Freedom

As the 4th is coming up, i got to thinking about freedom and what it means. As great as the freedom we have in America is, there is nothing compared to the freedom we have in Christ. ...How many times have we said this prayer or something like it, "Lord, please free me from -insert your struggle here-" we all have that thing we struggle with as far as our spiritual lives go, and we so often go to God asking him to free us from it. i actually had a little chat with God about something i am struggling with right now and i was reading Psalm 69 and in that Psalm it talks about asking God to free him from his enemies, and i prayed through that part to God with the struggle i'm having, hoping to recieve some help with it.... then as i was getting ready to close my bible and end my study time for now, i happened to flip past my fav book (Romans) and just stopped to ready through a part of it real quick, and here is the part i stopped at..... 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,[a] 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in sinful man,[d] 4in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.and as i ready through that, God said to me, "see, i have already freed you from the power that struggle has over you.... if you are struggling with it, the reason is b/c you are choosing it over me, not because it has any power over you.... i took that power from sin on the cross!!!!!!!".... so i sit here tonight humbled at that realization, and just wanted to share it.... if you are having trouble with some sort of sin, it is you that is the problem... you are choosing that thing over God himself..... think about it!

Rejoice!!!

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" - Phillipians 4:4 NIV
To often those who have the saving knowledge of Christ within them don't live their lives in a way that would show it. We so often complain and groan about the things that happen in our lives. So often we are given blessing from God but since they are not exactly what we want we complain about it, like a child who is given a piece of candy by their parents, then complains because they are not given the whole bag. We should all examine ourselves to see if we are complaining about God's blessings instead of thanking him for them. This verse needs to be true in the lives of all Christians. We have to rejoice no matter what happens!