God if you are so good,why are there so many mean people around?

One of the most frequently asked questions that I have come across is,

"God if you are so good,why are there so many mean people around?"

This is the simplest illustration I have come across that helped me answer this question when I had the same one, years before...

There was once a man who beleived in God and his presence in his life who went to a Barber for a haircut. During the hair cut, the barber struck a conversation with him. He was complaining to this man about how bad the world was, the dreadful things that heartless men were doing and how it finally proves that God truly didnt exist or didnt care as much as we beleive.

This man who was being given a hair cut knew the love of God and was wondering how he could explain the same to the barber. As soon as the hair cut was over, as the customer was ready to walk out, he turned around and told the barber  "Looks like there are no barbers in town !!"

At this remark, the barber exclaimed "How dare you say that when you just came to me and received a haircut?"
To this the customer asked " Why then are there so many people out on the streets who have unkept hair?" At this the barber made a very straightforward reply  "They did not come to me". 

The same is the case with our God Jesus, we need to go to him for our own sakes or for the sake of the ones who haven't known him and are lost in the ways of the world. He came from heaven to earth to show us the way, from the earth to the cross to pay our debts, from the cross to the grave with our sins and from the grave back to the heavens winning us complete victory for our trust in HIM.

Sometimes the situations, the meaness of the world and the bad things of life keep coming back at you making you wonder WHY GOD? WHEN WILL YOU DELIVER ME?

I just want to encourage you and tell you, even though the people in the streets were having unkept hair, this particular customer had a very well kept one, because he approached the barber and he patiently sat through the haircutting process. If he chose to leave in between, he would have looked worse than before and worse than anyone.

So whenever you cry out to the Lord, he firstly wants to take you aside into his home and disconnect you from the people of the world. Then he wants you to patiently wait till he has finished giving you that special GOD HAIR-CUT. During that process if something pains you, just continue to sit in his presence and cry out to HIM, he will fill you with his love and strength and carry you in his arms that nothing can stop you from becoming what he wants youto becomeand nothing can stop you from receiving all the great things he has in store for you.

So take one day at a time and remember you are seated in the saloon of the Lord and he is personally standing beside you and looking at you from all sides and giving you the best hair-cut.. when you walk out when he is done, the World will recognize who you are and who HE is.

The next time you hear anyone telling you about how mean the world is, you know what to do, lead them lovingly to The Lord, they need a Special God Hair Cut.

Hurt, Is your Cross heavy? Press On

A sore day indeed !! With loads of ammunition from friends and colleagues tongues directed with great precision onto you !! Outcome - Hurt..

Are people talking things about you that hurt you? You wonder, what did I do wrong? One of my mentors and friend back down at home send me the following, it blessed me, I pray that every hurting soul would be blessed by the power of the truth that lives in it too.

When you are forgotten, or neglected, or purposely set at naught, and you don't sting and hurt with the insult or the oversight, but your heart is happy, being counted worthy to suffer for Christ.

THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When your good is evil spoken of, when your wishes are crossed, your advice disregarded, your opinions ridiculed, and you refuse to let anger rise in your heart, or even defend yourself, but take in all in patient, loving silence.

THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When you lovingly and patiently bear any disorder, any irregularity, any impunctuality, or any annoyance; when you stand face-to- face with waste, folly, extravagance, spiritual insensibility-and endure it as Jesus endured.

THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When you are content with any food, any offering, any climate, any society, any raiment, any interruption by the will of God.

THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When you never care to refer to yourself in conversation, or to record your own good works, or itch after commendations, when you can truly love to be unknown.

THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When you can see your brother prosper and have his needs met and can honestly rejoice with him in spirit and feel no envy, nor question God, while your own needs are far greater and in desperate circumstances.

THAT IS DYING TO SELF

When you can receive correction and reproof from one of less stature than yourself and can humbly submit inwardly as well as outwardly, finding no rebellion or resentment rising up within your heart.

THAT IS DYING TO SELF

Are you dead yet? In these last days, the Spirit would bring us to the cross.

"That I may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." Phil.3:10

OTHERS MAY YOU CANNOT !

If God hascalled you to be really like Jesus, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

The lord may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small. He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit for it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He may let others get credit for the work which you have done, and thus make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.

The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings or for wasting your time, which other Christians never feel distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own. He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you, but if you absolutely sell yourself to be his love slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle.

Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He must havethe right to tie your tongue, or chain your hand, or close your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use with others. Now, when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.

Folded Linen

I read about this some where and I realized how significant each word in the Bible means. Read On..

Why did Jesus fold the linen burial cloth after His Resurrection?
The Gospel of John (20:7) tells us that the napkin,which was placed over
the face of Jesus, was not just thrown aside like the grave clothes. The
Bible takes an entire verse to tell us that the napkin was neatly folded,
and was placed at the head of that stony coffin.

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the
tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple,the one whom Jesus
loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I
don't know where they have put him!" Peter and the other disciple ran to
the tomb to see. The other disciple outran Peter and got there first.
He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he
didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed
the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus'
head was folded up and lying to the side.

Is that important? Absolutely! Is it really significant? Yes!
In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to
understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded
napkin had to do with the Master and Servant, and every Jewish boy knew
this tradition. When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he
made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was
furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight,
until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch
that table, until the master was finished.
Now if the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his
fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and
toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table.
For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, "I'm done". But if the master
got up from the table, and folded his napkin, and laid it beside his
plate, the servant would not dare touch the table,because the servant
knew that the folded napkin meant, "I'm not finished yet." The folded
napkin meant, "I'm coming back!"

He is Coming Back

Transparency - Why is it poorly received and poorly practised

Transparency, as used in the humanities, implies openness, communication, and accountability. It is a metaphorical extension of the meaning used in the physical sciences: a "transparent" object is one that can be seen through.

Within the family this attribute is exercised liberally and is a fundamental expectation. Anytime, anyone in the family fail to express or exhibit the same, one can almost always predict problems at bay. I dont think there is anything to explain here any further. But expanding the horizons to beyond family and stepping into the community which is where every individual spends major portion of their time, one can agree that transparency cannot exist as a purely one-way communication though.

If the media and the public knows everything that happens in all authorities and country administrations there will be a lot of questions, protests and suggestions coming from media and the public. People who are interested in a certain issue will try to influence the decisions. Transparency creates an everyday participation in the political processes by media and the public. But you and I know that transparency in this context has to be taken with a pinch of salt, or should I say a container of salt !!! :))

Anyways  lets leave political arena and matters of country and step into our regular work environment, which is a smaller representation of a certain segment of people. Even here, the observation is that "Transparency is poorly received and poorly practised by almost all individuals".

Superiors fail to communicate to the sub-ordinates public matters that would influence or involve an individual. Sub-ordinates fail to communicate to the superiors matters that affect them and try and work out solutions. What is wrong? Lack of trust, lack of faith in each others common growth objective !!!

There are many instances where the subordinates have no idea about what happens in the big picture of the company plans and goals and what role they play in those changed plans. So one fine day, when there is a major announcement made, it shakes the fundamental comfort zone of the employee as they have no idea that the short term plan they have made goes out of context. There are many instances where I have seen employees having no choice but to move across divisions and departments. Sometimes it is favourable and sometimes not. Wouldnt it be good if the big time goals of the company would traverse through the organization chain and reach everyone ears in the context of the well being. Everyone would be in synch with the changes and appreciate and accomodate the same. Well, i know its easier said than done, and for this to be acheived in its full flavour we need everyones co-operation.

Now take the other case, if the superior shares the actions being taken as a result of some changes happening in an subordinates environment or feedback on career growth track, the juniour fails to appreciate the same as a step of faith taken by the superior. The superior has to fill in the gap beacause of the juniours enviorment change keeping in mind a far future and thereby be fair to the organization and as well as be faithful to the juniour and try and make their career growths match with the organization...

Why the gap? Can we brush it aside as immaturity in the receiver -the juniour here or a general accepted norm that one cannot trust any other individual other than very close family and friends in the context of their well being??

No man is an island. And if that is true, its better if we would work towards building a healthy and trust filled environment. Share what concerns are in the mind in the context of your future and short term or long term plans, be ready to receive the actions taken in that context and express concerns if it bothers you, involve those who depend on you in your decisions so they know what their role is.

Like I said earlier, Transparency cannot exist as a purely one-way communication.

Why Does the Busiest Person Always Get All The Best Opportunities and Rewards?

Have you sometimes noticed that the busiest person around is always getting a lot busier? Work and opportunities always seem to knock at their door. I am not talking about the workaholics. I am talking about the few people whom you find active at work, active at home, active with friends, active in community, active having handful of activities and yet the time to listen to you and offer help.

I have always wondered how and why do they always get the best opportunities and how they find time to take more. I recollect a real story that my father shared with me when I was kid. It made a profound impact in my childhood and I have always strived to be someone like that.

The story is about a poor farmer in a village in North India. It so happens that once he fell terribly sick and was in a dire need of medicines. These medicines were not available in his village and hence he needed some one to get it for him from the town. He approached everyone who was going to the town from the village with the money and the name of the medicine. Everyone who was going to the town promised him to get the same but returned empty handed because of their commitments in the town or because they forgot.

One day, the prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru was visiting the same village and when he asked the village men if he could do anything for them, this farmer stood up and presented his request. The prime minister promised him that he would get the same for him. The prime minister as we all know is a very busy man with no time for any one person, but he proved to be different. The farmer indeed got his medicines the very next day.

So the busiest man was the one who had the time for the need of someone in a remote village.

Now we can make many arguments saying that the prime ministerhad people who did the tasks on his behalf and so on, but we cant fail to acknowledge that he remembered the request and did something about it.

Given below is a text in the Bible that talks abouthow a master is thrilled about the faithfulness of the servant in doing the tasks he was instructed to do and rewards him with more.

'Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." (Matthew 25:21)

This is exactly the principle that operates when you become the person mentioned in the passages above.

So be faithful in everything that is given into your hands and more, you will be rewarded with more. Along with that responsibility come privileges that you can enjoy

Become a faithful and privileged steward of things in your hand.

The Power Of Your Words..

I have often wondered why is it that when some people spoke few words, they had authority over the listeners, a unique ministering ability, a healing virtue and most of all a transmiting ability over the listeners to duplicate.

On looking intently and studying them, I found out that it was not their oratory skills or magnetic skills with people or their panache with words that made that aura.

You often find that the speakers have practised very deeply what they preached and when that edifies humanity and is constructive by nature, the words carry a powerful influence that impacts the hearers. No wonder, it is said to practice what you preach. Cos if you are not doing so, your words will just fall to ground and on deaf ears.

Enjoy your journey of translating words into reality in your own lives and you dont have to do much to make it a reality in others lives, as the words you speak and the life you have lived will do the needful :)

IS YOUR PROBLEM CONSUMING AND OVERBEARING?

The message in taken from the scene in the Garden of Gethsamane. (Mathew 26:37-38,42,44,Luke 22:51)

The message in crisp that our Precious God wants to tell us is that, you may be walking through the most sorrowful, most drowning situation and you may be running to Gods presence every time, you are overwhelmed by it to the point of death, yet you don’t feel or hear God moving you out of that Situation.

Jesus finds himself in a similar situation in the Garden of Gethsemane, he is sorrowful to the point of death (is what the scripture says;) yet he doesn’t hear from God concerning his sorrow. In the narration of the same situation in the gospel of Luke 22:43, we see that the angel of the Lord appears and strengthens him; Jesus had to walk the walk himself. Imagine how painful it would have been when he knew that His Father in heaven could change the course in a fraction of second and chose not to do it. Imagine how He couldn’t feel the JUST God anywhere beside Him.

But following this scene we immediately see that, when Peter one of his disciples struck the ear of the solider Malachus, Jesus laid his laid on him and Malachus was healed. There was a MIRACLE!! Done by a man who was going through an overbearing problem, who felt God wasn’t beside him. And all of us know miracles are from God and that meant God was undoubtedly beside Jesus.

Many times we may find ourselves in situations like that. It could be overwhelming to the point of death, but God wants you to look beyond that and around yourself and see, you will find Him.. You will find him in what i can the peripherals... His Peripheral Presence... proves that he is actually walking beside you in the toughest situation watching over you and performing wonders around you in the environment that you have been placed in, the work that you do, the people whom you help, the words that you speak... LOOK AROUND, you will FIND HIM right beside you.

Now, this sure does not happen to everyone.. There are a couple of things that Jesus did to experience this... Here are what they are..

- Whenever trouble hits you, Cultivate the habit of going to the feet of the Lord, only then can God strengthen you to go through the ordeal and encourage everyone whom God has asked you to shepherd. (Inspite of his pain, Jesus came back three times and asked his disciples to pray, he was not thinking of himself alone. This is a quality of God and Gods children should possess this quality too.. For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son (himself) Mathew 26:39

- Learn to surrender and re-surrender your will to God. Jesus prayed this prayer of surrending his will to God not once but three times... The secret is bcos, when you do that, God seals all routes that the enemy may plant on your way to steal Gods will from your life. And even if you find yourself locked you are safe , cos you are locked with God and in God is everything. Mathew 26:39b,42b,44 In the book of Genesis we find that only after Adam and Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil did their knowledge of Gods will in their life become corrupt. They got disconnected to God and hence the evil one has all the opportunities to provide false wills over our lives and deceive us. When we accept the Lord this connection is restored and when we prayer the communication happens, so at moments where we have more than one thought abt a situation, prayer brings abt a clarity when we surrender our will to God, cos God steps in and when he does anythin of the evil one flees.

- Look beyond your problem and try and become the solution to someone else’s problem , Jesus was the only solution to Malachus.

When you do these three things,

- restored your communication with God,

- surrendered your will and

- laid yourself as a willing sacrifice by doing good even when the worst is happening to you,

Be assured that God is in you, with you and around you.

May the Holy Spirit enable you to walk this walk in your lives. God Bless you.Amen

Our Future is guaranteed :)

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1: 21-22Now it is God who makes both of us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us and out his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Who is a guarantor? A dictionary meaning of Guarantor is “One, such as a person or corporation, that makes or gives a promise, assurance, or pledge typically relating to quality, durability, or performance.” In simple words a guarantor is someone of global authority who adds his own qualifications to you when you fall short of some in any area.

The scripture above clearly states that God makes us stand firm by depositing into us a Guarantor, who is none other than the Holy Spirit himself, who is an authority above all authorities, a source of endless provision, a source of divine wisdom and counsel, a source of infinite grace, completely dependable and never gives up on us. WHAT A PROMISE? If we would just realize this, we will have no doubts that our future is well guaranteed and safe in the hands of our Guarantor – Our Lord Jesus.

 

Prayer:

 

Almighty Father, I realize how much you love and care for me. Thank you for the promise of the security and success of my future that I find in you. Thank you thatyou have already deposited the guarantor in advance to take care of the needs of the future as it comes. Please help me to stop being anxious about my future and lean onto this understanding. I praise and glorify your name for your ways O lord. In Jesus Name. Amen

Only Few Experience Exponential Growths!!

As I grew up the career ladder, I observed few people growing exponentially and few others proportional to their efforts. There definitely is a significant reason for the difference in growth output apart from skill, intellect and effort. I never understood what it was till I attended a seminar and found out what the composition of man is. The seminar had a diagram like something below, where the speaker spoke about Man being a composition of Body, Soul and Spirit. Body is the external physical appearance of the person. The soul comprises of the mind, will and emotions. The spirit is the one we all know least about and is that aspect which links us to the supernatural world. It also carries the uniqueness we possess.

  

What we don’t realize is that the order in which life is lived is different for different people. Most let the needs of the body drive the soul and spirit, few others let the needs of the soul drive the spirit and soul and only a handful let the needs of the spirit drive the soul and the body. What do I mean by the above?

 

Those who are living their life very normally are driven by the needs of the body. It ranges from basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, good career and so on. When the needs of the body are met, the body instructs the mind/will/emotions to be satisfied and thereby never discover the uniqueness in them, which lives in their spirit.

 

There are few others who strive to be the best in what they participate in. They will be constantly seen as ones who never accept defeat, bounce back at life and never allow the needs of the body to choke their dreams and ambitions. You find people in this quadrant grow to become entrepreneurs. They are so busy in striving hard to be successful in what they do that the self-will/mind/emotions rules every thought. The uniqueness and gifting is sometimes completely supressed and overlooked.

 

But there are very few of them who leave their mark in the world. They are the ones who have been successful in identifying what their uniqueness is. What their gifting is, building on that, letting that seep into their soul and see the manifestation of that in body. Just to name a few are Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Joyce Meyer, Adolph Hitler and many more. Definitely, the question remains as to whether they are using the gifting to build or destroy the world. That’s a totally new discussion, which I shall cover sometime later.

 

So the best thing you can do is to identify which category you belong to and try and move yourself to the last category. Get yourselves to be driven by your spirit, then your soul and then your body. This needs the help of someone who knows exactly how Man operates.And that one person is none other than your creator. Any layman can tell you that there is no one better than a creator who knows how to operate or fix his creations. We are no different. We are far superior creation because we have a free will to choose what we want to influence our lives. I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will reveal himself and his plans in your life and bring about divine alignment of your spirit with his Holy Spirit and propel you into the purpose of your creation.

Freedom Or Security

On one night when work was tight, project deadlines severe, the clock ticking by as if it were running a race, like every other software engineer, I felt choked and wanted a break. The options were few. Stroll down to the coffee vending machine and gulp down some hot coffee. Look around the office and check if there was any soul who stayed back that night whom you could talk to. Go to the entertainment room and play some video games or TT. Call someone up and have a chat. Neither of them was an option for me at that night, cos that night I was working from home. The last thing I wanted to do was disturb anyone at home and reap loads of advice on how I should balance my work and not work late.

 

So I had no options than look for company online. Thanks to the various chat messengers, you find but many folks online. Not wanting to waste the little time in hand, I was glad to see a friend of mine online at that hour. Thank God people at different geographic locations have different time zones and even though this was a very insane hour for my friend, he was having the time to chat.

 

After the usual greetings and enquiry on how each of us were faring, my friend asked me one question that refreshed my mind for productive work and that is what I want to share with all of you. He asked me “If I gave you a choice to choose between Freedom and Security, what would you choose?” Well the question looked simple and answer very straightforward. I told him I couldn’t choose one. I would want freedom with security as I realized, what would the use of freedom be if I were not safe and had to live with that fear.

 

I wonder what each of you would choose if I were to ask you this question.

 

Nevertheless, I was restless because I wanted a clear answer to that question and my quest for the answer began ……

 

Considering the current state of matters around the world, undoubtedly no human could answer this and counter argue their point. I got my answer and it is Freedom. So was my friend’s answer. Where do you think I found my answer and counter argument? Indeed the BIBLE. J I know some of you must be just put off and may be thinking this is some religious fanatic. That’s what I would have thought few years before. But one thing I have learned is that is never hurts to listen someone out.

 

One of the most dynamic scenes ever captured on film is the execution of William Wallace in the movie Braveheart. Wallace is being tortured for his crimes of treason against the crown of Britain.

This brutal act is an attempt to give Wallace a final opportunity to renounce his deeds and realign his allegiance to the King. When Wallace is given a respite in which to speak, through the pain of disembowelment, he cries out, "Freedom!"

People speak and know of freedom, but they have difficulty making it a practical reality in their own lives. Why? Many don’t realize that they experience freedom from something in their lives by leaning onto someone or something else. There are many instances where we find people who are stormed by lack of peace in their homes and take refuge in addiction to alcoholism and drugs. We find few others who are haunted by some form of abuse that they went through in some time in their life and take refuge in an irrational self-defense mechanism leading to vengeful actions over anyone around them who they think is similar to the abuser. We find many others experiencing freedom of speech by bullying the way through others conversations and subduing them by their authority and taking refuge in that false inflated power. We find few others who manipulate the situations around them silently and take refuge in others weakness to exercise their inner voice. The examples can be many. The crux of the whole illustration is that we all experience one such freedom-refuge combination and exercise them in different areas in our life.

 

We fail to recognize, that what we are taking refuge in, is what is going to destroy us slowly but steadily. Eventually it becomes our character when we fail to recognize it as a problem. We find many people who manipulate (M) their ways to get things done, we find few others who dominate (D) their way to get things done, we find few others who intimidate (I) others to get few things done. DIM, domination, manipulation and intimidation thereby becomes the underlying weapon of every human to win areas of their life where normal conversations don’t help them achieve their goal. What we experience now is a bondage that's disguised as a pseudo-freedom.

 

Freedom according to me can be defined as an ability to do anything constructive without destroying another man or his belongings.

 

Now the question is what’s constructive and how can we learn how to do things without destroying someone or something else. The only way to do the same is by learning from our Creator how to go about things in our lives and what he expects us to do. We can trust our creator with our lives because he is the one who gave it to us in the first place. Why would he want to take it away or mess with it?

Our Creator, God, desires that we trust him completely. It becomes a freeing experience to give God complete control to have his way in our lives and be obedient to his leading, that is were our success lies. Some may argue that surrendering to God is not freedom but becoming a puppet. But this is because they draw analogies of surrendering to God like surrendering to anyone or anything else in this world. The huge difference between the two is that God who is our creator is the one has defined the purpose of our existence. So every human achieves this inner satisfaction only when we discover and fulfill this purpose. So when we co-operate with him, he will do everything in the world to ensure we accomplish the same. This is when we feel completely successful, fulfilled and FREE.

 

“Freedom in Christ” is what I call complete Freedom, because you experience your freedom in your refuge of Christ. (Galations 5:1) Christ will never fail you, because HE is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow. He came down to take upon himself the fears, hurts, the shame and strongholds in our lives onto himself. With his crucification, all of these have been crucified and with his resurrection a new life has been restored to those who believe in HIS name.

 

I encourage all of you to choose to have Freedom as your choice;Freedom in Christ is the only way to achieve thesame.