HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

I'm thankful for freedom. I know it's a blessing that most of the world does not enjoy.

We talk so much about rights in this country that many of us as Christians feel very comfortable in demanding "our rights" be protected too. And there's nothing wrong with standing up for what we believe in. I just like to remind myself often that Jesus didn't talk about rights. He talked about suffering and dying to self; sacrificial love and pouring out our lives... in sacrificial service to others.

How many of us are substituting something easier than that as a demonstration of our faith?

I know I'm guilty every day.

I'm thankful for the gift of repentance. I'm thankful He keeps MY need of a Savior before my eyes daily. It keeps me humble. It makes loving and accepting others with different struggles easier when I am reminded of my own need for grace.

No matter how well we live our lives, it is still UNMERITED favor that we receive from God, my friends.

Celebrate your freedom today. But if you belong to Christ, your freedom is so much greater than anything America can give you. We have been purchased with the blood of God. Our sins, which are many, in exchange for the sacrifice of the Only Perfect One.

God Bless us All and make us one as His children, created in His image.