Monday...May 29, 2017 | Memorial Day

Hello everyone and welcome today, to Moments Spent with God! I pray that your week is off to a great start and that you will truly experience the fullness of God’s presence, as you walk with Him throughout your week!
 
Today, I was thinking back, to all the time that my husband has served his country. He not only served 8 years active duty but also many years as a civilian. After he retired, I took some of the many awards he was given and hung them in the other room of our home…as a reminder of all he has done, so faithfully for his country.
 
You know…it’s so easy to get caught up into life; that the only time we show a thankful heart to our veterans; is when there is a holiday. Don’t we realize how many have laid down their lives and sacrificed so much for our country; that we may live with freedom each day?
 
Even as I think on all that has been given to us so freely in this country; I also think back to an even greater freedom that came to us, when God’s Son, Jesus Christ laid His life down for us, on a sacrificial alter, called an old rugged cross. Just think…Jesus took everything upon Himself and laid His own life completely down, as a means of not only giving us freedom from sin but to also show us a love that could never compare, to the love He so freely gave us that day.
 
Sometimes I sit back and wonder why we choose to live in bondage…after Jesus died to give us freedom. How is it that we are more willing to draw from the despair of a problem, rather than life, from the freedom of the old rugged cross? Don’t we realize that Jesus paid the price in full; so we wouldn’t have to live in a prison cell of sin and despair?
 
You know…even though we don’t ask for these difficult times to enter our lives, we still have the freedom to make choices and I have definitely come to see that the choices we make in life, either take us to a place of freedom or they lock us in a prison cell of despair, where Satan can have the freedom back; for which Jesus died for.
 
Today…are we going to let Satan have the freedom to rein and rule over our lives or are we going to choose to step into the light of freedom…the freedom that became one of the most precious gifts that we would ever receive in this life?  There is no reason why we should allow the difficult times to take us down; but rather, we should say to ourselves…why art thou cast down, oh my soul? Hope thou in a God, whose blood never loses its power or strength and can always keep us safe, from the moments that attempt to take us to a place of total destruction.
 
Today, can we say that we are allowing the problems in our lives to replace the freedom, for which Christ died for? Are we wallowing in a pit of self-despair, rather than choosing to push our way through these moments; so we can truly live in the freedom of the cross?
 
I have come to see over my lifetime; that we will never discover the true freedom, for which Christ died for, when we choose to become caught up in the sin and self-despair that stems from evil. Now is the time to step out of the wallowing holes and pits of self-despair and seek the freedom, for which Christ so lovingly gave us. Let us not allow our actions and responses to sin and the problems of this life, to keep Jesus in the tomb; but instead, let’s live the risen life of freedom with Him.
Blessings on this Memorial Day…and may God truly bless your heart with His loving presence!
It’s Always & Only Because of Him…Diane
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​A big thank you, for all those who have served or are serving our country right now! You are in our prayers! 

​Also...to those who have lost loved ones in our military...you are especially close to our hearts in  prayer today, on this Memorial Day! 
God bless!
​Diane