Freedom: Your Best Year Yet: Living the Abundant Christian Life

By Joe Filer and Drew Filer

You can be free from your past.  You can live abundantly free for the rest of your life.  Jesus can free you from addictions, from struggles, from anger, from depression, heartache, and hurts.  He can free you from legalism and religion. He can free you from whatever is binding you and release you to live an abundantly free life. There is freedom in Jesus alone!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joe Filer
• Release date: Feb 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386318712

Book preview

Joe Filer

with

Drew Filer

Edited by: Jennifer Filer

Copyright © 2018 Joe Filer, Drew Filer

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-692-15490-8

Cover Art by: Grant Hawley, [e-mail]

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture taken from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1979, 1980 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved.

DEDICATION

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I dedicate this book to my beautiful, loving wife Jennifer. She has stuck by my side through thick and thin—through the good, the bad, and the ugly. She is my better half for sure.

She is my "Ezer" (Genesis 2:18) 

I love you, Jennifer.

CONTENTS

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank a few people without whom this book would not be possible.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Jesus for being my personal Savior!

Thank you, Dave and Christy Cahela for helping me to understand God’s free gift of grace in a new and fresh way.  That understanding has made this book become a reality.

I would like to say thank you to John Schillack for being a guiding pastor early on in my walk and a prayer warrior for me even to this day.

I would like to thank Ray Van Gilst of the Central Pacific District of the C&MA for never giving up on me and always believing in me, even still. You are a great mentor and dear friend.

I would like to thank Dr. Herb Hert, Renald Showers, and Steve Herzig, professors of mine at Philadelphia Biblical University in the Institute of Jewish Studies—program run in cooperation with the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. These men have taught me and helped me in my formative years of Biblical study. They have laid the foundation for a lot of what is in this book. (Though they cannot—and should not—be blamed for all that is in this book.)

I would also like to thank Mitch Trestman of Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry and Chuck Harrison of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. These two men have been witnessing mentors for me, teaching me to share the Gospel and giving me the opportunity to serve alongside of them in street witnessing. 

I would like to thank all of the authors and theologians of grace that have helped me continue to grow in my walk with Christ: Charles Ryrie, Zane Hodges, Charles Bing, Grant Hawley, Bob Wilkin, Watchman Nee, and Shawn Lazar, to name just a few.

I would like to thank Marty Berglund, my pastor while I attended and served at Fellowship Alliance Chapel (FAC). Marty taught me how to write and preach a sermon. (In fact, he gave me my first opportunity to preach. It was in front of a room full of pastors who were on staff at FAC during employee chapel. Boy was I nervous!) Marty taught me a great deal, but the most influential lesson he taught me was this: God doesn’t call the equipped; He equips those He calls. Thank you, Marty.

Greg Ginion - thank you for always being an encourager and a supporter of our ministry. One of the greatest encouragements that Greg gave me was a simple one liner. Joe, if God is calling you to do something, don’t let anyone talk you out of it! AMEN!! Thank you, Greg.

Erik Jarvis - thank you for praying with me, helping me to discern my call and encouraging me to follow that calling to Utah, no matter what the naysayers said. Thank you for helping me prepare for my ordination interviews. You are a great friend.

Scott Urwiler, Chris Palmer, Dan Entwistle, Rob Eiler and Dave Hall—the Facilities Team at FAC 2004-2009. Thank you, brothers, for walking with me during my calling. Thank you for being there for me. As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Prov. 27:17. Thank you for, by your example, helping me formulate a discipleship process.

Last, but definitely not least, I would like to thank Corporate Chaplains of America (CCA). Thank you, CCA, for giving me the opportunity to serve at a business as a chaplain. This experience was greatly fulfilling and gave me the opportunity to share the freedom of Christ with those who would probably never have gone to church. That experience has taught me that there are times when a properly trained professional chaplain, like the one you trained me to be, are definitely needed. In this book, in the story of Hank and Jenna, we see that the ordinary, everyday believer can have a great ministry in a company also. They can work hand-in-hand with a chaplain for a great ministry partnership. However, not every business has or can afford a chaplain program, so making your place of work your mission field can lead to an abundant harvest.

I always said that if I ever wrote a book, there are two things I would put somewhere in it and only those close to me would understand. One is my catch-phrase; the other is an inside joke. You have to know me to get the catch-phrase, but you really have to be close to get the inside joke.

What It Is?!?!

There’s A Storm Comin

Don’t worry—the inside joke won’t insult or offend anyone. This person is a great friend and has a great sense of humor.

Introduction

Freedom! Can I really be free? you ask. My Best Year Yet!  Is it really possible to make this the best year I have ever had?  And to think about it as my best year yet to come? As in, there may even be better years to come?  Is it even possible to have better years to come? The answer is YES!!!!

This book is not a health-and-wealth, pie-in-the-sky theology, type of book.  There have been plenty of books written on your purpose as a Christian.  My goal is not to duplicate those, but to give a perspective of the Christian life—one that Jesus says you can live abundantly.  Living an abundant Christian life includes purpose, but is not limited to that concept.  I’m calling this book Freedom: Your Best Year Yet! Living the Abundant Christian Life because, if you allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life the way Jesus intended, and you start this year, it will be your best year yet.  Trust me, you won’t want to stop living the abundant Christian life after a year.  It will become a way of life for you.  But thinking of it as starting and focusing on one year is a good way to get started.

This is not a book full of rules, do’s and don’ts, or religious concepts.  On the contrary, legalism kills the abundant Christian life. Your best year yet will be filled with the freedom that only Christ can bring.  My prayer for you during your reading of this book is that you experience the limitless love of God and live the freedom of the abundant Christian life.  This will lead to your best year yet, which will then lead to a lifetime of fruitful, free, abundant Christian living.

The only true freedom is found in Jesus Christ.  This is the freedom you were created to live in.  Jesus can set you free!  When the Son sets you free you are free indeed! John 8:36

In Luke, we read that Jesus

"...was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,

Because He has anointed Me

To preach the gospel to the poor;

He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,

To proclaim liberty to the captives

And recovery of sight to the blind,

To set at liberty those who are oppressed;

To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.’

Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him.  And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’" (Luke 4:17-21, emphasis added)

You can be free from your past.  You can live abundantly free for the rest of your life.  Jesus can free you from addictions, from struggles, from anger, from depression, heartache, and hurts.  He can free you from legalism and religion.  He can free you from whatever is binding you and release you to live an abundantly free life. There is freedom in Jesus alone!

Study Questions

Introduction

1.  How do you define the word freedom?

The New Testament definition of freedom

2. True freedom is only found in Christ. How do these verses explain this?

Luke 4:16-21 -

Hebrews 2:14-15 -

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3.  What are we freed from?

Romans 6:23 -

Romans 6:6-7 -

Psalm 86:13 -

Revelation 20:10; 14-15 -

4.  What are we freed to?

John 3:16; Rev. 21:1-4; 27-

Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 6:8-11; Galatians 2:19-21-

Galatians 5:1-6 -

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5.  Now that you have defined freedom Biblically, has this affected or changed your definition above?  If so, how? 

Part One

Saving Freedom

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In the first part of this book, we are going to see that salvation is a free gift from God to all those who believe in Jesus.  Your freedom in Christ starts here.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16

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God’s Free Grace

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My Story

Who am I and why should you listen to me?  Well, that’s a good question!  I am glad you asked.  The truth is I am nobody special.  I am not a famous author, theologian or speaker.  I am just "an