Psalm 146:2 "I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live."

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Independence Day!!!!!

Hi Everyone

Yes, for those of you that by chance may be reading this some other place in the world, today is the day that the United States of America celebrates it's freedom and independence as a nation. (I am NOT sure if we will have fireworks tonight or not-last I heard there were chances of scattered showers, and it looks clo9udy out there (like "it's going to rain" cloudy---and yes, I will be slightly disappointed if God allows it to rain--but whether or not we have fireworks is really okay and not the issue of this post.)

So let's be grateful and thankful for our freedom in this land and for the people that died to give it to us--sometimes our generations have things so good that we forget and think "it has always been this way" when that was not the case.

But my real point of this post is something else.....well I have two points!

1) The first point is that just like our nation terms it "Independence Day," We must recognize that "INDEPENDENCE" is something our culture and nation push and celebrate--and that isn't totally a bad thing is some aspects....It is okay to do some things without the help of others.....but if it comes to the point that we no longer think we need anyone else, then there are serious problems. Our "independence" also becomes a problem when we think we can do things on our own without Jesus Christ as the center of our lives! So, let's just take a little bit of time today to get quiet before the Lord and ask ourselves a few questions.

Am I truly depending on and trusting in Jesus Christ, not just for my salvation, but on a relationship-based moment by moment trust in Him and all that He is?

Are there any areas where I am starting to "slack" and depend on myself, others, my financial portfolio, my culture, or whatever else (you fill in the blank), INSTEAD OF CHRIST??? If there are areas like that in your life, go before Him and deal with it--just you and Him.

Psalm 112;1, Praise the LORD, Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands.....He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD.

Are our HEARTS STEADFAST, TRUSTING in the Lord??

2) My second point is that the freedom that Jesus Christ has given to us, who have been brought to saving faith in Him, is A LOT GREATER--AND IMMEASURABLE in comparison to the freedom that those before us (and today) are/have given up so that our nation could be free! So ABOVE ALL, LET'S CELEBRATE HIM TODAY AND EVERY DAY FOR THE FREEDOM THAT HE GAVE TO US WHEN WE WERE BROUGHT TO THE PLACE OD ACCEPTING HIS FORGIVENESS--AND HIS DEATH ON OUR BEHALF. HIS GIFT OF FREEDOM IS SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS.....BECAUSE NOTHING WILL EVER CHANGE THAT!!

Psalm 96:1-4 "Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise, he is to be feared above all gods."

Let's live in gratitude accordingly.....with our every thought, word, action, motive, attitude, and desire!!

Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Have a truly blessed day Celebrating our nation's freedom and the freedom that Jesus Christ has given to you!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very good journey and experience!