[Sons to Glory!]

I appreciated this from "The Supplied Life."

The Liberty of the Saints December 14th

"For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." ROMANS 14:17

By observing Paul's interaction with the saints in the New
Testament letters, we can see that he was always careful to
speak in a way that preserved the liberty of the saints (Philem. 12:
14; Rom. 1:11-12; 2 Cor. 8:7-8). Study the fine points in Paul's
dealing with the churches, and you will see a relationship between
an apostle and the saints in which freedom was maintained.

Brothers and sisters, for freedom Christ set us free! We are all
here willingly. There is no forcing or compelling. There are no
unspoken or hidden agendas. There is not an expected way to meet
or practice the church. Whether we meet this way or that way, as
long as Christ is.not nullified, we are all happy. This is to be in tile
reality of the kingdom of God, which is righteousness, peace, and joy
in the Holy Spirit. We are not here with formed ideas and concepts,
or even the scriptural way to practice the church. Of course, nothing
is wrong with the scriptural way of gathering believers. But what is
more important is the way these kinds of things are handled, because
it determines whether the atmosphere of freedom is preserved or
lost. If freedom is lost, then Christ is nullified, and the Spirit cannot
operate. Spiritually speaking, everything comes to a halt, even though
outwardly the meetings and activity of the church life continue.

This is why it is so serious for the law to come into the church
in any form. It kills the ability of the Spirit to be released and the
ability of the divine love to flow. This happened among the
Galatians. When the saints were put under a yoke of slavery, they
discovered that they not only lost the love between themselves, but
they were also biting and devouring one another. They were
consuming one another because the freedom was lost (Gal. 5: 14-15).
When freedom returns, Christ returns, and love toward all the saints
returns.

This is so key!!! It is only in this kind of freedom - free from religious legalism - that Christ can best grow in us! I praise the Lord that in the fellowship He brought me to (after the LC) is one in which this kind of outward pressure is essentially nonexistent. So much so that I often take it for granted, but lately, I've been much more appreciative to the Lord for this! Praise Him! Praise Him! Praise Him!