PLUS

Deuteronomy 10:21 “He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.”

Deuteronomy 28:1-3 “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.  Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field.”

General Washington closed his General Orders from December 17, 1777 (see previous two posts) with the following charge to his men:

“Tomorrow being the day set apart by the Honorable Congress for public Thanksgiving and Praise; and duty calling us devoutly to express our grateful acknowledgements to God for the manifold blessings he has granted us—The General directs that the army remain in its present quarters, and that the Chaplains perform divine service with their several Corps and brigades—And earnestly exhorts, all officers and soldiers, whose absence is not indispensably necessary, to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day.”

These men were busy as they started their time of winter lodging at Valley Forge.  They lacked food; they lacked clothing; they lacked equipment.  They needed to train, to drill, to exercise, and to march.  They lacked shelter from the harsh elements and desperately needed to build structures to protect themselves from the brutal conditions.

Yet, they prioritized a time of thanksgiving and praise.  They uplifted a period of grateful acknowledgement to God for the manifold blessing He had granted them.  More than clothes, shelter, food, and training, they needed to make an investment of worship and prayer.  They needed to attend with reverence the solemnities of the day.

American Christians in 2018 are busy with the endless challenges that we face.  We have things to do to keep our lives on track.  Some of it has to do with food, with clothing, and with equipment that we need.  Some if it involves requirements to train and to exercise.    Yet, we need to prioritize thanksgiving and praise.  We need to uplift regular periods of grateful acknowledgement to God for the manifold blessings He has granted us.  More than anything else, we need to make investments of worship and prayer.

PLEASE PRAY THAT WE WOULD PRIORITIZE WORSHIP AND PRAYER IN OUR BUSY LIVES.  Our forefathers did so, and blessings overtook them.  They were blessed in their cities and they were blessed in their fields.  Because they prioritized Him above the practical needs of the day, He set them on high above the nations of the earth.

Acts 4:32 “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul:  neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common.”

Philippians 1:27 “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ:  that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel”

As a part of the General Order from December 17^th, 1777 (see previous post), General Washington ordered the following: “the officers and soldiers, with one heart, and one mind, will resolve to surmount every difficulty, with a fortitude and patience, becoming their profession, and the sacred cause in which they are engaged.”  He recognized that their only hope for survival and success was to inseparably work together.

General Washington didn’t just use the phrase “with one heart and one mind” haphazardly.  He did so intentionally.  He did so recognizing the Biblical power of togetherness.  He did so seeing that the power of an inseparable spirit that enabled another fledging revolutionary movement to gain strength, power, and influence – the early church.  They too recognized that their only hope for survival and success was to inseparably work together in Christ.

So must we!

PLEASE PRAY FOR AN INSEPARABLE SPIRIT AMONG AMERICAN CHRISTIANS AS WE STRIVE TOGETHER FOR CHRIST IN THIS LAND.  We must resolve to surmount every difficulty.  We must do so with fortitude and patience becoming our Saviour.  After all, we are engaged in a sacred cause.  Let’s pursue it with one heart, one mind and one soul.

Matthew 20:26-28 “But it shall not be so among you:  but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:  Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

As the American Continental Army set up winter camp at Valley Forge, they realized that its harsh location was a necessary evil.  General Washington acknowledged their difficult situation in his General Orders from December 17, 1777: “These considerations make it indispensably necessary for the army to take such a position, as will enable it most effectually to prevent distress & to give the most extensive security; and in that position we must make ourselves the best shelter in our power—With activity and diligence Huts may be erected that will be warm and dry—In these the troops will be compact, more secure against surprises than if in a divided state and at hand to protect the country.”

As they would “endure hardships” as a part of “the sacred cause in which they [were] engaged”, he made them an important and noble promise:  “He himself will share in the hardship, and partake of every inconvenience.”  He would live among them.  He would face the difficult conditions alongside of them.  He would not ask them to do anything that he would not do himself.

In writing these words as a part of his General Order, he brilliantly and sacrificially codified servant leadership.

As Christians in America today, we must practice a form of leadership different from that of the world.  We must not use our positions to gain, but to spend and invest.  We must not use our positions to be served, but to serve.  We must not use our positions to gain glory and honor, but to deflect glory and honor.  We must be willing to share in the hardships of those other servant leaders among us and to partake in every inconvenience.  In doing so, we will harness the type of leadership that General Washington so powerfully practiced and that Christ so vividly modeled.

PLEASE PRAY FOR CHRISTIANS TODAY TO FOLLOW THE LEADERSHIP MODEL OF OUR FOREFATHERS AND OUR SAVIOUR.  By sharing in the hardships of those around us, we provide a powerful reminder of the amazing sacrifice of Christ.

Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

In the midst of the trials of Valley Forge, General George Washington retained his firm reliance on God’s plan and power.  In a letter to his friend Reverend Bryan Fairfax, Washington described his thoughts about the hardships they endured during that brutal winter:

“The determinations of Providence are always wise, often inscrutable; and, though its decrees appear to bear hard upon us at times, is nevertheless meant for gracious purposes.”

General Washington knew that God was always wise, though His ways were sometimes difficult to understand.  He acknowledged that in spite of the harsh conditions that surround us, God’s purposes were gracious.  Our circumstances would work together for good.  And in the end, even the worst sufferings of today would be ultimately drowned out by the glory which should be revealed in us.

It is this firm grip on faith in the Lord that enabled General Washington to lead his soldiers with hope, optimism, purpose, and destiny.  This faith allowed Washington to endure hardships and setbacks without withdrawing or wavering.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AN ENDURING FAITH THAT RELINQUISHES CONTROL TO GOD IN ALL OF LIFE’S CIRCUMSTANCES.  God’s decrees are meant for gracious purposes.

Romans 5:3-5 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:  knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth:  he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”

The days, the weeks, and the months at Valley Forge tested the endurance of the American Continental Army.  General Washington wrote the following about their conditions, their constitution, and their character:

“For without arrogance or the smallest deviation from truth it may be said, that no history now extant can furnish an instance of an army’s suffering such uncommon hardships as ours has done, and bearing them with the same patience and fortitude. To see men, without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lay on, without shoes, by which their marches might be traced by blood from their feet, and almost as often without provisions as with them, marching through frost and snow, and at Christmas taking up their Winter Quarters within a day’s march of the enemy, without a house or hut to cover them till they could be built, and submitting to it without a murmur, is a mark of patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce be paralleled.”

It is easy for us to consider the challenges of our day as unprecedented and unparalleled.  It is easy to grow weary because we are overwhelmed by the burdens we carry.  We easily forget that our predecessors faithfully carried burdens, and those burdens sometimes make ours look mild by comparison.  Our Savior certainly did.

We are to be encouraged by the faithful fortitude of our forefathers.  Their tribulations created patience, endurance, experience, and hope.  We should harness their hope, and more importantly their source of hope, to help us through our times today.

PLEASE PRAY FOR PATIENCE AND FORTITUDE IN HANDLING OUR DAILY CHALLENGES.  Our forefathers’ endurance could scarce be paralleled, but their source of hope is readily available for us today.