PLUS

Deuteronomy 2:7 “For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.”

Deuteronomy 31:6-8 “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, nether be dismayed.”

Hebrews 13:5-6 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

At the tail end of their grueling forty-year journey in the wilderness, the Lord reminds the Israelites of His ubiquitous presence in Deuteronomy 2:7. God was with them constantly and reliably provided for their needs. They were to be strong and courageous as a result, forsaking fear and dismissing dismay. Regardless of their circumstances, they were to recognize the Lord’s provision, protection, and presence, and cling to His blessings.

In our lives today, we may be facing our own grueling journey in the wilderness. Like He did for the Israelites, the Lord reminds us of His ubiquitous presence. God is with us constantly, and reliably provides for our needs. We are to be strong and courageous as a result, forsaking fear and dismissing dismay. Regardless of our circumstances, we are to recognize the Lord’s provision, protection, and presence, and cling to His blessings.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO RECOGNIZE GOD’S UBIQUITOUS PRESENCE IN OUR LIVES REGARDLESS OF OUR CIRCUMSTANCES. As we look at a recap of even our most challenging times, we should see that God has been with us while blessing the works of our hands and reliably providing for our needs.

Genesis 11:4 “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

Psalm 8:3-5 “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.”

John 10:7-10 “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for the steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

The Basilica of Saint-Denis was completed in 1144 AD in northern Paris. It is a magnificent structure, likely revealing the earliest architecture attributed to the gothic style. Though an amazing building conceived in the minds of man and crafted by human hands, the words inscribed on the door are fitting and informative:

Often, Man has his attention captured by the wonderous creations of his fellow man. We seek to create and build ourselves up to heaven as a pathway for self-glory and self-serving unity. We always fall short.

As the craftsman rightfully registered in the Twelfth Century in Paris, man’s creations should always extend our wonder beyond the craftsman to the Creator; from temporal illumination to the True Light; from the material to the Master; and from submersion to the Sublime!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO GUARD GOD’S GLORY BY NEVER MARVELING IN THE TEMPORAL CREATION OF MAN. Whenever we are distracted by the creation, let us determine to recognize Christ and the Creator. In this way, our minds will rise to the truth!

ADMIN: The reference for the inscription on the door came from “God & Churchill” by Jonathan Sandys and Wallace Henley.

Psalm 56:11 “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.”

Psalm 115:9-11 “O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.”

Psalm 25:1-2 “Unto thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.”

In 1907, President Theodore Roosevelt prompted a bit of controversy when he ordered new coinage to no longer contain the national motto – In God We Trust. It had been since 1865 that federal law required emblazoning that motto on every piece of our currency, signed by President Abraham Lincoln as his last approved bill before his assassination.

Yet, it wasn’t because of a desire to erase history, omit God, or purge the name of the Lord from American culture that Roosevelt did so. In many ways, it was just the opposite. President Roosevelt explained:

“My own feeling in the matter is due to my very firm conviction that to put such a motto on coins, or to use it in any kindred manner, not only does no good, but does positive harm, and is in effect irreverence, which comes dangerously close to sacrilege. …  Any use which tends to cheapen it, and, above all, any use which tends to secure its being treated in a spirit of levity, is from every standpoint profoundly to be regretted. … it seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins …  In all my life I have never heard any human being speak reverently of this motto on the coins or show any signs of its having appealed to any high emotion in him, but I have literally, hundreds of times, heard it used as an occasion of and incitement to … sneering”

President Roosevelt wanted the name of the Lord and reference to our motto to be solemn, serious, and sacred. He didn’t want such a slogan to become sacrilege.

There are many elements of our Christian lives that believers sometimes take for granted. We may become a bit too flippant in our references to the Lord, in our demonstrations of our faith, and in our expressions of our testimonies. In doing so, we may be falling into the trap that concerned Roosevelt by allowing our motto to became meaningless and our slogan to become a sneer. May it never be so.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO MAINTAIN A SPIRIT OF APPROPRIATE REVERENCE IN THE DAILY EXPRESSIONS OF OUR FAITHFULNESS. May we truly demonstrate, through our every word and action, that we genuinely and fully mean it when we say In God We Trust. May we never cheapen it.

Acts 2:22-24 “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”

Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, nether be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Today is the annual date on the calendar bracketed by commemoration of the two anniversaries of monumental spiritual and practical significance – the crucifixion of Christ and the resurrection of Christ. The nature of this come-from-behind victory, planned by God from the beginning of creation, is breathtaking and almost impossible to begin to fathom. Yet it happened as the Lord foretold and preordained.

A powerful song that tells of this turnaround is “I Will Arise” – a song that I think about every year on Resurrection Sunday. The following stanza captures the concepts so poignantly:

God is the master of the turn-around, transforming brutal death into glorious life. As we consider that important truth, we must remember that He can do such miracles in our lives as well. In fact, salvation is a depiction of such a come-from-behind victory that should never get old and must never go out of style.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERCIAN CHRISTIANS WOULD JOYOUSLY AND WONDROUSLY CELEBRATE THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST AND GOD’S TRANSFORMATIVE POWER IN OUR LIVES.

I Kings 3:9-10 “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.”

I Kings 3:11-13 “And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also give thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.”

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed away on April 12^th, 1945 in the midst of his fourth term and at the climaxing part of World War II. Three days later he was buried, and the day after that, newly sworn-in President Harry S. Truman stood in front of a joint session of Congress.

Throughout his speech, President Truman called for the need and the necessity of Divine guidance. He closed the speech with these thoughts:

“At this moment, I have in my heart a prayer. As I have assumed my heavy duties, I humbly pray Almighty God, in the words of King Solomon: ‘Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad; for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?’ I ask only to be a good and faithful servant of my Lord and my people.”

It was said of this speech: “Truman had but a fraction of FDR’s gift for oratory, but his voice was steady and firm. For twelve years the president who addressed the world from this pulpit spoke in the intonations of the moneyed East Coast establishment. This voice was different. It was the voice of a common man, asking God for guidance, and the response was the loudest affirmation Truman’s ears had ever encountered.”

Experts have said that “the first four months of his administration should rank as the most challenging and action-packed of any four-month period in any American presidency.” Truman certainly needed the understanding heart that topped the King Solomon’s prayer list.

So do we, and so do our leaders today!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO PRAY FERVENTLY FOR AN UNDERSTANDING HEART TO DISCERN BETWEEN GOOD AND BAD. King Solomon implored God for such wisdom, and it pleased the Lord that he did so. Such prayers, for ourselves and for our leaders, are needed and necessary. Putting this request at the top of our prayer lists would please the Lord today.

ADMIN: The quoted thoughts above come from A. J. Baime’s “The Accidental President.”