Freedom: July 4, 2014

TODAYS WORD FOR FRIDAY JULY 4, 2014

FREEDOM

DEFINITION:

The state of being free; liberty; without restraint; the right to worship and publish fact and opinion without restriction.

SCRIPTURE:

There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me FREE from the law of sin and death. Romans 8: 1-2

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

It was 238 years ago that the official day was set for the independence of America, the birth day of the founding of these United States of America. This country was founded to give its people freedoms and we should be thankful to God for the freedoms we have enjoyed for these more than 238 years.

But unfortunately we are seeing changes. We slowly but surely are losing one freedom at a time here in America. But the sad thing we see is that believers in Jesus do not seem to care.

SPECIAL ALERT! We need to stand up for the freedoms we have. Many friends from more than 175 countries receive these email devotionals every day and they understand what we are saying because many do not enjoy the freedom to worship as we do here in America.

Our country was founded by those who sought freedom to worship God as they pleased. Our founding fathers paid a heavy price to see that we, today, have the freedoms that we enjoy. Harry S. Truman, former President of the United States said: “freedom is expensive, it still costs blood, it still calls for courage and endurance by every man and woman who is free and who is determined to remain free.”

Freedom is something that needs to be protected. Above the Capitol building in Washington D.C. is the FREEDOM LADY. This statue is about 20 feet high and stands out for all to see when they come near the Capitol. The story is told about the shipping by sea of this statue from Rome to America in the 1700’s. The ship encountered a severe storm and to protect the ship and the crew they threw most of the cargo overboard.

Some of the crew wanted to throw the statue out --- it was very heavy. The captain refused shouting for all to hear, “NO NEVER! We will flounder before we throw FREEDOM away”.

Christianity is much more than a religion. It is a relationship with Jesus. God has given each one of us the freedom to choose to have a relationship with Jesus. Joshua said to the Children of Israel: “Choose you this day, who you will serve. For me and my house we will serve the Lord”. They had the freedom to choose as do we today and we do not want to lose that freedom.

Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:13 that we, as believers, have been given freedom, and we are to use that freedom to serve one another and not as an opportunity to further our sinful desires. We are free to sin but sin enslaves us and is not freedom at all.

Believers are truly free because Jesus has set us free from the bondage of sin. We are to use our freedom to glorify God by serving others.

The freedoms we have here in America are very important to all of us but the freedom that we receive from our Lord is much more important. We dare not let evil triumph because the result will be the loss of our freedoms. God will honor our faithfulness if we are faithful to Him.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Romans 12:2:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

PRAYER:

Thank You for the freedoms You have given me and my family, especially the freedom to worship You. Help me to use my freedom to further the good news of the gospel. Enable me to share my beliefs to my family, my friends and my neighbors and lead them to appreciate the freedom to worship God.