Freedom

​Just because we live in a free country does not mean we have freedom.  In fact there are many indicators that suggest that all kinds of cords entwine us. A graph of the stock market looks like some anchor tossed in water that only grows deeper.  Wearing sweaters of worry, whose fortunes are tied to investments, face the chill of anxiety.  Companies lay off employees to keep their profits.  Lights go out from city to city across the state whose economy may be the sixth largest in the world, but who cannot create the energy to prevent brownouts. If our hopes are based on the strength of a nation our dreams will one day be nightmares.  The prevalence of fear is a sure sign of the absence of freedom.

Meditation
Psalm 119:45--I will walk freely in an open place because I seek Your precepts.
 
When we trust in God, nothing can take us down.  Even in death we are moved to a redeemed life with Him forever!  True freedom comes by loving God and submitting to His law which brings liberty!  When of our own volition we seek to bring Him glory, our hearts sing praises in notes unflattened by trying circumstances.  The Apostle Paul proclaimed, “Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery . . . but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (Galatians 5:1, 2; 2 Corinthians 3:16,17).  Dull minds and veiled hearts are the traits of those whose eyes do not look to God.
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By the power and holiness of Jesus Christ, you have the right to live with joy! By the grace of your Savior you are set free!  Don’t get tied up by those who teach self-worship.  Do you truly believe your work or your boss, your brains or your luck, your spouse or your popularity dictate your joy?  Real freedom dances in the embrace of the omnipotent Father.  “How happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways!” (Psalm 128:1).  I pray you will be blessed.
 
Inspiration
The freedom humanity has is not that of power but of choice, consequently we are accountable for choosing the course we take.—Oswald Chambers in The Moral Foundations of Life
 
©2001 Daniel York  ARR. Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box.  Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)