It’s hard to believe we are already half-way through 2020! It seems like it was just yesterday we were celebrating and welcoming in the New Year of 2020. I don’t believe there was a person around back at the beginning of 2020 who ever imagined we would be in the place we are currently in today.

Most people today are feeling very discouraged, concerned and angry that our city, nation and world is in the place it is today. Many are out of work, not sure when and if they will have a job to go back to. Some have tragically lost loved ones to the Covid-19 virus. Feelings of anxiety and depression have begun to set in the hearts of people because of being locked down for so long, not even sure when it will end. On top of all that bad news we have the rioting and protesting taking place across our city and nation where lives have been lost, businesses have been burnt to the ground and anger is beginning to rise in the hearts of many.

July is the month where we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. On July 4th 1776 the Declaration of Independence was signed which signified 13 colonies would no longer be under British rule and the United States of America was birthed. We were now a united, free and independent states!!

I have said this many times over, America is the greatest nation to live in. For those who may disagree with my assessment of America, they are free to go and live somewhere else. Though I believe America is the greatest nation in the world to live in, America is far from being perfect and we in America continue to need lots of prayer and Divine guidance from our Creator, the Lord.

We have seen many of the rights and freedoms our forefathers sought after on July 4th 1776 and many brave men and women fought and gave their lives for sadly slip away. It should break our hearts!

The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” As much as we see many of our rights/freedoms as Americans slipping away, that should not be the case for believers/Christians/ followers of Jesus Christ, yet that is sadly very true.

Paul wrote: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” I am not saying this is true across the board for the church but I am saddened to see how many churches, pastors and Christians are embracing the things and mindsets of the world and because of that, the Spirit of the Lord is being pushed to the side, not seemed as important or vital to our Christian walk.

Today we sadly see people who feel it is their right to burn the flag of the United States of America, to stomp on it with total disregard to the lives of many men and women who paid the ultimate price by dying and shedding their blood on many battlefields. As an American who served our country, it appalls me.

Worse yet, I see many Christians and Christian leaders who water down the message of the cross and the importance of the precious blood our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ shed for our sins so that we might be free! Sadly, many Christians today don’t even feel the need/importance to be in church or to be part of a body of believers. Yet. many of those same people are walking around not experiencing the freedom and power Jesus Christ meant for His church to have and are wondering why.

America is the greatest nation in the world, yet we have some serious issues which need our attention and need to change. Here’s the biggest issue, when the church is heard said from the mouths of many of our political leaders on both sides of the fence not to be an essential part of our makeup as a nation, we are in trouble.

I am an American and proud to be called an American; but more importantly, I am a believer, a follower of Jesus Christ, a Christian and I am not ashamed to declare that. I have many issues in my life which need changing and I ask the Lord for His strength and help to do that, but it is because Jesus Christ I am free!

Let me close by asking you my friend; are you feeling free? If not, have you asked Jesus Christ to be the Lord of your life? If that is the case, have you allowed the Spirit of the Lord to fade in its importance for your life?

Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash