PLUS

Hebrews 11:5 “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him:  for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

What a simple but amazing and powerful testimony.  Enoch pleased God!  Everything and anything else beyond that didn’t matter.  There was nothing he could add to such a testimony, and nothing that could be taken away from such a testimony.  There was nothing else that needed to be said about this man of God.  This short phrase would put an explanation point on any life.  In a few short words, we know enough.  He lived for an Audience of One – the Lord Himself.

May American Christians seek such a testimony.  May we please God!  May we not concern ourselves with anything beyond that.  May we live as if everything else doesn’t matter.

There would be nothing that we would need to add to such a testimony, and nothing that could be taken away from such a testimony.  There would be nothing else that would need to be said about us.  That short phrase would put an explanation point on our lives and an emphasis on our impact.  In a few short words, the world would know it all.  We would be living for an Audience of One – the Lord Himself.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRSITIANS WOULD LIVE TO PLEASE GOD.  If we did that, nothing else would matter.

I Timothy 5:17 “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.”

On July 9^th, 1776, General George Washington issued his first General Order after the signing of the Declaration of Independence.  The order contained the following:

“The Honorable Continental Congress having been pleased to allow a Chaplain to each Regiment, with the pay of Thirty-three Dollars and one third per month—The Colonels or commanding officers of each regiment are directed to procure Chaplains accordingly; persons of good Character and exemplary lives—To see that all inferior officers and soldiers pay them a suitable respect and attend carefully upon religious exercises: The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger—The General hopes and trusts, that every officer, and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country.”

General Washington understood the importance of providing for the spiritual health of his men as an upmost priority.  He recognized the significance of encouraging soldiers to attend carefully to the exercise of their religion.  He grasped for the blessings and protection of Heaven at all times.  He knew the pivotal nature of character among the revolutionary army, striving for all to live and act as model Christian Soldiers.  He saw all of the above as critical to the defense of our rights and our liberties.

Character, vision, mentorship, spiritual health, exercise of religion, and God-given blessings and protection remain just as critical today to the defense of our rights and our liberties.  Sadly, they are often neglected and shunned by our culture.  PLEASE PRAY THAT WE WOULD ONCE AGAIN CAREFULLY ATTEND TO RELIGIOUS EXERCISE IN THIS LAND.  It is essential that we live and act as becomes a Christian Soldier.

Isaiah 8:12 “Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.”

On our nation’s 61^st Birthday, John Quincy Adams boldly proclaimed the following to the people of Newburysport, Massachusetts:

“Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the corner stone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?”

At our founding, we were indissolubly linked to Christ.  Our nation’s birthday is the perfect time to remember and reflect upon this important truth.  That our original social compact was aligned with the Saviour.  That, as a nation, we are built upon the foundation of the gospel.  That we are to spread it far and wide, and are to live up to the fundamental principles that birthed our nation.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A RENEWAL OF OUR NATIONAL TIES TO CHRIST.  While the social and cultural forces today would deny the foundations of our origins, we must proclaim the truth boldly.  After all, we are indissolubly linked to our Saviour.

Deuteronomy 28:1-12 “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and 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.  Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.  Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.  Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.  The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face:  they shall come out against thee one way, and free before thee seven ways.  The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.  The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.  And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee.  And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee.  The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand:  and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.”

It is wonderfully exhausting to read the bountiful contingent promises of the Lord in Deuteronomy 28.  A nation is promised a multitude of blessings for hearkening diligently unto the voice of God.  That nation will:

• Be set high above all nations
• Be overwhelmed by countless blessings
• Be blessed in her urban and in her rural areas
• Be blessed in her labor
• Be blessed in her resources and in her production
• Be blessed in her business
• Be protected from her enemies and successful over them
• Be blessed in her provision and in her prosperity
• Be blessed in her credibility and in her reputation

Every aspect of that nation will be blessed!  It hearkens back to the success of America in times past when we hearkened diligently to Him and He opened unto us His good treasure.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICA WOULD HEARKEN DILIGENTLY UNTO GOD ONCE AGAIN.  His good treasure awaits us.

Matthew 13:25 “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.”

Mark 3:27 “No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house”

On this Father’s Day weekend, and throughout the year, we need men who are vigilant and strong.  We need men who are prepared for the onslaught of a determined enemy and who are ready to rebuff him.  We need men who will not stand for tares to be sown or goods to be spoiled on their watch.  We need men who will not be bound by the cares of this world, or lulled into complacency by the steady march of society away from God.

As men, we should be ashamed at what has happened to this nation in the last few decades.  We have slept and the enemy has sowed tares in our most basic institutions:  in families, in churches, and in our government.  We have been bound by the tricks of our adversary, and our homes, our churches, and our governments have been spoiled by an attitude that embraces sin and that rejects God.

All the while, we have neglected to use the power within us:

I John 4:4 “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them:  because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

PLEASE PRAY THAT CHRISTIAN MEN IN THIS LAND WOULD BE VIGILANT AND STRONG.  Our God can give us the strength and the vigilance we need … greater is He!