Today, we celebrate Independence Day in America. We are such a blessed nation to have this beautiful freedom. Because of this blessing, the enemy works very hard to desensitize people to the value of freedom. It is our freedom that actually sets us apart from other nations. As one nation under God, we presently have rights and privileges other nations cannot even imagine.
We have the freedom to practice our faith—to worship the Lord God—and to pursue life, liberty and happiness, because we have constitutional laws that act as a shield to protect our freedoms. Wake up, brothers and sisters, and know God’s grace is the reason we are still free even though the enemy is trying to strip away what makes us victorious. We are saved by grace through faith; so the freedom to practice our faith is an immeasurable gift of coming under Christ’s authority (Eph 2:8-9)! Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord (Ps 33:12).
Our country is blessed because of God’s grace. We are to be obedient and good stewards of grace, because apart from Christ we are blind to the truth. When we are tempted to see salvation about our outward performance rather than believe everything rests upon the Lord and what he is doing for us on the inside, we are blinded to the greatest Truth.
Certainly, how we live our lives matters to God, because we are his representatives, but we can do nothing to save ourselves. Our position must be to receive what Jesus is doing inwardly to bring us greater liberty and freedom from sin and dead living; this is how we reflect the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 3:13-18 NLT 13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. 14 But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. 15 Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.
16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for removing the veil that tries to cover our minds. Please bring clarity to your children; awaken our souls to the truth and renew our minds and help us understand the power of obedience to your Word. Continue to make us more like you, Jesus, because then we will be living more closely to your authority as our King. In Jesus’ name. Amen.