Arms of Love (53 page)

How can you proclaim, or tell others, even without words, about the good news of Jesus Christ?

Prayer
: Dear Lord, make a proclamation in my life that rings so loud and clear that I cannot help but hear it and understand. Proclaim Your freedom, Your justice, Your eternalness through my days and even in what I do not say or do not understand.

Day Four: To Be a Prisoner

Author’s Insight
: Many things hold the characters in this novel captive; I wrote it this way to model our own lives. Whether it be financial, emotional, social, or something else, we are all prisoners to something. Sometimes it’s even in loving too much so that we do not allow God room to work—like with Samuel Yoder. But Christ wants us to be held captive by no one or nothing. He understands the degrading conditions, the negative self-talk, the abject loneliness of being a prisoner. He knows the power of sin because He was the One to overcome it. The enemy would deeply like us to remain prisoners all our days on this earth, never knowing or understanding freedom in Christ. The movie
Braveheart
sums it all up in one great quote—“Every man dies, but not every man truly lives.” We don’t live an abundant life because we are prisoners, but there is a Way out . . .

Novel Question: Which character’s personal “prison” bothered you the most and why?

Jesus commands us to minister to those in prison. Do you know where your local jail is? What is your attitude about those imprisoned there?

What holds you prisoner, even in a small way?

Practice saying to yourself, “I am free in Christ in this situation.”

Prayer
: Dear King Jesus, You promise freedom. Let me feel it. Teach me to walk in Your ways of freedom, to not listen to gossip or lies, to not give in to anger or hate. Help me not to be a prisoner any longer to habits or to thoughts or actions, because You have set me free.

Day Five: True Freedom

Author’s Insight
: Each of the characters in the book gets a small taste of true freedom—that freedom found in God. I wanted Adam to struggle on a lot of fronts about being free—his promise, the war, his passion, his love—because we all struggle to have true freedom. God wants us to know that true freedom comes with accountability and wisdom, responsibility and trust—as a gift through His Son. It is not a political freedom or one framed by earthly hands, but rather a freedom won by the nail-scarred hands of the cross. These hands know that true freedom comes at a cost that you never could have paid alone—that’s why He did it for you.

Novel Question: When does Adam experience true freedom in the story? Why?

In what ways do you long to be free in your own life?

Remembering that “all things are possible through Christ,” how can you gain more freedom in the areas listed above?

What freedom do you sometimes take for granted or neglect?

When have you experienced the knowledge of true freedom?

Prayer
: Dear Lord, You are the source of true freedom. You give and You take away, but You are good. Thank You in advance for the ways that You will work in my life to bring me true freedom. Thank You for the cross.

The PATCH of HEAVEN
series

“Long writes with a polished style that puts her in the same category as the top Christian authors.”

—
Romantic Times