“At that moment, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” –Matthew 27:51

The works of God are a profound mystery. He has surprised me more times than not. When I am certain He hasn’t heard my prayer, He turns around and answers it with precision. When I have considered His work to be done, He decides to completely bless me through the unexpected. I can always ask to see God, but often He says, “Sure, but you won’t understand until I pass by.”

I’m convinced that this the way the disciples felt after the crucifixion of Christ. They expected a King on their own terms! They desired freedom that gave the Israelites power again. Why would the Great Messiah spoken by the Prophets of old allow Himself to be humiliated by a people unworthy to even be in His presence? The disciples had lived daily with Jesus, witnessed many miraculous things,  and now in their eyes, He has let them down. They were receiving a blessing, they just didn’t understand it.

When I was in my early twenties, I remember writing an overly ambitious list of goals for myself to reach by the time I was thirty. It included learning the guitar, speaking Spanish and Creole fluently, and have everything paid off, except the house and student loans amongst other things. Over the years, the list became misplaced and likely tucked away in a drawer somewhere and then lost in the shuffle of making way for my first and second kids. Now, I’m edging towards 33 years old with a few credit cards looming over my head, speaking only English and some embarrassing form of broken Spanglish, and apart from playing three chords on the guitar, I pretty much gave up that goal as well.

Toward the end of my twenties, I found myself becoming frustrated with my life. I wasn’t happy with underachieving my expectations. Why couldn’t I meet my goals? If only my wife did this… if only my family was more like that… if only I lived here or there.  All of these complaints about life not being the way I wanted it to be flooded my perspective and caused me to despise myself. All the while, I knew Jesus and I trusted Him.  I just didn’t understand the blessing.

Psalm 16:10-11 says, “…you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

My list wasn’t eternal.

When I imagined my future, it looked like me. When God looks at my future, it looks like Jesus.

His ways are holy and our ways are being made holy. Radical Freedom isn’t the abuse of the liberty of life, it is the pursuit of the more abundant life! Abundance is found in the Holy Spirit of God! When Christ died on the cross, the curtain of the temple was torn and the separation of the sacred and the profane was relinquished. Jesus had reclaimed God’s people! The disciples were being given the promise of Christ and the Holy Spirit! When the curtain of the temple was torn, Jesus didn’t just give the people access to God – more than that, He gave God access to the people! Because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, humanity was forever changed by God’s radical freedom to reclaim the body as a temple where the Holy Spirit may abundantly live in and through us!

The disciples were right to expect a King, they just didn’t understand that this King would change everything.

Nick Stohler is a Revelation Wellness Instructor.

Thank you for reading along on the Revelation Wellness Blog! This month we are excited to ask, seek and knock on heaven’s door for a greater revelation of what it means to live in radical freedom. If you are a monthly partner with us, we remind you to join us in the RevWell TV July Facebook challenge group page. It’s a place where you are welcome to come as you are and “glow up” in loving God, getting healthy, being whole and loving others.

Have you checked out our FREE downloadable devotional, “21 Declarations: Your Identity in Christ?”

Move in freedom with us in this #wednesdayworkout! For more great workouts, visit us at RevWellTV!

ASHLEE’S FULL-LENGTH CHOREOGRAPHED STRENGTH – “GET YOUR HOPES UP” 

 This workout will flip-flop you back and forth between cardio and resistance training. This workout will certainly keep your body guessing. Muscle confusion? No big deal. God is never confused about us. Get comfortable being uncomfortable in this workout. (ALL LEVELS) (ROMANS 5:1-8; DRUMSTICKS & HAND WEIGHTS)