Daily Devotional

Lord, how much longer can America stand? Your children are calling You for help. The wicked far outnumber Your children. Violence is everywhere! Wherever I look, I see the despair and misery of destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who enjoy arguing and fighting. The law has become paralyzed and there is no justice in the courts; justice has become perverted. Lord are you finished with America?

 

Son, tell the people, “If you believe in the LORD GOD, then follow Him and His Word! But if you believe that America’s strength is in what they have built on their own and what they can do on their own, then follow the leadership of that worthless god!”

 

The leaders and teachers of America have refused to follow and teach what I command and require of them. Therefore I will give them what they deserve! I will measure it out in proportion to their wickedness. I will pay them back for all the evil deeds they have done! I will make them taste and swallow what they have done to My children.

 

I have described in My Book what the end will be and what it will look like, and it will all be fulfilled. It may seem slow in coming, but wait patiently; it will surely take place just as I said. There will be no delay!

 

Don’t concern yourself with these proud people who think they know so much! They foolishly trust in themselves. Their thinking is warped and their lives have become perverted. They build with money gained dishonestly! They believe their wealth will buy them security, so that they are beyond the reach of danger. But they are not out of My reach!

 

Son in the coming days My children must live their lives faithfully to Me, trusting My Word.

 

Lord, I have read in Your Word all about You. I am filled each morning with joy over all of your amazing works. Help me Lord to trust You even if the trees, and the vines, and the fields lay empty and barren; even if the flocks and cattle of the fields die and food becomes scarce – yet will I trust in You the God of my salvation! Help me to rejoice in You, and in this time of America’s great need to trust and serve You again – I will be faithful to pray and speak the truth. I will not be silent.

28 Principles That Helped Build America – Chapter 25 – Principle #25

Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship with All Nations – Entangling Alliances with None

 

 

Proverbs 15:1, 18 “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. A hot-tempered man stirs up dissension, but a patient man calms a quarrel.”

 

Proverbs 17:14 “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.”

 

Principle #25 are the words that Thomas Jefferson gave in his first inaugural address. In the 18th century the United States was becoming more of a power to be reckoned with and the American leaders had a fixed position not to have entangling alliances with any foreign powers unless they were attacked. This was the Founding Fathers’ doctrine of separation.

 

This was not isolationism – which is to be completely detached from other nations. The desire of our Founding Fathers was to develop a healthy relationship with all nations, but to be separated from any sectional quarrels and international disputes. They wanted to keep American markets open to all countries unless certain countries would engage in hostilities towards the United States. To a great degree they followed the example of Switzerland which remained free from any entangling alliances during two world wars and other numerous European quarrels. Switzerland had no hostility towards any other nation unless threatened. However, they were open to all who wanted to come to Switzerland to buy, sell, or bank. This doctrine of separatism was practiced by the early American leaders.

 

George Washington’s description of foreign relations was to “observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.” Washington was aware of the natural tendency to classify nations as friends or enemies. In other words, what he was saying was that in the absence of any political, military or commercial hostility towards the United States every effort should be made to cultivate friendship with all.

 

Washington also warned about becoming too attached to any particular nation because by giving special privilege to any nation could open the United States up to foreign influences that would be detrimental to the security of the United States. In one sentence Washington’s foreign policy would be: to extend commercial relationships with them and with as little political connection as possible. Perhaps one of the dangers that our Founding Fathers saw was to weave the destiny of the United States with any other part of the world.

 

What Washington sensed about entangling the United States with any foreign alliances was the same thing regarding commercial ties and having what is known as ‘favored nations.’

 

One place where the United States did different from Switzerland was that the founders accepted the doctrine of “Manifest Destiny.” What does Manifest Destiny mean? It meant that there was responsibility for the moral and political “emancipation of all mankind.” In other words, freedom, education, and progress was in the thinking of the early American leaders. They saw the United States as a design by Providence for the emancipation of mankind over all the earth. Even today we see how millions are wanting to immigrate to America.

 

The first 125 years America carried on the policy of the separatism and pursuing a manifest destiny to encourage freedom in the rest of the human race. However, here in the United States, especially in financial circles, there have been powerful forces seeking to push America into the thick of things happening worldwide. A very good book to read would be The Creature from Jekyll Island that gives the history of how the Federal Reserve came into existence and with the political and financial powers in back of it, and how the United States was pushed into some of the conflicts of the 20th century. Often what happens in situations like this is that through a crisis, created or real, and through propaganda we are pushed into something that has no real bearing upon the security of the United States.

 

Perhaps a question that we could ask ourselves is: Would the world be better off if the United States had been following a policy of ‘separatism’ as the world’s great peacemaker instead of ‘internationalism’ as the world’s great policeman?

 

One thing that comes to me today is that we live in a world that has changed dramatically. We live in a world where information is exchanged at the speed of light, intercontinental travel can be done in hours and we have the ability to see what is raging not only around us, but on the other side of the world. With all of this in mind and thinking through the principle that our Founding Fathers laid down, what should be our line of action – peacemaker or policeman?

 

We need to keep in mind that although no one wants war, it is a fool who believes that Liberty requires no defense.

 

Daily Devotional

Black men killed by the police, black men shoot and kill policeman, men kill people because of their sexual orientation, people are considered infidels and killed because of men’s religion, babies are killed in the wombs because women have a choice. TRAGEDIES!

 

So what is the answer, can anyone stop this? All I hear and read from people are lots of platitudes (tired expressions) about what is wrong, but no one has the answers.

 

Do our politicians have the answers? How about the leaders of our communities, or the professors in our colleges? If no one has the answer then we have no hope! People with no hope are doomed to do the same thing over again.

 

But, there is “the answer” which is found in the Word of God. Until we are willing to admit that Jesus Christ is the only answer then nothing will change but only get worse.

 

 

 

Daily Devotional

This morning I read about a very emotional issue in the Word of God. It involved two women both mothers. One child died during the night and his mother secretly exchanged him with the other mother’s living child. No one could solve the problem as to which mother the child belongs to, as both women fought over the child, so it was brought to one of the wisest men ever lived. He directed his guards to cut the child in half, and give a half to each mother. The real mother wanted her child to live so she relented and gave away her right to the other mother. Solomon knew that to resolve an emotional issue requires wisdom, not more emotion.

 

Today we are seeing how little wisdom we use in solving our country’s problems (wisdom is knowing what to do with knowledge), instead we reason with more emotion, and the result is confusion and divisions. What is needed more now than ever is to remove emotion out of the problem, and use wisdom, (common sense) to resolve these issues we face as a country.

Just some thoughts

Daily Devotional

Unity is Strength!

 

Once there was a Bedouin sheikh who had ten sons. They were always quarreling and thus making the family very vulnerable to attack by enemies. The sheikh called together his ten sons and held up a bundle of sticks saying, “This is a test of strength. Which one of you can snap this bundle in two?” One by one the brothers came forward and tried, but not one of them could break the bundle, however he tried.

 

“Untie the bundle!” ordered the father. Then, handing one stick to each son, he said, “Now break the sticks!” Each son broke his stick with ease. “You see,” said the father, “each of these sticks represents one of you, my sons. When you are bound together in love and harmony no enemy can break you. When you are quarreling, you are easily overcome by the enemy. Strength lies in unity.”

28 Principles That Helped Build America – Chapter 24 – Principle #24

A Free People Will Not Survive Unless They Stay Strong

 

Proverbs 2:20-22 “Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous. For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the land, and the unfaithful will be torn from it.”

 

Proverbs 24:5-6 “A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength; for waging war you need guidance, and for victory many advisers.”

 

In ancient times the way that nations became prosperous was by conquering other nations and taking their wealth. What has made America different was the principles laid down by the Founding Fathers: they learned to create wealth which was something new. They discovered that a free people in a civilized society always tend toward prosperity. It is only when government interferes with the free market economy that prosperity is inhibited.

 

Founding Fathers knew that the wealth being created would always attract predatory nations and so they wanted to remain strong. For the Founding Fathers ‘peace’ was always the goal, but ‘strength’ was the means to maintain that peace. Benjamin Franklin knew the importance of the nation to remain strong and said: “One sword often keeps another in the scabbard.” In other words, to secure peace a nation needs to be prepared for war.

 

According to Scripture one of the main jobs of government is security of its citizens from any foreign entity. However, we see today the government is involved in just about every aspect of our life both public as well as private and security seems to have taken a backseat.

 

Franklin knew that our security would lie in our growing strength in numbers as well as wealth. His thought was, “Create an increasing ability of assisting this nation in its wars, which will make us more respectable, our friendship more respectable, and our enmity feared.” Franklin, as well as the other Founding Fathers had a low opinion of people who would wave the flag but were unwilling to defend or provide the means to defend it.

 

George Washington was known as “first in peace, first in war, first in the hearts of his countrymen.” He basically did risk “his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor,” for the cause of freedom. He fought the Revolutionary war with no navy of any consequence, no real trained professional army and to a great degree no outpouring of genuine support of the very states he was trying to save. He said: “To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.”

 

Washington also saw the need of a free people to not only be armed and disciplined, but also to have a plan for any known attack that might occur. He also saw the fallacy of being dependent upon other nations especially in times of war. He was against complacency and knew that vigilance was the price of freedom. One needs to keep in mind that during this time the monarchs of Europe were planning to slice up the United States and to divide it among themselves. At that time the British had troops along the northern border of the US, and Spain had aspirations for the Mississippi heartland.

 

Our Founding Fathers emphasized the moral responsibility to preserve the heritage of freedom and the unalienable rights which the Creator had given them. Samuel Adams felt it was wicked to allow these great truths to languish by neglect or apathy. We see that what the Founding Fathers passed onto posterity was the policy of peace through strength.

 

The questions we must ask ourselves today is: Are we losing our freedom because of neglect, complacency and apathy? Are we losing our prosperity because of government intervention? Are we losing our country because of moral decline? Our Founding Fathers knew that a Republic like ours can only be maintained by moral people.

 

We need to heed the prophet’s words: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

 

What a responsibility lies in the hands of God’s people!

 

Daily Devotional

Never give up on the dreams the Lord has given you. Remember that until the time comes for your dream to be fulfilled, the Lord is testing your character.

 

So live your life filled with love, by following the example of Christ. Since you have the light from the word of God, live as a child of that light! Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil darkness; instead, expose them by the way you live. Don’t live like a fool, but be wise, and understand what the Lord wants you to… do. And remember to always give thanks to Him for everything.

 

Stand your ground for the truth. When you are prepared for what is coming you will be at peace. Be children of faith and use the Word of God to expose the evil in this world. Be fair-minded and just, and always do what is right even if it hurts. Make it your life’s goal to seek the Lord and His strength. Remember everything the Lord has done for you; all of His miracles of provision and protection. Know that the Lord always stands by His word, and will never go back on His promises! You will have great joy when you deal justly with others by doing what is right. Never move ahead without the Lord, but wait for His counsel, then PRAY, PRAY & PRAY.

 

May our Lord bless you and protect you. May our Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May our Lord show you His favor and give you His peace in the days ahead.

Daily Devotional

Let’s let history tell us the future of America! All we need to do is look at every nation that started out with God’s truth and then rejected so that we can see what happened and will happen; for God does not change? The wisest man who lived or will ever live, says this about truth:

 

Proverbs 1

Truth says, “I called you, but you wouldn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention. You ignored my advice and rejected my correction. So, I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you. When you cry for help, I will not answer. Though you anxiously search for me, you will not find me. Therefore, eat the bitter fruit of living your own way, choking on your own schemes.

 

Proverbs 2

I, truth, grant common sense to those who seek me. I will be a shield to those who walk with me, and they will understand what is right, just, and fair, and know the right way to go. I will save them from evil people whose words are twisted, from those who take pleasure in doing wrong, and who enjoy the twisted ways of evil. Without me you will reject the steps of the good men of the past.

 

Proverbs 3

Truth says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek the Lord in all you do, and He will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom, for you will lose sight of common sense and discernment.”

 

Proverbs 8

Truth shouts, “Listen to me! Everything I say is right, I detest every kind of deception. My advice is wholesome, and there is nothing devious or crooked in it. My words are plain to anyone with understanding, clear to those with knowledge. Nothing can compare with me, but those who miss me will injure themselves.”

 

Proverbs 11

A truthful nation will prosper, but when truth is rejected it will fall apart. If you search for truth, you will find it; and if you search for evil, it will find you!

 

Proverbs 14

People who know me, (truth) will understand where they are going. For there is a path before each person that seems right, but without me it ends in death. Only fools believe everything they’re told! Truth understands that godliness makes a nation great.

 

Proverbs 16

With me (truth) you can make plans, and know that the LORD will make your plans succeed.

 

Proverbs 17

Truth says, “Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent are detestable, for it perverts the course of justice, and it is wrong to punish the godly for being good and honest.”

 

Proverbs 21

I am pleased when a nation does what is right, and justice is a joy to the godly, but it will terrify evildoers. Understand this, that when a nation strays from common sense it will end up in the company of the dead.

 

Proverbs 24

A nation with no common sense is a nation covered in deception, and its walls of security will be broken down.

 

Proverbs 28

Without truth there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily, and people will not understand justice.

 

Proverbs 29

When truth is in authority, people rejoice. But when people reject truth, sin flourishes. When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.

 

So what is the future of America without truth?

28 Principles That Helped Build America – Chapter 23 – Principle 23

A Free Society Cannot Survive As A Republic Without a Broad Program of General Education

 

Proverbs 4:10-13 “Listen, my son, accept what I say and the years of your life will be many. I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.”

 

Perhaps one of the most outstanding things that the colonists did in America that no other nation had tried to undertake was to educate the whole people. When you read the writings and gather the thoughts of the early colonists, you realize that they had a sense “of manifest destiny.” In other words, they believed that America played an important role in the unfolding of modern world history. Because of that, education was an important ingredient in this preparation.

 

Education started early in 1647 in Massachusetts when they passed a law requiring a community of 50 families or householders to set up a free grammar school to teach the Bible and the basics: reading, writing, arithmetic, ciphering, history, geography.

 

Also the law stated that every Township that contained 100 families was to set up a secondary school to prepare young people for attendance at Harvard.  John Adams said that the purpose of this program was to have “knowledge diffuse generally through the whole body of the people.” John Adams went on to say that this was so important that any Township that did not have a grammar school, or even a schoolmaster for a few months, would be subject to a heavy penalty. We see that they took education of the ‘whole people’ seriously. It is amazing to see today how in our educational system there has been a “dumbing down syndrome.” From our public schools we are graduating kids who can hardly read or write let alone have any understanding of history or even geography.

 

In the early days of our country it was rare to find a person who could not read or write. John Adams and the other Founding Fathers knew that without education liberty cannot be preserved.

 

The early colonists knew that local school boards were of utmost importance. Historian John Fisk made the comment that “the school committees were bodies of ‘great importance.’”

 

We must remember that all this was at the time when illiteracy was the common lot for most people in Europe. John Adams who lived in France said that out of the 24 million inhabitants of Europe only 500,000 could read and write.

 

In the early days of our Republic the intention was to have all children being able to read, write and do arithmetic not only so that they can be informed citizens, but able to continue on in their own diligent self-study. The Founding Fathers realized that by having the basics or the fundamentals one was able to continue their own study in many different areas of their choice, but without these fundamentals they would be handicapped.

 

When visiting America in 1831 Tocqueville “found that the American people will appear to be the most enlightened the world.” It is interesting that Tocqueville noted that the children were taught the doctrines and evidence of religion (this would be the Christian religion), the history of his country as well as the leading features of its Constitution. He went on to say that it would be almost impossible to find a person who would be ignorant of these things. If we look at the 300 million in the United States today – how many today can really read, write and even do simple mathematics; how many know our Constitution and the true history of our country? In the early days of the Republic it was unusual to find a person not familiar with these things, but today it would be rare to find someone who is acquainted with these things.

 

Tocqueville did say that as the settlers pushed West education did diminish, but he went on to say, “he wears the dress and speaks the language of cities; he is acquainted with the past, curious about the future, and ready for argument about the present; he is, in short, highly civilized being, who consents for a time to inhabit the backwoods, and who penetrates into the wilds of the New World with the Bible, and axe, and some newspapers.”

 

Arthur J. Stansberry published in 1828 what was known as “Catechism on the Constitution” that contains questions and answers regarding the Constitution and its principles taught to the children.

 

Daniel Webster said: “Whatever may be said to the contrary, a correct use of the English language is, at this day (1843) more general throughout the United States than it is throughout England herself.” In other words, what he was saying was that in the frontier as well as on the East Coast people spoke well. Many of these people attributed the eloquence to an extensive reading of the Bible. This was the case of Abraham Lincoln as seen in the Gettysburg address.

 

We cannot underestimate the cultural influence of the Bible in the early days of our founding. It provided strength to their moral standards as well as behavior, and wherever the Americans went the Bible came with them. The American Express ad that we so often see is, “Never leave home without it.” In the early days of our founding the settlers never left home without the Bible.

 

What do we have in our public schools today? Our schools have become so secularized that it is now forbidden to read the Bible. Our Founding Fathers would have looked upon this as a very serious mistake.

 

Are you prepared children?

Dad and I were just talking early this morning about what the “martyrs go through” and what it would be like to see our own family (21 of us) threatened with beheadings unless we deny Jesus Christ and God’s Word. I know you don’t want to think about it, but…

 

What if our family should be dragged before hellish tormentors, like our Christian brothers and sisters in other parts of the world have and will be?  What if these God-haters wanted  Dad and me, the head of our household, to watch what they do to our grandchildren and then to our children because we will not shrink back, fall away or deny our Savior and King? We know how evil thinks and they would use our grandchildren to get to our children and then to us.  This is the purpose of all anti-Christs against the disciples of Jesus Christ: to make us surrender and deny the Lord who bought us with His own precious blood; to make us lose our footing on the Word of God and fall from our HIGH PLACE of our Lord’s truth and love.

 

I told Dad that I would want to go last after my grandchildren and children so that I could pray them through their martyrdom, calling on my Father to secure His perfect peace in them, VIVIDLY showing them their Savior waiting with open arms, drawing them to Himself with Heaven’s Glory all about Him; that this is all they would feel and see; Father giving them each an outer body reality of the life that lasts forever.  You know, like God did for His martyr “Stephen” at his execution by the enemies of the Cross.  I wouldn’t want to die first, but last, fighting my own emotions of watching my beloved grandchildren and children beheaded (if it comes to that) while I stand strong as their prayer guard over their spirit and souls – calling out to them all the promises of Christ about His Kingdom that are secure in me, until I be silenced with my tongue cut out.

 

God’s Word is to be hidden in us. Don’t think that you will be able to hold the open Bible in your hands while you proclaim God’s love and promises to anyone in a time like this, should it happen to you or me. Only what you have hidden IN YOU of God’s Word will you have as your comfort and encouragement and that will be your way to comfort and encourage others.

 

Do you think I’m crazy for talking like this? Why would we think this could never happen?  Who is it that wants you NOT to think about it, or be prepared for it as the Lord told us to be prepared for it? And, when it DOES happen, even in good ole’ America – why would fathers NOT be preparing for it; preparing their families with what God says will happen. (As described in the Gospels and the book of Revelation.)  Why do most Christians refuse to study or even read the book of Revelation when God tells us that we will be blessed if we do? How will this bless us? We will be blessed by being prepared as we should, knowing what is to come; being heads not tails like Dad always says!  They can cut off our heads, but we are still crowned in GLORY for remaining faithful – to the end.

 

We really don’t know when the rapture will take place; the greatest theologians still disagree, and I believe that is of the Lord so that we are not living with any false hope and expectations.  We need to hear what the Spirit is saying and then follow His lead and instructions! God prepares for His children by means of His Word and Spirit.

 

May you each, along with each of your own children (our precious grandchildren) grow up and mature in the Word of God being filled with His Spirit – unto Christ’s acts of righteousness that so perfectly clothe His coming Bride, being prepared for great persecution as we journey on with plenty of oil for our lamps (the Spirit for God’s Word) through the dark night.

 

I pray over you all for the faith, hope and love of Christ!

 

Ephesians 6:10-18 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

 

Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth fastened around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed, and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Is God’s Word in you so that the Spirit can?)

 

Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.”