Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD  (Psalm 33:12a)

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I want to say a few words today as we celebrate in America the birth of our nation.  We have been a people who have been blessed by our God and he has shed his grace upon us.  I am  fortunate to live in a nation that was founded by men and women of extreme courage and dedication.  I am grateful for all those who are in service to America and who risk their lives  so that we may live and worship in freedom .  We can never truly thank them enough.  I pray God’s blessings and favor upon them all.

With all that said, as we watch as darkness and evil fill this earth, the question still  remains “Are you truly set free?“.   The bondage of sin can cause havoc and destruction in your life no matter where you live and how much money and power you  have.  Each day I watch with sadness as people choose to live their life in the chains of the enemy who has blinded them to the fact that they are perishing as they walk the path of death. They are not free.  They are deceived! Without Christ, there is no freedom for your life.  You can have all you think is good but you will never be truly happy because your hope to be victorious in this world comes only in being surrendered to Christ!  He is the one who sets the prisoners free so that we no longer have to be held captive in the trap of sin.  Christ is our power over the darkness and our hope when we come to the end of ourselves and have nowhere else to turn.  There is always a way for God to help you.  You can never fall too far that his grace cannot lift you.

What does it serve you to live in a worldly freedom when you come to the end of your life?  It is only when your life is in Christ that you can have peace no matter what you face.  He has conquered all of your enemies and death no longer has any power over you.   Money, fame and even earthly freedom can never give you that!

I want to include a few quotes from our Founding Fathers that show the heart of those who once led this country with truth.  Read them over and ponder how far we have come from this once ideal.

“And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?  That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever.”  Thomas Jefferson, Signer and Principal Author of the Declaration of Independence; Third President of the United States.

“Is it not that in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? – that it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation?  Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?”   John Quincy Adams: Statesman; Diplomat; Sixth President of the United States.

“One of the beautiful boast of our municipal jurisprudence is that Christianity is part of the Common Law…there never has been a period in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying at its foundations… I verily believe Christianity necessary to the support of civil society.” Joseph Story: U.S. Supreme Court Justice; “Father of American Jurisprudence,” Placed on the Court by President James Madison.

” We are a Christian people…not because the law demands it, not to gain exclusive benefits or to avoid legal disabilities, but from choice and education; and in a land thus universally Christian, what is to be expected, what desired, but that we shall pay due regard to Christianity?” Senate Judiciary Committee Report, January 19, 1853

Who is fighting for those ideals now?  Too many people are being deceived by the enemy. My friends, our freedom has been bought at a price of the blood of Jesus Christ.  All that we have and the future with hope that we aspire to has been given to us by Him.  You can make a choice today to have real freedom that releases you from the bonds of every pain, addiction and trouble that the earth sends your way.  This world is passing away.  Only those things that stand the test of fire shall live on.  Only that which we surrender to Christ can we keep.  Be blessed this day.  You no longer have to be sold out to the enemy and live as a puppet of his schemes.  You have a choice.  Choose to live in the freedom of Christ.  No one can take you from his hands or rob you of the destiny he planned for you.  That is a freedom you can celebrate!

                                                     

Dear Father,  I lift up to you those who are struggling to be free.  I pray for those who are suffering in trials of every kind and who need to know that you can meet them in any situation and that you have the power to take them to victory no matter how impossible their situation seems.  Give them your peace this day, dear Jesus.  Let them understand that your love is enough and that you will never fail them.

I pray also for those are in restricted nations where to be a Christian is a death sentence.  I pray for you to touch those who are persecuted, tortured and imprisoned for their faith.  I pray that you will reach them with a joy that surpasses their understanding.  May they know that you are with them to the end. 

Lord Jesus, show those who come to this site what real freedom in you can mean.  Amen