Hey Free Citizens! Wow, It's been awhile since I have written but I am so happy to be back. How have you been? It's crazy to think this next year will be the 6th anniversary of when God first laid Free Citizen on my heart. Thank you for sticking by me through the ups and downs of life and supporting this ministry. I hope to continue to support you on your journey, too. 

I started this community and ministry because after years of living captive to other people's opinions, desires and expectations of me, God set me free from that (amongst so many other things) and helped me see that everything in my heart-- all of those dreams and desires I somehow could not shake- were put there by Him for a reason. He then laid on my heart to help other realize the freedom they have in Him and help them live out that freedom. 

I wish I could say that the part of Him setting me free was just an overnight thing... but it wasn't. I felt the presence of God and that changed me for sure, but the process of actually living out the freedom God had set forth for me took time-- I am still on the journey.

I think modern day church can sometimes also paint a picture that transformation happens overnight with God. It most definitely can, but sometimes I believe, as we see with many stories in the Bible, that transformation happens over time. It's a journey. I think people get stuck in thinking that if they give their lives to Christ and "mess up", they are no longer worthy of His love, blessings and favor. I get it, because even still I can get in that headspace. But God continues to teach me that our freedom was given to us before we ever realized we even had it. He granted us freedom from the strongholds of the world because of the debt he paid by his blood on the cross over 2000 years ago. But the realization of that freedom only comes through Him. The realization of that freedom coincides with the reward- eternal life in Heaven. And from there it's realizing that we are living in a physical world as spiritual beings... so we have to start unlearning a lot of things and start seeing how the Kingdom is alive right in front of us. It's deep lol. See how i say it's a journey? 

In simple terms, it takes time for us to learn all who God is and understand the richness of His Love, His Word and His Will. 

He teaches me that the first step in living out that freedom is to be in fellowship with Him.... from there, He really does the rest. It's hard to explain, but being in the presence of God is transformative- and sometimes you realize you did nothing other than focus your attention and eyes on him for change to occur supernaturally. He starts revealing things to you that you were unaware of before. He heightens your senses. He helps you tap into your spiritual gifts. He starts changing your heart to truly love people. He helps us take the focus off of ourselves and instead on the purpose He has laid out before us. He helps us understand who we are in Him and to Him. And it all begins with just being in His presence. 

So how do we get into His presence? How does being in His presence start to unravel years of pent up anger, habits, thoughts, trauma? I hope to spend time unpacking how God helps us forgive, love, live for him and not others, build relationships, go after our dreams and fully live in the freedom He gave us in the next few weeks. 

My hope in this series is that we can all be renewed by His word and bring our eyes up back to Him. I hope we can learn together the immense love He has for us and see how He sees us so it can help us see others and situations in a different light and gain the confidence and live boldly as Free Citizens in Christ. 

This will be a weekly series with different focuses so we can spend time together mediating on it before moving on to another topic. 

For now, I encourage you to spend time with Him alone. One way to start doing that is simply going to Him at a quiet part of your day and lay it all out for Him. Share with Him your worries, your fears, things you are grateful for, things that are hurting you. And invite Him in to each area. Even if it feels awkward, close your eyes and start meditating on Him being your safe place. Envision Him being that safe place to be your most raw self. It may feel awkward, talking to something you can't see, but trust me-- it will at the very least feel good to get it all off your chest. 

Thank you for being a part of this community. I am excited to learn with you the love of Christ together. 

Get the latest updates on the series and other things in the community by signing up for my newsletter below!

Cheers,

Aisha