Tuesday, May 27, 2014

From Memorial Day - Christ Purchased Our Freedom

He Purchased Our Freedom

Today homes all across America will display the Stars and Stripes to honor those who lost their lives while serving in the armed forces of our great land. Defending freedom and helping liberate those who are oppressed and held captive has been the battle cry of our soldiers throughout the years. The Puritans came to America to establish freedom of worship. When they landed on the eastern shore, they knelt and prayed, dedicating this great land to Christ and His Kingdom. It cost the Puritans dearly to attempt to establish freedom for the oppressed and it has cost our friends and loved ones dearly to continue to give liberty to captives. My own dear aunt spent her entire life waiting for my cousin to return home from World War II, after his plane was lost during that war.  
Such willingness to die to bring freedom for others is not a cake walk. Our soldiers throughout the history of our great country fought and bled and lost their lives so that others could go free. Willingly they went to war. Though some were indeed drafted, even then our young men knew that it was good and right to serve the country that gave people the greatest freedom on the face of the earth. No other country has been so free and so at liberty as America.
Real Freedom is costly. Fighting for freedom is costly. Keeping the freedom we so enjoy is costly. To fail to honor the soldiers of our great land for their contribution to our freedom, our comfort, our victory is shameful.  We must find a way to restore honor, not just today but especially today, to the soldiers whose main job is to establish freedom and liberty. Christ set the standard when He appeared in the flesh and hung on the cross for all humanity to find freedom. He truly was and is the greatest Freedom Fighter who ever lived. Romans 5:7 and 8 says it best. “Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”
God speaks to my heart. I AM the one who has given you the freedom to live unhindered by tyranny on the shores of this country. You walk in perfect freedom and liberty because I have given it to you. No country is so great as the one that honors Me. No one can ultimately find freedom without finding faith in Christ, who established ultimate freedom and set the standard as the Cross was raised. Those who honor Me by giving their life to Christ have eternal freedom. But this freedom will cost you something as well. Just as a soldier who is enlisted in the army of this country must abide under his commanding officers, so too do My people who have enlisted in My army must abide under My command. I do not bring you burdens that are too hard to bear. I bring you liberty and I remove burdens that the world and the flesh seek to wear you down with. Thank Me for soldiers willing to die to keep your country free and give liberty to captives in other lands. But worship Me alone – for I AM the one who called you to walk in My ways and live for My Kingdom.
Oh beloved, as you set your flag out today thank the Lord for soldiers who have lost their lives defending freedom wherever they have gone. They gave their lives willingly because they loved this land and the people of it. Thank Him too for your own freedom. He gave His live because He loves you. Thank Him for giving you purpose and power to live for the Kingdom of Righteousness. Wave the stars and stripes and ask Him to use you to establish the Kingdom on earth through the mighty power of prayer. No weapon can defend and protect like prayer. Thank Him that you can live for the Lord and pray for your country to return to its roots that were founded in Him.
God loves you and He’s for you. This is why you can honor your soldiers, honor the Lord, live for the Savior and walk in true freedom all the days of your life.
Romans 5:2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
2 Timothy 2:4 Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them.
Ephesians 1:7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins.
John 15:13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

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