Posts tagged beliefs

Free Friday

April 17, 2009 · Filed under thoughts · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Are you really “free” ?

We talk a lot about being free. Free to think and do and say what we believe. In America, we are used to exercising our freedoms – especially our freedom of beliefs. Our beliefs are greatly influenced by our faith.

As Christians, we put our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are told throughout the New Testament that we are “free” in Christ – that we have been set “free” from the law of the Old Testament.

Over the years I have met  many Christians who have put themselves back under “law”. They found saving grace through Jesus, but then seem to have slipped into a life of legalism. It has robbed them of their joy……..

Some have decided to put themselves under their own bondage of rules and regulations, and focus on perfecting their lives by how many of these “rules” they can follow.  The apostle Paul warns us of this danger:

“Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect in the flesh? (Gal. 3:3)

Jesus died on the cross to set us free from the bondage of constant sin under the law. He was the eternal sacrifice for our sins. We no longer have to “perform” legalistic works to gain favor with God. It is through faith and belief in Jesus that we now have eternal favor with God.

We can now truly have “joy” and “justification” at the same time…….

   en-joy!

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Factual Friday

October 25, 2008 · Filed under thoughts · Tagged , , , , ,

“Just the facts, madam, just the facts”.

What a familiar phrase to those of us who used to watch a television program called “Dragnet”. The detective would remind people to give him “just the facts”. Many times people’s emotions would get in the way and cloud or distort the reality of the “facts”.

Factual information is often what helps lead us into the truth of a matter. We can speculate and we can form opinions, but ultimately, clear cut facts are hard to argue against. Interestingly, sometimes facts don’t become facts———until “after the fact” !

Facts are defined as “objective truth”. So, when someone says, “as a matter of fact”, does that mean that what is stated is “true”? Hmmmm……………..

How about something factual? Well, the sun rises every morning and sets every evening and “that’s a fact!” We all know that to be true, we have all seen it for ourselves. So if something is witnessed, then that something can become fact. Therefore, it can then become truth? Hmmmmmm…………… 

In the television program “Dragnet”, witnesses were very important to get to the truth of what really happened. In the Christian Bible, eye witness accounts were duly recorded. These “facts” were handed down through the generations for anyone who would want to know them. Now the question is, do I believe?

Hmmmmmm…………………….

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