Being Thankful for Our Freedom

By Pastor Ken Foreman

Text: II Corinthians 3:17 - "Now, the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

The freedoms we enjoy here in the United State are worthy of and reason to be thankful. But as the old saying goes, "You don't miss the water til the well runs dry."

To become an American citizen, a person renounces his or her former citizenship and leaders and takes on new responsibilities and allegiances.

The Old Testament was under the law and commandments...

• The law required things like circumcision.
• The law was strict and unforgiving - a judge.
• The law was a type/shadow of something greater.
• The law was a stern schoolmaster.

The New Testament was full of grace and truth... Peter waffled a bit here, but Paul insisted Jesus came to give life and life more abundantly.

• Jesus said, "He who the Son sets free is free indeed."
• Engraved on the Statue of Liberty are the words of the poet, Emma Lazarus... "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
• The Preamble of the Declaration of Independence speaks of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
• Abraham Lincoln said, "Freedom is not the right to do what we want - but what we ought... Do our duty."
• Martin Luther King, Jr., said, "Freedom is never granted by the oppressor, it is demanded by the oppressed."

We can look into the perfect law of liberty and resist getting entangled in sin again. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." (Galatians 5:1)

We should not be controlled by our wants. Emotions and feelings are poor leaders. Rather, we should have godly control over them. Spirit control = "from glory to glory!" Our focus must be clarified and centered on Jesus. He knows best.