John 8:34-36 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
On July 4th, America remembers a bold declaration — a break from tyranny, a longing for a better government, and the birth of a nation built on liberty. The Founders risked everything to establish a new way of life, one where freedom could flourish. Their cry was clear: “We will no longer be ruled by kings who oppress–we will be governed by laws that reflect liberty and justice.”
But for believers, that cry still echoes deeper. We, too, are longing for a better government–but not one formed by men. We are yearning for a Kingdom not of this world, ruled not by flawed leaders, but by Messiah Yeshua, the Righteous King. We long for the day when the government will rest upon His shoulders (Isaiah 9:6), and peace will fill the earth as waters cover the sea.
Shabbat is a weekly taste of that coming reality. It is not just rest from labor — it is prophetic rest, a sign and shadow of the Messianic Age to come, often referred to as the Shabbat Millennium.
In Jewish thought, just as a Sabbath followed six days of creation, so too there will be six thousand years of human toil followed by a thousand-year reign of the Messiah–the final Shabbat.
As we light the candles of Shabbat and hear the sounds of fireworks overhead, we are caught between two celebrations — one looks back to national freedom, while the other looks forward to cosmic redemption. One was secured by revolution; the other will be fulfilled by revelation–when every eye shall see Him, and every knee shall bow.
Messiah Yeshua proclaimed true liberty when He stood in the synagogue and read from Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me… to proclaim liberty to the captives.” (Luke 4:18)
He wasn’t talking about political chains, but spiritual ones. Through His death and resurrection, He broke the power of sin, shame, and death. That is the ultimate independence–freedom not just from Pharaoh or Caesar or king, but from everything that keeps us from entering into God’s presence.
This weekend, as America celebrates freedom and we, as believers, enter the rest of Shabbat, let us remember: the Founders wrote liberty on parchment, God engraved it in stone at Sinai, but through the Messiah, that same freedom is now written on our hearts—eternal, living, and unshakable.
Step into His prophetic reality — a rest is prepared for those who trust in Him, a freedom given that can never be taken, a Kingdom coming that cannot be shaken. So lift up your eyes and cast off every chain. This Shabbat and Independence Day, don’t just celebrate freedom–embrace it, proclaim it, and rest in it. Let your life be a living banner of unshakable truth that no darkness can silence: We are redeemed, we are empowered, and we are unstoppable–by the resurrection power of the King who reigns forever.
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]There’s nothing we can do to earn God’s love, however if we want to experience His blessings we need to observe the qualifications that He’s given us in His Word. Psalm 112 details a whole list of blessings, but the key to receiving them is verse 1.
Looking at the relationship between “love and affection” (“chiba” in Hebrew) and “obligation” (“chova” in Hebrew), we find another closely related word, “chaver”, one of the Hebrew words for “friend”. Friends are people with whom we share love and affection and also a sense of obligation. Our God and Father wants us to be His friends, to share love and affection with Him and to carry the sense of responsibility and obligation which friendship requires.
We are called to be servants, are we not? Well, what does a servant do? He (or she) carries out the will of his master. A servant doesn’t tell his master what to do — he performs whatever tasks the master requests of him. A servant doesn’t choose what days or times it’s most convenient to serve his master. A servant’s function is simply to follow and obey his master’s instructions. A servant does not develop a vision for the master either. The master is the one with the vision — and he wants his servants to be ready and available to carry out that vision and bring it to fruition.
Momentum is simply the force or speed of movement that carries an object to its final destination. If you want to break through, you need to have a certain amount of momentum. In order for a rocket to blast into space, it needs tremendous momentum to break the gravitational barrier – but with the enormous power of jet engines and rocket fuel the ship is propelled faster and faster till it breaks free of the earth’s gravitational pull.
“Break up your fallow ground.” In this context, the Lord is referring to breaking up the ground overrun with weeds and thorns creating a hardness to produce righteous fruit.
This passage in Isaiah contains a poetic play on words which is lost to any reader but one who understands Hebrew. A word for word translation runs something like this: “If not you will believe (lo ta-aminoo), surely not you will be established (lo te-amenoo).” The three letter Hebrew root – “aleph”- “mem”- “nun”, is the same in both words, and the Holy Spirit through the prophet Isaiah is clearly playing on this root to emphasize His point. The same root letters are also used in the spelling for the familiar word “Amen” which literally means “truthfully”.
David is called a “man after God’s own heart.” Considering that he lusted after his neighbor’s wife, committed adultery with her, and had her husband murdered, the Lord’s description of him is remarkable. How could a man who was convicted a murderer and an adulterer also be called one after God’s own heart?