Week Twenty-Six, 2019
FREEDOM
By Florida Senator John Grant (Retired)
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).
This week in the USA, we will have fireworks, parades, old fashioned barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and a host of other celebratory events, all to celebrate national freedom from bondage.
Independence Day is the National Day of the United States. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject (and subordinate) to the monarch of Britain and were now united, free, and independent states.
We celebrate the power or right to act, speak, or think as we want without hindrance or restraint, the absence of subjection to foreign domination or despotic government and the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.
It is a day to celebrate that freedom, but also a day to examine just what freedom means. Yes, it is freedom from, but as well freedom to…… to stand for morality and righteousness and to realize that freedom calls us to serve one another.
It is a day to rise to the occasion or realizing that freedom is not only a separation from bondage, but a call to rise to the occasion and realize that with freedom goes responsibility. Freedom is the ability to set your schedule, to decide on the work you do, to make decisions. Responsibility is being held accountable for your actions. If I have the freedom to speak, it is my responsibility to speak properly.
Sadly, our national and local community is becoming “more about me.” The Bible is clear. The quest for freedom is a theme found throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Just three chapters into the story of God’s creation, humanity gave up its freedom by choosing to rebel against God. From that time forward, the perfect freedom God created in the Garden of Eden was gone, and the long-term effects were both physical and spiritual.
The Old Testament of the Bible records how God’s people lost their physical freedom time and again as various empires overtook them.
The loss of physical freedom was often tied to spiritual disobedience like worshiping false gods. But time and again, the one true God forgave His people and rescued them.
Today, many people are living in spiritual slavery without realizing it. They chase false gods of money, success, personal comfort and romantic love—only to realize they still have an emptiness that can’t be filled by any of those things.
So, as we celebrate freedom from bondage, let us also resolve to keep our eyes fixed on the freedoms God gives us and remember that The Word tells us “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
HAPPINESS:
Steve Gouves dies a billionaire, with a fortune of $ 7 billion, at the age of 56 from pancreatic cancer, and here are some of his last words:
In other eyes, my life is the essence of success, but aside from work, I have a little joy, and in the end wealth is just a fact of life to which I am accustomed. At this moment, lying on the bed, sick and remembering all my life, I realize that all my recognition and wealth that I have is meaningless in the face of imminent death.
You can hire someone to drive a car for you, make money for you – but you cannot rent someone to carry the disease for you. One can find material things, but there is one thing that cannot be found when it is lost – “life”.
Treat yourself well and cherish others. As we get older, we are smarter, and we slowly realize that the watch is worth $30 or $300 – both of which show the same time. Whether we carry a purse worth $30 or $300 – the amount of money in the wallets are the same. Whether we drive a car worth $150,000, or a car worth $30,000 – the road and distance are the same and we reach the same destination. If the house we live in is 300 square meters, or 3000 square meters – the loneliness is the same.
Your true inner happiness does not come from the material things of this world. Whether you’re flying first class, or economy class – if the plane crashes, you crash with it.
So, I hope you understand that when you have friends or someone to talk to – this is true happiness!
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Five Undeniable Facts:
1. Do not educate your children to be rich. Educate them to be happy. So when they grow up they will know the value of things, not the price.
2. Eat your food as medicine, otherwise you will need to eat your medicine as food.
3. Whoever loves you will never leave you, even if they have 100 reasons to give up. They will always find one reason to hold on.
4. There is a big difference between being a human and being a human being.
5. If you want to go fast – go alone! But if you want to go far – go together!
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QUOTES YOU CAN USE
“Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?” (Proverbs 17:16).
Common sense is not a gift. It is a punishment because you have to deal with other people who don’t have it.
The United States has become a place where athletes and entertainers are mistaken for people of importance.
Is your Bible drawing dust from laying around, or are you slipping away in your faith because you stopped reading it? —Dwight Short
Love the people God sent you, one day he’ll need them back.
“Maybe next time” is not a proper response to a wedding invitation. —Anonymous