WATCHWORD:
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people he chose for his inheritance. Psalm 33:12
1 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and pleases God our Savior. Timothy 2:1-3
Meditation:
God Bless America!
What does the Cross of Christ have to do with God bless America? Everything! We’re talking about the cost of our freedom, of our discipleship. Who wrote about the cost of discipleship? Oh, yes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. What does he have to say about this cost, which is part and partial of the cross we are to bear and this blessed nation we are privileged to live in?
“The life of discipleship can only be maintained as long as nothing is allowed to come between Christ and ourselves–neither the law, nor personal piety, nor even the world. The disciple always looks only to his master, never to Christ and the law, Christ and religion, Christ and the world. He avoids all such notions (of divided loyalties) like the plague. Only by following Christ alone can he preserve a single eye. His eye rests only on the holy light that comes from Christ, and has no darkness or ambiguity in it…thus the heart of the disciple must be set upon Christ alone. If the heart is devoted to the mirage of the world, to the creature instead of the creator, the disciple is lost.”
In the early years of Christianity, the cross was a symbol of discipleship. In reality, the cross was an implement of slow torturous death, and becoming a disciple means that our daily walk with Jesus was a process of daily death to selfish desires and of the willingness to bear reproach for His name’s sake. If people are critical of us for being Christians, we, in turn, must bless them.
We know that in order to establish a more perfect union much blood was shed, there was much suffering and violence was inflicted. Freedom was not won easily and it won’t be maintained easily. It will be maintained only in our total commitment to a truth that overrides all the destructive lies that seem to surround us. It is the truth of God, the truth of Christ and the powerful role that our discipleship must play to maintain the graces that have been bestowed upon us.
You know this state of discipleship does not come over us, in a flash of a ‘born-again’ emotion, or an altar call. It is a process in which we must grow. If we blow it, and we will, we must confess it to the Lord and seek to be obedient next time we have an opportunity to suffer for him. But, if we aren’t involved in the process of carrying our own cross in death to self, we are not on the path of the disciple of Jesus Christ.
It’s a whole package, isn’t it? We live in a free nation because of what God has given us, and we follow Christ, because at one time or another in our life we were born again into the life of Christ. There are no shades or degrees to our belief. If He is our Lord and Savior, He is our Lord and Savior. We should all take abiding confidence in the knowledge that we are His. That we are children of God, and our future, the future of this nation, is guaranteed. God bless America. Thanks, be to Christ our savior. Amen.
Freedom Reminders:
True independence and freedom can only exist in doing what’s right.
True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.
Democracy is government of the people, by the people, for the people.
People tend to have forgotten what the 4th of July really is about. Today commemorates the freedom we use every day. It’s not about fireworks and parties. That’s just what makes it fun.
Morning Prayers as We Consider Independence Day:
God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her,
Through the night with the light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies, To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America, my home sweet home. Amen.
Heavenly Father, help us love the life we live right now. Show us the good things we often overlook and help us be content with what we have. Forgive us when we compare ourselves to others, forgive us for longing for things outside of you, your will and your kingdom. Thank you for loving us right where we are, just as we are. Help us keep our eyes on you. Lord, we pray that you will Bless this country, wracked with dissension within, help us Lord, bring us back to that shinning city on a hill, that the world seeks to emulate. Help us to follow your will in all ways. We asked all of this, Lord, in your name, for it is –In God We Trust. Amen.
