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“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Thus reads the Scripture about the price God would pay to bring us back to Him. But as Jesus was about to go to the 
cross, His disciples weren’t thinking about His long-range mission: They were too busy enjoying the recognition they were receiving from the crowds from being associated with Jesus. They were “flying high”! But Jesus had not come to cater to our selfish desires. He would not play the world’s game of trying to build our own self-image by gaining the acceptance of others—neither will He allow His followers to do it. He must bring these disciples to the awakening of who they really were, of why they were here on this earth. All this “acceptance” would shortly meet an abrupt end.
Jesus’ disciples were vaguely aware of the growing anger toward Him by the people in authority. Both the religious and civil leaders were afraid of the acceptance the common people had given Him. Nothing is so feared by tyrants as a growing ideal among the masses. Jesus had been teaching the common folk why they were alive, and they had “come alive” in response to His message. The authorities feared Continue reading
By miracles in the Revolutionary War, a basically Biblical government was re-established in America. And, over the next eleven years, they would work with that government to make it better. The end product, our national Constitution (written in 1787 and approved by the states by 1789), was no less of a miracle. Many of our Founders would speak of the miracle that brought our national Constitution into being. George Washington would acknowledge God’s hand in that Constitutional Convention in a letter to his good friend, Jonathan Trumbull, then Governor of Connecticut. He wrote,
considered declaring their independence from England. It was in this spirit that Virginia delegate, Richard Henry Lee, would propose the resolution on June 7th that,
be decided was: Who was the source of their rights of life, liberty, and property? Was the source God or government? England thought the colonies existed for the good of the Mother country. Thus, they thought the rights of the colonists were “government granted”. The people in America thought they existed for the “glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith”, as the Pilgrims had stated. Thus, Americans believed that their rights were “God given”. What had to be decided was: Is Parliament and the English King the highest authority, or is there a higher law in place? If there was a higher law, did the colonists have to submit to laws that disagreed with that higher law?
I have hope for our land because I am seeing more and more people beginning to pray. Some are praying for revival. Some of them are beginning to see the necessity of repentance if our prayers are to be heard. Some don’t yet know enough of God’s truth to know to pray for revival, they are just praying that God will help us in America and do something to change the direction in which our nation is headed. Some know the Lord so well that they are crying out to Him in very specific prayers, the particular revelations of which would amaze most of us if we knew just how specifically God is leading them in prayer. I am so grateful for all who are praying for us, be they a citizen here or a citizen elsewhere. I recently heard a group of South Koreans praying for us with such appreciation for America and such intensity in their cry for Revival and Transformation for us that I was brought to tears. I knew God was listening intently to their praying.
just like all other men. He laughed and wept just as all humans have since the dawn of creation. He had to manage money and relate to relatives. Yet the peace and confidence with which He did it all was amazing. It was as if He wasn’t weighted down as others were. He talked about His Father and His Spirit in such a familiar way that They seemed close, not far off in an unreachable heaven. His followers would later come to recognize this uniqueness as the very fulfillment of what God intended man to be all along. In short, they would come to know they had seen God’s presence living in a human body (2 Corinthians 5:19).
At this time each year we celebrate Memorial Day: A time when we visit the graves of departed loved ones. Where did this tradition begin? Why was this day established as a national holiday?
philosophy!) In Texas, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said the Lone Star State was prepared to forfeit billions in federal aid rather than let the Obama administration dictate restroom policy for its 5.2 million students (Breaking News at Newsmax.com 2016/05/13).
The unveiling of this centerpiece of “His Story” begins in an obscure village in Palestine called Nazareth. An unknown young maiden is startled one day by a visit from an angel who identifies himself as being no less than Gabriel himself. He tells Mary (for that was her name) that she will have a child and that this child will be called “the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:32). It was further revealed to her perplexed fiancé, Joseph, that, “She shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Mary is shocked! She? Bear the long-awaited “Anointed One”? She was to give birth to the One Who would pay man’s debt to God? She was to bring into this world the One Who would fix what we had messed up in the Garden of Eden? This seemed incredible! Yet, the credibility of this mighty angel standing before her is hardly debatable.