Greetings in the Name of Jesus and welcome to the PLN Sunday Night Bible Fellowship!
The following article is part of a series on FREEDOM in America that appeared in the Hood County Newspaper during the four weeks leading up to Memorial Day. Since most of our readers are either outside Hood County, Texas or have chosen not to take the local newspaper, we decided to run these articles as part of our summer program for this newsletter. We may even add a new one to cover all five of the weeks leading up to the July 4 Independence Day celebration. We pray that these articles will bless you and cause you to be thankful for our God-given FREEDOM.
ONE: THE STEWARDSHIP OF FREEDOM
It's wonderful to live in a FREE country where we can complain any time we want to. But have you ever asked yourself where Freedom comes from? The Bible says Freedom was God's idea and that Jesus came so all people could be free. More specifically it says that knowing the TRUTH is what sets us free (John 8:32), that Jesus is the TRUTH (John 14:6) and that wherever His SPIRIT is present there's FREEDOM (2 Corinthians 3:17).
We tend to think of FREEDOM as a political thing. But the truth is governments and people will eventually by their nature work toward the suppression of freedom. History clearly confirms this and what it also confirms is that the ONLY way to avoid an ultimate destiny of bondage is by having God involved as much as possible in the process of ongoing governance.
The folks who started this country must surely have been some of the wisest people who ever walked the earth. Many of them had grown up during the First Great Awakening (1730-1755) and had learned from their Pastors that true freedom comes ONLY from God. At the same time they were living under an English monarchy that was working predictably to limit their freedom. So, they wisely concluded that the new type of government they wanted would be based on biblical principles of life and would include protections against the natural tendencies of governments and people to usurp God-given freedom.
Today we see many of our freedoms threatened just as those wise forefathers predicted would happen if we ever tried to take God out of governance. Part of our problem is that we've failed to fully appreciate that all freedom DOES indeed come from Him. And that like all His gifts, it was given with a responsibility on our part to protect it from the influences that would come and try to replace it. The truth is, we'll always protect what we value; and if we aren't protecting our freedom today, isn't that most likely the result of NOT valuing this precious gift as it should be valued?
The proper use of gifts from God is called STEWARDSHIP. A steward is someone who's appointed to manage and be responsible for something that belongs to another party. The Bible says everything belongs to God which makes all of us stewards over God's belongings. Freedom is one of His belongings. He's made it available to us and as good stewards we must value it because of where it came from. We're instructed to take care of it so it can produce its assigned purpose. Everything God says and does has an assigned purpose. Indeed, the PURPOSE of God's freedom is to create an environment where the Gospel can be FREELY communicated so that everyone will have a fair chance to FREELY accept or reject Christ.
Someday Christian believers will be asked to account for our assignments. How did we handle the FREEDOM God gave us in this special country of ours? Did we value it and give it a high priority? Did we pray for it and for the leaders called to implement it? Did we defend it in the face of those who would do it harm? Did we use it wisely so that those coming behind us would be able to freely hear the Gospel? You see friends, to God Freedom is a really big deal. Is it not then something we should highly treasure and protect?
NEXT WEEK: THE PROSPERITY OF FREEDOM
Thanks for joining our discussion tonight. We'll be looking for you again NEXT Sunday night on June 12. In the meantime may the Lord bless you with every spiritual blessing (Ephesians 1:3), pushing you to VICTORY in every area of life!
Sinners' Prayer
If you've never invited Jesus to be your Lord, you can do so today by believing and saying out loud the following simple prayer:
Jesus, I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and I believe that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven for all time and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.
If you were sincere as you prayed, God has already come into your life and you're a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.
When you get a moment have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer and believing what you said:
Romans 10:9
2 Corinthians 5:17
Ephesians 2:8
Donations
If you've been edified by Prosperous Life Newsletter, please consider a LOVE offering to support the Ministry (Galatians 6:6-7). PLN is a nonprofit gift to the Body of Christ so your financial support should be tax deductible. Please send your donation to: PO Box 1164, Granbury, TX 76048. You'll be sowing into good ground and God will surely bless you for it.
Prayer Requests
If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM central time. Agree with us for God to answer your petitions.
About Prosperous Life Newsletter
PLN is an outreach of Make A Way Ministries, published continuously since January 1998. It's a FREE e-publication about life in the Kingdom of God and is sent to our email list of MEMBERS. If you're reading this and aren't on our list, please click on the MINISTRY WEBSITE link at the top of this article to find the PLN enrollment link.
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