The Keys To Freedom

Do you want freedom from the prison you are in? Whether it is a structural, physical or emotional prison that you find yourself in. There are three keys to freedom. Before I reveal the Keys to your permanent freedom, we will look at the sources of your prison - albeit of the structural, physical or emotional type. First we shall discuss two types of physical prisons and then we will look at the emotional prisons. The

Prisons The prisons we are in, albeit the mind, body or structural, come to us by the decisions we or others have made that affect our lives, by birth by illness or by tragedy. These prisons we are in are of the world and of the mind, not of God. As you will see there are different types of prisons that we find ourselves in.

I. The Structural Prison

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There are two types of structural prisons that we can find outselves in. They are:

a. The Structural prison can be a Penitentiary for you if you have commited a crime that has gotten you there. Like it or not, it was your own actions that got you there in the first place. Granted there are some that are falsely accused and sentenced there.... and all too often put to death there. This is where you are for whatever time the Law of the Land has given you. Yet you can have freedom and be free in prison! There are keys to freedom!

B.The Structural prison is also one that you have made of your home; because of fear. You may have created it out of an incident that has happened to you, such as rape or abuse. You may be a prisoner in your own home because of some emotional problem that causes you to isolate yourself. You can have freedom from this prison and from it’s jailer. You can reach out and accept the Keys to freedom!

II. The Physical Prison

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The Physical prison is the prison that we have because of some birth defect, devastating illnes or tragedy that has put us in a prison in our own bodies. There is no escape from it until we enter into the kingdom

of God. The good news is that we can still be free and have freedom even though we are forever trapped in our twisted and mangled bodies. The pain you feel and suffer can take a terrible toll on you and leave you feeling hopeless and helpless to do anything about. It seems that you spend more time fighting pain that on anything else and you tire easily just from fighting it; so all you want to do is sleep or rest and push the cares of the world out of your mind for a while. You can get the keys to freedom!

III. The Emotional Prison

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The Emotional prison is all too frequently worse than the structural or physical prisons that we find ourselves in. This is a prison in the mind. This kind of prison comes in the forms of mental retardation,

paranoia, schitzophrenia and etc. It can also be because of drug and alcohol abuse in a vain attempt to bury deep-seeded problems or painful memories of the past. Like those who suffer with the physical pain and

complications of their disability; you also suffer from in the emotional state. This is just as devastating as the physical disability is and it

can do more damage. The mind is a fragile thing and although the physical body is fragile in many respects, the mind is even more fragile and can be broken more easily than the body.These are the hardest

prisons to become free from; but you can be free!

IV. The Key to Freedom

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As you can see there are various prisons that we may find ourselves in and we do not think that we will ever be freed from them. We become hopeless lost and in despair, because there seems to be no way out of the prisons that we are in. First we will discuss freedom, secondly, how to be free and thirdly,to be made whole and healed.

A. Freedom

In Acts 22:28, the Apostle Paul is a prisoner in the Structural prison, who has been brought before Rome’s Authorities. The Chief Captain asked him in verse 27,"Are you Roman?" Paul answered,"Yes." but in verse 28, after the chief captain had answered, "With great sum obtained I this freedom", Paul replied, "I was free born." What does this mean? it means that he was not a slave to any man; but tkae a good look at this. Paul is telling us that we too can have freedom and be "born Free" through Jesus Christ and His gift of Salvation that is free. Paul was not only free in the world; but free in the spirit. He was a slave to no man or thing of this world. Just as Paul was free, even though he was a prisoner of the law of man in this world, he remained free. He was free because he had not the burdens of sin nor the temptations of the world to make him a prisoner. We must remember that we are of this world and are of flesh and bone; therefore we are subjected to the temptations and evils of this world. We are born in sin and can not be made free until we accept Jesus’ great gift of Salvation. Our freedom came at a great price when God sent his Son, Jesus to die for us. That was the ultimate price for the sins of mankind, for you and for me.