Good Soldier

"While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of a patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of a Christian. " ~ George Washington

My daughter used this quote by our first President in a Patriotic Project she just completed for her American Government class. Grading this paper as her home teacher, I thought it was one of the finest she's ever written. In the paper, she referred to the above painting and said that the artist "brilliantly captured on canvas this founding father practicing what he preached." I agree. One primary aspect of the project was to discuss how the particular patriot responded to the diminishing influence of Biblical values in his society. He surely saw it in his day, but how do you think Mr. Washington would have responded to what is happening today? Personally, I think he would be horrified.

We need more leaders doing just what you see in the above portrait. And they need to mean it, not just do it for show. Maybe if that would happen, things wouldn't continue to decline so rapidly. I would like to think it's not over yet. There's still a battle going on. And parents and grandparents, it's for the moral soul of our country. That means our children and grandchildren are involved. So let's follow the example of the first official leader our nation ever knew and get down on bended knees. But afterward, let's get up and fight.

Our weapons of war? The Bible and the gospel.

A Secret Work

My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Psalm 139:15

" 'My substance was not hid from thee.' The substantial part of my being was before thine all-seeing eye; the bones which make my frame were put together by thine hand. The essential materials of my being before they were arranged were all within the range of thine eye. I was hidden from all human knowledge, but not from thee: thou hast ever been intimately acquainted with me. 'When I was made in secret.' Most chastely and beautifully is here described the formation of our being before the time of our birth. A great artist will often labour alone in his studio, and not suffer his work to be seen until it is finished; even so did the Lord fashion us where no eye beheld us, and the veil was not lifted till every member was complete . . . 'And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.' 'Embroidered with great skill,' is an accurate poetical description of the creation of veins, sinews, muscles, nerves, etc. What tapestry can equal the human fabric? . . ."
~ Charles H. Spurgeon, from The Treasury of David

How dare we dispense with this marvelous work of God as if it were nothing but a "choice" belonging to us, the creatures? How dare we take it upon ourselves to even think we can make a determination whether this secret work of the Creator should or should not live? I wonder what Mr. Spurgeon would have thought if what would be happening in this day had been foretold? If God withholds judgment on our nation, it is purely a display of His long suffering and mercy!

Fellow saints, let's continue to pray that in the face of mercy, the time will soon come that this darkness prevailing over us will begin to be lifted. Let's do all we can to see that it happens, even if what we do seems small compared to the big picture. Who knows how even our littlest efforts can be used by the great Artist, who certainly recoils at seeing His work destroyed.

(Posting on both my personal and devotional blogs to recognize Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, 2011.)

The Usurper

Today's Sunday school class was quite interesting to say the least. Every two years or so I teach this same particular lesson to a different group of third and fourth graders and each time it comes out differently. You may know the story: It's the one about the little boy Joash who became king at the age of seven. You know, the one whose grandmother killed all of her other grandchildren when her son, the king, was murdered by Jehu. Quite an involved and complicated family situation as everyone would agree after reading it in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. I even made up a chart for each of the kids, drawing a bunch of little stick figures, some with crowns on their heads; some with skirts, some on the northern kingdom side of the page and the rest on the southern side; some with frowns on their faces to show they were evil, etc. etc. Well, let me say that by the end of the lesson, I think my young group was more than a little confused about what they had just learned and I'm not so sure whether my little "chart" was a help or hindrance! At any rate, I decided to extend this lesson for another week as there are some important applications that are yet to be made, particularly concerning Joash who only followed the Lord as long as his uncle, Jehoida the priest, was alive. After his uncle died, his true "colors" became evident and we see that He did not love God for himself. You can imagine where I'm going with that.

For some weird (perhaps twisted) reason, I always have been captivated by this story, particularly byAthaliah, the grandmother. Now that I'm a nanna, the fact that any woman who holds such a status could do any kind of harm to such beloved ones so that she could gain the crown really boggles my mind. But obviously, in her case, they were not beloved. And also obviously, there was nothing or no one more important to her than that crown. But this time, I thought about something else concerning Athaliah: she was a usurper. You see, God had intended that only David's descendants would rule in the southern kingdom. Athaliah was a foreigner, not of the royal line of David. I think the fact that for the seven years that she reigned, Judah had a monarch who was a ursurper really hit me. Perhaps it's because of some issues going on right now in our own country with respect to the constitution and the presidency, that I thought about this. THAT I will not discuss here; you may or may not know about it, but it did make me think about that. Wow. Judah had this usurper on the throne, but the best part of the story is that eventually she was dethroned and a legal king was crowned.

SO, the key to that is there were a handful of people who kept the faith and purposed to do what was right. And one little girl in the class salvaged this weeks lesson with her closing prayer. In her prayer she told God that even though different people may be reigning at different times, HE is the one who is really on the throne! Now, is that ever a wealth of truth coming from the mouth of a nine year old! So it was a good lesson after all!

A Charge Given to Us

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. I Timothy 2: 1-2.

"A charge given to Christians to pray for all men in general, and particularly for all in authority. Paul does not send them any prescribed form of prayer. Paul thought it enough to give them general heads; they, having the scripture to direct them in prayer and the Spirit of prayer poured out upon them, needed not any further directions. The disciples of Christ must be praying people. There must be prayers for ourselves in the first place; this is implied here. We must also pray for all men. See how far the Christian religion was from being a sect, when it taught men this diffusive charity, to pray for all men. Pray for kings (v.2); though the kings at this time were heathens, yet they must pray for them. For kings, and all that are in authority. We must give thanks for them, pray for their welfare and for the welfare of their kingdoms, that in the peace thereof we may have peace. He does not say, "That we may get preferments under them, grow rich, and be in honour and power under them"; no, the summit of the ambition of a good Christian is to lead a quiet and peaceable life. . . Christians are to be men much given to prayer. In our prayers we are to have a generous concern for others as well as for ourselves; we are to pray for all men, and to give thanks for all men. Kings themselves, and those who are in authority, are to be prayed for. They want our prayers, for they have many difficulties to encounter, many snares to which their exalted stations expose them." ~ Matthew Henry

Thank you, Mr. Henry. Thank you for reminding me of a solemn duty which I have as a child of God. It's the desire of my heart that I and my children and their children may lead a quiet and peaceable life. May it be so, Lord Jesus.

Vote and Pray

We have the wonderful privilege extended to us once again to vote. Please do so, praying all the while. And when it's all said and done, the political hoopla behind us, we'll keep on trusting in our Savior.

"Almighty God, Who has given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land with honorable ministry, sound learning, and pure manners...

"In Time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in Thee to fail; all of which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." ~ Thomas Jefferson

We Rest On Thee

Hello! I'm finally back! I didn't mean to be gone so long, but time got away from me, and well. . . it's a long story.

Yesterday, once again, was a lovely Lord's Day. Actually the whole weekend was a blessing, except for my cold that's been hanging on. It was our annual fall missions conference and our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday, as well. A precious time of fellowship had by all. The following hymn, which we sang yesterday, ministered to my heart more than anything else the whole weekend. The words of our pastor as he introduced it (we've never sung it before), as well as the lyrics, were needful to me. I think I've mentioned before that I've had a tendency to fret over this election, so I needed to hear these things. He told us that we must remember who our real king is, no matter who becomes President. So, once again, I've been reminded that my king is Jesus, and I will continue to rest in Him, not any man, and no matter what state our union is in.

This beautiful hymn is sung to the same tune as "Be Still My Soul", which is "Finlandia" by Sibelius.


We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe;
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender,
We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.

Yes, in Thy Name, O Captain of salvation!
In Thy dear Name, all other names above;
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.
Jesus our Righteousness, our sure Foundation,
Our Prince of glory and our King of love.

We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling,
And needing more each day Thy grace to know:
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing,
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go.”

We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise;
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor,
Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days.

~ Edith Cherry

National Day of Prayer

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped." Psalm 28:7

Well, that certainly is true and it's true of all of life, even for our country in this time of uncertainty and for me, confusion. I wrote a post about this a few weeks ago, and I still need to remind myself that my Lord is my hope for the future, not any political candidate. If my hope were in any of the candidates at this time, I would be most miserable.

I notice that this year's theme for the National Day of Prayer is "Prayer! America's Strength and Shield," taken from the above psalm. I wish that were true. For some reason, reading the President's proclamation did not bring any comfort to me. We were a Christian nation at one time and now I wonder if we can still lay claim to that. I think we want to be a country where "all religions" feel comfortable and I'm wondering what our triune God intends to do about it. We were a country at one time wherein the principles of God's Word were at the foundation of what we did in our homes, schools, and elsewhere. I think now anything goes and it's not what God thinks that's governs us, but the wants of the individual, no matter how immoral that may be. I wonder how long our holy God will endure it.

Well, saints, we can pray for this, our beloved country. We can pray on this National Day of Prayer and we should be praying during the many days ahead, especially between now and November. Who knows that He may spare us for the sake of ten righteous within the city.

Our Refuge in This Election

God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea . . .

Psalm 46:1-2

I don't know about you, but I've been a bit distressful over this election. "What in the world are we going to do?" I've been saying. "What's going to happen to our country?" This beloved psalm is just what I needed for these times. Even though I still know that it's possible that our country may be on the verge of judgment for its increasing ungodliness, it comforts me to remember that it is our God Himself who is our hope, not a president.

"He is my refuge and strength." Do not forget the fact that God is our refuge just now, in the immediate present, as truly as when David penned the word. God alone is our all in all. All other refuges are refuges of lies. All other strength is weakness, for power belongeth unto God: but as God is all sufficient, our defence and might are equal to all emergencies. ~ C.H. Spurgeon

A little nugget from The Treasury of David by Spurgeon:

A sure stronghold our God is He,

A timely shield and weapon;

Our help He'll be, and set us free

From every ill can happen.

And were the world with devils filled,

All eager to devour us,

Our souls to fear shall little yield,

They cannot overpower us.

Chew on that, dear friends, between now and November and beyond.