HOW FREE IS FREEDOM?

May I start our devotion by saying, “Your freedom ends where my nose begins.” It means do, say what you want but don’t touch me. Hurting people, looting, destroying property and all the violent things done in the name of freedom, are not what being free is all about. The nature of freedom demands boundaries, laws, restraints, controls. An orange tree is free to develop as long as it remains attached to the tree. A railroad train is free to move toward its destination as long as it stays on the tracks. A person is free to stay alive as long as the laws of health are obeyed. We live in our country peacefully and safely as long as we obey the laws of the land.

God made us after His likeness in giving us freedom. That is one of the great mysteries concerning God that He would take the risk of giving His creatures freedom of choice. We can chose to obey or disobey, love or hate. We are not puppets and when God pulls the strings we have to act.

Tick Tok In the Wizard of Oz, the mechanical man, had the special grace of having to do what he was made to do. But he was not human. What did he lack? Freedom of choice. We do not.
Know this, that anything to stay alive must be tied to something else. A tree is fastened to the earth. If someone frees it by pulling it roots from the ground, it is free only to die. To remain both free and alive, we must be tied to something life giving. Jesus said, “He that has the Son, has life, he that does not have the Son, does not have life.” Choose Christ and life, not sin and death. It is your choice.

If, on this Independence Day, we are really concerned about America. If we really want God to bless America, then we must strive to live in harmony with the will of God. Only then, does one have the right to sing, “God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, to the ocean white with foam. God bless America, my home sweet home.”
Alexis De Tocqueville said, “When America ceases to be good, it will cease to be great.”

DEATH TO SELF

I believe that there are three things necessary for a successful Christian life.  They are:  HUMILITY, HUMILITY, HUMILITY.  Yet, not much is said about it.
What is humility?  The Latin word for earth or ground is “humus” from which we derive the word “humility.”  So, to be a person of humility, we must be grounded.  We must first be brought down to earth. We must lose our high opinion of ourselves and admit our worth comes directly from God and only from God.

We must die to self.  Displacement of self by the enthronement of God. Where God is all, self is nothing.  Martin Luther said, “God created the world out of nothing and as long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us.”   We must have a proper self love but we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.

What does humility look like? It looks like Jesus. Jesus counted Himself as nothing other than to be a servant to do the will of the Father even to die on a cross.
How unlike Jesus we are, when we are  touchy, impatient, defensive, self-assertive, unkind.

This bit of verse says it well: “Within my earthy temple, there’s a crowd.
There is one of me that’s humble and one that’s proud.
There’s one of me that’s sorry for his sins and one that sits alone and grins.
From this earthly problem I would be free.
If only I could determine which one of these is me.”

The stumbling block to humility is pride. Arrogance destroys humility. Pride comes from comparison, thinking that you are better than others.

Obedience is the proof of humility.  Our baptism is an act of humility.  We humbly put ourselves in the hands of another, to put us under the water and to lift us up.  In this beautiful act of obedient faith, we show our death to sin by being buried in the watery grave then lifted up (resurrected) to walk in newness of life.
In so doing, we have DIED TO SELF, showing our humility.

Jesus said, “The greatest among you will be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”  Matthew 23:11-12
Humility is a choice and a life time process.

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LOOKING FOR THE FATHER

There was a touching moment on television at the end of the 1980 Winter Olympic Games. The U.S. hockey team beat the Russians. This was an incredible feat. All through the hockey game the cameras focused on goalie Jim Craig and on his father in the stands. The reason being that Craig’s mother had recently died and he and his father had grown closer through the months of grief.
When the U.S. won the hockey game, a tremendous celebration erupted out on the ice. Players embraced, people cheered, flags waved, music played.
All of a sudden the camera focused in on Jim Craig, skating alone up and down on the ice, scanning the stands. You could read his lips: “Where is my dad? Where is my dad?” It was the happiest moment of his life and he wanted to share it with his dad. The last scene showed Jim Craig and his father embracing.

The human race should be looking for their Heavenly Father. Our cry should be, “Where is my Father?” The beautiful truth of the matter is that the Father wants to be found. He wants to be known. He wants to be loved by His creation. The Hebrew writer wrote this: “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and various ways but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” Hebrews 1:1-2
Isaiah tells us in the 55th chapter, verse 6, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.”
Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” This demands action on our part. There is no time like the present. “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2 God created everything and He did it all to be a blessing to His creation, mankind. He makes Himself known through what He has made. The Apostle Paul told the people in Athens: “God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.” Acts 17:27 We can know our Heavenly Father. He has given us His love letter in the Scriptures. The Bible is the adequate piece of the mind of God.

Our greatest joy is in the victory Christ won for us in His death, burial and resurrection. Through Jesus, we can know the Father, God. And to know Him, is to love Him and to love Him is to obey Him. Just realize that we can belong to God’s family. We can be His children, not through natural birth but through the new birth. Some of the greatest scripture is found in John 1:12-13: “Yet to all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. Children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
Are you looking for the Father? He wants you to find Him. When you do find Him, it will be the happiest day of your life.

PENTECOST SUNDAY

June 9th Sunday, marks the birthday of the Lord’s Church. It is Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost means 50. After Jesus’ resurrection, He appeared to individuals and groups during a period of 40 days. Then, He ascended, went up to Heaven, to be seated at God’s right hand. 10 days later, He sent the Holy Spirit to the Apostles. The Holy Spirit guided the Apostles in divine truth. For the first time in history, everything was complete for the presentation of the Good News. The preaching of the Gospel (Good News) is what offers to mankind salvation. You can be saved by becoming believers of that Word. The saved are Christians and Christians are the church.

Luke records this for us in chapter 24, verses 46-49 “He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
The climax of all that God was doing to save sinful mankind was here at Pentecost, as recorded for us in the second chapter of Acts. The miracle of Pentecost was an appeal to the hearing (sound of a rushing wind), seeing (tongues of fire), and understanding (as the Apostles spoke, the people heard in their own language.) The Apostle Peter, spokesman for the Apostles preached the first Gospel sermon.

I was taught early in my ministry that a sermon should consist of three parts: It should be Bible Based, Christ Crowned and People Pointed at. Peter took his message from the second chapter of Joel, he exalted Jesus saying, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2:36 And he pointed it at people, ‘you crucified Him.’ What a shock to the Jews assembled there in Jerusalem, that they had killed their long awaited for Messiah. They realized in their hearts what they had done. They felt their desperate need for reconciliation with God, forgiveness of their sins. They were pricked by their guilt of sin and cried out, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” The divine answer came, “Repent and be baptised every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38
3000 people responded. Here the Church was born.
The Church is the body of Christ. Christians are the Church. God’s action is through His people.

A five year old girl had lost her way in the downtown streets of a city. To a policeman, who was questioning her, she said, “If I can find the Church, I can find my way home.”
That is not as simple to answer as it sounds. There is great confusion in the religious world concerning the church. May we return to the Bible and hear Jesus say, “I will build MY CHURCH.” Mathew 16:18
The Church belongs to Jesus. You can’t join the church, you can only join Jesus and when you do that, He adds you to His body, the Church.
Be the Church. Be God’s family.

RAGGED OLD FLAG by Johnny Cash

I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench an old man was sitting there
I said, “Your old courthouse is kinda run down”
He said, “Naw, it’ll do for our little town”
I said, “Your old flagpole has leaned a little bit
And that’s a Ragged Old Flag you got hanging on it”

He said, “Have a seat”, and I sat down
“Is this the first time you’ve been to our little town?”
I said, “I think it is”, he said, “I don’t like to brag
But we’re kinda proud of that Ragged Old Flag

“You see, we got a little hole in that flag there when
Washington took it across the Delaware
And it got powder-burned the night Francis Scott Key
Sat watching it writing ‘Say Can You See’
And it got a bad rip in New Orleans
With Packingham and Jackson tuggin’ at its seams

“And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag, but she waved on through
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill
There was Robert E Lee, Beauregard, and Bragg
And the south wind blew hard on that Ragged Old Flag

On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha gun
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp and low by the time it was through
She was in Korea and Vietnam
She was sent where she was by her Uncle Sam

She waved from our ships upon the briny foam
And now they’ve about quit waving her back here at home
In her own good land here she’s been abused
She’s been burned, dishonored, denied, and refused

And the government for which she stands
Is scandalized throughout the land
And she’s getting threadbare and wearing thin
But she’s in good shape for the shape she’s in
‘Cause she’s been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more

So we raise her up every morning, take her down every night
We don’t let her touch the ground and we fold her up right
On second thought, I do like to brag
‘Cause I’m mighty proud of the Ragged Old Flag
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