Live..

Live… We want to live…not the alternative. We have expectations about it’s duration….We have a place to live….

What is it to really ‘live’? Is it to just exist?…breathe and have a heart beat?

Is it to push the limits, be adventurous, even rebelling against what is expected or right? Have a ‘good time’?

I’m reminded of that thing about what’s between the dash. You remember…that dash that connects your date of birth and date of death on your tombstone….

I need to think about that dash today, because I’m in it.

But the question is, what am I living for? Am I living simply because I haven’t died yet?

Am I living to work and spend? Or living to work so I can save and count it? Am I living for the next thrill? The next fix of my own brand of addiction?

Sigh…

Thank You Lord that I have died already.

“Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

And thank You even more that I live. Jesus died so ‘that I might die to sins….and LIVE for righteousness…’ (same passage, personalized by me)

I have ceased to exist as far as sin is concerned. My existence is for the righteousness. “Since Jesus went through everything I’m going through and more, I must learn to think like Him. Think of my sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get my own way. Then I’ll be able to live out my days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what I want.” (1 Peter 4:1,2 The Message, personalized by me)

Thank You Jesus !!

Pastor..

Pastor… A job ? A gift? ….

Sometimes both? Sometimes not?

The word pastor was not in the vocabulary of my particular religious heritage. We had ‘preachers’. Sometimes the preacher was also an ‘elder’. The elders made the decisions for the congregation at that place. Other religious groups allow each person who has their name written on the document of the church roll to have a ‘vote’. Everybody has an official say-so.

I was surprised this morning to find that word only used nine times in the KJV. Eight of those times is in the book of Jeremiah. One time, it is used in Ephesians 4:11 “ And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets: and some, evangelists: and some, pastors and teachers.”

“He gave…” Sounds like a gift to me. And surely there must be a difference in a pastor, a teacher, and an evangelist…else they wouldn’t all be listed. ??

The following verse states a purpose.. “ for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12)

I looked into the word ‘shepherd’… (Read this with a little humor please….) “The hired hand is not the shepherd….” John 10:12

I’ve been pastored, I’ve been taught, and I’ve been preached to. In my opinion, there is a huge difference. Sometimes it was by the hired hand…often not.

I realize I have some radical views sometimes…especially when it comes to organized religion. I heard it said once that it was possible to organize the organism right out of the church.

The Body of Christ is alive. But it is often not well. I fear we have ‘paid’ someone to do so many things for so long that we’ve organized a monster that is often hard to feed.

Because of my religious past, I rely very little on preachers or pastors. They are just as absolutely human as I am, perhaps more educated or more experienced, but they have no more access to God than I do. Jesus intercedes for them just like He does for me.

When they are exercising a God-given gift appropriately, I have been blessed, nurtured, admonished, and encouraged. When they were exercising the description of the job, I’ve been hurt, shamed, angered, and humiliated.
That’s my baggage. I am sure you have your own…and we probably both need to unpack it, take it all out, look it over good, and ask the Lord to give it a good scrubbing.


“Whiter than snow…” (Ps. 51:7)

Fear...

Fear… It appears 400 times in the King James Translation, 258 times in the New International Version…

We are told to fear God, yet time and time again scripture says ‘fear not..’.

So which is it?

I struggled with the issue of fear for a very long time. Still I can’t wrap my mind completely around the concept at times. But we have a Helper Who aids our understanding.

“..if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure…THEN you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God..” (emphasis mine, Proverbs 2:1-5)

Understanding fear is possible. Scripture has lots to say about it. What it is, what it is not.

It is ‘ to hate evil, pride arrogance, and the evil ways..’ (Prov. 8:13)
It is ‘a fountain of life’. (Prov. 14:27)
It is ‘…required of thee…to fear the Lord and walk in all His ways..’ (Deut. 10:12)
Many many other times scripture tells us about ‘fear’.

The Hebrew word ‘yare’ is a verb and is translated some 330 times as ‘fear’. But it’s meaning can be both being afaid, or being reverent and respectful. There is a huge difference in the two.

As I look for answers and understanding, I take great comfort in these words…

“..Fear not…for I know that you seek Jesus…” (Mat.28:5)
“..God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid...” (Isa.12:2)
“In God I have put my trust. I will not be afraid..” (Ps. 56:11)

Hallelujah

Nots...

Nots…. Or knots. Either, or both?

I remember a particular sermon from years ago. The preacher was one of those hell fire and brimstone kinda guys. He’d often turn absolutely red in the face standing in the pulpit, delivering his message to us.

This sermon was entitled “The Nots In The Devil‘s Tale”. It was all about how putting the little three letter word ‘not’ into a sentence was a way the devil worked his treachery.

There must have been some truth to the sermon, the sermon title stuck with me all these years. Certainly it made an impact…truth always does. Unfortunately, lies can as well.

I don’t remember what any of the ‘nots’ were. But I can think of some now..
The first was in the Garden. God had said not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or they would die. Satan added a not. “..ye shall not surely die’. (Gen.3:4)

One Knot in his tail…lots of knots in all human life thereafter.

I also think of Jesus’ words in John 14:6. “I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.” The enemy would have us believe that Jesus is not the only way. That ‘not’ could bring eternal separation from God. Jesus IS the only way. The devil’s ‘not’ doesn’t change truth.

Jesus also said “I am the Light of the world.” (John 8:12) The devil says ‘not’…he lies and says that there are other sources of light.

“He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of His power..” (2Thes. 1:8) A ‘not’ in that scripture is deadly. God will punish. Simply being cut off from His Presence is beyond horrible.

I serve the ‘God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth’(Gen. 14:19). He is the God of love (1 John 4:8), mercy (Eph. 2:4), and grace (1Peter 5:10). I love Him because He first loved me (1 John 4:19)

I can’t put a ‘not’ in one truth of scripture and leave the ‘nots’ out in others.

If He is the God of love…He is also the God of judgment. (Ps. 50:6, Ecc. 3:17)


The preacher who shouted this sermon seemed miserable to me. I felt that misery myself for years. But I’ve got the ‘nots’ out of places they don’t belong…and put them where they do belong.

My God is not mean and nasty.

He does not wait, anticipating when He might punish me for messing up.

But at the same time, He means what He says…and it’s always in my best interest to believe Him and do as He has said...


...Because HE WILL do as He says. No 'not' there....

Know-ye-nots...

Know-ye-nots… negative of knowing…

There are lots of things I don’t know. It is quite impossible to know every thing…lots of the things I DO know, I wish I did NOT. And…there are a lot of things I SHOULD know and NEED to know that I do not know.

Jesus knew about know-ye-nots. He taught that there were many things we should be concerned about knowing. We begin with the elementary.

“Don’t you understand (know-ye-not) this parable?…” …but He says we must not stop there… “How then will you understand any parable?”(Mark 4:13) The parable in this passage stresses to us the importance of understanding basic truth and building on it.

There is absolute truth. It is imperative to accept that fact, submit, and seek it.

Scripture has many know-ye-nots that we should be sure we benefit from.

“Know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God?”(James 4:4)

“Examine yourselves…do you not realize (know-ye-not) that Christ Jesus is in you- unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2Cor. 13:5)

“Know-ye-not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” (1 Cor. 9:24)

“ Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body?…flee fornicication…Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are ought with a price…”(1Cor. 6:16, 18,19,20) (Archaic you think? …It is written.)

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? (1Cor. 6:9)

“Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” (1Cor. 5:6)

“Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are…” (Rom.6:16)

“Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?”(Rom. 6:3)

Ignorance causes a lot of damage.

“God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better…but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and He’s calling for a radical life change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right.” (Acts 17:30,31 The Message)

Ignorance is no excuse. Not anymore. Especially when Truth is so readily available and easily accessed.

It is simply a choice.

Know what God has said.

Or know-ye-not.

Word...

Word…. What is a word but a vehicle of communication….

God has given His, and it’s the absolute. The list of ten were once referred to as ‘The Ten Words’. It’s a pretty remarkable set of ten words. Shalts and shalt nots. Ten words that would solve every problem of mankind if we would just follow them. (can’t be done, unfortunately…sin has entered the equation…)

My writing today is being done on a ‘word’ processor. It enables me to write and rewrite at will, corrects my spelling, all sorts of helping devices, most of which I’m unaware of or don’t know how to utilize. They are still available…even if I’m ignorant of them, even if I choose not to use them.

Communication has changed immensely in my lifetime. Once, I would have worn out two erasers on a writing like this, wasting much more paper than the one page it ends up on. All in an attempt to capture my thoughts, articulate them, and get them into ‘words’. My thoughts are just mine until they are processed into ‘words’. Then, you can share them, agree or disagree….like or dislike….be benefited, unimpressed, or even offended.

In the same way, God’s Word is not much use to me unless it is available to me and relative to my life.

God’s ‘Word’ is recorded… in the documents contained in our Bible. There are lots of translations that use languages from The King’s English, to the street language of today. What He has said is readily available in dozens of formats. It is available in words that I am able to fully understand and apply.

His ‘Word’ was communicated in an even greater way…in the Person of Jesus Christ. “In the beginning was the Word…..and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us…” (John 1:1-2)

Today, I speak words into cell phones, over Skype to the other side of the planet…I write words into machines that put them out into cyberspace for anyone to read. I can write them, publish them, broadcast them…I’m still fairly free to stand up and speak them.

God has spoken in lots of ways. He certainly didn’t have to. He is God. He gets the final say.

But His desire is that we hear and understand Him. He has gone to great lengths to make Himself available and approachable. He has shown us His character, His love…the good intentions He has for us. Time and time again in scripture, we see how He relates to mankind, whom He has created to be in relationship with. None of it because we deserved another chance…all of it because He will do whatever it takes to reach out to us….anything required to restore and redeem….everything. Even to the death.

The only thing God will not do is take away our choice, or change the rules of what is right and wrong….good and evil.

He has not nor will He ever change the absolutes of Himself. What He says…IS…and will never change. Right, as He has dictated will never change. Likewise, wrong will always be wrong.

While He is unchanging, we are not. Our culture changes, our methods change…and our enemy sees to it that he uses every change to our disadvantage and disaster. Make no mistake, he has no pride or shame. There is no honor in his methods.

From walking in the cool of the day, leading by pillars of fire, writing with His Finger on tablets of stone….to leaving heaven and moving into a barn…. God has done so very much to communicate and relate to us.

He hasn’t required me to carry around a stone tablet, hasn’t required me to learn to read and understand Greek or Hebrew… My methods of hearing what He has said don’t matter to Him. It just matters that I listen.

Recover...

Recover… There’s not a single one of us that doesn’t need to….

We all suffer from the same fatal disease. The horrible truth is that if we lose the battle with this disease, the death is eternal.

There is One Cure. One. It’s not a pill. Not a diet. Not a set of exercises. It’s not a lifestyle. It’s a Person.

His Name is Jesus.

We are wise to cling to Him.

There is a lot to a name. Especially His Name. In our culture, we’ve lost the concept of the meaning of names. Pity.

There were twins born to Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 25. One of the twin boys came forth from the birth canal hanging onto his brother’s foot. They named that baby Jacob. It means ‘heel holder’.

That baby was born hanging on…and his name would always bring that to mind.

And hang on he did. His life’s story examples both good and bad aspects of that part of his personality.

Jacob was an ambitious deceiver. He grabbed hold of life and got all he could get. Sometimes underhanded.

Eventually, he’d made a pretty bad situation for himself, and was trying to find the way out. That’s when he had an encounter with a messenger from heaven.

“..and Jacob was left alone. And there, he wrestled….’ (Genesis 32:24)

God had allowed Jacob his choices and methods. Then when Jacob used up all his resources, all his ideas and schemes…when he needed help in preserving his life and the lives of his family, he had a meeting with God.

“…and Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” (Genesis 32:30)

Peniel. Facing God.

Hallelujah. May we keep our faces turned to Him.

Reason...

Reason… Ever hear ‘everything happens for a reason’?….

Well, yes it does. Everything that happens is because of something. Mostly, it’s because of either my choice or someone else’s.

We are all in this big ole’ pool of life together. The wind stirs the surface of the water as storms of varying degrees and varieties come and go. I don’t splash much in the pool…but those around me may splash quite a bit, and when they do…it often gets on me.

Everything does happen for a reason…but it’s not because God ordained every single thing to be so. Remember that thing called ‘free will’? He has given us that, and it is the one limitation He has placed on Himself. He will not intervene and over rule my choice. Or yours.

So….when I decide to make some big splashes in the pool, go out into water over my head…sometimes right into a coming storm…He lets me. Oh, He reminds me of the danger, and if I am sensitive to His Spirit, I hear…and if I’m trusting Him to know best, I listen and heed the warnings.

Often though, I think I’m strong and smart enough to outwit the storm and keep myself afloat in that deep water, so off I go, plunging right in, oblivious to the rough waters that lay in wait….some of it the results of somebody else’s ideas about how to play in the pool.

If I’d just listened…I’d have avoided the splashes of somebody else’s idea of how to manipulate in the water of the pool. Instead, I find myself soaked, sputtering and gasping for breath….far away from shore and way too deep.

And remembering that He told me not to go there.

Yes, everything happens for a reason. And thank God that “all things work together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Even when I’ve chosen poorly. Even when I went out too deep. Even when I splashed too much. Even when I got too close to someone else’s splashing.

( Thanks to “The Shack” for the imagery of life’s pool )

Coventant...

Covenant… Webster says it’s to enter into an agreement, to bind ones self…

In Hebrew, the original language of old testament scripture, the word is ‘berith’ and it has reference to the custom of cutting or dividing animals in two, and passing between the parts to ratify a covenant.

In Greek, the original language of new testament scripture, the corresponding word is ‘diatheke’.

There are many examples of covenant in scripture. I fear we have lost the depth of meaning…perhaps the entire concept in some instances.

The covenant of marriage in particular. The covenant of marriage is intended to be sealed…yet how many give away the possibility of that seal to someone to whom they are never married? There is much damage done in doing so…for all concerned.

God can heal and restore even that. But there’s a big old’ IF attached to it….we must repent and come to Him with all of it, in obedience trust, turning away from those wrong choices and actions.

God never ever tells us NOT to do something just to be mean and nasty. When he says ‘don’t’….you can be sure it is because it brings US harm. Our sin doesn’t take anything away from God, it doesn’t diminish His character nor deplete His power. But our hurting hurts Him. THAT is what He wants to prevent. Simply because of His perfect love for us.

“Just as He Who called you is holy, so be holy is all you do…” (1 Peter 1:15)

Like it or not….agree or disagree….obey or rebel….God sets the standards for morality.

We are wise to believe that fact. And we are blessed when we know Him well enough, knowing His character and His love and intentions, that we can follow His directions without rebellion.

We are wise to have learned from the garden scene NOT to try to find out for ourselves if what He says is really true.

What He says IS. It has always been that way…and will always be.

Bottom...

Bottom…. Ever hit rock bottom? Ever see someone else heading there?

I suppose all of us have. And certainly all of us who are parents want to prevent our children from ever going there.

But sometimes, it’s unavoidable. Sometimes, it may even be the best thing to do….let them hit rock bottom. I think they call it ‘tough love’ these days.

The prodigal of Luke 15 hit rock bottom.

“And when he came to himself….” (Luke 15:17)

After he found himself on rock bottom, there was a big A-HA !

“….so maybe dear old Dad was right about some things…”



It is difficult to see someone suffering the consequences of their own poor choices.

But what joy to see them ‘come to their senses’ (Luke 15:17 NIV), turn around, and begin a new and better path.

Pity it takes some so much longer than others to ‘begin to think clearly again’.
(Luke 15:17 NIrV)

Jail...

Jail… Webster says it’s a place. A place of confinement. We think of it now as a place of punishment. But it is really a ‘place’?…

I believe there are thousands of people walking around ‘free’ who are in jail cells of bondage. I myself have experienced bondage….locked away in a cell of fear and a works centered salvation.

David wrote as if he were in prison.. “Set me free from my prison, that I may praise Your Name….” (Ps. 142:7) He wasn’t in a jail facility. He was just hiding from Saul. Running and hiding, trying to escape, all of it serving as walls of a prison to David.

I want to be like David, when situations are dangerous and stressful, I want to look to God with praise in my heart and on my lips. It is easy to see the danger, easy to feel the fear, easy to be discouraged….it is easy to hear the accuser’s words filling us with doubt and fear. Our enemy wants to keep us in jailhouses, tied up with fear, ineffective to those around us, and away from the Throne of God in prayer and praise.

I’m thankful for the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. This fellow made a series of poor choices. He lived in and for the moment….chasing a good time. He thought he had found it…for a while at least. Then it all started turned sour. It wasn’t fun anymore, only misery, and there was nobody that wanted his company anymore…he didn’t have anything to offer them now, so they were gone. He’d left all his family behind, choosing a different life instead of a life with them.

I think the accuser was certainly on the job with this young man. ‘Yes…your dad’s a great guy, but you’ve been so bad, he can’t restore you!!…..and what if he said no?…he probably would if you go back and ask him to take you back…’ I feel sure the devil was on duty, filling this young man with guilt and fear.

But the young man knew the character of his father.

God does not mean for us to live in bondage. But I believe there are times when a jail cell is His blessing. That pig sty was a blessing to that prodigal boy. He had chosen the knowledge of good and evil…another apple off the tree so to speak. He chose wrong, acted in rebellion…..yet the knowledge of the character of his father was the means of bringing about restoration.

God’s last word is always a call for repentance and restoration. Even if it takes being locked up.


….or slopping hogs.

Rescue...

Rescue… ‘natsal’ It means to snatch away….

Proverbs tells us to ‘Rescue those being led away to death….hold back those staggering toward slaughter….” (Pro. 24:11)

There are times I really struggle with this. At times, I have had such strong feelings about the decisions I see someone else making, times when I strongly disagree with the conclusions someone else has come to. It’s their choice, their business…right?

There have been situations when I did NOT comment, and have later regretted not being obedient to that nudge to speak to them. Times when I SO wish I had said or done what I had been prompted in my spirit to do but did not. The accuser (Rev.12:10) often convinces me that I am being nosey, bossy, and that it is none of my business what someone else does.

As usual, he takes truth and puts his spin on it, twisting and perverting it.

We all do make our own choices. I can not make yours for you, nor can you make mine. But so do we all have influence.

“If you say, ‘Hey, that’s none of my business,’ …will that get you off the hook? Someone is watching you closely, you know….Someone not impressed with weak excuses.” (Proverbs 24:12 The Message)

“My mouth shall speak truth..”(Pro.8:7) “There are things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other, and render true and sound judgment in your courts..”(Zec.8:16)

We sang a song in choir class back in high school…. “No Man Is An Island” We have an impact on each other’s lives. And when opportunity comes to make a positive impact by speaking truth, I believe scripture teaches that we are held accountable for it if we do not do so.

There IS absolute truth. Gray is only achieved by mixing in a little black with pure white.

The hardest part is carrying out what I believe, and doing it in a pure spirit of love….communicating that love without it being tainted by the enemy and used for his purposes to cause strife and discord.

Fireworks...

Fireworks… We enjoyed a great fireworks display last night. Amazing thing when you really think about it…cardboard boxes and tubes filled with something that somehow explodes in so many different patterns, heights, and colors.

We arrived before dark, the fireworks were on floating barges out on water. I sat there looking at it…a large number of boxes, just sitting there. Big deal.

But when it got good and dark, our host pushed the remote that began the series of explosions. We had chosen chairs on the edge of the water, and as the fireworks lit up the sky above us, the smoke began to fill the air, and shreds of paper and ash sprinkled down on us. It was beautiful and awful at the same time.

For the past few weeks, I’ve struggled to come to better understanding of why tragedy happens. Why out of nowhere, it explodes and rains down shattered fragments of our lives, leaving us to choke on the smoke left behind…embers of what used to be beautiful, now singeing and burning us as the memory of the beauty that was, gives way to the reality and stench of the present.

Fireworks are simply raw materials assembled in ways that cause explosions. I’ve had it explained to me, though I can’t restate it. They must be fused, separately or together. There must be a spark. Simply…it’s cause and effect.

Isn’t everything?

God created a world of cause and effect. Everything He created, He created good. (Gen.1) He then issued the memo that informed man of effect. …do not eat of that tree, because the effect is death….do not choose to know evil, because it brings death. That was the message of Genesis 2. Anything other than God and His goodness… anytime we leave Him out of the mix…the effect is death. We are created to be in relationship with Him, He is the life-giving, life-sustaining force. Anything outside of that…the effect is death. Immediate or eventual….even eternal.

All bad things aren’t a result of bad choices. Some definitely are.

Neither does God make all bad things to happen, but He definitely allows all things that do happen.

He is God. He has the final say.

God’s absolute sovereignty and my own personal free will seem to be contradictions. Only God can remain sovereign in the face of my poor choices and rebellion. His will for my life and my rejection of Him are indeed at odds. How can He be all powerful God, and I still have the power to reject His will? Am I greater than He? (ridiculous..)

Sigh…It’s a complicated issue, this sovereignty/free-will thing. And it, like our Creator God, is outside the realm of human logic. (…faith to the rescue again…)

This is what I know. When I choose poorly, it is not because He set me up, and not because He didn’t give me the information necessary to choose best.

He is not incomplete without me, but I will never be complete without Him.

Everything He says is spoken out of pure love…(something I am not capable of..)

He is not in a box. I am. The box of my reality, that He created to share with me.

And sometimes, my box explodes. And when it does, it can be awful and beautiful…sometimes at the same time.

You see…I know that my God makes beauty and good come from even the awful and ugly….if nothing but to empower me thru it, changing, redeeming, and restoring me in spite of it.

The only question I need ponder is if I have chosen poorly, and if I have, to face it together with Him, learning and growing….thereby avoiding any future adverse circumstances or consequences because of my poor choices.



Now…I must move on.

Allegiance...

Allegiance… I’ve pledged it many times…. ‘to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands…one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Haven’t you done the same?

How will we fulfill our pledge? We have promised, and we must take our promises seriously. There are, however, stipulations of our pledge of allegiance…to one nation under God.

In 1 Kings 12 the story is told of Jeroboam. It tells how Jeroboam went about to weaken and break the relationship of the people with God, and to preserve his own position and power.

Isn’t that familiar?

“….Jeroboam thought to himself, ‘…….if these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to the king of Judah..’…so he said to the people ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem…HERE are your gods, …” (selected verses 1 Kings 12)

Familiar again. Good ole’ Jeroboam, only trying to provide for the people and make their lives easier….by keeping them from worshipping God where and how God had said. Government stepping in….re-drawing the lines….re-describing right and wrong..

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…..the America that was a republic nation under GOD…not to be divided, not to have liberty or justice removed from anyone’s life. That includes mine.

I stand with Joshua…. “…Choose you this day whom you will serve….as for me and my house…we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15)

Free...

Free… What does it mean to you?

To me it means out of bondage. It is to no longer be compelled or forced….to be given choice and empowered to use that choice. It is not a release from responsibility, and it is not without boundaries…. but it is an opportunity to fulfill responsibility and the purpose for existing.

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but….”(Gen.2:16)


“Woman, you are set free…”(Luke 13:12) “..the truth will set you free…..So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:32,36)


“…I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free.”(Acts 7:34)
“..through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”(Rom.8:2)

Let’s not forget where freedom really comes from. As we begin celebrating the Fourth of July and all that it means, let us give Him thanks and all glory for what freedoms we have known in our life time.

And let the Body of Christ unite in praying that all Americans who are ‘called by His Name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek His Face, and turn from their wicked way’…..for ‘then He will hear from heaven, and will forgive our sin, and will heal our land.’ (2Chron. 7:14)