How Can We Best Use God’s Gift of Freedoms
This July 4th is much more than just cookouts, the beach and fireworks. It’s a time to remember our founding fathers and the brave men and women who built our great nation and secured the freedoms we have known for 250 years! It is sure as certain that this great nation that we may enjoy so much is founded and established on Christian principles
The freedoms we have, like the freedom to worship we enjoy, is built into each generation. There is no institutional leadership, only personal leadership and godly leaders forged by responsibility. But when that happens, God’s agenda displaces individual agendas and great things begin in us and all humanity that believe in Jesus Christ!
Most of us are thinking about not only the trials, wants and needs of our current everyday life for ourselves, but also our families and of loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends. The recent times could have replaced almost all that we know about the past histories we have lived through.
We all may realize that, even to those of us who are Believers, that being entangled in life’s crises, that we may feel sometimes frustrated and even possibly struggle with our faith values. We may become unable to figure out ‘what’ is expected of us in His Will and why, now when we thought that we may have been headed more towards the mountain top than being in the valley of our lives? Even though we realize that the pieces just don’t fit our direction, we may be inclined to think at those moments "Why me and why now”? Regardless of our faith values, we may feel a profound sense of lack of understanding of the times we are passing through.
But know that there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel in the many chapters of our lives! All of us pass through and the ‘wake up calls’ that we are blessed to receive! We will go on to write new chapters every day whether they be coming out of the difficulties we are in now, perhaps personal relationships, getting married, the births of our children and grandchildren, the fulfillment of our plans and dreams, our acts of kindness and benevolence, our service to others and especially and making Jesus Christ our Best Friend!
For those who consider themselves as followers of Christ, we have additional responsibility and accountability. WE are called upon to "live our faith” in such a way that we influence everyone around us by our words and most of all, by our actions! Our daily lifestyle with our friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, and even strangers we happen to meet, for the sake of God’s kingdom. This daily life style sets us apart, from showing others around us, the true meaning of being true Christians! It shows others that the way we handle uncertainty, problems, stress, suffering, favoritism, unfairness, and discernment, is being the ‘freedom of our faith’! It is a testimony of our ‘being free’, from our old selves.
In 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 we know that we are constant recipients of God’s generous Grace. He promises that if we will "give of ourselves”, he’ll enable us to have the abundance of resources for the work we are call for.
Where our spouses, kids, grands, parents, friends’, co-workers and many more are concerned, ‘we all’ have moments of thoughts in another direction or wishes of ‘coulda shoulda’! But we also need to know that God’s Word gives us a lot of advice about many things about the ‘gifts’ of relationships, responsibility, confidence, listening, what we say, and show the special gifts of generosity in our daily lives! He also gives the extraordinary gift of ‘free will’, which allows us to learn and grow in confidence by what we experience in our lives.
There are a gazillion questions and many times, no easy answers about the demands and enormous stresses of our current lives, especially now! The thoughts of leaving a positive legacy of then and now can seem more like a mountain than a mole hill sometimes…….but God’s Word will show us the way forward!
It is by His Grace we are saved ….and by His Word we should live…and by His Will we serve others!
