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Speaker 1: Life Audio.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We're so glad to have

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Speaker 2: you listening. I'm Lynette Kittle, and today's topic is celebrating

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Speaker 2: two hundred and fifty years of freedom as a nation.

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Speaker 2: We'll be right back after a brief message from our sponsor.

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Speaker 2: Celebrating two hundred and fifty years of freedom as a nation,

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Speaker 2: written and read by Lynette Kittle. It is for freedom

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Speaker 2: that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and

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Speaker 2: do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke

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Speaker 2: of slavery Galatians five to one. Our founding fathers were

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Speaker 2: a group of men who believed in God, the freedom

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Speaker 2: he gives to each one of us, and in his

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Speaker 2: providence to establish the United States of America. Although debates

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Speaker 2: continue by those challenging how godly each one lived and

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Speaker 2: how deeply they each believed in God, still they gave

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Speaker 2: us a biblical basis for our nation, one that continues

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Speaker 2: to day. As first Vice President and second President of

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Speaker 2: the United States, John Adams wrote on July third, seventeen

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Speaker 2: seventy six to his beloved wife Abigail, concerning the high

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Speaker 2: cost of freedom paid to create the Declaration of Independence.

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Speaker 2: You will think be transported with enthusiasm. But I am not.

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Speaker 2: I am well aware of the toil and blood and

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Speaker 2: treasure that it will cost us to maintain this declaration

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Speaker 2: and support and defend these states. Yet through all the

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Speaker 2: gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory.

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Speaker 2: I can see that the end is more than worth

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Speaker 2: all the means, and that posterity will triumph in that

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Speaker 2: day's transaction. Even although we should rule it, which I

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Speaker 2: trust in God, we shall not. Adams also credited the

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Speaker 2: American Revolution's success with the spiritual revival in the hearts

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Speaker 2: and minds of the people that preceded it by a generation,

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Speaker 2: laying the foundation for America. The spread of the Great

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Speaker 2: Awakening across the colonies greatly influenced and strengthen Patriot leaders

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Speaker 2: leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence,

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Speaker 2: where prayer and fasting played a vital role in leading

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Speaker 2: America to establish its freedoms. America is a test state

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Speaker 2: of what God has done, leading America's founders to establish

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Speaker 2: our nation and government on godly principles. These biblical truths

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Speaker 2: have given us the freedom to live as followers of

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Speaker 2: Jesus Christ without reserve. As Galatians five thirteen directs us, You,

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Speaker 2: my brothers and sisters, were called to be free, but

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Speaker 2: do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh. Rather

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Speaker 2: serve one another humbly in love. The following our three

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Speaker 2: freedoms America has allotted to us as Christians. Number one,

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Speaker 2: America gives us freedom to openly worship God. First and

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Speaker 2: foremost is the freedom America gives us to worship God.

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Speaker 2: It's our highest calling as Christians, and it's the freedom

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Speaker 2: that tops all the others because it's also fulfilling the

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Speaker 2: first commandment recorded in Matthew twenty two thirty seven through

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Speaker 2: thirty eight. Jesus replied, love the Lord your God, with

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Speaker 2: all your heart, and with all your soul, and with

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Speaker 2: all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.

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Speaker 2: Number two, America gives us freedom to openly preach the Gospel.

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Speaker 2: In America, we have this freedom like no other country

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Speaker 2: in the world. As Second Corinthians three seventeen explains, now

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Speaker 2: the Lord is the Spirit, and the where the Spirit

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Speaker 2: of the Lord is there is freedom. Number three America

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Speaker 2: gives us freedom to openly live as a Christian. We,

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Speaker 2: as Americans, have been granted the right as citizens to

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Speaker 2: live as Christians in the freedom Jesus gave us, as

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Speaker 2: Jesus assured us in John eight thirty six, So if

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Speaker 2: the sun sets you free, you will be free. Indeed,

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Speaker 2: although we as Americans fought for freedom from King George

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Speaker 2: and the British tyranny in proclaiming independence from their harsh reign,

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Speaker 2: our independence was rooted in our dependence upon Almighty God

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Speaker 2: and the freedom He gives us through Jesus Christ. Adams

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Speaker 2: supported the spiritual awakening in our country, calling attention to

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Speaker 2: and recognizing the connection between faith in God and freedom

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Speaker 2: in life, validating where true freedom originates miracles in American history. Author, historian,

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Speaker 2: and speaker William J. Fetterer writes, in defending the Declaration,

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Speaker 2: Adams told the Continental Congress July one, seventeen seventy six,

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Speaker 2: live or die, survivor perish. I am for the declaration.

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Speaker 2: It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God,

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Speaker 2: it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now and independence forever,

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Speaker 2: intersecting faith in life. If you celebrate our nation's two

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Speaker 2: hundred and fifty years of freedom this year on July fourth,

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Speaker 2: consider our founder's faith in God and the fortitude they

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Speaker 2: displayed in standing on His truth in the midst of

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Speaker 2: conflict and tyranny. Spend time thanking God for their bravery

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Speaker 2: and boldness in believing that true freedom comes from Him.

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Speaker 2: Further reading how the Church paved the way for America's freedom.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If you liked what

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