September 5, 2010
| From the Pastor's Study |
INDEPENDENCE DAY
July 1, 2010 • By
In the United States, Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independenceon July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Independence Day is commonly associated with fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, political speeches and ceremonies, and various other public and private events celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States. Independence Day is the national day of the United States.
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the American colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia.
After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. The First sentence of it goes like this:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
(The Importance of this is not fully recognized by most Americans. For you see up until this time, most nations were governed by Kings or Monarchs of some type, who governed the rights of their citizens. Also, in these nations, as it is today, the pursuit of happiness was totally foreign. This term means that we as American have the right to pursue our station in life, rather than it being controlled by our ancestory. For example, today in most European nations, you are born as a pleb, middle class or the wealthy; and you will die in that same class unless you have a talent such as atheletics or arts or something of that nature. It is nearly impossible, both culturally and legally, to move out of one of these lower casts into a higher cast).
The church has a national Independence Day; the Day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead! Also, every Christian has their own personal Independence Day; the day that they receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! Our Independence is from the King and Kingdom of Darkness. When we receive Christ we are translated from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the Son of God!
Colossians 1:12-14(KJV) says:
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power (or kingdom) of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
Notice too that this verse in whom we have REDEMPTION! We also have a Constitution and a "Bill of Rights" that can be found in the New Testament. Just as we must be aware of our Legal and Constitutional Rights in the natural in order to avail ourselves to them, so we must be aware of our Legal Rights and Priveledges in Christ, that can be found in God's Holy Word the Bible! Even in the Old Testament, redemption meant more than the forgiveness of sins.
Psalms 103:1-5(KJV)
Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
We have a redemptive benefit package that not only include the forgiveness of sins or iniquities, but healing for our bodies, redemption from disastors and destructions, God's lovingkindness and tender mercies and the promise of God satisfying our mouths with so many good things that our youth is renewed. Did you get that last point? Good things renew a person's youth. So bad things and evil subtract from our youth. You see that when you look at people who have lived very hard lives. So one key to long life is to have your mouth so satisfied with good things that you don't want for anything good!
So I challenge you this Independence Day to emerse yourself in God's Word and find out all the good things that He has promised you in both the Old and New Testaments and to get before God's Presence and allow Him to show you how you are suppossed to live so that all these good things come to you in abundance!
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