Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time there was this great country.  A world leader.  Founded on the idea that people were given rights by God not the government.  It was called America.  Once, America stood for freedom.  People everywhere flocked here to build a better life.  People came to practice their religion in peace.  People came to be free. 
America was governed by the people for the people.  No one was above the law.  The law was to be applied to everyone equally.  With freedom, there is responsibility.  The nation grew, became a world leader.  A leader in economics, politics, and power.  We believed in an educated citizenry.  We fought for other nations and their freedom.  We helped nations feed their people.  We helped rebuild nations ravaged by war or natural disasters.  Was America perfect?  Was it without mistakes?  By no means.  We became arrogant.  We became a bully.  We became demanding.  Then, we became complacent.  We allowed people from other nations to force their ways upon us.  We allowed ungodly leaders to hold office.  We allowed leaders who felt they were above the law to be so.  We became materialistic.  We became uneducated.  We forgot our history.  We neglected to teach it to our children.  We became entitled.  We became self-centered and unaware.  We became fat, lazy, and complacent.  
Complacent:  marked by self-satisfaction, especially when accompanied by an unawareness of dangers or deficiencies.  (according to Merriam-Webster online)
America, I love the country of my birth.  I long for a return to our American values, based on God and His Word.  Throw off our complacency!  Rise up!  Let your voice be heard!  Look around you.  Be aware of the dangers of this path we are on.  Turn now,  turn away from dependence on a government to save you from your own laziness and entitlement mentality.  Governments cannot save you, they can enslave you.  Beware of what you ask for.  Be aware of where the path leads.  Exercise your freedoms, couple it with exercising your responsibility to your neighbor. 
This country was founded upon the principle that people were given certain rights by God (a Creator).  It was founded upon the morals found in the Bible.  Without an absolute standard that is unbiased and unchanging, such as the Bible, all morals are relative.  You end up with the thought, "This is right for me, and that is right for you."  Everyone has their own right and wrong.  The Bible gives us an unchanging guide to follow, not based on the whims and partialities and prejudices of man, but from the mind of a Holy, loving, perfect God.  We need to return to using the Bible for our guide, not man's thoughts.  Without it we are left each to his own way, with selfishness, materialism, moral relativism, nothing good.
I leave you with several quotes from Alexis de Tocqueville, great observer of early America:

"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
   
"Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith." 

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." 

"The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other."

"Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude."
 
--  Alexis de Tocqueville

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Gracious Words

In Luke Chapter 4 verse 22 it says, "And all spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from His mouth..." (talking about Jesus teaching in the synagogue) then in Col. 4 verse 6 Paul tells us, "Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each person."  
The reason that I noticed a connection is because in BSF last week, we were supposed to read Luke 4:14-21 to see the connection to Isaiah 50:4-5.  Being the rebel that I am I almost always read the verses before and after.  Well, look at Luke 4:22  gracious words were coming out of His mouth,  remember the gracious words part for just a minute, hang on to that.  Then in my devotional guide, which was turned to the wrong page...story of my life... the title for tomorrow (my birthday) is "Lively and Gracious Speech" and the verse is Colossians 4:6.  This is no coincidence.  God is showing me something.  Gracious Words!  What were the words of Christ that were described as gracious? Let's look at Luke 4:  18-19, 21,

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
dto set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Jesus was reading from Isaiah, which happens to be the book I am studying in the Bible Study I go today on Wednesday mornings (today).   Funny how God pulls things together, because,
then Paul says, we are to speak "gracious words." And words with "salt," as my friend and I were eating lunch together today we kept discussing that the fries needed more salt. Salt makes things tasty, brings out their natural flavors.  Well, I can't make the same claim as Christ, that I am fulfilling prophecy.  However, I was surprised at how much of the Bible Study this week had to do with words, the speaking kind.  I hadn't focused on it when I was studying at home, but in the discussion today a couple of people mentioned something about words, I don't think they realized what connections God was making for me.  Words have power.  God created words.  He expects them to be used to bring Him glory.  So, how can I do that?  How can I speak in such a way as to bring God glory, in my everyday conversations?  One of the things BSF (the Bible Study I attend) does is it doesn't really allow time to just "chat."  The conversations are always directed not specifically, but in a way that allows people to share what God is doing in them.  There is always a question to be answered or a "What was your favorite verse from the last few chapters?" kind of thing to be discussed.  At first I thought it was weird, kind of a pain, awkward.  Now, I really appreciate the steering and find that I do it on my own in conversations with friends.  I don't go around announcing, "I am steering this conversation by asking you a question about God?" It allows you to walk away from a conversation feeling uplifted instead of negative.  I find that as I focus on God and listen to Him, it comes more naturally.
How can I speak "gracious words?"  What does "gracious" mean exactly?  According to Merriam-Webster, gracious can mean godly, merciful, compassionate.  Also it can mean, marked by tact, characterized by charm, good taste.
In Isaiah 50:4 we are told to listen, spend time with God so we can sustain those who are weary with a ...WORD.  In John 12, Jesus says that God tells Him what to say.  In Isaiah 51:16 God says, He has put His words in our mouths.  God has a lot to say about our words.  I keep a little index card in my Bible with verses relating to our tongue and our words.  Now it has grown to three cards, just references are on them.  That is a lot of verses.  Repeatedly, In Isaiah, God tells us what to say, what we are to talk about.  Check out Isaiah 12:4, Isaiah 35:4. In those verses, God gives very specific things to be said.  You know what we are to talk about?  It is Him!  His Deeds!  His Son!  His Words!