Today we are living in a post-Christian society. The push to remove God from every day life has doubled down with greater diligence, greater fervency, and greater media encouragement. But did you know the Lord God Almighty has been at the foundation of this nation and its freedoms from the beginning!
Did You Know?
As you walk up the steps to the building which houses the U.S. Supreme Court you can see near the top of the building a row of the world's law givers and each one is facing one in the middle who is facing forward with a full frontal view...it is Moses and he is holding the Ten Commandments!
DID YOU KNOW?
As you enter the Supreme Court courtroom, the two huge oak doors have the Ten Commandments engraved on each lower portion of each door.
DID YOU KNOW?
As you sit inside the courtroom, you can see the wall, right above where the Supreme Court judges sit, a display of the Ten Commandments!
DID YOU KNOW?
There are Bible verses etched in stone all over the Federal Buildings and Monuments in Washington, D.C.
DID YOU KNOW?
James Madison, the fourth president, known as "The Father of Our Constitution" made the following statement:
"We have staked the whole of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."
DID YOU KNOW?
Patrick Henry, a patriot and Founding Father of our country said:
"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ".
DID YOU KNOW?
Every session of Congress begins with a prayer by a paid preacher,
whose salary has been paid by the taxpayer since 1777.
DID YOU KNOW?
Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members
of the established orthodox churches in the colonies.
DID YOU KNOW?
Thomas Jefferson worried that the Courts would overstep their authority and instead of interpreting the law would begin making law…an oligarchy ... the rule of few over many.
DID YOU KNOW?
The very first Supreme Court Justice, John Jay, said:
"Americans should select and prefer Christians as their rulers."
How, then, have we gotten to the point that everything we have done for 220 years in this country is now suddenly wrong and unconstitutional?
Freedom is a gift from God.
Inscribed on the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., is Thomas Jefferson's statement: "Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God . . . That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever."
Our nation is at a crisis point to be sure; however, there is something of even greater consequence to be considered when speaking of freedom!
There is a great need to recognize that we have an unlikely freedom in Jesus Christ in bad times as well as good! True freedom is found in the arms of Jesus!
An Unwise Father (Genesis 37:3)
Joseph was shown greater love, yet he stilled worked (v. 2). Those who say they love their children too much to make them work – and so they do nothing – are establishing weak character in their children.
Joseph received a greater Inheritance – the coat of many colors. Joseph is given much…but so are we! Salvation, promises, provision, love, mercy, grace, and so much more! Have we missed what we do have while we gaze on what do not have and long for? Take a moment and make a specific list of the many blessings of the Lord in your life — then thank God for it all. The attitude of gratitude is sometimes missing among the church today!
This is the setting in which we find Joseph. He is favored. He is loved. He is free! It is easy to say, “God is good,” in such circumstances. When God’s goodness is easily viewed in our lives, are we:
1. …humble about our standing before God?
2. …thanking the Lord for our freedoms?
3. …glorying in our freedoms more than the Lord who gave them to you?
An Unknown Revelation (Genesis 37:5-10)
I remember when the Olympics were played by amateurs. The competition was tough. The USA did not win sports like Ice Hockey or Basketball very often. Then they came up with a new rule. Professionals could compete! They called them (and still do) the Dream Team.
Joseph’s dream team was his family – his brothers and parents. The dream team’s position was humble and low. The dream team’s response was envy (brothers) and observation (Father).
An Unfathomable Hatred (Genesis 37:4, 11, 18-20)
Joseph’s brother’s view digressed to deep depravity. They now embraced a view to kill (v. 18), then a view to lie (v. 20), and finished off with a view to punish (v. 31-36)
An Unlikely Freedom (Genesis 39)
Joseph was sold, but not forgotten (39:1, 2-4). He was persecuted, but not powerless (39:7-8, 12-13). Condemned, but not hopeless (40:14, 23; 41:9, 12-14). Joseph had spent 13 years in slavery and prison! He came to Egypt as a 17-year-old in Genesis 37:2, and now in Genesis 41:46 he is 30 years old standing before Pharaoh.
There are no words of bitterness, resentment, or anger from this man who had spent many years unjustly treated! Specifically, his late teens and much of his young adult life!
Joseph found an unlikely freedom in submitting to God’s plan for his life – even if it was not favorable! He even declares that it was God who released him from remembering all his unjust treatment and separation from his father! (41:51); and that God had brought good from his difficulties! (41:52)
In 1861, Abraham Lincoln stated in his speech at Independence Hall these words, "The Declaration of Independence gave liberty not alone to the people of this country, but hope to all the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weights would be lifted from the shoulders of all men, and that all should have an equal chance. This is the sentiment embodied in the Declaration of Independence....I would rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender it."
God has given to His children true freedom! Do not be so quick to give up what God has so richly blessed you as a Christian – freedom found only in Him. Embrace the freedom you have in Jesus even more than you embrace your freedom as a citizen in your community here on earth!
When financial pressures surround you – run to the arms of Jesus
When relationships disappoint you – run to the arms of Jesus
When trials beset you, and you are brought low – run to Jesus
Turn from the pity parties. Turn from the self-denial. Turn from holding political freedom higher than freedom in Jesus…and before turning to others – turn to Jesus!
True freedom can come amid desperation, persecution, and condemnation – but you can only find it in Jesus.
Jeremiah 29:12,13, “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD…”