The Holy One calls to me this morning. It's our celebration of Independence Day. So important to America is our freedom from tyranny, we set this day aside to celebrate the founders and heroes of old who fought and died for what we take for granted each day.
The superficial assessment can be made that we fight for our liberty from oppressive government. But the deeper evaluation is that we fight for our most basic fundamental freedom to decide life's issues for ourselves.
From our "Land of the Free" mentality we look at other people groups languishing under different forms of "tyranny" and we recoil at the frustration of living under a dictatorship. Freedom is a wonderful thing and a natural desire for any person born of woman.
I am thankful to have been born in the USA. I am grateful for the liberties we have to choose our destiny and that includes our ability to worship and serve The Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Over the last 2 election cycles, I have agonized over the reality that something dark and sinister has been surfacing out of the "Heart of America". Jesus came to set the captives "free", and yet the captives seem to want slavery over freedom and a lesser life of guarantees over a bountiful one of endless possibilities to thrive and prosper.
The Holy One tracks my sentiments and speaks a vital truth. "You live in the land of exile on earth. Until the rightful King returns there will be no perfect government for anyone".
I realize that any "human" government is a flawed government and alien to the sweet freedom we were created to live in. Back in the "Garden" the first man and woman were given the benediction to take and have dominion over all of God's Creation.
Absent is the directive or permission to have dominion over each other. Even in the structure of the Divine Covenant we call marriage was the directive unto mutual submission for the benefit of each other and the family unit as a whole.
It follows, in my thinking, that the fall created a chasm between man and his fellows as well as a chasm between man and his Creator God. We see the evidence of people trying to "Lord it over" each other from the top levels of government right down and into the Church of the Living God.
The wisdom of the Holy One brings a relief and at the same time a challenge. I understand that I am living in the land of exile and however pleasant it might have been over the course of my life, this land is not my home.
Our founders fought to establish a government where people could live with Biblical freedom and yet be protected from the threats of tyranny both foreign and domestic.
The Holy One speaks again, "Your government represents the best that man can establish, yet it is not permanent or eternal".
As I ponder what that means, I look at where we are in the Prophetic timetable of man's days upon the earth. Everything is coming to an end according to Scripture. I understand that just as God is Sovereign and in control of the days and times of our personal lives, He is also in control of the timeline we live within.
While I see the personal significance and Truth in the words of my Jesus, "Apart from Me you can do nothing", (John 15:5), I haven't put it together with the bigger picture of our days.
He is allowing us to see that the governments of men, no matter how nobly founded, are corruptible. We are being prepared to be ushered into the Millennial Reign of Christ upon the earth. The Lord waits for each one of us to get to the end of ourselves: our depravity and our individual desperate recognized need for rescue...... then steps in.
Who is to say that the corruption of this, our great government, surfacing for all to see is not the Divine pre-cursor to the anticipated return and established government of the King of Kings.
While I am saddened by the corruption and eroding of our national freedoms, I find within my heart a growing excitement and anticipation for the return of My King.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
The superficial assessment can be made that we fight for our liberty from oppressive government. But the deeper evaluation is that we fight for our most basic fundamental freedom to decide life's issues for ourselves.
From our "Land of the Free" mentality we look at other people groups languishing under different forms of "tyranny" and we recoil at the frustration of living under a dictatorship. Freedom is a wonderful thing and a natural desire for any person born of woman.
I am thankful to have been born in the USA. I am grateful for the liberties we have to choose our destiny and that includes our ability to worship and serve The Savior and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Over the last 2 election cycles, I have agonized over the reality that something dark and sinister has been surfacing out of the "Heart of America". Jesus came to set the captives "free", and yet the captives seem to want slavery over freedom and a lesser life of guarantees over a bountiful one of endless possibilities to thrive and prosper.
The Holy One tracks my sentiments and speaks a vital truth. "You live in the land of exile on earth. Until the rightful King returns there will be no perfect government for anyone".
I realize that any "human" government is a flawed government and alien to the sweet freedom we were created to live in. Back in the "Garden" the first man and woman were given the benediction to take and have dominion over all of God's Creation.
Absent is the directive or permission to have dominion over each other. Even in the structure of the Divine Covenant we call marriage was the directive unto mutual submission for the benefit of each other and the family unit as a whole.
It follows, in my thinking, that the fall created a chasm between man and his fellows as well as a chasm between man and his Creator God. We see the evidence of people trying to "Lord it over" each other from the top levels of government right down and into the Church of the Living God.
The wisdom of the Holy One brings a relief and at the same time a challenge. I understand that I am living in the land of exile and however pleasant it might have been over the course of my life, this land is not my home.
Our founders fought to establish a government where people could live with Biblical freedom and yet be protected from the threats of tyranny both foreign and domestic.
The Holy One speaks again, "Your government represents the best that man can establish, yet it is not permanent or eternal".
As I ponder what that means, I look at where we are in the Prophetic timetable of man's days upon the earth. Everything is coming to an end according to Scripture. I understand that just as God is Sovereign and in control of the days and times of our personal lives, He is also in control of the timeline we live within.
While I see the personal significance and Truth in the words of my Jesus, "Apart from Me you can do nothing", (John 15:5), I haven't put it together with the bigger picture of our days.
He is allowing us to see that the governments of men, no matter how nobly founded, are corruptible. We are being prepared to be ushered into the Millennial Reign of Christ upon the earth. The Lord waits for each one of us to get to the end of ourselves: our depravity and our individual desperate recognized need for rescue...... then steps in.
Who is to say that the corruption of this, our great government, surfacing for all to see is not the Divine pre-cursor to the anticipated return and established government of the King of Kings.
While I am saddened by the corruption and eroding of our national freedoms, I find within my heart a growing excitement and anticipation for the return of My King.
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
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