Over this Memorial Day weekend we are reminded again of the sacrifices military men and women have made through out the years as they fought battles all around the world to help keep us free. Their time and energy, their family life, and in some cases their bodies and their very lives have been given up to protect our shores and our way of life.
I am so thankful for those who take up the challenge to put themselves in harm's way. There have been times when the call to arms was mandatory but other times as in this day, those who go, go willingly and voluntarily. So a very special debt of gratitude goes out to them.
But life even in America can be a life of slavery and a life devoid of freedom for those who do not surrender to Jesus Christ. Americans rant and rave about their rights...the right to choose abortion, the right to marry someone of the same sex, the right to push and shove their way to the top, the right to live any way they want to.
Our country was founded with a Bill of Rights for the people. But none of those makes a person free. The Bible says that those who "do their own thing" are actually living in slavery to lust and greed and a whole host of sins. Just because someone doesn't recognize their behavior as sin doesn't make it any less so. And sin entangles us in a web that we can't break out of on our own.
It is only in the cross of Christ and faith in Jesus that I find true freedom. Freedom to live life in the glow of God's love, knowing that the Creator of the universe is my daddy, my "Abba, Father." Freedom to have all the hurts and fears and emptiness and loneliness and greed and lust and anger and despair and...whatever bad thing has a grip on me, replaced with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Showing posts with label patriotism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label patriotism. Show all posts
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Sunday, July 4, 2010
God Bless America
That phrase has become very trite over the years as people sing it on the 4th of July with hearts that are very far from God. And right now many people don't believe God is blessing our country because of the recession, the unemployment, the uncertainty of the future.
God HAS blessed this country over all the years of our existence. We have more stuff - including food and shelter than most countries in the world. So why is it that we are very rarely satisfied - content might be the biblical word - with what we have. We have an almost insatiable appetite for more. More cars, more TVs, more electronics, more money, more music, more clothes, more, more, more. There are many people who would be satisfied with one meal a day, nothing more, while we accumulate debt to buy stuff we don't need.
But on July 4, 2010 I do want to ask God sincerely to bless America - with revival. Turn our hearts, Lord, to You. Open our eyes to our pitiful condition, not because we don't have enough stuff, but because we are on the highway to destruction. A life lived without Jesus is an empty, pitiable life even if you have all the riches of the world. Luke 12:16-21
Happy 4th of July, America! I love this country! One of the greatest blessing God ever gave to me was allowing me to be born an American. I don't ever want to take that blessing for granted.
God HAS blessed this country over all the years of our existence. We have more stuff - including food and shelter than most countries in the world. So why is it that we are very rarely satisfied - content might be the biblical word - with what we have. We have an almost insatiable appetite for more. More cars, more TVs, more electronics, more money, more music, more clothes, more, more, more. There are many people who would be satisfied with one meal a day, nothing more, while we accumulate debt to buy stuff we don't need.
But on July 4, 2010 I do want to ask God sincerely to bless America - with revival. Turn our hearts, Lord, to You. Open our eyes to our pitiful condition, not because we don't have enough stuff, but because we are on the highway to destruction. A life lived without Jesus is an empty, pitiable life even if you have all the riches of the world. Luke 12:16-21
Happy 4th of July, America! I love this country! One of the greatest blessing God ever gave to me was allowing me to be born an American. I don't ever want to take that blessing for granted.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
God Bless America
That is a pretty trite expression these days. Kinda like having "In God We Trust" on our money. But it is the prayer of my heart - that God would continue to bless America.
Whenever I go out of the country, whether it's a poor country like Kenya, a warring country like Israel, a beautiful island like the Caymans, or a neighbor like Canada, I always return with a grateful heart that God favored me to be born in America and in the time that I am living.
I ofter take for granted the blessing of God for my heritage; to grow up in a country like this. Even with all its flaws (for nothing will be perfect until the New Jerusalem and New Earth), it is a wonderful place.
I came of age in the 60's so I remember all the racial tension of that era; the Vietnam war and all the protests; the bombs and guns on college campuses; the assassinations of the President, his brother, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X; the Black Panthers; the threats from the Russians and the Cubans. Even though those were very difficult times and we were in the throes of a mini civil war, this was and is the best country in the world.
Happy Birthday America!
Whenever I go out of the country, whether it's a poor country like Kenya, a warring country like Israel, a beautiful island like the Caymans, or a neighbor like Canada, I always return with a grateful heart that God favored me to be born in America and in the time that I am living.
I ofter take for granted the blessing of God for my heritage; to grow up in a country like this. Even with all its flaws (for nothing will be perfect until the New Jerusalem and New Earth), it is a wonderful place.
I came of age in the 60's so I remember all the racial tension of that era; the Vietnam war and all the protests; the bombs and guns on college campuses; the assassinations of the President, his brother, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X; the Black Panthers; the threats from the Russians and the Cubans. Even though those were very difficult times and we were in the throes of a mini civil war, this was and is the best country in the world.
Happy Birthday America!
Sunday, February 15, 2009
America
My 9 year grandson has been hearing all the stuff about the economy and how people are out of jobs and how tight money is and all that goes with the recession we are in. Yesterday, he was asking me what is so great about living in America when things are so terrible.
Maybe he is not old enough to hear this at school or maybe it's just that we - the adults in his life - have a tendency to complain about life rather than celebrate it. So I was able to talk to him about the freedom we have: how we vote and the government leadership can change without guns; how we can go to any church - or not go at all - without fear of arrest or harassment; how we can live anywhere we want - we can move at will; how we can work where we want, study what we want in college, choose our career. And he said so?
Nathan has never been to another country or studied the history of other countries. He does not yet know that those things we take so much for granted are not available to everyone in the world.
I am so grateful to be an American; that is one of the greatest blessings in my life from God. I want my grandchildren to be proud and grateful to live in this wonderful country. Of course America is not perfect but I really believe it is the best there is on this planet.
Maybe he is not old enough to hear this at school or maybe it's just that we - the adults in his life - have a tendency to complain about life rather than celebrate it. So I was able to talk to him about the freedom we have: how we vote and the government leadership can change without guns; how we can go to any church - or not go at all - without fear of arrest or harassment; how we can live anywhere we want - we can move at will; how we can work where we want, study what we want in college, choose our career. And he said so?
Nathan has never been to another country or studied the history of other countries. He does not yet know that those things we take so much for granted are not available to everyone in the world.
I am so grateful to be an American; that is one of the greatest blessings in my life from God. I want my grandchildren to be proud and grateful to live in this wonderful country. Of course America is not perfect but I really believe it is the best there is on this planet.
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