In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional

By Richard G. Lee

A year-long devotional that explores the Godly principles on which our country was founded.

Experience gratitude for country and love of God with this 365-day journey through America’s historical events as Dr. Richard Lee introduces the people who established and shaped our nation, and teaches the Godly principles on which it was founded. Each devotional is followed by a Patriot Prayer and Promise. Scripture is taken from the New King James Version of the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jan 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781400317509

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          IN GOD

     WE Still TRUST

          A 365–Day Devotional

DR. RICHARD G. LEE

9781404189652_0003_001

In God We Still Trust

© 2010 by Dr. Richard G. Lee

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson®. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Cover design: Koechel Peterson Design, Minneapolis, MN

Interior design: Kristy Morell

Managing Editor: Lisa Stilwell

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [e-mail].

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION. © 1982, 1992 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the KING JAMES VERSION.

ISBN-13: 978-1-4041-8965-2

Printed in Singapore

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Contents

January

January 1: Praying for Our Nation

January 2: Patriotism Defined

January 3: True History or Consummate Fraud?

January 4: Investing in Eternity

January 5: The God Who Made the Peanut

January 6: God’s Co-Worker

January 7: A Vital Connection

January 8: Words of Truth

January 9: Revival Fires

January 10: To Live Is Christ

January 11: Liberty, a Gift from the Creator

January 12: The Loss of Virtue

January 13: Quiet Commitment

January 14: A Church for Each Parish

January 15: Courage, Dignity, and Love

January 16: Speak Up!

January 17: A More Just Society

January 18: Free at Last!

January 19: A Recurring Theme

January 20: The Godly Use of Power

January 21: What Lies Ahead

January 22: The Transcendent Right to Life

January 23: Sail On, O Ship of State!

January 24: Where Justice Is Denied

January 25: The Last Best Hope of Man

January 26: The Bible’s Divine Character

January 27: The Four Freedoms

January 28: Accepting a Brother

January 29: A Reawakening

January 30: The Bible and American Presidents (Part 1)

January 31: The Bible and American Presidents (Part 2)

February

February 1: Acknowledging God

February 2: Faithful to the End

February 3: Duty to God

February 4: Answers from the Bible

February 5: The Nation’s Guiding Principle

February 6: A Serious Imbalance

February 7: Christ Reigns Supreme

February 8: A Nation’s Most Powerful Resource

February 9: Ask Not

February 10: The Goal of Government

February 11: Reverence for the Word

February 12: Abraham Lincoln on Skepticism

February 13: Finding Hope in Suffering

February 14: One Man, One Woman

February 15: A Christian Nation

February 16: The Faith of the Founders

February 17: God’s Covenant People

February 18: Guard Against False Teachers

February 19: Protecting the Foundations

February 20: An American Hero

February 21: The American Moses

February 22: Asking God’s Aid for a Good Cause

February 23: The Foundation for Morality

February 24: Staying True

February 25: Eternal Hope

February 26: John Eliot, Apostle to the Indians

February 27: The Faith of Our Founding Fathers

February 28: The Grand Old Book

March

March 1: Support for Science

March 2: The Word and the Works of God

March 3: The Signature of the Creator

March 4: Godly Leaders

March 5: The Loving Devotion of a Free People

March 6: Guarding Truth

March 7: The Barbary Pirates

March 8: Search the Scriptures

March 9: Freedom’s Cost

March 10: Enlightenment and Salvation

March 11: The Joy of Worship

March 12: A Necessity of American Life

March 13: A New Birth of Freedom

March 14: Promised Blessings

March 15: The First Amendment and Common Sense

March 16: Honor the Creator

March 17: Remembering the Past for a Brighter Future

March 18: The Fundamentals

March 19: The Faith of Our Forefathers

March 20: Freedom and the Soul of Man

March 21: Avoiding False Teachers

March 22: Last Words

March 23: As for Me!

March 24: Whose Side?

March 25: The Designer of the Universe

March 26: Our Sacred Duty

March 27: God Alone

March 28: Loyalty

March 29: First Amendment Wrongs or First Amendment Rights?

March 30: Forgetting God

March 31: Sins Forgiven

April

April 1: Untruth and Consequences

April 2: Praying for the Legislature

April 3: Shield of Strength

April 4: Following Christ’s Example

April 5: Building Character and Lives

April 6: A Godly Legacy

April 7: A Privilege and Responsibility

April 8: Obeying God

April 9: Principles of Patriotism

April 10: The Goal from the Start

April 11: A Call to Battle

April 12: Words That Bless

April 13: A Frugal Government

April 14: Glorious and Pure Morality

April 15: Choosing Christ or Chaos?

April 16: When Prosperity Devours Religion

April 17: A Resurrection Body

April 18: No Ordinary Claims

April 19: The Soul of America

April 20: Spiritual Warfare

April 21: Jesus the Christ

April 22: The Infallible Word of God

April 23: Jesus, Messiah and King

April 24: Bible or Bayonet?

April 25: America’s Fighting Preachers

April 26: The Ultimate Tribute

April 27: America’s Bedrock

April 28: Spreading the Gospel

April 29: Would You Die?

April 30: Revival in America

May

May 1: Meeting Spiritual Needs in Congress

May 2: A War Hero without a Gun

May 3: A Passionate Love

May 4: Son of Man and Son of God

May 5: Serving in the Church

May 6: National Day of Prayer

May 7: South Carolina’s Swamp Fox

May 8: The Bible’s Influence

May 9: The Bible of the Early Colonists

May 10: The Cornerstone of American Society

May 11: The Power of God

May 12: Duty, Honor, Country

May 13: The Right to Dissent

May 14: The Jewish State, 1948

May 15: The Power of Prayer

May 16: Genuinely Good Works

May 17: Christianity in America

May 18: A Nation Exalted

May 19: Choose Life

May 20: God’s Bigger Shovel

May 21: A Frenchman’s Perspective

May 22: Lighting the World

May 23: Samuel Morse

May 24: A Day of Fasting

May 25: Make Your Way Prosperous

May 26: Freedom for All

May 27: God’s Laws for God’s Creatures

May 28: Sunday School

May 29: Wisdom and Instruction for Life

May 30: God’s Providence

May 31: Circuit Riders and Farmer-Preachers

June

June 1: Words for a College Graduate

June 2: The Key to Survival

June 3: God’s Light

June 4: Criminal Punishment

June 5: Fulfilling Our Responsibilities

June 6: A D-Day Prayer

June 7: Thomas Paine’s Common Sense

June 8: The Second Fatherland

June 9: The Great Awakening

June 10: America’s Second Awakening

June 11: Spiritual Revival = Social Change

June 12: Priorities

June 13: An Earnest Prayer

June 14: A Nation’s Flag

June 15: A New Start

June 16: A Reward for the Righteous

June 17: The Qualified One

June 18: A Nation Divided

June 19: Character: The Bottom Line

June 20: One Great Political Idea

June 21: Virtue’s Role

June 22: Freedom to Teach

June 23: When Kings Un-King Themselves

June 24: Pray for America

June 25: The Lord’s Side

June 26: The History of Liberty

June 27: God’s Place

June 28: The General Principles of Liberty

June 29: America the Beautiful

June 30: Giving Thanks

July

July 1: Declaring Independence

July 2: Sharing America’s Song

July 3: Celebrating the Fourth of July

July 4: The Fourth of July Celebration

July 5: What We Can Do for Our Country

July 6: The God-Made Rights of God-Made Man

July 7: The Key to Liberty

July 8: The Liberty Bell

July 9: The Pledge of Allegiance

July 10: Correcting Abuses

July 11: The Statue of Liberty

July 12: Taking Liberty for Granted

July 13: Guarding Religious Freedom

July 14: America on Its Knees

July 15: True Christian, True Citizen

July 16: Defending the Unborn

July 17: Saving Principles

July 18: Sage Advice

July 19: Living by Faith

July 20: Communion on the Moon

July 21: God’s Saving Power

July 22: Worthy of the Name

July 23: Human Law, Divine Law

July 24: Sink or Swim Together

July 25: Minutemen as Role Models

July 26: Established by God

July 27: Warnings as Blessings

July 28: Covenant Faithfulness

July 29: Remembering God’s Place

July 30: The US Capitol Building

July 31: Men of Valor

August

August 1: The Haystack Prayer Meeting

August 2: Christianity Principles and American Law

August 3: The World’s Best Currency

August 4: God of Our Fathers

August 5: Yielded to the Lord

August 6: Women’s Rights

August 7: Taking Risks

August 8: The Book of Books

August 9: Recognizing Life’s Meaning

August 10: A Covenant Love

August 11: Our Costly Salvation

August 12: God’s Response to Humility

August 13: The Matchless Life of Jesus

August 14: Without Christ, Without Hope

August 15: Defying the Culture of Death

August 16: When Wisdom Fails

August 17: An American Patriot

August 18: The Incomparable Book

August 19: A Guiding Light

August 20: My Country, ’Tis of Thee

August 21: Repentance and Restoration

August 22: His Unfailing Compassions

August 23: So Help Me, God

August 24: God’s Sovereign Control

August 25: Free to Worship

August 26: A Godly Work Ethic

August 27: Protecting Basic Personal Freedoms

August 28: I Have a Dream

August 29: The Lifeblood of Prayer

August 30: Returning to God

August 31: A Little Short of a Miracle

September

September 1: A Text for Life

September 2: McGuffey Readers

September 3: Gone Astray

September 4: Why a Wall of Separation?

September 5: Educating Democracy’s Youth

September 6: The First Prayer in Congress

September 7: Our Nation’s Security

September 8: Tyranny—Natural and Supernatural

September 9: Benedict Arnold

September 10: Let’s Roll!

September 11: September 11, 2001

September 12: America’s Steel Resolve

September 13: A Fireman’s Prayer

September 14: Hope

September 15: The Day of the Lord

September 16: Paying the Price of Liberty

September 17: God’s Sovereignty

September 18: Righteous Laws

September 19: Freedom from the Law

September 20: The Moral Precepts of Jesus

September 21: The Emancipation Proclamation

September 22: Faith That Works

September 23: Facing Fear

September 24: American Education

September 25: America’s First Textbook

September 26: The New England Primer

September 27: The Root of Knowledge

September 28: The Star-Spangled Banner

September 29: A Chosen People, A Purified Church

September 30: God’s Compassion

October

October 1: Acting with Courage

October 2: Chester

October 3: William Penn’s Holy Experiment

October 4: A Policeman’s Prayer

October 5: The Body of Christ

October 6: A New Heart

October 7: The Constitution of the United States

October 8: What We Owe This Land

October 9: God’s Pursuing Love

October 10: Repentance and Restoration

October 11: Hope in God

October 12: Christopher Columbus

October 13: Our Stronghold

October 14: The Judgment of a Loving God

October 15: The Biblical Basics of Marriage

October 16: Noah Webster on Education

October 17: Christian, Explorer, and American Hero

October 18: The Divine Origin of Jesus

October 19: State-Funded Ministers

October 20: A Constitution for Moral People

October 21: The Bible Came with Them

October 22: Conduct Manual for Church

October 23: Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

October 24: The Right to Keep and Bear Arms

October 25: The Whole Hope of Human Progress

October 26: A True American Servant

October 27: The Government of God

October 28: A Strong Entrenchment

October 29: A Witness for the Lord

October 30: On Civil Liberty

October 31: A Sure Foundation

November

November 1: Good Soldiers

November 2: Political Leadership

November 3: A Call to Praise

November 4: Keys to Success

November 5: Voting

November 6: A Pagan or a Christian Land?

November 7: Priorities

November 8: God’s Healing Mercy

November 9: Freedom Must Be Practiced

November 10: The Battle Hymn of the Republic

November 11: A Prayer for Our Nation

November 12: Known Only to God

November 13: The Heart of Democracy

November 14: Women in the Revolutionary War

November 15: Women in the Civil War

November 16: A Churchless Nation

November 17: God’s Invaluable Word

November 18: Freedom’s Defense

November 19: The Gettysburg Address

November 20: Our Nation’s Coins and Currency

November 21: The Colonies’ First Book

November 22: Our Sincere and Humble Thanks

November 23: Feed the Hungry

November 24: A Nation Gives Thanks

November 25: A Thankful Nation

November 26: Blessed Giving

November 27: Blessings and Responsibilities

November 28: Blessed by His Providence

November 29: America, Never Forget!

November 30: Rooted in God’s Word

December

December 1: Valley Forge, December 1777

December 2: On Moral Decay

December 3: The Last Best Hope

December 4: Houses of Worship

December 5: The First Expression of Americanism

December 6: Missions

December 7: Rising to the Occasion

December 8: The Finger of God

December 9: The Last Hope of Liberty

December 10: Free . . . to Help Others

December 11: To God Be the Glory!

December 12: Son of Man and Son of God

December 13: Son of God and Son of Man

December 14: Watchmen on the Walls

December 15: The Value of Human Life

December 16: Boston’s Tea Party

December 17: The American Spirit

December 18: Emancipate! Enfranchise! Educate!

December 19: Religion and Democracy circa 1831

December 20: The Value of God’s Word

December 21: Celebrating the Birth of Jesus

December 22: The Unspeakable Gift

December 23: Inexplicable Evidences

December 24: In the Beginning God . . .

December 25: Angel of the Battlefield

December 26: The December 25– July 4 Link

December 27: The Coming Day of the Lord

December 28: Trust and Determination

December 29: Ohio’s State Motto

December 30: By God’s Grace

December 31: Anticipating Christ’s Return

it

January

Praying for Our Nation

If My people who are called by My name will humble

themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from

their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and

will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 CHRONICLES 7:14

From our nation’s earliest days, God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 7 that He will hear the cry of a humbled people has motivated America’s leaders to call citizens to prayer. In 1775, as it began the process of forming a new nation, the Continental Congress called for a day of prayer. At critical junctures during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln called for the nation to fast and pray. And in 1952 President Truman signed a bill establishing an annual National Day of Prayer.

Second Chronicles helps establish a model of national spiritual renewal. The book recounts how a succession of righteous kings in Judah led to reforms that brought the people back to true faith in God. Second Chronicles 16:9 assures us that God will show Himself strong toward those who place their trust in Him.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Prayer Il_9781404189652_0006_001

Lord, I am very aware of our nation’s need to repent and return to You. I am also very aware that such repentance must begin in every heart, including mine. Today I ask You to reveal to me the sins hidden in my heart and accept my plea for forgiveness.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Promise Il_9781404189652_0006_001

God promises that If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

January 1

Patriotism Defined

The men of Judah . . . remained loyal to

their king.

2 SAMUEL 20:2

Noah Webster’s An American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828:

patriotism, n. Love of one’s country; the passion which aims to serve one’s country, either in defending it from invasion, or protecting its rights and maintaining its laws and institutions in vigor and purity. Patriotism is the characteristic of a good citizen, the noblest passion that animates a man in the character of a citizen.

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, copyright © 2004:

patriotism, n. Love for or devotion to one’s country.

Note how the definitions have changed. With its objective actions, Noah Webster’s patriotism is very different from the vague, subjective patriotism of one who only feels love for his country. True patriotism is not just an emotional feeling; it is action.

Webster’s original definition starts with a love for country, but moves to specific actions: service to country, defense of country, protection of the rights of country, maintenance of the laws and institutions of country, and preservation of religion and morality in public and private life. This kind of patriotism puts the needs of the country above personal or partisan desires, as well as above the favor of foreign nations.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Prayer Il_9781404189652_0006_001

I love my country, Lord, and I ask You to protect us from harm. Be with those men and women in each branch of service. Guard us all in Your Name.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Promise Il_9781404189652_0006_001

Hear God’s promise: The LORD commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day (Deuteronomy 6:24).

January 2

True History or

Consummate Fraud?

If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:17

Hear the confident declaration of American statesman Daniel Webster (1782–1852):

The Gospel is either true history, or it is a consummate fraud; it is either a reality or an imposition. Christ was what He professed to be, or He was an imposter. There is no other alternative. His spotless life in His earnest enforcement of the truth—His suffering in its defense, forbid us to suppose that He was suffering an illusion of a heated brain. Every act of His pure and holy life shows that He was the author of truth, the advocate of truth, the earnest defender of truth, and the uncompromising sufferer for truth. Now, considering the purity of His doctrines, the simplicity of His life, and the sublimity of His death, is it possible that He would have died for an illusion? In all His preaching the Savior made no popular appeals. His discourses were always directed to the individual. Christ and His apostles sought to impress upon every man the conviction that he must stand or fall alone—he must live for himself, and die for himself, and give up his account to the omniscient God as though he were the only dependent creature in the universe. The Gospel leaves the individual sinner alone with himself and his God.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Prayer Il_9781404189652_0006_001

Gracious Father, thank You for sending Jesus to die for sinners, myself among them.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Promise Il_9781404189652_0006_001

In Isaiah 9:6, God promised to send His Son: His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Promise fulfilled!

January 3

Investing in Eternity

The word of the LORD endures forever.

1 PETER 1:25

Elias Boudinot Jr. (1740–1821) was an American lawyer and statesman from Elizabeth, New Jersey. An energetic patriot, he was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1784, serving as its president from 1782 until 1783. He then served three terms in Congress and ten years as Director of the Mint. Boudinot supported many civic and educational causes during his life, including serving as one of Princeton’s trustees for nearly half a century.

Boudinot was elected president of the American Bible Society at its founding in 1816. In accepting the office, he wrote that this was the greatest honor that could have been conferred upon him this side of the grave. He had an unwavering faith that God had called the men of the society to the work of making Bibles available in America. His $10,000 gift, at a time when an annual salary of $400 was considered good, essentially enabled the formation and organization of the American Bible Society, which still sponsors the work of Bible translation and distribution around the world.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Prayer Il_9781404189652_0006_001

Help me, Father, to remember—as Elias Boudinot did—that the most significant work I can do on this earth is work I do for You. The things of this world will fade away, but work done for Your kingdom will last for eternity.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Promise Il_9781404189652_0006_001

In 1 Samuel 2:30, God says, Those who honor Me I will honor, and we honor Him by being committed to living by His principles each day and by giving our time, talents, and treasures to His kingdom work.

January 4

"The God Who Made

the Peanut"

There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets.

DANIEL 2:28

Chemist George Washington Carver (1864–1943) gained international fame in the field of agriculture due to his research into crops like peanuts, soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes that could be alternatives to soil-depleting cotton. He wanted poor farmers to grow soil-enriching crops so they would be able to provide food for their family as well as marketable products, thereby improving their quality of life.

In 1921 (when it was unusual for an African-American to be called as an expert), Carver spoke in favor of a peanut tariff before the Ways and Means Committee of the US House of Representatives. After he detailed the potential uses of the peanut and other new crops to improve the economy of the South, the Chairman of the Committee had a question:

Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?

Carver answered: From an old book.

What book?

Carver replied, The Bible.

The senator inquired, Does the Bible tell about peanuts?

No, sir, Dr. Carver replied, but it tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut, and He did.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Prayer Il_9781404189652_0006_001

Almighty God, help me today to be guided by Your hand. Only You know those things that are a mystery to me. Please reveal to me what You would have me know so I can serve You today.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Promise Il_9781404189652_0006_001

Daniel 2:22 says, He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.

January 5

God’s Co-Worker

In Him we live and move and have our being.

ACTS 17:28

Agricultural chemist George Washington Carver (1864–1943) discovered three hundred uses for peanuts and hundreds more uses for soybeans, pecans, and sweet potatoes. Read his thoughts about God:

As a very small boy exploring the almost virgin woods of the old Carver place, I had the impression someone had just been there ahead of me. Things were so orderly, so clean, so harmoniously beautiful. A few years later in this same woods . . . I was practically overwhelmed with the sense of some Great Presence. Not only had someone been there. Someone was there. . . .

Years later when I read in the Scriptures, In Him we live and move and have our being, I knew what the writer meant. Never since have I been without this consciousness of the Creator speaking to me. . . . The out-of-doors has been to me more and more a great cathedral in which God could be continuously spoken to and heard from. . . .

Man, who needed a purpose, a mission, to keep him alive, had one. He could be . . . God’s co-worker. . . . My purpose alone must be God’s purpose—to increase the welfare and happiness of His people. . . . Why, then, should we who believe in Christ be so surprised at what God can do with a willing man in a laboratory?

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Prayer Il_9781404189652_0006_001

Lord, show me the specific purpose that You have for me today.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Promise Il_9781404189652_0006_001

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it (Genesis 2:15)—this assignment is the promise of a purposeful life.

January 6

A Vital Connection

The LORD your God is He who goes with you, to

fight for you against your enemies, to save you.

DEUTERONOMY 20:4

As Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1939 State of the Union underscores, until recent years America’s leaders understood the vital connection between religion and democracy. With Hitler on the move in Europe, President Roosevelt said this:

Storms from abroad directly challenge three institutions indispensable to Americans, now as always. The first is religion. It is the source of the other two—democracy and international good faith.

Religion, by teaching man his relationship to God, gives the individual a sense of his own dignity and teaches him to respect himself by respecting his neighbors.

Democracy, the practice of self-government, is a covenant among free men to respect the rights and liberties of their fellows.

International good faith, a sister of democracy, springs from the will of civilized nations of men to respect the rights and liberties of other nations of men. . . .

There comes a time in the affairs of men when they must prepare to defend, not their homes alone, but the tenets of faith and humanity on which their churches, their governments, and their very civilization are founded. The defense of religion, of democracy, and of good faith among nations is all the same fight. To save one we must now make up our minds to save all.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Prayer Il_9781404189652_0006_001

Father, may I always defend the faith—today and every day.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Promise Il_9781404189652_0006_001

Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36).

January 7

Words of Truth

O LORD, the hope of Israel . . .

JEREMIAH 17:13

The Sea of Galilee—like life itself—is known for unexpected storms. Winds gust, waves crash, and fishermen fear for their well-being. Likewise, settling a new land, establishing a new nation, and experimenting with a new form of government meant unexpected storms for American colonists.

No matter the place or the course, storms of life happen, and we do well to have an anchor to keep from drifting off course or even capsizing. The founders of the State of Rhode Island knew that well. On the state seal appears a picture of an anchor. Above it, this motto:

IN GOD WE HOPE

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Prayer Il_9781404189652_0006_001

You are my anchor, heavenly Father. Sometimes I feel like I am on a tumultuous sea, being tossed to and fro and having no real sense of direction. But I know that You are there with me, You have me in Your hand, and that You are guiding me safely to shore. Thank You, Lord, that I can hope in You.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Promise Il_9781404189652_0006_001

Psalm 33:18 is one of God’s many promises that gives us hope: Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope in His mercy.

January 8

Revival Fires

So the people of Nineveh believed God.

JONAH 3:5

Achaplain in the Confederate Army, William W. Bennett published a first-hand account of the spiritual renewal that swept through every corps, division, brigade, and regiment in General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia:

Up to January 1865, it was estimated that nearly 150,000 soldiers had been converted during the progress of the war, and it was believed that fully one-third of all the soldiers in the field were praying men and members of some branch of the Christian church.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Prayer Il_9781404189652_0006_001

What amazing good came out of the tragedy of the Civil War! Use me today as an instrument of Your saving power, Lord, whether people are dealing with tragedy or the everyday. I want my life to be an open book to those who are searching for You. Let people see Jesus in me and may my words be Spirit led.

Il_9781404189652_0006_001 Patriot’s Promise Il_9781404189652_0006_001

David told the Lord, I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You (Psalm 51:13). He trusted in God’s promise that if we tell people about His ways, they will be converted—and you and I can too.

January 9

To Live Is Christ

For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

PHILIPPIANS 1:21

The apostle Paul’s letter to believers in Philippi is a note of thanks for their help during his time of need. He also lovingly urged the members of the church there to center their actions and thoughts on the pursuit of the Person and power of Christ. Paul’s central point was simple: only in Christ are real unity and genuine joy possible. With Christ as our model of humility and service, we believers can enjoy a oneness of purpose, attitude, goal, and labor. Paul then reminded the Philippians that their ultimate citizenship is in heaven.

However, the words of Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965), who served as the US ambassador to the United Nations from 1961 to 1965, remind us of the privilege of being an American citizen:

When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect.

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