The Freedom of Faith

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

This, above all else, was his favorite Scripture – since he had nothing else to do, BUT seek God constantly for the three-and-a-half years he was imprisoned. As he sat alone in his cell he confessed that every day he knew that he was only one step away from death. He penned the words, Privilege of suffering for Christ, on the wall where he slept reminding himself daily that no amount of solitary confinement or physical torture could steal from him his purpose of serving Christ and spreading the gospel.

It was my privilege to hear American Pastor Saeed Abedini share his story last week at a weekly women’s Bible study I attend. Pastor Saeed made national news when he was sentenced to eight years in an Iranian prison for spreading the Gospel of Christ. Pastor Saeed served a total of three-and-a-half-years of that eight-year sentence and was only recently released in January of this year as part of the Iranian nuclear deal.

As he shared his story, I had to fight back tears which nearly turned to sobs as he stopped in the middle of a story to pray for prisoners still detained at the prison. When he realized it was Wednesday, he immediately fought his own tears recalling that every Wednesday was execution day. Prisoners would be pulled randomly from their cells and would be executed. He swallowed his tears as he shared what it was like to be sitting in his cell and hear the screams and cries of men being paraded past his door knowing they were on their way to be killed. Weekly he was reminded that he would be next.

His takeaway message for the audience was a challenge to enjoy our daily freedoms and not waste them. We have the freedom of religion to worship and read our Bibles and attend Bible study; we have freedom of time, money and relationships and it’s important that we use all of these freedoms to spread the gospel of Jesus in this country. We are a blessed nation and we should never take our freedom for granted.

My Bible study teacher pointed out that while most of us in this country will likely never be imprisoned for our belief in Christ, many of us may find ourselves in a different type of prison. Many of us are held captive by addictions or in bondage in toxic relationships. Some of us may feel as though we are living in a prison of financial debt or we’re enslaved by debilitating illnesses. So many chains that bind us all.

Pastor Saeed said it beautifully, “Freedom from any chains comes only from faith in Christ.”

If you’ve said yes to Jesus, the enemy no longer holds the keys to your destruction. “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” (John 8:36 NLT)

Let Jesus be your hostage negotiator and set you free from whatever holds you captive.

To hear more of Pastor Saeed’s remarkable story, you can log onto: http://womensbiblestudy.com/ or pastorsaeedministries.com

Blessings in Christ,
Kathy K.