Have you ever thought about having a Spiritual Independence Day?
Today, July 4, the day this episode is being released, is celebrated in the United Sates as Independence Day. If you’re listening on a different day, there’s still an important message here for you. July 4 is the anniversary of the day, back in 1776 when a small group of men, gathered in Philadelphia, after much discussion and debate, decided to declare independence from England.
If you would like to read a copy of that document, and don’t have one, click this link: The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.
If you are a citizen of the United States, this is of deep importance. And it has served as a model for other countries.
But it also serves as a metaphor for each of us to declare our independence from negative, material, and evil influences, that would pull us away from our God-given heritage and freedoms.
Declaration of Spiritual Independence
It is in this spirit that I share something I wrote several years ago and had on my website, but have now updated. It is a Declaration of Spiritual Independence.
When the world, with all its limitations, materialistic influences, and decoys, seems to overcome us or tempt us to turn to from God and our natural dependence on Him, it is helpful and encouraging to take a stand for the things of the Spirit and the ways of God. We need to cease our dependence on the world to give us what we need and declare and affirm our total dependence on God.
But it’s not enough just to declare our independence from the material and evil influences of the world. Just as those early Americans had to defend their newly proclaimed freedom and then fight to establish it, at times we need to defend our right to be free of worldly influences.
Winning our spiritual independence
But unlike the weapons in American Revolutionary War of guns and bayonets,
We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4, 5 NLT
What are God’s mighty weapons? The ways of Christ: love, humility, forgiveness, mercy, faith, complete dependence on and obedience to God, and the living Word of God.
Here is my Declaration of Spiritual Independence
If you’re familiar with the American Declaration of Independence, you’ll see how I followed its tone and style. These are not just words, but a bold declaration of ideas that must be put into practice in our daily lives.
When, in the Course of human events, a people realize they are being controlled by influences which produce dependence on material systems and procedures thereby drawing them away from their Divine Rights of total Reliance on God, it becomes necessary to sever any connection with the all too familiar and oppressive demands of the material world. They must therefore deny self, take up the cross, and follow Christ. And it is only reasonable to declare to the world our intent and the cause of this separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men and Women are created in the image and likeness of God, equally loved, and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Divine Rights, among which are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness, Health, and Holiness. – That to secure these Rights, Jesus of Nazareth has won the victory over the material world and given us an Inheritance in Heaven. – That whenever there should be an infringement of this Inheritance by the world’s ways and means, it is within the inherent Divine Rights of Mankind to abandon and abolish the dictates of the carnal mind and follow only Christ.
The tyranny of the carnal mind, whether gentle and subtle, or demanding and terrorizing, is always deceptive and attempts in vain to rule our lives. Indeed this carnal mind claims to be the very life of mankind.
Therefore, we hereby proclaim for ourselves and all mankind, our Total and Unconditional Independence from the carnal mind, its façade of materialism, and the malicious deception that we, as God’s Children and Heirs, can have, need, or desire a way of life or existence separate from our Creator, in Whom we live and move and have our Being. In the name of Christ, we claim our Freedom from all the machinations of evil.
And be it known to all men, that we will defend our divine rights herein declared, from the onslaught of the Evil One’s fiery arrows of fearmongering, doubt, and deceit. Truth itself is our shield and fortress of defense, and we invite all Mankind to join us in this Holy Place.
We, therefore, as children of God, followers of His Son, Christ Jesus, and recipients of the Divine Comforter, the Holy Spirit, appeal to the Supreme Judge of all Creation for support of our intentions and endeavors. We hereby acknowledge, accept, and affirm our total independence from all evil influences and our unequivocal dependence on the Principle of all creation, God Almighty Himself, as the sole Source and Substance of our existence, our Life without beginning or end, our Protector and Guide. We trust Him. We know Him. We reflect Him. He is our God and we are His children. We have and need nothing but God and all He gives. – And in support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Hearts, our Lives, and our sacred Honor.
