Freedom and Liberty – Judy Brooks

July 2, 2021

Freedom and Liberty

Precious one, today will you stand with me and honor God and thank Him for the freedom you have in Christ? He paid the ultimate price for you and me to walk in liberty and freedom spiritually. So many years ago He chose to die on an old rugged cross for your sins and mine to give us life and life more abundantly. (John 10:10) It is beyond what the mind can conceive that He loves us so much. (John 3:16) I am so grateful to live in a country where we are still free.

As you celebrate with your family, friends, and loved ones on this Independence Day commemorating the Declaration of Independence of the United States, on July 4, 1776, let us not forget the greatest Independence Day is the day you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. (Romans 10:9-10, 3:23, John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8) Now that’s something to celebrate! Be blessed on this day of Freedom!

Facts about the Declaration of Independence for the United States

In the United States of America, the Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies were no longer subject (and subordinate) to the monarch of Britain, King George III, and were now united, free, and independent states. The Congress had voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2, but it was not declared until July 4. Thus we celebrate our freedoms in our country. Have an attitude of gratitude throughout this day for the freedoms you have in the natural and spirituals! We are blessed to live in this country.

On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort M’Henry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

Lyrics to the National Anthem of the United States:

O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket’s red glare, the bomb bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, at Terra Rubra, his family’s estate in Frederick County (now Carroll County), Maryland. He became a successful lawyer in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and was later appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

On June 18, 1812, America declared war on Great Britain after a series of trade disagreements. In August 1814, British troops invaded Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, Capitol Building, and Library of Congress. Their next target was Baltimore.

After one of Key’s friends, Dr. William Beanes was taken prisoner by the British, Key went to Baltimore, located the ship where Beanes was being held and negotiated his release. However, Key and Beanes weren’t allowed to leave until after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. Key watched the bombing campaign unfold from aboard a ship located about eight miles away. After a day, the British were unable to destroy the fort and gave up. Key was relieved to see the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry and quickly penned a few lines in tribute to what he had witnessed.

https://youtu.be/M1wLtAXDgqg

Link to the National Anthem

https://youtu.be/ox4IRQVGsBU

I am proud to be an American