Freedom

“I am free to run,” just as Elijah did in 1^st Kings 18: 46.

“I am free to dance,” just as King David did in 2^nd Samuel 6:14.

“I am free to live for you,” just as the disciples did throughout the book of Acts.

“I am free!” because Jesus made me free.

Freedom is something we sort of take for granted here in this country because we've always been free.

Now I'm sure some of you are probably saying: “Wait a minute! What about King George and the revolution? We weren't free back then.”

Well that's true, but we weren't a country back then either. We didn't become a country until after the revolution. We were just a part of England. It wasn't until after the revolution that we became a country.

So our country has always been free. Or at least that's what most people think.

But the reality is that we're all slaves. Slaves to sin.

Being a slave is horrible. Just ask Joseph. Not only was he sold into slavery. He was sold into slavery by his own brothers!

The Israelites were also forced into slavery, twice. Once by the Egyptians and once by the Babylonians.

We've even had slaves here in the U.S.! The country of the United States of America has always been free. But some of the people in America, specifically African Americans, were not always free.

But slavery to sin is the worst kind of slavery. If we die as slaves to sin then we will burn in the fires of hell! But Jesus died to free us from our slavery to sin.

All we have to do is repent of our sins and welcome Jesus into our hearts. And additionally if you give your life completely to God (this is not the same thing as repenting of your sins, repenting of your sins is telling God you believe in Him whereas giving your life to God is telling Him we want to “Live for Him”) you will receive true freedom in your life.

So I challenge you to give your life completely to Christ, because only then will you truly be able to say: “I AM FREE!”   

“Sometimes we must sacrifice what we want for what we need”

Joseph was so busy playing his Xbox that he did not hear his best friend Alice enter his room.

“Joseph,” Alice said.

Joseph did not answer.

“Joseph!” Alice said again, only louder.

“What?” asked Joseph, not bothering to look up.

“What do you mean 'What?'” demanded Alice. “Today is Thursday. I come over to your house every Thursday for our bible study, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember,” answered Joseph, still not looking up from his game.

“Sooo, are you going to turn your game off so we can study?”

“No,” Joseph answered flatly. “I’m just about to beat this game. And besides, God can wait.”

“God can WAIT?!” cried Alice incredulously.

“Yeah. I mean, God has all the time in the world, right?”

“Well yes, but that's not the point. God is supposed to come first. He's way more important than your silly game.”

“SILLY GAME?!” This time it was Joseph's turn to yell incredulously. “I have been trying to finish this game for over a month now, but something always gets in the way. Chores, my homework, and now God? I don't think so.”

Alice looked at him for a moment, then she took out her bible and opened it to Hebrews 9:28.

“So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people,” she read out loud. Then she looked up at Joseph. “God sacrificed his son for you,” she said. “the least you could do is sacrifice some of your time and spend it with him.”

“But it's my time,” protested Joseph.

“And who gave you that time?” demanded Alice.

“Well God,” admitted Joseph. “But it's still my time.”

“But God saved you from your sins” said Alice. “ You owe him”

“Owe him?” asked Joseph. “I thought his love and forgiveness were free.”

“They are free,” replied Alice. “But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to repay him.”

“But I don't want to repay him,” said Joseph. “It's too hard.”

“You think giving up some of your time to God is hard?” asked Alice. She turned in her bible to the book of Leviticus. “The Israelites had to sacrifice several complicated offerings to God to repent of any sins they had committed,” she said. “There were burnt offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, and others. If they refused to offer sacrifices to God He would most likely kill them.”

“But Jesus sacrificed himself for us so we don't have to do all those offering anymore. And God's not going to kill me.”

“Maybe not,” replied Alice. “But sometimes we must sacrifice what we want for what we need. We need Gods love, we need to have a relationship with him, and to have that relationship we must sacrifice some of our time and spend it with him. Do you think we would still be friends if we never saw each other?”

Alice started to walk towards the door but stopped halfway there.

“You know,” she said, turning once more to face Joseph. “Once you start spending time with God you won't find it to be much of a sacrifice at all.” Then she turned and left.

Joseph sighed. Then he turned off his Xbox and went to find his bible.

It was time to talk to God       

Suffering

(revised)

“For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you.”

These are the words of the apostle Peter, and they can be found in 1st Peter chapter 2 verse 21.

Now we've all suffered at some point or another, but has that suffering been for God? Have you been suffering for being a Christian? Or have you just been suffering for being human?

All humans suffer in some way or another. Whether it's by falling off your bike and skinning your knee when you were 6, or crashing your car and breaking every bone in your neck. A girl named Cinderella suffered when her evil stepmother made her do all the chores. You see suffering is just part of life. But, if you hide your faith, you can go your whole life without suffering for being a Christian.

But how much more will you suffer if you hide your faith? Not here on earth, but in heaven on Judgment Day.

Your suffering on earth for sharing your faith glorifies God, and if you try to hide your faith you're really hiding God. And besides, God can use your suffering for good.

For instance, in Genesis chapters 37-50 we read about a man named Joseph. Joseph was: betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, made to work for a man named Potiphar, framed for a crime that wasn't committed, thrown in prison, forgotten about, and then finally brought before Pharaoh to interpret his dreams.

But by interpreting Pharaoh's dreams he ended up saving all of Egypt and his entire family from the seven year famine that was plaguing the land at that time.

I would love to tell you that after that the Egyptians were eternally grateful to Joseph and his descendants, but as it turned out they were only temporarily grateful. They actually ended up enslaving the Israelites.

But God had a reason for their suffering. He wanted them to live in the Promised Land. So he allowed the Egyptians to enslave the Israelites so they would want to leave Egypt. The only problem with this was that the Pharaoh did not want to lose all his slaves. God had to send a man named Moses to go talk some sense into Pharaoh.

If you want to read the whole story you can find it in the book of Exodus. You can also read the book of Job which is another good story about suffering. In Job's story God test Job's faith by allowing the devil to take away all of Job's riches. He even took away the lives of his children. But Job stayed faithful to God through it all.

But the most amazing story of God using someones suffering to do good, of course, is the story of Jesus Christ. Through his suffering he saved all of us from suffering the eternal fires of hell! (Jesus' story can be found in any of the four gospels)

So if Jesus can suffer for all of us then why can't we suffer for him?

So I challenge you to do what Jesus asked you to. I challenge you to share your faith with the world, even if it means you have to suffer persecution. For as I said earlier, we glorify God through our suffering for him.

(anything Orange is something I changed, I decided to make it easy for anyone who wanted to compare)