Free.

It's really weird to look around my room and know that in two days, none of the stuff in it will be here. I really do love my bedroom - it's cozy and comfortable and it's actually pretty cute. Nana helped me to decorate it two years ago. It looks like everything in here was really expensive, but that was definitely not the case! Most of it was pretty cheap, and then the rest was free or handmade.

I will miss my bedroom.

Last night, me and four other college peeps from my comgroup gathered at the Tillery's house for dinner. Jennifer and I cooked spaghetti and cheesecake, and we sat around and talked for hours. It was the first time I had seen Greg all summer, and the last time I will see Justin for a very long time (he's moving back home for a year or so). Bittersweet times! I think one of my favorite things to do is cook and eat dinner with my friends.

I really do love to cook, but only when I'm cooking for someone. I love to have people over and enjoy their company. I especially love it when there are no deadlines, no one has to be anywhere, and we can just sit for hours and talk.

Acts 2 talks about the early church eating together:

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2:46-47

Things happen when the church meets to eat together. I don't know what it is, but it is special. When I think of times where God has worked powerfully in the lives of my Brothers and Sisters in Christ, it is normally when we have met for dinner. It's an interesting thing.

On a funny note, Andrew was telling us about a fortune cookie he had recently got at a Chinese restaurant. It said, "You laugh now, but wait until you get home." Isn't that creepy? Haha.

Recently I have been thinking a lot about freedom. I think as Christians, we tend to settle when we are struggling with something. We may say something like, "This is something I'll be dealing with for the rest of my life."

Whether it be

depression

an eating disorder

pornography/other sexual sin

a horrible temper
alcohol/drugs

overeating

anything else.

Do we seriously think that God can't free us? Jesus came so that we may have freedom!

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)

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

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil. (1 Peter 2:16)

...because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)

You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6:18)

Those are just a few verses. God wants us to be free! Look at the end of Galatians 5:1 - it says to not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery, because we have been set free. The number of times Christians do this is phenomenal! We don't claim the freedom that we have.

In the Bible, becoming a Christian is often compared to a slave being set free, or a person becoming new.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin -- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. (Romans 6:6-7)

So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:7)

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11)

But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. (Romans 8:10)

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Colossians 2:13-14)

There's just a couple verses.

We were made to be free. God wants us to be free! If you read the Gospels, you will notice that Jesus is constantly healing people.

He cures the sick

heals the lame

gives sight to the blind

stops internal bleeding

raises people from the dead

and even feeds the hungry.

Not to mention, He changes hearts and transforms lives.

He has the power to change our lives and set us free.

This is what God wants to do in everyone's life. I have seen Him heal people who were told they would never walk again. I have seen Him cure people of illnesses. I have seen Him help a close friend lose 81 pounds in less than 7 months. I have seen Him give peace to the anxious. I have seem Him provide for those who don't know where their next meal is coming from. I have seen Him save people from a life of drugs and alcohol abuse.

He can change you, too! I don't want this to sound cheesy, but it's true. If you don't know Jesus, just know that He loves you and wants to change your life.

The freedom He gives is amazing - not to be burdened by something is a wonderful feeling! That is what God has done in me. :)

I am very excited about this weekend. My family is coming into town TOMORROW (I can't wait to see Kellie -- she has been in England all summer!) to help me and my sister move into our new houses. Saturday night, we are going to have a BBQ at Nana's house for my roommates and their parents. I can't wait. I really love my roommates a lot. I am going to miss living with them so much! I can't wait for Saturday night. My favorite people, all in one room together.

Amazing.

Have a blessed day.

-Katie