Maybe you misunderstood my post or perhaps I did not articulate it very well, but I can honestly say I am not looking for material things in any way. I am not sure how you came to that conclusion. I now understand my question.
How did I come to the conclusion you were looking for material things?
Maybe it had something to do with the words you wrote. For reference I quote them below;
when you are eating dinner out with family or friends, at work, on a business trip - Post #1
My point, which has apparently done a fly over, is that there's a difference between spiritual liberty and the kind of free thinking you want when "
eating dinner out with family or friend, at work or on a business trip". Are we remembering what we wrote yet?
If you aren't looking for material things in any way, then why did you make a short list of them?
To Lanolin's post #8
I like your first thought - that we are free to worship God, not being in bondage to the opposer (devil). Unfortunately most do not know how to get to this most favored place of advantage. That's what the gospel is all about. Thank you for writing this comment.
You mentioned the Statue of Liberty, a gift from France in the late 19th century. The object has political connotations based upon Roman paganism. It has nothing to do with either the Judeo-Christian heritage nor the political realities of the 21st century. It's a New York City tourist trap, a memento of a lost dream and a dead civilization. It's the same sort of thing one sees in the city of Rome, Italy except that the Italians let their monuments go to ruin. Americans like to keep their monuments in relatively good condition. I'm glad you mentioned it. Thank you.
Political freedom in America came to an abrupt end on October 26, 2001 when the US congress voted to de-ratify the guarantees of personal political freedom expressed in the first 10 amendments to the constitution. Commonly called the Bill of Rights, these restrictions upon Federal government encroachment upon the private lives of its citizens no longer exist in legal precedent. Liberty in America has suffered the effects of many legal enemas since 2001. We are not the nation we once were.
You are mistaking the government of the Most High with the political government in Washington, DC.
It has been said that if someone wants to go crazy they should move to Washington where it will not be noticed.
The ordinances of heaven are not the same as American legal precedent. Neither is the Law of God respected by American leadership. It has also been said that democracy typically lasts only about two hundred years. Corruption inevitably encroaches upon the legal mechanism and the system erodes into repressive totalitarianism and fascism.(*) This is exactly what we are seeing in America today.
The US government, like all other governments throughout history, is answerable to the Law and Will of the Most High God - the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and of whom Jesus was born. If worldly governments become wayward and sin against God they are subject to judgment. Not for nothing is Jesus called Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The government of the United States is a criminal organization, not sanctioned by God. It has violated the laws of heaven and the people who originally built it. Make no mistake, America is already under judgment. We are getting what we want and what we deserve.
The Liberty spoken of by the Bible is personal and spiritually based.
One can be free in the midst of political repression if one first makes peace with God. Traditionally referred to as 'come to Jesus', this peace is obtained by humble and repentant petition unto God for forgiveness and mercy.
God does not answer the prayers of unrepentant sinners.
One must first come in humility and ask for the gift of repentance. The peace of God cannot be understood by the world because it is spiritually based, not based upon the vagaries of current political winds. The liberty of God cannot be robbed by a repressive government. It can only be lost by those who hold material things to be of greater value.
A person is enslaved by that which they embrace - either sin unto death or righteousness unto life.
and that's me, hollering from the choir loft...
(*) Fascism may more accurately be called
corporatism because under that system the government is more responsive to the dictates of corporate influences than that of the voting public. For instance, will a candidate for high office be more grateful to a corporation that donates ten million dollars to an election campaign or will the candidate be more grateful to the voters who give nothing? In practice it's the corporate dollar that speaks more loudly in the halls of government.
In 2008, during the American banking failure, banking leaders went to Washington to obtain money to support their failing banks. Overnight they got every dime of the billions they requested. After more than a half century of political debate, the American people are still waiting for an equitable health care system to be implemented. Only those with power and influence get what they want. The rest must wait to be tossed a bone.