Independence Day

 This weekend the United States of America celebrates its 250th birthday.  It is a big deal for our country.  There will be celebrations nationwide.  Think about what the word  “ independence “ means.  It can mean the state of your nation, in a political way.  It can refer to gaining your independence when you turn a certain age.  How about your financial independence, freedom from debt.  Or this last one I’m going to mention, to me, is the most important.  That is our freedom that Jesus has given us.  He has made it possible.  

We all are sinners.  We all fall short of the glory of God.  The devil wants to keep us in that bondage.  To put it bluntly, the devil wants us to rot in hell, fiery hell, for eternity.  But our Lord Jesus has given us freedom.  Jesus died on that cross for our sins.  He took those sins and buried them in hell forever.  You may be thinking if that’s the case then how can we walk-in that freedom? We can be free, we can have our independence from a life in hell to an eternity in heaven.  A beautiful place for us, the New Jerusalem where there are streets of gold.  Where we are free forever.  What is the catch?  The catch? 

We go to Jesus, be humbly on our knees, lay our sins down before Him.  And with a heart that is filled with remorse, ask Jesus to forgive us of all of the sins we have committed, and of yet to commit.  Repent to Jesus, with a heart that wants nothing other than to have that relationship with Jesus.  Ask Him to wash you clean with His blood.  Ask for His forgiveness.  Pledge to Him a life that lives only to please Him. To be pure and holy before Him.  WOW!

I can hear it now, Lord how am I to do or be all of that? I am not perfect Lord.  His answer to that, He knows we are not perfect. He knows we may slip or fall short.  That is why He sent us our Helper, the Holy Spirit.  He is with us always.  He guides us, directs us, counsels us, and wipes our tears. Jesus knows our weaknesses.  He provides us with a path of righteousness.  This is our way, Jesus’ way. 

And this is our independence. Our freedom from sin, hell, desperate situations, and so on. Our INDEPENDENCE is our FREEDOM.  AMEN! 

Our independence will last everyday for the rest of our lives and our eternity with out Lord Jesus  

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬ ‭HCSB

“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.””

‭‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭32‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

Gifts and Callings

 “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable [for He does not withdraw what He has given, nor does He change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His calling.

‭‭Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭29‬ ‭Amplified

In God’s own words, He will not take our gifts back.  

God is not an “Indian giver”. In layman’s terms..  Remember when we were children, we would say to our friends don’t be an “Indian giver”.  Don’t take my gift back, you already gave it to me.  

Is that how we see our gifts from Jesus?  Do we fear He will take them all back? When we asked Jesus into our lives He gave us a calling, a purpose.  Along with our calling He gave us gifts to help us and aid us.  These are two different things.  Our gifts are about us.  Our calling is about others and Jesus.  I heard an expression in my devotions this morning.  Breathing in- is about our gifts, to us.  Breathing out- is our calling.  Spreading the Gospel to others.  

We need both.  We need the discernment, wisdom, and knowledge from our Lord to live and survive, and be strong for the next part.  Breathing out is spreading the Gospel out over others.  We cannot have life without one or the other.  God made us to inhale and exhale. That is how we survive, how our organs survive.  

We often say to ourselves “oh someone else will do it “.  Sure there are others with your gifts.  But your calling, Jesus gave that specifically to you.  For you to do.  We love receiving gifts, do we love giving gifts just as much?  

I think most of us will agree, we don’t want to die without using those gifts Jesus gave us. We want to please Jesus. I want to please Jesus. I want to walk in God’s favor. And use those gifts for His glory. Are we excited to use our calling also?    

Let’s open our hearts to Jesus, surrender to Him, receive and give.  We won’t be disappointed.  

There is so much more I could write on these topics.  But then I find myself going in another direction.  Feel free to dive into God’s Word and see what He wants you to know.