Romans 8: 35-39

The other week I stayed up late to watch the movie Amistad which describes the plight of a group of African slaves in America. They had been captured in West Africa, chained together and sent to America to be sold as slaves. Scenes depicting the treatment of these African men and woman on their horrific journey to America left me feeling sick, and moved me beyond words. Why? How can people treat others which such a lack of respect? How? How can people do that? What right did they have to sell a life which never belonged to them?

There is also a scene in the movie which shows one prisoner telling another prisoner who has lost hope, about a man who was followed by the sun. One of the captured slaves had caught hold of a Bible and he had discovered the story of Jesus through pictures. Jesus was shown with a halo, and so the prisoner had worked out from this that Jesus was always followed by the sun. A beautiful and true recognition. The pictures showed the man followed by the sun, heal, feed the hungry, welcome children, pray with the lost, and he saw Jesus crucified. When the prisoner with no hope saw this he was angered by the injustice of the situation. Immediately the other prisoner reminded the man that Jesus was going through what they were. They were innocent, but hated, beaten, and looking at potential death. Then the page in the book was turned and the prisoners saw Jesus rise from the dead, to live with the sun.

That prisoner, although chained had found freedom in Jesus. He had been set free, his spirit was no longer chained to a life of slavery, he was free. He knew nothing could chain his spirit and that he was free.

As the story was explained, you see the man with no hope suddenly see the Truth, that the world cannot hold your spirit captive. It can hurt you, beat you, crucify you but it can't kill you. That with hope in Jesus you can share in His resurrection, you can live eternal.

Don't allow the world to put you in chains, but remember the Holy Spirit within you already has the victory, you are living in the freedom which comes from Jesus.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine? or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to the slaughter" No! in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life neither angels nor demons neither the present nor the future nor any powers neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8 vv35-39)

This is written by the apostle Paul, in chains but clearly living in hope and freedom.

Don't allow the world to pull you down, the black clouds to cover your life but see the hand of God in that cloud pulling you through it, into new things, new life with Him. Look to the sun/Son!