‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.’- 2 Cor.3:17(NIV).

If one must experience the freedom that God gives he must be involved in what the Spirit of God is involved, be where He (the Spirit of God) is. And talking about the New Covenant, this is where the Spirit of God is. This is what He is involved in now, and every other thing in God’s program that revolves or evolves from it.

Prov.3:5-7 says, ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes....’- (NIV). Involve the Spirit in whatever you do. Or better put, find out what the Spirit is doing, what He is involved in, and get involved.

Rom.8:13-14 says that those who are led by Spirit of God are sons of God, not people coerced or dragged along or forced but people who willingly follow Him. And Rom.8:6-7 makes it clear that the mind not submitted to God’s law is not controlled by the Spirit. The Spirit can only lead you based on the word of God to you, in accordance with God’s righteousness. What has God said to you, or what is He saying to you in the now? The Spirit of God hovered over the waters and did not act until God commanded ‘let there be light’ (Gen.1:1-3). And don’t forget that He was there in the first instance at God’s command.

It basically is by teaching and reminding that the Spirit of God leads us. "All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."- John 14:25-26(NIV). That was Jesus speaking. Verse 17 of John 14 calls the Spirit the Spirit of truth. Again Jesus said, "I have so much to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak of his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you."- John 16:12-15(NIV). It is by the word of God that the Spirit leads.

James 1:23-25 says, ‘Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.’- (NIV). To be blessed means to be empowered to succeed. That is, having all that you need so that you can do all that you are supposed to do. And true freedom is the condition or right to be who you are supposed to be or to be who you were designed or purposed by your Maker to be and to do what He purposed for you to do. ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’- Eph.2:8-10(NIV).

The true continual experience of this freedom comes as commanded in Joshua 1:8. ‘Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.’- (NIV). To meditate means to ponder upon as to mutter. Meditation produces understanding which ensures obedience. It produces the carefulness to do as a result of the understanding gained.

Psm.1:1-3 suggests the same thing as Joshua 1:8. ‘Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.’- (NIV). "…But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."- (NIV) – speaking about being who you were meant to be and doing what your meant to do and the blessings that go with it.

‘To the Jews who believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."- John 8:31-32(NIV). The freedom talked about here is experiential freedom. That you have when you hold to Christ’s teaching. That is, practice it in faith. It is responding to the word of God in faith that actually has you walking in this freedom that God gives. Christ has purchased this freedom for us with His blood, but you only walk in it as you respond in faith to the word of God to you.

In closing, Heb.4:1-3 says, ‘Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith. Now we who have believed enter that rest….’- (NIV).