I would be angry. But as I beheld Jesus and His love, I became love. As I focused on Jesus’s love towards me, forgiving the other person became easy because I remembered how much mercy God had on my life. As I beheld mercy, the only thing that filled my heart was mercy.

We can only extend love to others as we behold Jesus and receive His love. Instead of replaying your pain, replay God’s love. It’s only then that His love can fill your heart.

Whatever you are experiencing, will you look to Jesus and only Jesus?

The Lord is jealous after us. He doesn’t want anything or anyone to share our hearts with Him. He wants ALL of our hearts just for Him.

Why is He so jealous for us? Because He loves us so much. Jesus loves us too much to see us drift away from Him. He knows that if He isn’t first in our lives, we will eventually drift away from Him. He no longer will be the priority of our hearts but merely a means to an end.

There is nothing and no one more beautiful than Jesus, our lover and Savior. He alone deserves our first love.

It is He who holds all things together. When anger, fear, or worry fills your heart, choose to look to Jesus. As we see Him rightly, our hearts will be reminded to be still.

There is only one thing we need to behold and that is Jesus. The worries and cares of this world will matter less as we consume ourselves with the beauty of Jesus. Let us make Psalm 27:4 our prayer, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.

Will you give Jesus your whole attention and devotion?

As we look to Jesus, we will remember that He is…

Just amidst the injustice
Love amidst the pain
Peace amidst the worry
Beauty amidst the broken

Perfect peace comes on those whose mind is steadfast on Jesus (Isaiah 26:3).

The only way to be like Jesus is to abide with Jesus. When loving others becomes tough, run to Jesus and ask Him to fill you with His love so that you can love. We can only give what we receive. Receiving from Jesus requires abiding in Jesus.

When distractions and emotions rise, know that He is the only source for our healing and joy because only He was made to be our Savior. Our worries and pains disappear as we 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀. So remember to ask yourself, “What are you beholding?”

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for giving me your love. Help me to fix my eyes on you alone.

Listen more in our podcast “What Are You Beholding?”
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I have struggled with many things, but anxiety seems to still find it’s a way to creep in now and then.

There would be moments when I would give in to my fears and start entertaining such thoughts. I became so afraid of my own thoughts because it would cause me to feel depressed even when I didn’t want to feel that way.

I was bound and felt like I no longer had control over my thoughts. Questions to God came like, when will these thoughts leave? 

God then gave me a dream that opened my eyes to the reality that I was already set free in Jesus. I dreamt there was a black cat that had rabies. I tried avoiding the cat but whenever I would call it out to go away or tried to close the door on it, the cat would come even closer to me. But then in one scene of my dream, I remember walking away from the cat and disregarding it, and the cat went further away from me.

Through this dream, Jesus opened my eyes and showed me that I didn’t have to struggle or fear such anxious thoughts that come and torment me. I needed to stop seeing my struggle as a battle that needed to be fought, but one that has already been foughten.

The moment I disregarded the cat, it left me. It was when I acknowledged the power of the cat that I became afraid and the cat came even closer to me. Jesus reminded me that He is in me and because He is in me every darkness has to flee.

1 John 1:5 says, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” We have the choice to walk in darkness or His light. When we walk in His light, we have fellowship with Jesus and His blood purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

There is power in the name of Jesus, and we just need to believe it. Throughout scripture we see Jesus casting out demons and making people whole. That is who Jesus was and still is today.

He has given us the authority to walk victoriously over the enemy. Jesus says in Luke 10:19, “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.“

We can be so afraid of the very thing that keeps us in bondage, but when we realize that we have been set free in Jesus, we have nothing to fear. Our old sin habits no longer have power over us because in Jesus we have the power to overcome anything.

We need to stop trying to change and believe that we are changed.

In Luke 13:10 we see Jesus healing a woman who has been bound by a spirit causing her to be crippled. Jesus goes to the woman and heals her and said, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity” (Luke 13:12).

Just as Jesus came to set that woman free, He also came to set you free.

Jesus longs to set you free from any bondage that is holding you back from living for Him. Any limitation we have that stops us from living for Jesus is a bondage from the enemy. Whether your struggle is emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or physically, Jesus wants to make you whole.

Jesus created you to thrive and to live in freedom. It’s time for you to believe and walk in the freedom that comes when you accept Jesus as your savior. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here.“

Are you facing any bondages in your life? Ask Jesus to touch you and to set you free.

When you are faced with temptation, say to yourself, “Jesus has set me free”. You will see the power of your words and faith transform you and bring your healing. Jesus says in Luke 17:19, “Your faith has made you whole.” Your faith in Jesus has the power to make you whole.

Jesus wants to set you free so that you can set others free in Him. Your testimony has the power to help others walk from darkness into the light of Christ. God has mighty plans for your life. Don’t let the enemy stop you from living your life to the fullest. So remember, live set free in Jesus.

Prayer: Jesus, I thank you that you have set me free to set others free in you.