TRUST IN GOD

And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph
shall wave O’er the land of the free
and the home of the brave!

Freedom
takes
courage!
Red White and Blue
Enduring prayerfulness Enveloped
by the Truth–Dancing before God
out of love
not routine
or fear –
Man is
free only
when Christ
is revered!

July 4, 2008

“Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and
the rule of law under God is acknowledged.”
– Ronald Reagan
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1. “Present Help” -

www.Victorstephens.com/victorstephenswebsite_055.htm

2. “Life Is Fragile” -

www.Victorstephens.com/victorstephenswebsite_060.htm

3. “Life Is Fragile (Handle With Care)” -

www.Victorstephens.com/victorstephenswebsite_061.htm

I’ve added your blog to my “Links” page under “Blogs.”

www.Victorstephens.com/victorstephenswebsite_029.htm

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This is how much God loved the world: He gave
his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why:
so that no one need be destroyed; by believing
in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting
life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of
sending his Son merely to point an accusing
finger, telling the world how bad it was. He
came to help, to put the world right again.
Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone
who refuses to trust him has long since been
under the death sentence without knowing it.
And why? Because of that person’s failure to
believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when
introduced to him. – JOHN 3:16-18 (MSG)

The Message (MSG)
by Eugene H. Peterson
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THE NATIONAL ANTHEM
The Star-Spangled Banner

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s
last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright
stars thru the perilous fight, O’er the ram-
parts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting
in air, Gave proof through the night that our
flag was still there. Oh, say does that star-
spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the
free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of
the deep, Where the foe’s haughty host in dread
silence reposes, What is that which the breeze,
o’er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows,
half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first
beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the
stream: ‘Tis the star-spangled banner!    Oh long
may it wave O’er the land of the free and the
home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confu-
sion, A home and a country should leave us no
more! Their blood has washed out their foul
footsteps’ pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the
grave:And the star-spangled banner in triumph
doth wave O’er the land of the free and the
home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desola-
tion! Blest with victory and peace, may the
heav’n rescued land Praise the Power that hath
made and preserved us a nation. Then conquer
we must, when our cause it is just, And this
be our motto:    “In God is our trust.”

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall
wave O’er the land of the free and the
home of the brave!

View the Star Spangled Banner Manuscript
signed, Francis Scott Key   

http://images.virtualology.com/images/5037.jpg

Courtesy of the Library of Congress
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John 8:34-36
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone
who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no
permanent place in the family, but a son be-
longs to it forever. So if the Son sets you
free, you will be free indeed.

Galatians 5:13
For you have been called to live in freedom,
my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your
freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead,
use your freedom to serve one another in love.

Ephesians 1:7
He is so rich in kindness and grace that he
purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son
and forgave our sins.

Colossians 2:6
[ Freedom from Rules and New Life in Christ ]
And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as
your Lord, you must continue to follow him.

1 Timothy 2:6
He gave his life to purchase freedom for every-
one. This is the message God gave to the world
at just the right time.         

1 Peter 2:16
For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so
don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.

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http://www.christianpoetry.org/newpoem.php?aid=28665

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 I WILL STAND
by Charles R. Swindoll

Read Esther 4:12–16

When it comes to touching the heart, few things do it as well as a song or a story. We all know occasions where the right music combined with the right lyrics wooed us or someone we know back to God. Sometimes it is a song that our mother taught us, or some moving hymn we learned years ago in church. Nostalgia serves us best when it’s a magnet, drawing our hearts back to God.

A story will do the same, softening the soil of our souls. When you have the right characters who carry out life’s issues in a plot that is mixed with adventure, surprise, and some humor, along with purpose and an ultimate moral, there’s something about that story that sweeps us into a right state of mind. Esther is just such a story. It has adventure and suspense mixed with courage and hope, plus a touch of humor and certainly a twist of surprise.

What a great film or play Esther would make. Can’t you just hear the words of Mordecai ringing with passion as he says, “If you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

And then, with incredible courage, Esther herself replies, “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

I can hear the applause as the curtain closes on this act with this grand speech that prepares our leading lady to take her place in history.

It reminds me of something C. S. Lewis said about the importance of being loyal to a cause that is greater than ourselves. He likened that quality to a person’s chest. “What we need are people with chests.” The old American word for this is “guts.” We need people with guts who will say, “I will stand for this, and if I must die for it, then I die.”

Will you be one of those people?

 

Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Great Days with the Great Lives (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2005). Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.

INSIGHT FOR LIVING