In this compelling installment, Rick Hughes delves into the meaning of spiritual freedom and how to achieve it. Listeners are invited to explore the notion of grace living, driven by the principles of faith and absence from religious solicitation. Through the teachings of Christ, Rick shares profound insights into breaking free from the bondage of sin nature and the deceptive practices of organized religion. Discover how a personal relationship with God paves the way for true liberty in every aspect of your life.
Welcome to the Flatline with your host, Rick Hughes. For the next 30 minutes, you’ll be inspired, motivated, educated, but never manipulated. Now, your host, Rick Hughes.
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Good morning and welcome to the Flatline. I’m your host, Rick Hughes, and for the next few minutes, I’d like to invite you to stick around. 30 minutes of motivation, some inspiration, some education, all done without manipulation, and I will explain that in a minute. But the flood line being heard all across the United States this morning, cities like Albuquerque, Anchorage, Atlanta, Cheyenne, Dallas, Detroit, Green Bay, Las Vegas, Memphis, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, Tampa, These are just a few of the cities where we broadcast our radio show, 110 cities every Sunday morning by the grace of God. No manipulation, no solicitations, just giving the information. If you enjoy the Flatline radio show, you may or you may not wonder how we afford to broadcast in all these radio shows every Sunday morning because I assume you’ve noticed that we don’t hustle money. We don’t try to sell you a book. We don’t try to sell you a devotional. We don’t make any appeals for money. Because I live by the verse that Paul the Apostle wrote in 2 Corinthians 2, 17. For we are not like many peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, we speak in Christ in the sight of God. In other words, letting God examine everything that we do. So again, we don’t peddle the word of God. I don’t claim to have a better understanding than many others on the air who have Christian teaching shows, but I do proclaim liberty from selling books or selling messages because I believe that Christian marketing is atrocious. I think it’s sad. I get numerous ads over social media, sometimes television, other communication mediums, all trying to sell me a book or a video about God or his word. This Christian marketing is totally wrong and totally dishonoring to God. I know many Christians who speak and these are professional athletes who speak motivationally and charge a fee to come and proclaim the message of Christ, to give their testimony. You have to pay a fee up front. I’ve been in meetings where I attended, I didn’t conduct them. where the evangelist would speak and the music leader would be selling his music videos out in the front of the church. Bad, bad, bad, bad. Grace living frees us from human dependency. Me and the associates that I work with, we have all learned that if God’s in it, God will pay for it. We don’t have to worry about the money, so proclaim the gospel, teach the word of God, and let the Father handle the finances. He does that. He has done that. He always will do that because the truth of grace living sets us free from the bondage of the marketing community. What we offer, books, transcriptions, MP3s, DVDs, anything from our website, Every bit of it is free if you order from us. So keep that in mind. We trust God to provide our finances without trying to make an issue or trying to sell something. We’ve all heard it said, and you’ve heard it, I’ve heard it, that freedom is not free. We love our freedom in this country because many wonderful Americans sacrificed their lives and their future to provide that freedom for us. One of the great things that I’m involved in doing is working with the Texas Wounded Warrior Foundation. Twice a year we have a retreat for warriors and their children and their spouses. And it’s a weekend of spiritual encouragement where we teach the word of God to these warriors and their families. And we never take our freedom for granted because we know that these people are individuals that have paid the ultimate price so that we might be free. So failing to recognize freedom, that’s a bad problem. Some abuse their freedom. Some take it for granted. Some assume it’s always going to be there. But they fail to recognize that there are those within and without that hate this country. People within us, our nation, and without of our nation that would love to see us go down in flames, fueled by social unrest and political power grabs. Liberal, progressive politicians. They assume they know what’s best for you. But a believer like you or hopefully like me with some biblical wisdom can see through this smoke screen of deception and deceit. Where could you get this sort of insight? Well, I’ll tell you where the freedom comes from and what freedom offers you. In John 8, 31 through 32, the Lord Jesus Christ said to the Jews who had believed in him, quote, if you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine. And you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. The truth will make you free. Free from what? That’s the question. Well, number one, free from eternal condemnation. How’s that for free? In John 3, 16, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so that whoever believes in him should not perish forever. but have everlasting life. There is a possibility that you may perish in the lake of fire by rejecting Christ as your savior. That was never God’s plan for you. That was not what God intended for you. That was created for Satan and the fallen angels. God intended for you a rescue vehicle called the cross. And that cross was the Lord Jesus Christ dying for my sin and your sin, paying the ultimate penalty for what we did. because the Bible said he that knew no sin was made sin for us so that we could be made the righteousness of God by means of him. So we’re free from eternal condemnation if we trust in Christ as our savior. You can’t buy your way to freedom. You can’t purchase your way to freedom with God. You have to, by faith, accept the free gift of salvation. That’s why the Bible says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and it’s a gift from God, not of works, lest any man would brag about it. Jesus said to Thomas, who asked Jesus a question about where he’s going in John 14, 6, Jesus said, Thomas, I am the way. I am the truth. and I am the life, and no one can come to the Father but through me. Did you hear that? The only way to get to God the Father is through Jesus Christ. You may wonder about other religions that claim to worship God, and there’s the answer. If they do not believe that Jesus Christ is the anointed Son of God, they are false, they are evil, and they are liars. The Bible says in Romans 8, 1 through 2, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ has set you free from the law of sin and death. We’re free in Christ Jesus. free from condemnation, free from sin and death. That’s an amazing thing. You don’t have to try to earn your freedom. You don’t have to purchase your freedom. It’s a gift from God. That’s what salvation is. It’s a gift from God. So can I ask you a question? If you died today, would you go to heaven? Do you have that freedom of thought in your mind, knowing confidently that you are going to heaven? you say i’m not sure i want to know i’m trying to know i’m trying to do it i’m trying my best That will not work. You can’t do it that way. The only way to come to heaven is to go through Jesus Christ who died on the cross for you and to accept his death as your savior. You can do it in prayer. You can simply pray a prayer, just bow your head and pray and say, Father, I believe that Christ died for me and I am willing to accept him as my savior. That’s expressing your faith to God the Father. And the Bible does say, whosoever should call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And you can do that right now in your car. You can do that right now at your home, on your couch, in your chair, at your dinner table, breakfast table. If you ask God to save you, he will do it through Jesus Christ, his son. So there is freedom from eternal condemnation. God sets you free from condemnation. But there’s another type of freedom also. True freedom in life is freedom from the control of the sin nature. See, you’re born with a sin nature, me and you both. We have a sin nature. We may not have the same trends. We may not have the same lust patterns because some people lust for money. Some people lust for power. Some people lust for sex. Some people lust for drugs or alcohol. Lust patterns are different, but everybody has a sin nature. Because the Bible says, for by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and now death is passed on all. For all have sinned, and all have come short of the glory of God. We all have received Adam’s original sin, and we are born into the family of Adam with Adam’s sin nature. Now, what do we do about it? Are you tired of being enslaved to your sin nature? Let’s ask you another question, just a straight up question. Are you addicted to anything? Are you addicted to alcohol? Are you addicted to drugs? Are you addicted to pornography? Are you addicted to anything? if you are that’s your sin nature and bondage chaining you up and you’re not free you haven’t learned even though you may have accepted christ as your savior you haven’t learned how to be free in the christian life listen what the bible says in galatians 5 16 and 17. so i say walk by means of the holy spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh Verse 17, Galatians 5, for the flesh desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the flesh, and they are in conflict with each other, so that you’re not to do whatever you want to do. So there’s always this battle going on within you. It’s in your mind is where all of this takes place. That’s where you live your spiritual life in your thoughts, because God said as a man thinketh in his mind. So he is, if there’s any one thing Satan does not want you to do is to think rationally. He doesn’t want you to have any coherent thoughts. He doesn’t want you to understand the word of God because that’s called biblical wisdom. And if you accrue that wisdom, then you have insight and discernment and able to see through the smokescreen of deception that he lays out to deceive you. So there is freedom from sin nature control. That’s just one of the three enemies you face in time. The world, the flesh, and the devil are all three enemies that you face. However, you have the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the indwelling of God the Father. I would say the odds are in our favor. But you do not have to be addicted to anything. You don’t have to be addicted to food. You don’t have to be addicted to alcohol, to cigarettes, to drugs, to sex. You don’t have to be. That’s sin nature bondage controlling you. And if you learn problem solving device number one, And number two, then you can live free of the control of the sin nature. What is problem-solving device number one? It’s rebound. If we confess our sin, he’s faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Rebound, what does that mean? When you know you have committed a sin as a Christian, stop immediately and confess the sin. What does that do? That subjugates the sin nature and puts the Holy Spirit back in control. But in your mind, when you decide that you want to do a sin and you make a volitional decision, then you are taking the Holy Spirit out of control and putting your flesh back in control. And you’re told in the Bible, don’t walk like that. Don’t live like that. The Gentiles live like that, Paul said, in the vanity of their thinking. Their minds are empty. They act on their emotions. If you’re going to learn to break free and live free, You must learn how to be filled with the Holy Spirit because you cannot live free apart from the filling of the Holy Spirit. So again, don’t walk under the power of the flesh. I’m going to read Galatians again, 5, 16, and 17. I’m telling you, walk by means of the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. If you will rebound any time you know you’ve committed a sin, you will put that sin nature out of control and and put the Holy Spirit back in control. Rebound means to confess the sin, name it, cite it to God. Don’t promise you won’t ever do it again. That’s ridiculous. You probably will. And it may take you 30 or 40 times a day to rebound till you get control of your flesh until you bring it back in line. But any time you sin, go to God and rebound, and that will put the Holy Spirit in control and take the flesh out of control. It may only be an hour before the flesh is tugging at your heart again saying, let me in, let me do it, let me run it, let me do it. Paul wrote, I don’t understand myself at all in Romans 7. He said, I don’t want to do the things I do, but I keep on doing them and it’s plain, it’s sin in me. Yes, we have a sin nature, but we can be free from the control of the sin nature We can be free from domination of Satan’s thinking if we learn God’s word. And that starts with being filled with the Holy Spirit by means of rebound. There’s also, when the Lord Jesus Christ said you can know the truth and the truth will set you free, there’s also freedom from the details of life. You don’t have to have the details of life to have happiness. Happiness is not associated with what you have. Happiness is associated with what you think. So listen to what Paul said. Philippians 4, 12 through 13. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty, and I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, because I can do all things through him who gives me the strength. That’s occupation with Christ. That’s a problem-solving device. Number 10, occupation with Christ. As a mature believer, once you’ve learned and begin to apply God’s word, you begin to live by the faith rest drill, which is problem-solving device number three. You’re oriented to God’s grace, problem-solving device number four. You live by doctrinal orientation, problem-solving device number five. Thus, you have a personal sense of destiny, problem-solving device number six. And now you have personal love for God, which is your greatest virtue. And that’s another problem solving device. Number seven, then impersonal love for all of mankind. That’s using your virtue to love them, not them loving you. That’s impersonal love. The same thing God loved you with. God so loved the world, you were a jerk and he loved you. He loved you based on who he is, not based on who you are. It’s the same thing for you when you have to love your neighbor. Sharing the happiness of God is problem-solving device number nine. And occupation with Christ is problem-solving device number 10. So Paul is at number 10. I can do all things through him who gives me the strength. When you’re occupied with Christ, the details of life don’t threaten you. When you’re occupied with Christ, you’re not enslaved to the details of life. You don’t depend on the details of life to make you happy. And the reason is because you’re content. Contentment is a wonderful thing because contentment gives you capacity for living. If you are content, God can pour things into your life that will not distract you. But if you’re not content, you cannot live any way but distracted because you’re always looking for something. You believe in that stupid stuff about follow your dreams. You can live your dream and That’s not what the Bible teaches at all. That’s not the lifestyle God teaches. There’s nothing wrong with having a desire to achieve success in any field that you’re in, but calling it following your dream, that’s a waste of time. You gotta find out what God’s plan for your life is. That’s the personal sense of destiny problem solving device. Number six, having a personal sense of destiny. Then you know what God’s objective will for you is, his geographical will for you is. You understand these things. I mean, I haven’t taught all of these 10 problem-solving devices lately, but you need to know them. We’re putting out a new book on this as soon as we can, but we do have the problem-solving devices bookmarks that you can order and take a look at them. And we do have a book called Christian Problem Solving, but we are doing another book Hopefully we’ll explain these more in detail. So think about this, freedom from the details of life, not having to depend on anything for your sense of happiness, but depending on occupation with Christ. Another freedom is freedom from mental attitude sins. When Christ said you can know the truth, the truth will set you free. Freedom from mental attitude sins. Listen to what Paul wrote in Philippians 4, 6, and 7. Do not be anxious about anything, but at everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will garrison your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus, occupation with Christ again. So it’s possible not to be anxious about anything. listen to what matthew wrote here in matthew 6 25 therefore i’m telling you do not be anxious about your life do not be anxious about what you’re going to eat or what you’re going to drink about your body or what you’re going to wear is not your life more than food and the body more than clothing i mean look at the birds of the air they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them, and you are a lot more valuable than them. That’s true. Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to the span of your life? It’s not possible. Excuse me just a minute. And which one of you, if you’re anxious about clothing, The Bible says, consider the lilies of the field, how they grow and they don’t toil and they don’t spin. And yet Matthew wrote, I’m telling you, even Solomon in all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these. These are the words of Christ. Now, Matthew didn’t write it. He’s quoting Christ. and then in isaiah 26 3 you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you that’s occupation with christ there is a way to live to have freedom there is a way to live to be free from the flesh free from the controls of the sin nature free from mental attitude sins free from eternal condemnation and it’s all in christ Because freedom is the policy of God in the creation of the human race. And he gave it so we could resolve the angelic conflict. The very fact that God created us with volition, choosing, choice, it indicates that God intended for us to exercise our free will as part of the angelic conflict. So freedom, listen carefully, freedom must have content of thought, spiritual thought. Spiritual thought content is revealed in the word of God, what he wants you to think. Does God say what he wants you to think? Yes. Listen again. Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ Jesus, Philippians 2.5. Proverbs 23, as a man thinketh in his heart, so he is. Romans 12, stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance beyond what you should think, but think in terms of humility as God has assigned to each one of us a standard of thinking from his word. Yes, absolutely yes. God has a plan in what he wants you to think, how he wants you to conduct your life, how you are to believe. The very fact that he gave you that volition means you’re to exercise your free will using your thinking. Concentration is the key to this. You cannot grow spiritually if you can’t concentrate. This is one of the dilemmas of organized religion. They don’t want you to concentrate. They want to entertain you. If you go to church and there’s a lot of musical programs and entertainment, you’re not concentrating on anything. You’re just getting emotional. Waving your hands around, singing, do Lord to your blue in the face is not growing spiritually. Spiritual thought content. is revealed in the word of God. So when the pastor teacher stands up to teach the Bible and teach the word of God, he is telling you how you should think. He’s telling you how you should live your life based on what the scripture says. And that means you put it into your thoughts and circulate it in your stream of consciousness where if you believe it and apply it, it’s called biblical wisdom. So spiritual freedom is, is the environment for every believer to execute your spiritual life and my spiritual life. We have that spiritual freedom. We can break free from the bondage of sin and death. We’re free from condemnation. We’re free from the details of life. We’re free from mental attitude sins. We’re free. From the needs of the politician to control us. Free. It’s a wonderful environment to live in. Spiritual freedom. Because the function of spiritual freedom is based on cognition. That’s learning. It’s based on utilization. That’s applying. Cognition and utilization of God’s word through the filling of the Holy Spirit. If you do that, if you learn these 10 problem-solving devices, which are just part of the Christian life, just to put it in a little nutshell so you can understand it, then you can begin to be free and think free and live free, free from organized religion that seeks to intimidate you, free from organized religion that will try to tell you how to live. You know, what’s really sad is many believers live in bondage of organized religions. Organized religion seeks to impose a list of do’s and don’ts on you. Do’s and don’ts, everything from your personal habits to your finances. It’s really pitiful. I’ve seen some unbelievable pitiful things where organized religion manipulates older people to take money from them. As they get old and begin to lose their cognitive ability, the church may apply pressure on them to give some of their finances or put them in their will. Something like that. Crazy. Crazy. And you know, you’ve heard it before, you’re not a good Christian if you don’t tithe. You’re not a good Christian if you smoke. You’re not a good Christian if you drink. You’re not a good Christian if you wear the wrong clothes. That’s all garbage. The Bible doesn’t teach you to tithe. Tithing was an Old Testament system of taxation. Everybody in the nation tithed, everybody. The Bible teaches you to give as God has prospered you, and it certainly may be a lot more than 10%. If you think you’re going to buy God off for 10% of your income, you’re nuts. And so someone tells you, you’re not a good Christian if you tithe, if you don’t tithe, brother. You’re not a good Christian if you smoke. The Bible doesn’t tell you don’t smoke. The Bible tells you don’t harm your body. Eating 10 chickens a day can harm your body just as much as smoking 10 cigarettes a day. The Bible doesn’t say don’t have a drink. It doesn’t tell you what to wear, what kind of clothes to wear or not wear. That’s what religion does. God judges you on what you’re thinking, not what you’re wearing or what you’re drinking. I agree and I admit that it’s a sin to get drunk. You don’t want to give that image to people that’s okay because some people can handle it, some people can’t. I’m making a principle, I’m making a point. This is how religion manipulates people. I know a lot of Christians abuse their freedoms, that’s for sure. But many more live in bondage trying to live up to some unrealistic expectation that even leaders can’t follow. They expect you to straighten up and fly right if you wish to be in their assembly. But the word of God learned, the word of God metabolized, it offers incredible freedom from that sort of lifestyle. Freedom from religious intimidation. Freedom from solicitations and manipulation of the organized religion. What is offered through the word of God and in the scripture is a phenomenal lifestyle of freedom and a lifestyle of insight into the evil schemes of Satan, who’s the great counterfeiter. Man, I hope you’re listening to this. I hope you’re getting what I’m saying because there’s nothing more I’d love for you to have than this type of freedom in your life. You’ve been bound up long enough trying to impress people that don’t need to be impressed. You’ve been fed a line for long enough. It’s time to get out of that stuff. Break free. Get into the Word of God. Get under a well-qualified pastor and learn. I can help you. I can point you in the right direction. I’m not a pastor. That’s not my job. But you must have the desire and the volitional desire to grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So we’re here, here to help, here to offer help. Get in touch with us, and we will point you in the right direction as soon as we can. We hear from you, okay? Thank you for listening. We’ll be back next week, same time, same place. Until then, this is your host, Rick Hughes, saying thank you for listening to The Flatline.
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Thank you for listening to The Floodline with your host, Rick Hughes. If you’d like to contact Rick, please write to him at P.O. Box 100, Cropwell, Alabama, 35054, or online at www.rickhughesministries.org.
