Ah yes, the lyrics read: “rocket’s red glare and bombs bursting is air…..” Some of the words from our national anthem, composed by Francis Scott Key during the shelling of Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor during the War of 1812. In 1814, the British were on their way to our nation’s capital, and one main goal was to take out Fort McHenry. The War of 1812 could be construed as a continuance of the Revolutionary War, or even a grudge war. But the road to freedom is paved with sacrifice, dedication, blood, and Godly counsel. Those roads are never easy, as our own country’s Declaration of Independence shows. In our own lives, we get shelled from many directions.

The Dangers of Freedom

We can go through bizarre thought processes when we are given complete freedom. There is danger, because some interpret that as “anything goes”. But freedom is not to be taken as unrestricted behavior. Real freedom is total alignment with God’s love, power, and presence. Some consequences of negative freedom (as if it won’t affect anyone else):

1. We can do anything we want, because we can
2. We can take the road to corruption, dishonesty, greed, and deception; because we can
3. We can enjoy every kind of indulgence, because we can

The Blessings of Freedom

Freedom is actually a trust issue. When we enjoy freedom, we trust that others enjoy freedom as much as we do. But when just ONE person begins to violate trust and go off the road of righteousness, everything begins to fall apart. Our Founding Fathers hammered out the brilliant founding documents to solve that. On each document, a realization of God, our Creator, is recognized. In fact, in every STATE constitution, God is included and declared as part of proper governance Confirm from your own reading in Proverbs 29:2.
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• We can prosper ourselves, if we choose to
• Choosing elected officials who know God and apply Biblical ways are more qualified than those who don’t. “Those people who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.” — William Penn
• Shackles of sin, bondage to desperate behavior, and crippling levels of in-action fall from us

The Responsibilities of Freedom

To travel on YOUR road to freedom:

• Show others how Christianity works, because you’ve allowed God to energize you on YOUR road
• When you exhibit generosity without expectation of re-payment, something happens and the story becomes communicated in exponential fashion
• Whether you are enjoying our country’s anniversary of July 4th with friends, or deeply considering what we’d do WITHOUT freedom, please maintain a prayerful attitude.
• Render unto Caesar things which are Caesar’s, and render unto God, the things that are God’s

“Lord, let me see that YOUR flag is still there after all my trials in YOUR name, In Christ’s Name. Amen.”

– Lee Kresser