Now for another installment on Liberty and Freedom.   As we turn our attention to Monday, July 4^th, our Independence Day, we need to evaluate the present state of affairs in America, in the government, society, and even the church.  It is my view and that of many others that America is in a crisis and needs to ‘reclaim’ our Freedom and our Land.  We need to return to our Moral Moorings and more than anything and return to God and our Christian Heritage. 

There are biblical principles involved and as we wade through this, I will attempt to identify several things I believe to be germane.  I hope to identify our condition.  I also hope that in some small measure I can identify how or why we got into this mess, and what, if anything, we can do to rectify it.  There is a solution.  I pray that addressing these issues will not result in diminishing or dampening anyone’s celebration of this incredible day in American History and that of the World.

If you do not agree that we need restoration, then what I have to say will not resonate with you.  However, if you see, what many of us see, and realize that our liberties and freedoms are being systematically stripped from us and our moral moorings as a nation have drifted, it may.  If you are interested in seeing America restored to our foundational base and be the Republic our Founders envisioned, then I invite you to take this journey with me.

I do not believe we can achieve or receive the fullness that our Founders envisioned, and God desires individually or nationally UNTIL… Until what?  Until we have followed His directives and placed ourselves in ‘right standing’ with Him, His Word, each other, and the Constitution.  I believe strongly in a biblical principle that ‘preparation always precedes blessing.’

In 2 Kings 3:16, the prophet Elisha gave some specific instructions to King Jehoshaphat as they prepared for battle with Moab.  He said, “make this valley full of ditches.”  Israel complied and the next morning water had filled the ditches.  Moab awoke and the glistening of the morning sun made the water appear as blood and they assumed that Israel had turned on each other and ran to the battlefield to collect the spoils of victory.  The result was a complete slaughter of Moab and a victory for Israel.  I use this example to demonstrate that when we do what God says, He provides.

Another example is in 2 Kings 4 where the prophet Elisha instructed the poor widow to borrow vessels.  She filled the house with borrowed utensils and the prophet poured them full UNTIL there were no more vessels.  The only limitation to her miracle was the number of vessels.  Her obedience or preparation enabled the man of God and God to do a miracle.  God will never go beyond our capacity or our obedience. 

In Matthew 12, Jesus identified some of the evidence of God’s Kingdom and Restoration, which can be applied to America and the restoration of our Freedoms and Liberties.  He called them Works.  He included the casting out of demons (trespassers on the promise), healing of the sick, and provided the reality that IF we follow God’s directives and seek to be realigned with His principles, purposes, and person, He will fulfill His promises. 

Our founding fathers expressed their realization that America came into existence because of the providence of God.  Today many in America believe we became what we became through our own strength and ability.  Some believe we achieved greatness as a nation on the backs of the less fortunate and our beginning was corrupt, and must be atoned for, and transformed.   I believe that even with our errors and sins in our beginning we originated for God’s purpose to be a catalyst to advance the Kingdom of God on this earth. 

In Matthew 12:25 our LORD declared something that is incredibly important spiritually, personally, and nationally.  He said, “Any kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.”  We are divided in America beyond anything I ever envisioned could become a reality.  The hate and vitriol that is hurled about vehemently is eroding the foundation of our Republic and will be our destruction if not quelled.

We have a condition that can be identified as generational hatred.  It is being advanced and perpetuated to our hurt.  We have the systematic engendering of a brand of hate that hides cloaked in the claim of principle and justifies itself by attacking everyone and everything that disagrees.  Some claim to be constitutionalists and even conservative political idealists who have allowed personal animus toward particular candidates to cause them to join forces with those who would otherwise be deemed, enemies.  I suppose the philosophy “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is applicable.  The result is division, estrangement, and the erosion of many freedoms and liberties.  The result will be the destruction of the Republic.

In Matthew 12:29, the Lord Jesus brought to light a reality that could easily be applied to our American predicament.  Jesus identified the strongman and in Luke 11 He expanded that and identified that this ‘strongman’ was fully armed.  The defeat of that strongman required one that was stronger to come in, disarm him, and reclaim what has been taken.  In America, the nefarious seekers of ‘fundamental transformation’ have divided us and weakened the fabric of our republic.  They have pitted us against each other when the objective of many on both sides of the equation is the best good for America. 

The problem lies in not understanding the result.  The problem lies in forgetting how we came into being and distorting the intent of our Founders as declared in the Declaration of Independence.  We have lost sight of our Creator, His Holiness, and His Provisions for us and become selfish and self-centered.  In many cases, we have lost sight of America and only viewed politics through the prism of our bias and personal ambitions.

Our Founding Fathers declared that they believed in self-evident truths.  Today’s academia and many political ideologues do not believe in ‘self-evident truth.’  They do not believe in a Creator. Therein is the problem.  When we eliminate the Creator, we also render ineffective if not null and void the idea of inalienable rights. 

I had a person that does not believe in God insist that they believe in inalienable rights.  I asked, “Where did those rights originate?”  He could not answer other than saying that they were either product of man’s desire or the gift of the government.  Yet, he claimed to believe in limited government, the constitution, and conservativism.  I am unable to connect those dots because, as our Founders declared, ‘these rights are endowed by the Creator upon man.’

God enabled America to become the Free Constitutional Republic for a purpose.  That purpose extends far beyond us being personally or nationally prosperous.  If material success and political prosperity are the purposes for our existence then we are prime candidates for greed, envy, covetousness, jealousy, ambition, and hate to prevail and destroy us. 

If there is no moral framework and mooring to which we attach our reason for existence, we will not seek the best good of everyone but our own interests.  I have heard all my life, “You have to look out for number one because no one else will.”  That is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and contrary to the declarations of our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence, and the writings of our Founding Fathers. 

Our Founders and the Colonists believed that among those endowed rights was the Right to Life.  Therefore, we must ask, “What is Life?”  That would take a book to detail, but it is more than just breathing.  It is more than possessions.  It is the ability to pursue your purpose without undue restriction and regulation by a centralized power structure that seeks to dominate. 

They announced that there was the right to Liberty.  It is necessary to ask, “What is Liberty?”  It is more than not being in jail, prison, or chains.  The word carries the idea of Freedom, and that freedom must begin on the inside.  If I am Free on the Inside, then even if I were in chains, I remain Free.  Government cannot give me that, it comes as an endowment of our Creator.  Then, the right to Pursue Happiness.  But “What is Happiness?”  I contend you cannot have that quality of life unless you are allowed to live free.

We have talked about the vision of the Founders and even identified some of our conditions in the loss of liberty and freedom.  However, we have not begun to address the How, the Why, and the Remedy.

I believe those things can be capsuled in the reality that we have been deceived into believing that a benevolent elitist governmental hierarchy can provide those things for us or are charged with doing so.  Ignorance is the first step toward enslavement politically. It is tragic, but we have become ignorant of the devices of the devil politically. 

We have allowed the politicians to watch over the matter of government without giving the constitutionally mandated oversight.  Our ignorance as to what they have and are doing, coupled with our being ignorant of our authority and power has enabled the devious to become a ‘strongman’ taking over our house (America).

We can see the needed Restoration.  But that will not be a reality unless we return to the moral moorings of our beginning.  We can see Restoration, but only if we invest ourselves in the oversight of government and cease to allow the politicians to manage the politics of the nation.  We can see Restoration if we stop allowing the desired division promoted by the devious to thrive. 

If a restored America is our desire, then we need to take note of all politicians and parties that seek to weaken our Constitution, infringe upon our inalienable rights, and force us to comply with edicts that violate our conscience, conviction, and faith.

I believe that all who believe in God must become intercessors and as intercessors do the following: 

• Repent for our own sins and failures. 
• Repent for the sins of the nation. 
• Recognize what Jesus did for us at Calvary. 
• Recognize that the devil wants America destroyed. 
• Recognize that the devil has no power over us or America UNLESS he finds some legal ground within which he can operate. 

Therefore, Repentance is Required, even if we are not personally guilty of those sins that give the enemy of Freedom opportunity.

I see a deeply divided and troubled America and that causes me great sadness and concern.  I know in my heart of hearts that if we continue this hate-filled decline into degeneracy and division we will witness the end of the Republic.  I believe that to support an ideology, candidate, or political agenda that weakens our moral moorings infringes upon our liberties and rights, and denies the right to Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness is to abet and enable our own destruction. 

Therefore, I ask that you consider becoming an intercessor and pray for America.  I ask that you become involved in the process.  I ask that you carefully consider every candidate, and governmental proposal considering how it affects our Freedom, Liberty, and the ability to pursue Happiness.  I ask that you PRAY and then VOTE!

God bless you and God bless America!