November 4th, 2025
by Rev. Kevin C Benton
by Rev. Kevin C Benton
Breaking Free: Living as Children of the Promise
The story of two sons—Ishmael and Isaac—reveals a profound truth about our identity as believers. One was born through human effort and natural circumstances. The other was born through divine promise and supernatural intervention. This ancient narrative isn't just history; it's a mirror reflecting the choice we face every day about how we live our Christian lives.
The Bondage We Don't Recognize
Scripture tells us plainly: we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Yet many believers live as though they're still enslaved. Like those who remained in bondage long after emancipation simply because no one told them they were free, countless Christians operate under spiritual slavery despite having been purchased at the highest price—the blood of Jesus Christ.
The enemy's most effective weapon isn't always obvious chains. It's the invisible ones—the mental and spiritual bondage that keeps us thinking, acting, and believing like slaves when we've been declared sons and daughters of the Most High God. We've been given freedom, yet we continue living with a slave mentality, accepting defeat, sickness, poverty, and fear as our portion when abundance, healing, and victory have already been sec
The Two-Way Street of Commitment
God's commitment to us is unwavering. He never leaves nor forsakes us, even when circumstances make His presence feel distant. But commitment is a two-way street. While God remains faithful to His covenant, we must examine our own level of dedication to Him.
Grace—that beautiful, unmerited favor—should never be taken for granted. It's not a license to live carelessly, thinking we can sin today and claim grace tomorrow. That's treating God's precious gift with contempt. True commitment means our desires begin to align with God's desires. When we're genuinely committed to His ways, His ways become our ways, and suddenly the "desires of our heart" that He promises to give us are the very things He already wanted for us.
Drawing near to God causes Him to draw near to us. The distance we feel from God is always our choice, never His. The level of investment we make in our relationship with Him directly correlates to what we experience in return.
The Supernatural Life
When we accept Christ, we don't just join a religion or adopt a moral code. We become supernatural people. How? Because God's "super" gets on our "natural," transforming us into something beyond the ordinary. We're no longer bound by natural limitations when we tap into the supernatural power available through the Holy Spirit.
This isn't mysticism or wishful thinking. It's biblical reality. We were born through the virtue of promise, just like Isaac. The same Holy Spirit that brought life to Sarah's dead womb and enabled a virgin to conceive the Savior of the world lives inside every believer. That's supernatural power residing in earthen vessels.
Yet many Christians live powerless lives, never accessing what's been freely given. We must reach into the spiritual realm and pull our miracles down into the natural. Not through magic formulas or special techniques, but through unwavering faith in a God who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or imagine.
Casting Out the Slave Mentality
Scripture instructs us to "cast out the bondwoman and her son." In practical terms, this means actively removing the slave mentality from our lives. We must stop identifying with Ishmael—the natural, the limited, the product of human effort—and start identifying with Isaac—the promised, the miraculous, the supernatural.
We belong to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the conqueror of hell, death, and the grave. We are heirs of God through Christ. When we call on our Heavenly Father, we're not approaching as beggars or slaves, but as children with full inheritance rights. "My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" isn't just a nice verse—it's our legal standing in the Kingdom.
The Weapon of Fear
Fear is perhaps the heaviest chain the enemy uses to keep believers in bondage. Fear of the unknown. Fear of change. Fear of inadequacy. Fear that whispers, "This isn't for you. You don't deserve this. God didn't mean that promise for someone like you."
But Scripture declares that perfect love casts out fear. The love of Jesus should obliterate every fear that tries to restrain us. Not the healthy caution that keeps us from foolish decisions, but the paralyzing fear that keeps us from moving forward in God's purposes.
The enemy wants us operating in fear and unbelief, always feeling punished, always feeling like we're falling short. But we serve a God who is for us, not against us. If He didn't spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also freely give us all things?
Living as Conquerors
We are called to be a peculiar generation, set apart and noticeably different from the world. Not because we're judgmental or self-righteous, but because there's something genuinely different about us. The way we handle conflict, respond to adversity, and maintain joy in difficult circumstances should make others curious about the source of our strength.
The enemy wants us depressed, heartbroken, sick, and disgruntled with everything and everyone. He slithers into our lives whispering lies, creating division, and pointing fingers. He thrives on disunity and offense among believers.
But we don't have to be slaves to his tactics anymore. We are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. We are supernatural people called to do supernatural things—not through our own power, but through the Holy Spirit working in and through us.
The Key to Freedom
All of this—the freedom, the power, the supernatural life—hinges on one essential relationship: knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You can read about Isaac and Ishmael, study theology, and understand spiritual principles, but none of it produces freedom without a genuine relationship with Jesus.
He is the Truth that sets us free. And when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Not partially free. Not eventually free. Free right now, in this moment, to live as the child of promise you were always meant to be.
The question isn't whether freedom is available. It's whether we'll accept it and start living like the free, supernatural, victorious children of God we truly are.
The story of two sons—Ishmael and Isaac—reveals a profound truth about our identity as believers. One was born through human effort and natural circumstances. The other was born through divine promise and supernatural intervention. This ancient narrative isn't just history; it's a mirror reflecting the choice we face every day about how we live our Christian lives.
The Bondage We Don't Recognize
Scripture tells us plainly: we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. Yet many believers live as though they're still enslaved. Like those who remained in bondage long after emancipation simply because no one told them they were free, countless Christians operate under spiritual slavery despite having been purchased at the highest price—the blood of Jesus Christ.
The enemy's most effective weapon isn't always obvious chains. It's the invisible ones—the mental and spiritual bondage that keeps us thinking, acting, and believing like slaves when we've been declared sons and daughters of the Most High God. We've been given freedom, yet we continue living with a slave mentality, accepting defeat, sickness, poverty, and fear as our portion when abundance, healing, and victory have already been sec
The Two-Way Street of Commitment
God's commitment to us is unwavering. He never leaves nor forsakes us, even when circumstances make His presence feel distant. But commitment is a two-way street. While God remains faithful to His covenant, we must examine our own level of dedication to Him.
Grace—that beautiful, unmerited favor—should never be taken for granted. It's not a license to live carelessly, thinking we can sin today and claim grace tomorrow. That's treating God's precious gift with contempt. True commitment means our desires begin to align with God's desires. When we're genuinely committed to His ways, His ways become our ways, and suddenly the "desires of our heart" that He promises to give us are the very things He already wanted for us.
Drawing near to God causes Him to draw near to us. The distance we feel from God is always our choice, never His. The level of investment we make in our relationship with Him directly correlates to what we experience in return.
The Supernatural Life
When we accept Christ, we don't just join a religion or adopt a moral code. We become supernatural people. How? Because God's "super" gets on our "natural," transforming us into something beyond the ordinary. We're no longer bound by natural limitations when we tap into the supernatural power available through the Holy Spirit.
This isn't mysticism or wishful thinking. It's biblical reality. We were born through the virtue of promise, just like Isaac. The same Holy Spirit that brought life to Sarah's dead womb and enabled a virgin to conceive the Savior of the world lives inside every believer. That's supernatural power residing in earthen vessels.
Yet many Christians live powerless lives, never accessing what's been freely given. We must reach into the spiritual realm and pull our miracles down into the natural. Not through magic formulas or special techniques, but through unwavering faith in a God who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all we could ask or imagine.
Casting Out the Slave Mentality
Scripture instructs us to "cast out the bondwoman and her son." In practical terms, this means actively removing the slave mentality from our lives. We must stop identifying with Ishmael—the natural, the limited, the product of human effort—and start identifying with Isaac—the promised, the miraculous, the supernatural.
We belong to Jesus Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the conqueror of hell, death, and the grave. We are heirs of God through Christ. When we call on our Heavenly Father, we're not approaching as beggars or slaves, but as children with full inheritance rights. "My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" isn't just a nice verse—it's our legal standing in the Kingdom.
The Weapon of Fear
Fear is perhaps the heaviest chain the enemy uses to keep believers in bondage. Fear of the unknown. Fear of change. Fear of inadequacy. Fear that whispers, "This isn't for you. You don't deserve this. God didn't mean that promise for someone like you."
But Scripture declares that perfect love casts out fear. The love of Jesus should obliterate every fear that tries to restrain us. Not the healthy caution that keeps us from foolish decisions, but the paralyzing fear that keeps us from moving forward in God's purposes.
The enemy wants us operating in fear and unbelief, always feeling punished, always feeling like we're falling short. But we serve a God who is for us, not against us. If He didn't spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also freely give us all things?
Living as Conquerors
We are called to be a peculiar generation, set apart and noticeably different from the world. Not because we're judgmental or self-righteous, but because there's something genuinely different about us. The way we handle conflict, respond to adversity, and maintain joy in difficult circumstances should make others curious about the source of our strength.
The enemy wants us depressed, heartbroken, sick, and disgruntled with everything and everyone. He slithers into our lives whispering lies, creating division, and pointing fingers. He thrives on disunity and offense among believers.
But we don't have to be slaves to his tactics anymore. We are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. We are supernatural people called to do supernatural things—not through our own power, but through the Holy Spirit working in and through us.
The Key to Freedom
All of this—the freedom, the power, the supernatural life—hinges on one essential relationship: knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You can read about Isaac and Ishmael, study theology, and understand spiritual principles, but none of it produces freedom without a genuine relationship with Jesus.
He is the Truth that sets us free. And when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Not partially free. Not eventually free. Free right now, in this moment, to live as the child of promise you were always meant to be.
The question isn't whether freedom is available. It's whether we'll accept it and start living like the free, supernatural, victorious children of God we truly are.
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