{"id":5706,"date":"2021-07-04T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-04T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5706"},"modified":"2021-03-01T20:39:54","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T02:39:54","slug":"freedom-in-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5706","title":{"rendered":"Freedom in Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Think on These Things: Positive thoughts in a negative world\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fourth-of-July-border-churchartpro-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fourth-of-July-border-churchartpro-1024x205.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5707\" width=\"340\" height=\"68\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fourth-of-July-border-churchartpro-1024x205.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fourth-of-July-border-churchartpro-300x60.jpg 300w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fourth-of-July-border-churchartpro-768x154.jpg 768w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fourth-of-July-border-churchartpro-600x120.jpg 600w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fourth-of-July-border-churchartpro-1536x307.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fourth-of-July-border-churchartpro-2048x410.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Fourth-of-July-border-churchartpro-1320x264.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>No one denies we have certain freedoms in the United States which most of the world cannot experience. That\u2019s why I love a good Fourth of July celebration, replete with hot dogs, watermelon, and fireworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, our ultimate freedom lies in Christ. John 8:36 Jesus tells us, \u201cTherefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.\u201d Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we have been made free indeed. This is illustrated in the following poem I wrote originally for Christmas but have modified slightly to commemorate this time of year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Freedom in Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>By Barbara Dahlgren (2012) <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Jesus came to earth so we<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Now are pardoned and set free<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free from the penalty of sin<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free from death to live again<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free to follow in Christ\u2019s way<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free to trust, free to obey<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free to give and to receive<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">God\u2019s great love if we believe<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free from doubts that soon appear<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free from worry, free from fear<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free to serve and free to share<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free to praise our Lord in prayer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free to fix our eyes above<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free to bear the fruit of love<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free from darkness into light<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free to walk by faith, not sight<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Free to cherish and embrace<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Love and peace, joy and grace<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">We are accepted by blood spilt<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">&nbsp;&nbsp; Don\u2019t feel condemned and full of guilt<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">True freedom only comes through Christ<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">He\u2019s the One who paid the price<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">On Fourth of July, I think of He<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Who came so all could be set free<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>*****<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cFinally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.\u201d ~Philippians 4:8 (KJV)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philippians-4.8-Fourth-of-July-churchartpro.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philippians-4.8-Fourth-of-July-churchartpro-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5708\" width=\"322\" height=\"482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philippians-4.8-Fourth-of-July-churchartpro-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philippians-4.8-Fourth-of-July-churchartpro-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philippians-4.8-Fourth-of-July-churchartpro-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philippians-4.8-Fourth-of-July-churchartpro-600x900.jpg 600w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philippians-4.8-Fourth-of-July-churchartpro-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Philippians-4.8-Fourth-of-July-churchartpro.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Think on These Things: Positive thoughts in a negative world\u2026 No one denies we have certain freedoms in the United States which most of the world cannot experience. That\u2019s why I love a good Fourth of July celebration, replete with &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5706\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5706"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5706"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5706\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}