Good day my dear brothers and sisters, and anyone else who may be reading my blog right now!  I pray that all is going well with you and your families and that you are experiencing the Lord’s mighty favor in your life.

We have now entered the month of July which means we are in the full swing of Summer. For many the month of July means going on vacation, times by the pool, days in the park, barbeques and much more. The Fourth of July was the day my parents were married so growing up I remembered we would always gather together on the Fourth at our parents home to celebrate their wedding anniversary. All my brothers and my sister, along with all the grandkids, would gather to celebrate their anniversary and the Fourth as well. There would be good Latin music playing, lots of good Mexican food to eat and fireworks to light.

I have many fond memories of those times we had at our parents home on the Fourth of July but the Fourth of July is more than just getting together for a BBQ, to celebrate an anniversary and to light off fireworks. It is a time to commemorate or celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776,  which declared our independence or freedom from the Kingdom of Great Britain.

One thing that really gets under my skin is when people, because they are frustrated or upset with our government or nation for whatever reason, decide to burn our flag in protest. To those people I say go find another nation to live in and when you become frustrated or upset there for whatever reason, try burning their flag and see what happens. (was that too harsh)

Freedom is something we take for granted in America and sometimes it takes going to another country, where there isn’t as much freedom there as we have in America,  to fully appreciate what we have in America, even with all of our problems. It is the same for us as Christians.

In Luke 4: 14-21,when Jesus was in the synagogue in Nazareth, He stood up to read from Isaiah and He found where it was written in Isaiah 61:1-2: “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then Jesus really shook everyone up when He said in vs 21, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Can anyone say Amen to that!!

Freedom!! When I first accepted Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Savior, I felt the complete freedom that came with that decision from the burden of all my sins; my past sins and any sins I will ever commit! Jesus paid the full price for my sins and let me tell you I was one happy camper. But just as it is with many, I slowly found my self falling back into some of my old ways, my old sins. Then I discovered that wonderful word, grace, and what a day that was for me, but the problem with that was that I soon found myself abusing that wonderful attribute of the Lord.

Jesus says in John 8:36 “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Boy, that should make all Christians want to shout unto the Lord; we are FREE!!! Well, since we are free, then we can do whatever we want because the penalty for all of our sins, past , present and future, has been paid by Jesus on the cross, right? Then we read in 1 Peter 2:16 “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.”

Just as I stated earlier how much it bothered me when people choose to burn our flag or desecrate it; I have realized that it should bother me more when I choose to use my freedom to willfully go back to my old sinful ways, for when I do that I am in a sense desecrating or violating what the Lord did for me on the cross. My brothers and sisters, we must not do that.

The Apostle Paul, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, writes in Romans 6:15 “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!”  

The Apostle Paul also writes in 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.” This must be one of the many important verses we hide in our heart. We must memorize it and stand on it whenever temptation comes our way. We have been set free from sin and it no longer has a hold on us. Can anyone say AMEN to that!!

You have no power of your own that can free you from the penalty of sin in your life, which is eternal death. Your good works can’t do it nor can anything else. My friend, if you have not been set free from the penalty of sin in your life then confess to the Lord your need of a Savior and ask Jesus into your heart and make Him the Lord and Savior of your life right now so that you may have eternal life. It’s a decision you will never regret doing 🙂