"Where the Spirit Is"

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”  
2 Corinthians 3:17

It is a blessing to live in America!  Even with all of our many problems as a nation, God has blessed us and has given us a special freedom to live together with rights to choose.  It is good when we choose the moral, ethical, right way to live as a country.  It can become ugly when we choose to live outside of the law and especially outside God’s laws!  Notice in the Scripture that Paul points out that true liberty and freedom happens when God’s Spirit is present.  His Spirit in our hearts and lives is the key to real freedom.  The only way we are able to celebrate Independence Day on Monday is because people believed in the sovereign power of an Almighty God.  The Founders of this nation were overwhelmingly men of prayer and devotion to the Lord.  God has blessed America because of their foresight and trust.  He will only bless us now if we turn our hearts back towards Him.  We all know things are wrong with this nation and we have the tendency to criticize and even call people names and labels because we disagree with them.  The important thing to remember is that we must focus on what built this country if we want to remain free and filled with liberty.  We must go back to the times of prayer for our nation unto the Lord and mean every word.  Then we must obey what our Heavenly Father teaches us.  Criticism becomes a cancer and not a helper.  Criticism with a harsh spirit becomes like a weed in a garden that won’t be rooted out.  Below is an excerpt from Dr. David Jeremiah’s Turning Point devotional.  It relates to our need as a nation and for God’s Church.

Judge not, that you be not judged.
Matthew 7:1

With the rising trend of healthy eating, many people have returned to the practice of gardening. Sure the food may be better for us, and it may save us a few dollars, but it is also tedious work. Just one unnoticed weed can quickly make its way through the entire garden.

Much like an unkempt garden, Christians are susceptible to being over-run by a critical spirit. We allow a judgmental thought to linger too long, and it takes root. Soon it has infiltrated our lives--including those around us. Rather than being an encourager, a builder for Christ, we've become Satan's destructive tool. As George D. Watson once said, "[Criticism] is a parasite which...fastens itself on the tree of religion, and seeks to spread itself until it claims to be the tree, and...if not killed off, will succeed in killing the tree."

How do we avoid the strangling weeds of a critical spirit? Begin looking at things "NLOE" (in light of eternity). Focusing on eternity and desiring others to join us there will certainly help us to be less critical and more about encouraging others and spreading God's love, showing them we are a "<><" (follower of Christ)!

As a nation, we must be about the business of insuring everyone’s freedom by going back to our original reasons for becoming a nation in the first place. Criticizing leaders is not the right spirit.  Going to the polls to vote correct moral and ethical values is the right spirit.  As God’s Church, we must be about our Father’s business which is seeking to save those who are lost.  We must go back to our first love.  A critical spirit will not push the church into right action, but looking at things “in the light of eternity,” will!  When we concentrate our time and efforts on reaching people for Jesus, there is no time, nor inclination for a critical spirit.  There is only the liberty found in the Spirit of Christ!  The Apostle Paul said, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2

God’s Word is awesome.  We will study it more tomorrow!

I love you all,
Pastor Stephen