Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever—Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 146)
Freedom Is Of God
The desire for freedom has always been the pursuit of men. Nations subject their citizens to the despot’s whims and oppression that God never intended for the world. The Lord created all men with the innate desire to have freedom. The blessing of self-choice is what enslaves men to the bondage of sin. Freedom is not just the idea of being free, but true freedom sets the heart free from the bondage of oppression. A dictator may tell his people they are free when they submit to his rule, but when that freedom is based on carnal pride and arrogance of those in power, freedom becomes suppression. There is nothing free about the evil of men forcing their wills on unwilling people.
True freedom is when the individual’s potential is exercised for his good. There is no greater freedom than what is found in the grace of God. The Lord gives freedom to all oppressed by sin’s bondage. Praise must be given to the Lord because His freedom gives all men the full release of what oppresses them. Putting trust in the wisdom of men is foolish. Every generation believes they have the better answer. History is filled with the ruins of man’s failures as he seeks to be his own God seeking his own way. Humanity is incapable of having sufficient wisdom to make the right decisions. Every loss of the human spirit has come when trust is put in men.
Trusting in God bridges time, culture, and wisdom throughout the ages. God made the heavens and earth and, through His great power, ordained such wisdom to guide the thoughts of men. Truth can only come from God. Justice is established by divine wisdom. The blessings of life are best served from the table of God’s abundance. Freedom is found in the word of God. Men seek to be free and can only find true freedom when they submit to the will of God. When men accept the will of God, their eyes are opened, and the Lord raises those who are bowed down. God’s love is shown to the righteous. He watches over the strangers and relieves the fatherless and the widow. Real freedom comes from the gracious hand of the Lord. Not all men accept the freedom offered by God. The way of the wicked He turns upside down. Sadly, they reject the freedom given through the blood of God’s Son.
Celebrating freedom is realizing the joy of serving the one true and living God. There is a need to praise the Lord because of His eternal blessings. Life is filled with daily praise of God’s grace and mercies. What does the psalmist proclaim? “I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.” Freedom came through the death of Jesus Christ and the power of His resurrection. Hope can only be found in the one who made heaven and earth. Thank God for freedom. Its only color is red!
The Heaton File 
If you chain a dog up he won’t like it, the dog wants to be free. Does the dog have the intelligence to believe in God, to wonder if God exists, to even know what God is? Of course not. It’s an innate desire of every living thing to survive and be free, it has nothing to do with some God given desire or right. There is no proof that God exists but yet religious people want to give God credit for everything that is good, but no responsibility for everything that’s bad. You blame Satan for the bad even though God created Satan. Completely far fetched and ridiculous. Truth can only come from God? Really? Freedom is of God? Are you sure about that? Republican politicians and their base are 100% Christians but yet they are the most brainwashed, low iq, fascist, authoritarian, vile, dishonest violent people in the United States. Christianity has led them to be who they are. Why didn’t God save his people from the gas chambers of nazi Germany? Why did god have his people exterminate the Caananites and call it their promised land? Why did the pilgrims feel they had a God given right to take the land of the native americans and exterminate them in the process? Why did Junipero Sera and his greedy bloodthirsty men think they had a God given right to steal the indigenous peoples land and murder rape and imprison them in the process? Give me a break! Christianity is nothing more than an excuse to murder, steal, rape and imprison people in the name of a God that doesn’t exist and from a book that was written by men!!!
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Tony,
Thank you for your comments. I understand from your response that you blame a belief in God as the cause of all the misery of life. You would conclude that if people would stop believing in God, the world would be a better place. You desire to be free, without restraints, no laws, no accountability – only freedom. An unchained dog is free to do as he pleases, go where he wants, and do whatever he desires. In this, you are correct. Dogs that are allowed to roam free without restraints are wild animals. If a dog gets into your trash, you cannot be mad at the animal for doing what he instinctively must do as a dog. When the dog uses your front lawn as a depository for all of his needs, you can do nothing because you would be infringing on the rights of the dog to do what dogs must do – because they are free.
The “innate desire of every living thing to survive and be free” is the same argument that can be used for human beings. A man does not want to be chained by laws. He wants to be free (like the dog in your argument). This means a man can do whatever he wants because he must survive. If a man robs you, he has that right. When someone rapes a woman, he only acts out of his innate animalistic nature to be free and express himself (like the dog in your argument).
You blame God for all the bad things that happen, although you argue it is inconsistent to “give God credit for everything that is good, but no responsibility for everything that’s bad.” So, you conclude there is something that is good and something that is bad. You agree there must be a moral ledger to balance life as good and evil; but God cannot be the source of defining morality. If God is not the source of morality, it only leaves man to be his own judge of right and wrong. History is filled with the blackened bones of societies that have rejected the notion of divine morality, accepting only their hedonistic laws of self-morality as law. You blame God for the holocaust and the extermination of the “Native Americans” by the pilgrims. Could God have stopped the holocaust? Yes, He could. God could have taken Hitler out any time He wanted. There were many assassinations attempts on Hitler that failed. God could have allowed someone to put a bullet between Adolf’s eyes, but he did not. The reason the Jews (who are not “His people,” but that is a discussion for another day) were exterminated is because of the evil plans of the Third Reich.
I find it interesting how we Americans try to defend the indigenous people whom the Pilgrims and early settlers mistreated. When you read the history of the indigenous people before the white man came to America, they massacred, raped, pillaged, destroyed, and fought against one another. You make it out like the indigenous people were saints who never hurt anyone. Foolishness. The indigenous people had the same cruel hearts of evil as the Spanish, who landed in the Americas and wiped out civilizations. The Aztecs and Incas were bloodthirsty and murdering society before Columbus landed on their shores.
You blame all the ills of history on God when all the bad things happen because God is not a part of society. A godless society is where men reject God and become like the dog in your illustration. Free from the chains of bondage, a man with no morals will murder, rape, steal, and oppress others. The Bible is given to men as a set of laws to regulate the world’s morality within the confines of right and wrong. Men have used the Bible to carry out their own evil. The Crusades were done in the name of God, but God had nothing to do with the murderous wars. When you follow the teachings of the Bible, you will find a different world.
You say there is no evidence of God or proof that He exists. Actually, Tony, where did you get the idea that God created Satan? There is nothing in the Bible that suggests such a thing. Now that is something that does not exist. The Bible does exist. There is more evidence that the Bible is the word of God than any other book written by men.
Tony, you have two choices: (1) Live without God, which makes you as much like the dog in your story, a wild animal who has the right to do anything he wants to do; or (2) learn to accept the teaching of the Bible and come to know the God of scripture.
Where does right and wrong come from? Who determines what is right and wrong? What if my right is your wrong – who decides? Morality must come from someone. You say you determine your own morality because there is no God. I believe in an eternal being, and I follow His laws. I have peace. You do not. I believe in something after death better than what is here. You believe in death like the dog in your story – when Rover is dead, he is dead all over. Life is meaningless. Believing in God brings meaning to your life. There is a God. He loves you. He desires to help you find meaning in your life.
Blessings.
kent
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