“I have not come to abolish the Law or Prophets but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of the pen will disappear until everything is accomplished.” Matthew 5:17
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INTRODUCTION (revised All Saints' Day 2011):
A Patriot’s Gems of Faith: Being a Casual Walk through God’s Covenants, with the Nation He Loves—is the full title of this offering to my countrymen and women.
If the past is prologue, and with the next election but a year away, what might God be telling us in his scriptures about our country and its future.
The genesis of these lessons for me, an American patriot are first the words of Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Listening to Handel’s “Messiah,” and the Chorus segment based on Isaiah 53:6 especially resonates: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” A third spak for this column is that from the earliest days even down to the founding of the republic; many Americans had come to view this land as the “New Jerusalem” and that God was establishing a special covenant with it.
Here begins personal journey of discovery—of looking for the lessons of Scripture for the country we love. I now offer them to you, if you wish to come along. We Americans who are Christian, it seems to me, have slipped into the mindset that our journey of faith begins and ends with Jesus Christ and the New Testament, and all too often have set aside the lessons of the Old. One need not read far in the Old Testament to realize that though God chastised Israel—the Old Jerusalem, He never abandoned, nor will He abandon, His people. So both the New and the Old covenants stand side-by-side as God’s promise: Each has been made to those whom He has called under different circumstances, throughout history. Together they complete a whole, and just as Lincoln’s counseled Southerners as the country was tearing itself apart—we must not be enemies but friend—and later—“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds,….”
Started by Katie Baker. Last reply by Dennis Hibbard Jun 24, 2012. 1 Reply 0 Likes
The Mission of the…Continue
Tags: Mission, Purpose, Jesus, Heaven, Forgiveness
Comment
Comment by Timothy Taylor on August 12, 2012 at 12:46pm A†Ω
August 12—
Romans 12:2–3, 9–11, 14–19, 21:
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ▪ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ▪ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people in low positions. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. ▪ Do not be oversome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
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Comment by Timothy Taylor on August 12, 2012 at 12:45pm A†Ω
August 12—
Psalm 86:5–7, 11, 14–15:
▪ “You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who all to you. Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. ▪ Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk, in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. ▪ The arrogant are attacking me, O God; a band of ruthless men seeks my life— men without regard for you. But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, Slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.” |
Comment by Timothy Taylor on August 12, 2012 at 12:45pm A†Ω
August 12—
Psalm 85:4–5, 7–8, 12–13:
▪ “Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations? ▪ Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. I will listen to what God the Lord will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints— but let them not return to folly. ▪ The Lord will indeed give what is good, And our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before him And prepares the way for his steps.” |
Comment by Timothy Taylor on August 12, 2012 at 12:44pm A†Ω
August 12—
Psalm 84:3–5, 12:
▪ “…O Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Blessed are those whose strength is in you,…. ▪ O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.” |
Comment by Timothy Taylor on August 12, 2012 at 12:44pm A†Ω
August 11—
Romans 11:22–23, 25–26, 28, 32–36:
“Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. ▪ I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. ▪ As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. ▪ For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?’ [Isaiah 40:13] ‘Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?’ [Job 41:11] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. |
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Comment by Timothy Taylor on August 12, 2012 at 12:42pm A†Ω
August 11—
Psalm 83:1–3, 16–18:
▪ “O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still. See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. ▪ Cover their faces with shame so that men will seek your name, O Lord. May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace. Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord— that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” |
Comment by Timothy Taylor on August 12, 2012 at 12:42pm A†Ω
August 11—
Psalm 82:1–2, 5–8:
▪ “God presides in the great assembly; he gives judgment among the ‘gods.’ ‘How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? ▪ ‘They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, ‘You are ‘gods’; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.’ Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.” |
Comment by Timothy Taylor on August 12, 2012 at 12:41pm A†Ω
August 11—
Psalm 81:8–10, 13–14:
▪ “ ‘Hear, O my people, and I will warn you— if you would but listen to me, O Israel! You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not bow down to an alien god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt….’ ▪ ‘If my people would but listen to me, if Israel would follow my ways, how quickly would I subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes!’ ” |
Comment by Timothy Taylor on August 10, 2012 at 12:46pm A†Ω
August 10—
Romans 11:1–6:
“I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: ‘Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me” and what was God’s answer to him? ‘I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal’ So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”
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Comment by Timothy Taylor on August 10, 2012 at 12:46pm A†Ω
August 10—
Psalm 80:1, 3–4,8–9, 14–15, 19:
▪ “Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who led Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth…. ▪ Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. O Lord God Almighty, how long will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people? ▪ You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. ▪ Return to us, O God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine, the root your right hand has planted, the son you have raised up for yourself. ▪ Restore us, O Lord God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” |
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