What is Freedom? Last Update: 5/3/7

We celebrate our freedom in this country every patriotic celebration. But what exactly is "freedom"? Webster defines it as: 1. the state or quality of being free; esp. a) exemption or liberation from the control of some other person or some artibtrary power; liberty; independence b) exemption from artibrary restrictions on a specified civil right; civil or political liberty [freedom of speech] c) exemption or immunity from a specified obligation, dicomfort, etc. [freedom from want] d) exemption or release from imprisonment e) a being able to act, move, use, etc. without hindrance or restraint [to have the freedom of the house] f) a being able of itself to choose or determine action freely [freedom of the will] g) ease of movement or performance; facility h) being free from the usual rules, patterns, etc. i) frankness or easiness of manner; sometimes, an excessive frankness or familiarity 2. a right or privilege SYNONYMNS.-- freedom, the broadest in scope of these words, implies the absence of hindrance, restraint, confinement, repression, etc. [freedom of speech]; liberty, often interchageable with freedom, strictly connotes past or potential restriction, repression, etc. [civil liberties]; license implies freedom that consists in violating the usual rules, laws or practices, either by consent [poetic license] or as an abuse of liberty [slander is license of the tongue].

The Signers of the Declaration of Independence Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the War for Independence. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags. Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward. Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton. At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr. noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt. Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Such were the stories and sacrifices of the War for Independence. These were not wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." They gave you and me a free and independent America. The history books never told you a lot about what happened in the War for Independence. We didn't fight just the British. We were British subjects at that time, and we fought our own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't. So, take a few minutes this year while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid. Remember: freedom is never free!

I don't know about you, but after reading what our freedom COST the signers of the Declaration for Independence, and KNOWING what it has cost countless others who have died in wars defending that freedom or another nation's freedom, I cannot help but think there is much more to freedom than "license"...the right to do whatever you want to do. It is the right to do what is right to do. So, who decides what is right and what is wrong? We were each given a free will...a mind, a conscience, with which to decide what is right or wrong. But the murderer thinks he has a right to murder. The thief thinks he has a right to someone else's property. Is that freedom? NO.... And we know that. It is "against the law".... Well, who decides the law, and upon what is it based? Our country was begun in such a way that we have men who, representing the will of the people, create our nation's laws. We have men & women who judge people according to those laws. At first, those laws were based on God's Word...God's Law. Needless to say, that is no longer the case, since the majority of the people have no desire to do what God commands us to do or to refrain from doing in the Bible. We've all heard, "HEY! We have a right not to have to hear your Bible!! We have a right not to see YOUR 10 Commandments!! What about separation of church and state?? What about freedom of Religion??" Do we not remember why our country began? Anyone ever hear of the Pilgrims? They risked their lives to gain freedom of religion in this land for their children and their children's children. It is not "freedom FROM religion", but "freedom OF religion". Yes, we are all given a free will. We can all choose whom we will serve. Christians are now in the minority in this formerly "Christian" country. There are those in the government today seeking to make the public reading of the Holy Bible illegal because It calls sin "sin". I and my family seek to serve the LORD...seek to obey His Law as well as the law of the land. No, we are not legalists. We do not believe that obedience to the Law of God will gain us access to Heaven. The only way to Heaven, to eternal freedom from sin, is through God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. His death on the cross, His blood sacrifice, paid the price required by God for payment for our sin. All we need do is REPENT, accepting Him as Savior from our sin, believe on His name, confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord! Here is God's Plan of Salvation. I for one cannot help but be eternally grateful for the freedom God gave me! And the Lord Jesus Christ tells us in John 14:15 & 21 that if we love Him, we will show Him by obedience to His commandments. But again, we do have a free will. You can choose to believe in Him or not. You can choose to seek to please Him by obedience to Him or not...that is our freedom of choice. I challenge you to get in the Bible. Find out what He commands...the only way to do so is by reading His Word, the Bible. There is a lot more to the law than the 10 Commandments, but that is a very good place to start! My sixth grade History teacher taught us that freedom was not "the right to do what you want to do". When everyone does that which is right in their own eyes, it is mayhem! So what is freedom? The right to do what is right to do, in accordance with God's Law. Our American forefathers knew this. That is why our country was originally considered a "Christian Nation". It wasn't called that because being born here makes us Christian. NO, there is only one way to Heaven, and it surely isn't through American citizenship!! But our original Constitution held to Bible standards. Would to God that we could get back to seeking to serve the Almighty instead of seeking to serve the majority.... "Now therefore, fear the LORD, and serve Him in sincerity and in truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt: and serve ye the LORD, And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." ~Joshua 24:14 & 15~ Freedom Essay written by Jennifer M. Seest July 4th, 2001 I received this quote in the Presidential Prayer Team Update for October 2003: "Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom? Material abundance without character is the path of destruction." --Thomas Jefferson * Portrait of Thomas Jefferson courtesy of the White House. 4 Seests' in Paradise Patriotic Celebrations FREEDOMS... I am free from failure, for the Bible says: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:13) I am free from want, for the Bible says: But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19) I am free from fear, for the Bible says: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (II Timothy 1:7) I am free from doubt, for the Bible says: For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. (Romans 12:3) I am free from weakness, for the Bible says: The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1) I am free from the power of Satan, for the Bible says: Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (I John 4:4) I am free from defeat, for the Bible says: Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. (II Corinthians 2:14) I am free from ignorance, for the Bible says: But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. (I Corinthians 1:30) I am free from sin, for the Bible says: The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. (John 1:7) I am free from worry, for the Bible says: Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you. (I Peter 5:7 ) I am free from bondage, for the Bible says: Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (II Corinthians 3:17) I am free from condemnation, for the Bible says: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1) Are you free? This is the greatest freedom to have! Be sure today! Find TRUE Freedom! By my sister, Chris/Momof9!

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