Dancing Free

Scriptures: Proverbs 23:7, 1 John 4:19, 2 Corinthians 3:17, Ephesians 3:17-18

Day 1: Yielding my heart to His heart

Revelation:

The heart of Jesus is the very heartbeat of love, for He does not only love us, He is love personified (1 John 4:16). “When nothing else could help, love lifted me.” The words of this song have been my testimony ever since I encountered the relentless love of Jesus as a 20-year-old college student. 

I was on a plane to New York City for the first time. I had left school, afraid to get on a plane by myself. I just wanted someone to hold my hand day by day until my confidence was restored. Then suddenly, Jesus spoke. I don’t remember the time, but it was dark, close to the midnight hour. As I sat in the aisle seat, tears streamed down my face. My tears had caught me unaware, and I couldn’t control them. They just flowed, and I tried to wipe them away for fear of looking foolish to the person sitting next to me. But Jesus, simply yet so powerfully, told me words that have forever changed my life: “I love you.” In that moment, I surrendered my heart of fear to His heart of perfect love, and I was set free from trying to earn His love. 

I learned in that moment that we can’t earn the love of Jesus, for it is unconditional. His agapé love sees beyond our weaknesses, covers our sinfulness, and meets us at the places of our deepest needs. God proved His love for us in this, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Paul describes the love of Christ through his prayer in Ephesians 3:17–18, “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” 

His love is revealed through the imagery of a tree and its roots, for Paul begins by praying that the believers in Ephesus are rooted and grounded in love. This connects us to the poetry of Psalm 1:3, when the psalmist speaks of the righteous as a tree, planted by the rivers of water. Just as a tree spreads its roots wide, deep, long, and high to find water, so too love is the nourishment our spirit yearns for and our soul continually searches for. 

Finally, in verse 18, Paul describes the love of Christ as beyond knowledge that fills us with all the fullness of God! As a tree is fed by the sweetness of its sap, so too the love of Christ is the nourishment that heals our body, soul, and spirit, and literally fills us with God Himself! 

Reflection & Release:

What fear has tormented your heart? Take a moment to write it down or say it out loud, then pray this prayer with me: 

Prayer:

Beloved Jesus, here is my heart. Lord, I break every agreement with fear, and I run into Your arms of love. Please hold me, heal me, and pour Your perfect love like a river into every broken place of my heart. My heart is Yours, and with my whole heart, I receive Your love that casts away all fear.

Scriptures: John 8:31-32, Hebrews 4:12, John 1:14

Day 2: Renewing my mind with His words

Revelation:

The words of Jesus are the very essence of who He is, for He is the Word who put on flesh and came to live among us, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). His words have forever changed me, healed me, and set me free. With pen to paper, this poem is my testimony: 

“Look at me and you see a picture of perfection, painted by the Master Artist Himself … but what you don’t see is that underneath this picture, this painted smile, there was a wounded heart, a crushed spirit, a bleeding soul wounded by childhood trauma, crushed by blows from the enemy, bleeding from cuts so deep. For years, I carried the pain, covered it up. I kept it close, and it became my comfort, my cloak until the Master said, ‘No more, My child. I have need of you. It’s time to loosen your chains and set you free.’ Now, His means of setting me free were so foreign to me that, had I not dug deeper, it would have appeared He was hurting me, but, through the crucible of suffering, He forged a new me: blood washed, spirit free. He went straight to the root. His love indeed lifted me. And how did He cut those roots that were so deeply embedded? With the Sword of the Spirit. His Word went into me, searching my deepest thoughts, and exposed the lies the enemy had conceived within me. Like a skillful surgeon, He cut through lie after lie, soul and spirit. He sent His Word to reveal, heal, and fill me.” 

I have learned that when we abide in His Word, the power of lies is broken, and we become free. This freedom is released in our lives as we exchange our words for Christ’s words. For, in John 8:31–32, “Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’” The word “abide” in Greek is meno, which means to continue, endure, remain, to be held. When we continually believe and remain in Christ’s words over our own words, we are set free. 

Reflection/Release:

What lies have you believed? Write them down, and number each one. Next to each lie, find the truth in the Bible, and write it on a 3×5 card. Sow the truth in your heart. Let it take root, and it will bear beautiful fruit. 

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, send Your words to heal me, and deliver me from every lie I’ve believed. Help me to abide in Your Word, for I am Your disciple, and I want to be set free.

Scriptures: Psalms 16:8, Psalms 139:5, Psalms 145:15-16, Isaiah 41:10, 2 Corinthians 12:9

Day 3: Placing my hand into His hand

Revelation:

When Jesus the Messiah came to the earth, He came as the very arm of the Lord (Isaiah 53:1). His hands were pierced with nails that bound Him to a tree, so that we would be completely free. Only His hands can take away our sin, shame, sickness, and sorrow and make something beautiful. 

For many years, I held emptiness and a feeling of aloneness in my hands. My hands are cold by nature, and I crave warmth. In all the feelings of emptiness, aloneness, and coldness, Jesus has met me. He has taken away everything I held in my hand and has filled my hands with the warmth of His love, shattering the lie of aloneness. This hand exchange hasn’t happened all at once, but gradually, every time I sit at His feet in prayer, every time I come just to be with Him and search for His words through Scripture. It is in the secret place of continual abiding where He reveals His right hand to me. 

I have learned that the right hand in Scripture is the Hebrew word yamin, which means strength and life. When I place my hand into the hands of the Lord, I am letting go of living my life in my own strength, and in turn, I am receiving the very life of Christ, and His strength that is made perfect in my weakness. 

Reflection & Release:

What is in your hand that you need to let go of? Take a moment to write it down or say it aloud, then pray this prayer with me: 

Prayer

My Savior Jesus, I praise You for carrying my sin, shame, sorrow, and suffering in Your hands on the cross. I give You my hands and everything in them. I receive Your beauty for my ashes, Your joy for my mourning, and Your garment of praise for my heaviness. Help me to keep my hand in Your hand. You alone uphold me with Your righteous right hand.

Scriptures: Psalms 149:3, Psalms 30:11, Ecclesiastes 3:4, Jeremiah 31:13, Psalms 126:1-6

Day 4: Dancing Free!

Revelation:

As a little girl, I always dreamed of dancing free in a meadow of flowers. I have learned that in the arms of Christ, as I have yielded my heart to His heart, renewed my mind with His words, and placed my hand into His hand, dreams do come true! 

His permeating love not only transforms our minds, our heart, and our hands, it can also touch our feet! We can sing with David in Psalm 30:11, “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.” Another one of my favorite verses that speaks of this healing work is Psalm 126 in its entirety. Jesus truly turns our tears into songs of joy. Beloved, wherever you are in your healing journey, I invite you to join me and dance free! 

Reflection:

Where is Jesus setting you free right now? Take some time to journal and praise Him for the healing work He is doing in your heart, head, hands—or all three! Then, if you are able, go ahead and dance in the presence of the King!