Today is Pentecost Sunday:  the celebration of the day that the Holy Spirit descended onto the disciples who were waiting in the Upper Room of a building in Jerusalem as Jesus had instructed them prior to His ascension into Heaven.

It was kind of a big deal day!

Picture this: the faithful 11 (and most likely Jesus’ mother Mary, His brothers- who had previously accused Jesus of being “crazy”, and others) have just witnessed Jesus Christ LITERALLY ascend into Heaven after He ROSE from the DEAD. In their awe and wonder, they were told to go wait for something “better” than Him to come to them.

This “something” is the Holy Spirit.

As they all gathered together (in the city where He had been falsely accused, tried, and murdered which means those who knew Him were in serious risk of the same outcome) they did what Jesus told them to do- remember Me.

Upon their time of prayer and joining together in the Lord’s Supper, a guest appeared in the form of a great wind and tongues of fire!! This sudden exposure to the supernatural gave them revelations, clarity, and the gift of speaking in languages simple fishermen would never have been able to learn!

That day THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE saw and believed in Jesus Christ! The expansion of the Christian faith began with a bang!!

Like I said, it was a big deal day then….and still is now!

In remembrance of this occasion, going to church has become special for me. I go with anticipation of…receiving something from the Lord….

Today it was the word RANSOMED.

In the song Jesus Messiah the lyrics state that Jesus is the rescue for sinners and the ransom from Heaven.

There is a movie that Mel Gibson starred in called “Ransom”. In it, his son was kidnapped with the kidnappers wanting the father (Mel) to pay 2 million dollars to ransom the boy’s life. To save his innocent son, he would have to pay a large price.

Merriam-Webster defines ransom as a sum of money or another payment demanded or paid for the release of a prisoner.

I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I know He died for me to give me life free from the sin that threatens to entangle me at any moment.

I guess I never thought of it as being ransomed…

I was held captive to the sin that surrounded me. I was a slave to anxiety and worry that caused me to fear so much that I instead attempted to control every detail around me. I entrusted my future to ME. I was in bondage to guilt that I would never be good enough to truly be successful or to make anyone happy- no matter how hard I tried. I was condemned to living a clueless life that had no idea how much I was missing out on if I could look up from my own myopic scope of vision.

I was scared.

I drank too much.

I felt guilty.

So, I drank more.

I was selfish and un-serving; unless I could receive the glory from whatever random act of kindness I performed.

I wanted approval for everything I did and took criticism as a personal failure.

.

I was in chains and did not know it. I was a prisoner in my existence and had no idea that the walls around me that limited me were a prison that kept me enslaved. I thought I would live life the “best that I could” and hope for the best outcome. Yet, I was acutely aware of my faults, failures, and weaknesses.

Where others saw me as fun-loving, friendly, and generous I felt insecure, weak, and unsuccessful. Others have said that what I was doing “was no big deal” because everyone else was doing it…but I felt guilty and foolish most of the time. I got pretty good at hiding my true self…even from me.

Then MY day of Pentecost happened!

The day the Holy Spirit descended on ME I was  given clarity, revelations, and an opportunity to understand things I had no reason to know!

Why???

Because I WAS RANSOMED FROM HEAVEN.

Jesus came down from Heaven, made Himself into a mortal man that would suffer and die and horrible death, to set the captives free…

He was THE PRICE that paid the debt for freedom of all who have sinned and are struggling under the weight of that sin. Romans 6:23 says the “wages of sin is death”…that is a HUGE weight on our shoulders- no wonder it is crippling, suffocating, numbing, blinding, binding…

Once I realized, by the awareness given to me by the Holy Spirit, that I did not have to live under that condemnation anymore, that I was forgiven for every sinful act I had ever committed or would commit again, that I was loved in spite of my short-comings…

                                        I was set free from my chains!

Jesus paid my ransom from Heaven…pretty amazing!

Am I anxious? Do I fear? Do I still seek the approval of others? Am I human???

Yes, to all of these!

The difference is that I am  not HELD CAPTIVE TO THEM ANYMORE! I have been released from that bondage that pulled me into a cycle of sin that I have no desire to enter into again. I have a way out of it now! I have hope that I will ALWAYS have a way out of it!

Once a ransom has been paid, the captive is set free. It would be rare to be taken hostage for a second time -especially by the same captor- unless the prisoner does not change their habits that imprisoned them the first time.

I have to seek the Lord daily and trust that I will find Him when I do.

I have to talk to the Lord, to pray without ceasing about everything I do or care about.

My heart has been changed and purified by the living God so therefore many of my actions are now different. I am living a FREE life in Christ without shackles that hinder my movements any longer!