July 4th devotion - Semper Fi - Acts 21:10-16

Acts 21:13       Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

            You cannot fault Paul’s loyalty to Christ. He believed in Jesus completely and was more than willing to lay down his life for his Lord. Many years before this incident, he was blinded on the road to Damascus by Christ, as a means of saving him from his own destructive ways. Paul never forgot that dynamic moment. It changed everything completely for him, which is why he was willing to totally give everything for Jesus. Paul was always willing to be faithful (semper fi) to Christ, even if it cost him his life, which eventually did happen.

            In a couple of weeks, we will be celebrating Independence Day in the United States. It’s a great occasion for communities to display their national pride. US flags will be flying everywhere; special parades will take place in towns and cities; people will be wearing red, white, and blue; families will be grilling in their backyards, and fireworks will go off all over the place into the wee small hours of the morning. It’s a fantastic celebration of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but I wonder how many of us will remember the sacrifices that our Founding Folks made and the lives that were sacrificially laid down, so that freedom could be procured for future generations?

            It’s the same in the Christian Church. Each Sunday is actually an Independence Day celebration because we remember that Christ set us free from the captivity of sin and tyranny of death, through His perfect sacrifice and glorious resurrection. As Thomas Jefferson once wrote in 1774, ‘The same God who gave us Life…also gave us Liberty.’ In other words, the same God who gave us Christ, also set us free forever!

Questions for personal reflection

How much of my life am I willing to give to Christ? How much does He expect of me?

Prayer:            Lord Jesus, You have set us free from our failures, our mistakes, and our sins. You have purchased that freedom for us through the spilling of Your blood and the giving of Your Life. We are unworthy of such a holy sacrifice, but we are also eternally grateful to You for liberating our souls from the bondage of sin and finality of death. May we freely choose this day to serve You and God’s Kingdom forevermore. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to traqair@aol.com.

Today’s image is one of John’s Independence Day drawings. It’s called “Liberty Lights,” and features the Statue of Liberty surrounded by 4^th July fireworks. If you would like to view a larger version, please click on the following link: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8164/7503142478_e8e6283de3_b.jpg

Church Meeting Devotions: Light of Liberty

Matthew 5: 14 "You are the world’s light. You cannot hide a city on a hill.

The days following the 9/11 tragedy were amongst the weirdest that many of us ever experienced. To begin with, there were no planes in the sky anywhere, so it seemed empty and quiet. Mostly everyone hunkered down in their own homes, glued to the continuous coverage on television. Restaurants and malls were practically empty and it appeared as though large and small communities throughout the United States would never be the same again.

And then flags started to appear everywhere. People had them attached to their cars, in the front of their homes, and at their businesses. The local newspaper contained a magnetic flag to be placed on automobiles or fridges in every home. We were brutally broken and totally shocked by the turmoil, but we crawled out of our caves and restarted to live our lives as the means to honor the innocent dead and to defy the terrorists their complete victory.

Out of the ruined rubble of our society, we rose up and overcame the darkness of despair. Freedom and liberty were now even more precious to us because they had been snatched away from us for a couple of days. Lady Liberty still stood as a sentinel before the smoking Manhattan skyline and we became just as resolute. Our duty was to show the world not just our resilience and defiance, but our faith in freedom and our light of liberty.

Within a week, our skies were filled with vapor trailing planes carrying our people from state to state and city to city. Within our hearts, we all silently vowed that we would prevail and that this would never happen again on our watch, in our cities, and across our land. We have remained true to that promise, and maintained that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are still the noblest and highest of rights to which any nation, kingdom, or people on Earth can ever aspire towards.

Even after eight years, we are still that light of liberty which the world seeks. We are still that shining nation of strength and hope that the Earth still needs.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we remember the dark days of 9/11 and continue to live our lives in honor of those who died. We pray for the bereft families, who were most affected by the losses at the World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon, and the field in Pennsylvania. Keep us mindful of those days and ever watchful of the days to come. In Your Holy Name, we humbly pray. Amen.

John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.