A Freedom, worth Remembering!
In the coming days, many of us are going to celebrate “Memorial Day”. For most people it is just some much needed time off from the busy work schedule,
For others, it’s being able to attend or watch the greatest spectacle in motor racing, known as the Indy. 500
It is a day, that the true meaning of, is mostly overlooked and sometimes forgotten.
Memorial Day is not the unofficial start of summer. It’s a time to remember those who gave their lives, so we can enjoy all the freedoms, they fought so hard for.
While we remember and honor the fallen soldiers, I would like to say thank you to all who have served to make this land Free! From the supportive spouses, to their children, brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers!
They were all hero’s, because they were all willing to lay it on the line for the cause, for the love of their country and fellow man.
TBS. in John 15:13 NKJ.
13. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
Some 1,200,000 men and men or there about, have given their life fighting for the price of Americas Freedom.
Those brave and sometimes also scared individuals died, fighting for something they believed in, something they thought was bigger then they were, they paid the ultimate price for our freedom.
There were countless millions of others, who paid a great price also, some were wounded physically, some were wounded mentally, all have paid...and continue to pay a great price and deserve, to be acknowledged and remembered!
Just like for our freedom a high price was paid, our spiritual freedom came at a great cost too.
Many men and women willingly gave their all so we could enjoy the goodness of God and all the benefits He freely gives us today.
The common denominator they all possessed was their faith in and love for God!
Heb.11:1-3 MSG.
1-2.The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It's our handle on what we can't see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
3. By faith, we see the world called into existence by God's word, what we see created by what we don't see.
4. By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That's what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
5-6. By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. "They looked all over and couldn't find him because God had taken him." We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken "he pleased God."
It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
7. By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn't see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.
13-16. Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.
32-38. I could go on and on, but I've run out of time. There are so many more— Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, the prophets....
(all who were tremendous men of faith)
Through acts of faith, they toppled kingdoms, made justice work, took the promises for themselves. They were protected from lions, fires, and sword thrusts, turned disadvantage to advantage, won battles, routed alien armies. Women received their loved ones back from the dead. There were those who, under torture, refused to give in and go free, preferring something better: resurrection. Others braved abuse and whips, and, yes, chains and dungeons. We have stories of those who were stoned, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; stories of vagrants wandering the earth in animal skins, homeless, friendless, powerless—the world didn't deserve them!—making their way as best they could on the cruel edges of the world.
39-40Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised. God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours.
All of them died without ever seeing the promised messiah and the Grace and Favor message of freedom that He would bring with Him…
I would like to also acknowledge the ones who did see the promise of the messiah, the ones who actually walked, talked with and were taught by None other then Jesus Himself!
John, Peter, James, the rest of the disciples, Paul and countless others. They all gave greatly to the cause of Christ, helped advance the Kingdom of God, and many died a Martyrs death. The New Testament, the new covenant we enjoy today was made possible...because they gave!
It’s an interesting fact to note that the words “remember”, “remembrance”, and “memorial” are found more than 230 times in the Bible.
Each one of their lives serves as a reminder and memorial for what they did for the kingdom of God.
Anyone who has ever helped the cause of the Kingdom of God will one day be remembered, Even you and I are included in the great host of individuals to be honored, if we have done something, or helped in someway to advance God's Kingdom!
Everything from, preaching, teaching, witnessing, the ministry of helps, this includes serving in any way...to help advance the cause of Christ!
And while sometimes we may forget the things we do for the Lord, He never forgets. There are still great chapters being written and recorded for the advancement of the work of the Lord Today.
God is not a respecter of persons, He enjoys all the things that you do equally, to advance His message, as He did all those Bible Hero’s mentioned earlier.
Many will realize one day, that David has not been the only individual after God's own heart!
And while all the hero's in the Bible and their accomplishments were great and amazing, some even almost beyond belief...They all fail in comparison, to the greatest Hero ever known to mankind.
Jesus the Messiah, God's Promise kept, the name above all names, The Blessed Redeemer, our deliverer, the Healer of our bodies, Living Word!
Hallelujah, He left His home in Heaven to bring us Hope and forgiveness, a non-condemning message and the Unmerited Favor and Grace of His Father!
Jesus was the Promise that the scripture talked about.
You see, all the hero’s in Hebrews 11
Died without ever receiving the gift of Jesus. The things that they accomplished, were amazing feats of valor and heroism
But it was all under the law, it was all about what they could do and how they could do it, After Jesus came and did away with the law of condemnation and replaced it with forgiveness and grace,
it became about what He could do and ultimately what He did do, for all mankind when He conquered sin and death once and for all, when He became the ultimate sacrifice on the cross.
Just like Peter and John and Paul....How many greater things shall we accomplish, because we have received the gift of Jesus.
It no longer is about what we can do, but what Jesus is able to accomplish in and thru us. With Jesus involved in the equation, there is nothing that remains impossible!
TBS. There is nothing impossible to him that believes! NOTICE, it says believes and not does. Our faith and Believing, puts the emphasis on what Jesus is capable of, instead of what we are capable of!
He is our help in time of need, He is our rock we can lean on, He wants us to depend on His capabilities and not ours,
Illus. Dr. Larry Petton
French writer Alexis de Tocqueville, who visited America in 1831, said, "I sought for the greatness of the United States in her commodious harbors, her ample rivers, her fertile fields, and boundless forests--and it was not there. I sought for it in her rich mines, her vast world commerce, her public school system, and in her institutions of higher learning--and it was not there. I looked for it in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution--and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great!"
Our forefathers and their undeniable and unbelievable quest to be able to worship God and His Son Jesus, put America...and has kept America on the acceleration to greatness! Still, even after all these years, America remains great because we still identify ourselves as a Christian Nation and proclaim God Bless America!
Heb. 12:1-2 NKJ
1. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2. looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
All those who have gone on before us are cheering us on and Jesus sits at the right hand of God as your greatest advocate today,
He has the righteousness of God, therefore He is righteous,
We have what Jesus has, so therefore we are righteous, through Jesus righteousness,
Praise The Lord for His Faithful Son, our Willing Sacrifice!
I’ll close with this:
Taps...plays as a memorial by one single trumpet, to a fallen soldier as he is laid to rest. But one day, the sun will burst through the sky and Gabriel will sound the alarm with the sound of a heavenly trumpet that will be heard around the world.
Not as a memorial, to someone who has been lost or laid to rest...but someone who has been victorious over, and has conquered death and rose from the grave as a redeemer and deliverer, for all who are willing to believe!!
John 3:16-17 MSG.
16-17. "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it.
Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice, once and for all.
Thank the Lord, He gave us the greatest Memorial ever known!
The price of Freedom never comes cheaply and there is always precious blood involved to achieve it!!
Praise the Lord, for the Precious Blood of the Lamb that gave and continues to give us our Spiritual Freedom, we all are able to so Freely enjoy today.
All because He Loved us with His Life,
Thank You Jesus!!
Lets pray.
