This
is the week that we celebrate the birthday of our nation, The United States of
American. It was in 1776 that we gained
our independence from England, and since that time we have continued to fight
for our freedom. Men and women have given
their lives and made great sacrifices to maintain our freedom and independence.
We really are blessed.
Psalm 33:12 NASB
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.
Any
nation that places God in the center will be blessed. This has been seen since the creation of the
world, and countries around the globe have found hard times or great rewards as
they made a choice of whom they would serve.
This fact reminds us of Joshua’s challenge to follow God and see His
blessings come your direction.
There
is so much to be said about who we are as a country as well as individuals, and
it is a fact that our country was founded on Christian principles and on God. Yet there is something a bit strange or
complex about our country. The original
desire was for freedom as a nation and independence from others, but there was
a desire then and by some now to maintain our dependence on God. We need God. Many of our founding fathers expressed that
desire and practiced their faith where others could see it.
One
way to keep our freedom and to have a strong nation is to build faith filled
homes and to teach our children about our rich history and about our great God.
And He is great. You would agree. I have heard and realize the truth of this
statement --- as goes the family, so goes the nation. When our homes are strong, our nation will be
strong. When our homes and families are weak, our nation will be weak. We have found that to be true forever.
Our
family returned this past weekend from an extended vacation. We have had a great time focusing on each
going and growing stronger. Yes, we
drove more than 4,300 miles. We went
through 9 states. We ate a lot. We played a lot. It was fun, and it was meant to be that
way. Thank you for allowing that to
happen.
That
time of focus reminded me that we are not only dependent on God, but we are
dependent on each other. I must teach my
children about loving God and loving each other as well as serving the people
around us. God’s desire is for us to
depend on Him. The best place to learn
this is at home and with our families.
My
prayer is that my children will believe that their mother and I love them
unconditionally and that God loves them even more than that. Unless they are my focus, they won’t see and
experience that love. That is the
dependence of our connection to God.
One
of the pieces that God is calling me to and for me to is our focus since we
often focus on the wrong things. Our
priorities get screwed up. Fact is
without my family and the strength of my family ministry would be worthless.
When mother Teresa won the Nobel peace prize she was asked how
we are to change the world, she said "Go home and love your
family."
We are literally dependent on each other, and that is what God
is teaching us. By sticking close to
together, by working with and for each other, by talking through our hopes,
desires and wishes, we gain strength. By
being connected we are better people and able to accomplish so much more.
We long for and teach our children to be independent. Yet God is calling up to be dependent on Him
all the time. The tie of God to His
people is as old as the earth. You’ve got to remember what happened in the
Garden of Eden. It was obvious that God
longed to spend time with the people He loved.
This hasn’t changed. He
wants time with us. His love for His
children is real and ought to drive us closer to God. Yet there is a problem. We have often turned away from God. We stop listening and trusting things that are
not Him.
Our nation continues to need God, and this will be reality only
as families and people like you and me maintain our dependence on God. Thank God for our independence as a nation so
we can worship and share our faith as we wish, but I also praise God for
helping me learn and my family to learn to depend on Him even more.
Proverbs 3:5 NASB
Trust
in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
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