Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst For Righteous....

Have you ever been so hungry or thirsty that you thought you might faint? Or so hungry that you could not think clearly or so thirsty that your judgment was impaired? If so, I feel your pain...if not, consider yourself blessed already.

When Jesus shared the fourth Beatitude, He knew too well the desperation that can be caused when one grows hungry or is parched with thirst; after all, He had just recently returned from His confrontation with Satan who had tempted Him to turn the stones to bread. His reply, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Matthew 4:4

Here, He was telling those that would listen and learn that true hunger or thirst for a relationship with a righteous and holy God would be blessed and they would indeed be filled with the Spirit of the one they sought.

Jesus knew that the Old Testament shared such imagery as in Psalm 42:1-2, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. Where can I go and meet with God?"  Or perhaps He had memorized the Prophet Isaiah who said, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy, and eat!" Isaiah 55:1

We are truly a needy people...and when it comes to hunger or thirst; well, we are all too ready to do whatever is necessary to meet those most basic needs...just go to any war-ravaged or storm-weary place in this world and see the lines of people, waiting to procure food and water. But the true hunger is the hunger of the soul...here there is a discontentment that must be met!

The discontent soul knows that there is something basically wrong deep down in our being...in the innermost recesses of our soul, there is a God-shaped hole that only a righteous and holy God can fill. There is this vacuum that consumes us and drives us to fill it with pleasure, work, riches, people or things....but no matter how hard we try, it is God, and GOD ALONE, that can make us WHOLE...AND IT IS ONLY HE THAT CAN FILL THAT HOLE!

So, do you hunger and thirst for a right relationship with your Heavenly Father or are you striving and conniving to fill that emptiness with everything else that Satan and the demons of his dominion might offer...if so, you will be eternally hungry and thirsty.  But, if you allow God to fill your heart, body, mind and soul...YOU WILL BE BLESSED and FILLED TO OVERFLOWING WITH THE GOODNESS OF GOD!

The choice is yours....so choose carefully! Your choice has eternal ramifications and consequences....choose Christ and be hungry and thirsty no more!

Blessed by the Father...Hungry for Him and His Righteousness,

WPQ

Poem for the day...

There are those times, my precious Lord

When your love seems far away;

But when I invite your Spirit in

You meet all my needs each day.

You are there if trouble comes my way;

I know your grace will see me through;

You fill my heart with your holiness

When I put my trust in you.

My thirst is quenched, my hunger gone

And my desire for worldly things...

No longer hold me captive

When I worship you, my King.

It’s then your Spirit fills me up

With life that springs anew;

And your blessings are forever mine

Since I given my heart to you!

WPQ @ July 2019 

Blessed Are The Meek....Not Weak!

I grew up in a time when, as kids, we spent our Saturday morning in front of the TV. We sat there and watched The Lone Ranger, Roy Rogers or some other gun slinging, tobacco chewing, bronco-busting cowboy do his best to tame the Wild West and bring law and order to the small town folk...the part I liked best...breaking those wild stallions.

Now to break a wild stallion and be seen riding off into the sunset on that same horse later in the show,  the cowboy had his work cut out for him as this wild animal did all within his power to throw off that cowboy and then trample him under foot. But, the real cowboys got thrown off; got up, dusted themselves off and got right back on that horse until that wild stallion could be ridden around that corral, fully harnessed for life as a cow pony. The stallion's spirit had been broken and now he was ready for service...totally submissive to the reins and to the cowboy who held them.

When Jesus told the meek they would be blessed, He implied a gentleness, a humility, even a submission that an untamed will could never know. He probably had at the core of this teaching  the scripture from Psalm 37 that reads, "The meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace."  He was clearly saying that those who will surrender their will to God and be subjected to His will over their own..they will indeed be blessed with the lavish inheritance that only our Heavenly Father can bestow on those whose will has been broken.

Meekness is the harnessing of our will so that we can be under the control of a loving and powerful God. It is our humble acceptance of our lowly position before God...our need to be broken so that we might be raised up to walk in the newness that is ours in Christ Jesus.

This meekness is not for the weak, but rather the strong! We see our best example of meekness when we look at Jesus. He had the power of Heaven, always at his fingertips. The Heavenly Host just a spoken word away! The power of the Father just a prayer away...and we saw him keep all that strength locked tightly in his heart as He pursued the will of His Father...and the same must be true for you and me.

So, where are you and I on the meekness scale? Do we see ourselves as puny and defenseless, cowering when pressed about the Savior we serve? God is not asking us to be timid or weak in our dealings with life and those we encounter...He is, however, asking us to be gentle, unassuming, compliant and broken before him so that we might be used for His glory.

God does NOT honor an untamed will; but He does honor those who rely on Him to accomplish His purpose through their obedience...from a life such as this,  God will reap a great harvest of eternal value...and the one who lives such a life of meekness will truly inherit the earth and all the glory that comes from living for God.

Are you strong in the Lord by the surrender of your will? Have you come broken of a haughty spirit and now stand before Him ready to let go of your plans and adopt His plans  as your own? If so, you have a spirit of meekness that makes you strong and ready for battle.

So be prepared....the Deceiver will bring his demons against you...BUT GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN YOU THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD!!!!

Humbly prepared...trusting my Lord,

WPQ

Poem for the day:

God has set before each of us

A task we are called to do;

To share our hope in Jesus...

Let His love come shining through.

We're not to cower in darkness;

Timid, afraid or weak.

But to serve our Lord with gladness...

Bold, assured ...but meek!

Going where the Spirit leads

Ready to face the test...

Willing to follow the Savior's plan

Always ready to give our best!

Waiting for that one day

When there before our King...

We stand adorned in meekness

And join that great choir to sing...

"Hosanna to Him who reigns on High"

The Father's will was ours to seek;

And  when surrendered our will to His

He showered blessing upon the meek!

WPQ © July 2019

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

All of us know someone who is "so full of themselves", so prideful that we do anything within our power to avoid having to spend much time in their presence. We know that we will be subjected to a litany of all their past conquests and their recent triumphs and of course, we will be expected to stand and applaud. In fact, for some of us, all we need do to be in the presence of someone like this is to stand in front of the mirror and look deeply into our own reflection.

Jesus began his Sermon on the Mount by calling out such people and telling all those within the sound of his voice that God seeks to bless those who are poor in spirit...not the kind of person I just mentioned. But what does it mean to be "poor in spirit"? Is Jesus telling his disciples to be humble and therefore, BE HAPPY!

 Throughout all of the Scriptures, we see that God honors, even exalts those who come to Him with a humble spirit. Psalm 51:17 says, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."  It also revels to us in Psalm 149:4, "He crowns the humble with salvation."  The Bible consistently tells us that the pride of self-sufficiency will only lead to ruin...that Pride comes before a Fall!

Adam and Eve started the ball rolling when they sought to see themselves as God...as the serpent pricked their heart with pride, The Fall of Mankind began and sin entered the world. It is from that place of self, selfishness and our desire for independence from our Maker that has led us to the depraved society in which we now find ourselves.

WE WERE MADE FOR DEPENDENCE...NOT INDEPENDENCE FROM OUR CREATOR!

God has created within the heart, soul and spirit of man a God-shaped hole that ONLY He can fill...and no amount of ANYTHING ELSE will ever be sufficient to make us complete. Our drive to be self-sufficient is a futile effort and only leads to our destruction, desperation and despair.

But acknowledging our feelings of desperation and despair just may be our way out of this prideful trap of the Deceiver. It's in that type of desperation that we may begin to search for God...we may move from a frantic self-effort to be happy to an utter dependence on God for all of His blessings. If we truly embrace the first Beatitude and are "poor in spirit", we can leave behind that haughty, prideful attitude and see our need for a Savior and for a relationship with our Father through His Son, Jesus Christ.

 And God tells us in no uncertain terms that He honors those who diligently seek Him. In Jeremiah 29:13 we read, "And you will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart!"  It is that heart, one poor in spirit, that God will honor and will bless!

Are you waiting on God to be a blessing? Are you longing to be happy and know His joy everlasting?  Then seek Him and Him only and you will be....Happy in the Joy of the Lord and fully...

Blessed Beyond Measure,

WPQ

Poem for the Day:

The eyes of the Lord travel to and fro

Seeking to find someone;

Upon whom he might bestow

Blessings for a life well done.

So give Him your love and obedience,

And each morning when you arise...

Plan to live this day for Him

To find favor in His eyes.

To go where He would send you

With no thought for prize nor fame...

 So in all you seek to do for Him

May bless others in His name.

To uplift those lives less fortunate;

Whose bodies or spirits are stressed.

And when you give in the Savior's name,

Then you are surely blessed!

For the Father will smile down upon

Those "blessings" given in His name.

For when you give as Jesus gave

Nothing will be the same!

WPQ © July 2019

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn....

We have all, whether young or old, come to a time in our life where we must go through a period of mourning. As a child, it might be our loss of our first pet, destruction of our favorite toy or loss of our "Binky". As a adolescent, it might be the loss of our first sweetheart to another. As a adult, it most often occurs when one of our parents passes away and we are left with that deep and abiding pain of losing one so dear. Whatever the loss, the mourning is real!

But Jesus tells us in his second Beatitude that blessings come to those who mourn in the form of comfort, but not necessarily in the extraction of pain. God seeks to bless those who mourn over the human condition, who find pain from the despair or guilt left by sin or lament the ravages of mankind's depravity since the Fall.

But our God seeks to bless those who are hurting...those who weep from the pains and woes of life, yet know that in Christ Jesus, " God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."  (Revelation 21: 4)

It is in this context that God brings comfort to those who need His healing. They can be confident that he will "turn their mourning into dancing" (Psalm 30:11) and "put off their sackcloth and clothe them with gladness." (Psalm 31:12)  He says again in Psalms 126:5-6, "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. He who continually goes forth weeping, bearing seed for sowing, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him."

Our God is a God of comfort for the tired and weary soul...the soul that mourns over its plight in life and for the ways of a lost and dying world. We need to mourn for this world...to cry out for pity, forgiveness and for the light of God's love to erase the darkness where sin and evil hide, seeking whom they may destroy. We need to lament over the ways of this world and for the sin-sick heart of each of us...but we don't need to stay there.

We need to rise and take hold of the promise of comfort offered to us from the Throne of Mercy. We need to know that in the midst of our pain, God's promise of deliverance is assured. In the depths of our sin, His grace is sufficient and our redemption is at hand. In the inner recesses of our broken heart, His love will see us through.

Our Father promises that comfort from the pain of this world is ours...He promises that He is the same...Yesterday, Today and Forever! He promises that if we come to Him, weak and heavy laden, cumbered with our load of cares...He will give us rest and COMFORT...and we will be blessed! He offers Himself as our comfort...AND THAT'S ALL WE NEED!

Blessed in the Comfort...Lavished in His Love,

WPQ

Poem for the Day:

Is your life filled with strife and stress,

No peace for the troubled heart;

Just listen for the Savior’s voice,

Then your fears will soon depart.

No matter the pain your feeling

No matter how great the loss;

Christ himself has paid the price

With His death upon the cross.

He gave His life, gave up His throne

To walk down Calvary's road;

And with each step for us He bore

Our hurts, our pains....Sin's load.

Hi sacrifice...how great it's cost

When the Holy curtain was torn;

But now we come to the foot of His throne

And receive His blessings for those who mourn.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO MOURN....

   FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED

WPQ © July 2019

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE "BLESSED"...JESUS TELLS ALL!

In our quest to live and survive in this often cold and cruel world, many of us turn to all sorts of things to find a time of happiness and satisfaction; and some things in this world do give us those temporary feelings ...but that's where the problem lies; THEY ARE ONLY TEMPORARY!

When Jesus returned from his confrontation with Satan, he began his ministry by calling out that first inner circle of disciples. It was Simon Peter and brother Andrew, who first threw down their nets and left the shore to follow Jesus. Likewise, when Jesus encountered the Sons of Zebedee, James and John, he beckoned them to follow and they, too, left behind their father and their livelihood to follow this man from Galilee.

Shortly after this calling, Jesus and his new band of friends were traveling about the countryside of Galilee. Matthew 4:23- 5:2 says, "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom; all the while, healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. Chapter 5 continues, "Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them."

And what was the first sermon that Jesus preached to the multitudes and to this band of men who had become his disciples? I like to call it, "Happiness for a lifetime and beyond...Living to be Blessed!"

Others and theologians of great renown refer to the next 8 verses as The Beatitudes, which means a  "condition or statement of blessedness;" however, the concept of blessedness is not easily translated into English. "Happy, " "fortunate, " and "favored" have all been offered as less than completely satisfactory translations. "Happy" focuses narrowly on emotional well-being, not taking into account that within our relationship to God, sin must be confessed. "Fortunate" is derived from the Latin word for chance or luck and was used also for the Roman goddess who determined arbitrarily and capriciously each person's destiny. It still means a haphazard random selection for success, collective possessions and wealth; however, who would consider the poor to be fortunate? And Favor? Favor is the Latin word for grace: but to avoid confusion, "favored" should not be used. 

So why all this gestation over the word, "Blessed"? Because for the next week or so, I want to take a closer look at these special words, uttered by our Savior to the crowds that had gathered on that Galilean hill and see what they might say to us as we seek to be blessed by the Father.

Know this...being blessed is not about our working to receive, but about God's bestowing His favor on those who seek to be blessed, happy and favored by a gracious and loving God. Come back tomorrow and start this journey to happiness according to Jesus.

BLESSED AND BELIEVING,

WPQ

Poem for the day....

If you want a life of happiness;

One that's worry free...

Then you'll have to wait for Heaven

Before that can come to be!

For in this life upon this orb,

Troubles will abound;

But the saving grace for all mankind?

Jesus has come down...

He faced the same temptations

That still plague our daily walk;

He did not give in to the call of sin;

His life was more than talk.

He taught by His example

To lean upon the Lord...

To trust Him for His blessings

And find our courage in His word.

So heed the message that He taught

And your life will not be stressed;

For in His Sermon upon the Mount

He taught us to be...BLESSED!!!!

WPQ © July 2019

Ten Commandments for A Blessed Life!

1)  Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble; rather, it is a "steering wheel" that helps keep you on the right path throughout your journey.

2)  Ever wonder why a car's WINDSHIELD is so large, but the REAR VIEW MIRROR so small?  Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE... So, focus on the road ahead and don't look back! 

3)  Friendship is like a BOOK. It only takes a few minutes to be destroyed in a fire, but it often takes years to write the entire story.

 4) All things in life are temporary.  If they're going well, enjoy them while you can for they will not last forever.  If things are not as they should be, don't worry... that won't last long either.

  5) Old Friends are Gold and new friends are Diamond!  If you get a Diamond, don't forget the Gold!  Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a Base of Gold!

  6) Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, GOD smiles from above and says, "Relax, friend; it's just a bend in the road, not the end of the road!"

  7) When GOD solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when GOD doesn't solve your problems HE has faith in your abilities.

 8) A blind person asked St. Anthony:  "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?"  He replied, "Yes, losing your vision!"

 9) When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them. So, when you are safe and happy, remember, often someone has prayed for you.

 10) WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES... it takes away today's PEACE.

If you adhere to these and commit your ways to the Lord, He promises that He will pour out a blessing so great that you will not be able to take it all in...Trust in the Lord and remember this:

Too often when we become complacent in life, we just stop trying! It is then that we must remember...

To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did.

When God takes something from your grasp, He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence... 

'The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not supply your every need.'

Go today with God as He goes before you and makes the pathway straight!!!!

WPQ

Poem for the day...

Traveling down life's highway

Toward the setting of your day;

If Christ has walked beside you

And if you're living life His way....

Then you need not fear the journey

As you walk together hand in hand;

And as you take life's last breath

You will enter His Promised Land.

There at last to meet your Savior

To see His glory, face to face.

You'll thank Him for each blessings

And His never-ending grace.

And though your life is over

In Heaven there will be no end...

As you hear the Master say to you.

"Well done, my good and faithful friend."

WPQ © APRIL 2018

A Broken Heart

When my daughter, Alyson, was just a toddler, I picked her up from daycare to find her covered elbow to elbow with magic marker, generously lavished on her by a young friend. I took her home and as I cleaned up the mess, I gently convinced her never to let anyone mark on her with a magic marker again. Unfortunately, just two years later at age 5, she began to battle a rare childhood cancer. Her doctor (that was to perform the radiation portion of her treatment) brought her into the room and placed her on the exam table. He told her to lie perfectly still while he made his marks across her abdomen and chest where the protective plate would lie during her radiation treatments. Alyson, ever the obedient child, lay perfectly still while tears streamed from her eyes. When the doctor asked what was wrong, she simply replied, “My Daddy doesn’t want me to let anybody write on me!!!!”

My daughter’s act of disobedience (at least in her mind) broke her little heart. She wanted to please me in every way and the thought of disobeying me was more than her heart could bear. As I have reflected on this scene and played it over and over in my mind over the last 20+ years, I have often asked myself, “Do I feel such pain and heart break when I disobey my Heavenly Father?” Where are the tears, the evident signs of remorse, the simple child-like desire to please my Father in every way ….and the disappointment when I fail?  I John 5:2-3 says: “By this we know that we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”

God has really made life quite simple for us….we are to love Him with all our heart, mind, body and soul and we are to obey…… Simple …Pure …. Life-changing. And when we fail, and we all do, it should break our heart ….. for a moment , for a day, but not forever. For we serve a glorious Savior that has paid the price for our disobedience and who grants us chance after chance after chance… Not because of who we are…but because of whose we are!!!!!

I trust that today you are living obediently and that the Father is well pleased in your love for Him and your desire to do his will. If so, you are keeping his commandments and I am sure that a broad smile spreads across His face as He sees a child that so desperately wants to obey. If not, I pray that for just a moment , tears will fill your eyes as you remember all that Christ has done for you and that your little heart will be broken.... and in love for your Father, you will seek His will and walk His way.

Walking with my Father…Seeking to Obey,

WPQ

Poem for the Day:

The eyes of the Lord travel to and fro

Seeking to find someone…

Upon whom he might bestow

Blessings for a life well done.

So give Him your love and obedience

And each morning when you arise;

Plan to live this day for Him

To find favor in His eyes.

WPQ

Having the Same Mind...

Today is a special day in the history and life of our republic...it is the FOURTH of JULY. In fact, today we celebrate the 243rd birthday of this great nation...a nation founded on those immortal words of Thomas Jefferson who said we all have the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." It was to that one mindset that 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence, basically signing their own death warrant as with colonists across the land, all would rally to fight for one ideal...that they should be FREE!

After winning our independence, those same brave men gathered again with one mindset...to establish a government that drew its authoritative power from the will of a free people...and that same mindset should be ours today. Unfortunately, we are becoming a country divided as many of us hold disparaging views as to how we move forward with the issues that face us.

I believe the great apostle Paul gave us some clear cut instruction as to how we as Christians should proceed as we seek to live in a world filled with turmoil. He wrote in Philippians 3:12-16, the following, "I don’t mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal. But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine. That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his. Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me. I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven. All of us who have grown to be spiritually mature should think this way too. And if there is any of this that you don’t agree with, God will make it clear to you. But we should continue following the truth we already have."  NKJV Maxwell Leadership Bible

You can see in the highlighted portion of our Biblical instruction that Paul believes that we as mature believers should ALL think the way he does regarding the way and the reason for which we live...to obtain that which God as called each of us to be....ONE MINDSET WITH MANY DIFFERENT OUTCOMES...EACH OF US USING OUR INDEPENDENCE TO BE WHAT GOD HAS CALLED US TO BE AS WE STRAIN FOR THE PRIZE OF HIS HIGH CALLING.

So on this day, as we celebrate our nation's independence, let us also celebrate our spiritual independence from the life of sin and degradation from which God has redeemed us and give thanks for the high calling He has placed within the heart of every believer who seeks His face and has the mindset to walk in His way! And if you do not agree, then it is up to the Almighty to change your mind...only He can do that through the inner workings of the Holy Spirit.

Yes; today is a day of celebration, but also concern as we look across the great landscape of our nation. So many good things to embrace; so many horrible things from which we should hide our heads in shame. But as believers, living out our faith with one mindset, we can be the change that this country needs as we live our holy and fearless lives intending to be what God has called each of us to be....SALT & LIGHT....will each of you join me as we reach out to our neighbors, our homeless, our downtrodden, our rebellious and our broken-hearted and offer them the only thing that can truly make a difference in their lives...a personal relationship with their Heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus Christ...the author and perfecter of our faith. If we will do as Paul has instructed and come together with this same mindset, we will see our nation once again return to the  roots that were so firmly planted in our Christian heritage. It is only when we once again acknowledge that God is our Provider and Sustainer that we will see His hand of blessing stretch out over us all to see Him heal this land....and that will truly be a cause for CELEBRATION!

One mindset....reaching for the prize of His high calling,

WPQ

Poem for the day....

Today's  the day we celebrate

It comes round once each year;

It's a birthday celebration

Where crowds go wild and cheer.

We celebrate the amazing birth

Of our nation called the USA.

This wondrous miracle of republic

That is still alive today.

But there are those foes that come against

The things that have made us great;

So we must seek to firmly stand

Before it is too late...

To save this great Republic

Our motto strong to stand....

"IN GOD WE TRUST" should echo

Across this great and prosperous land!

So let us all with one mindset

Pray to our God above;

To shower us with His blessings ....

HIS PEACE..HIS JOY...HIS LOVE!!!

WPQ© July 2019

Celebrating America...I LOVE THIS LAND!

I LOVE THIS LAND...

I love this land with its rock and hills and trees;

I love this land from mountaintops to roaring seas.

I love this land with its grandeur and majesty

But I admit there are some things that truly bother me...

How can a people blessed with so many wondrous things

Turn their back on their Creator, the holy King of Kings?

How can each hope that beats within in the heart of every man,

Not praise the One who created us and walk according to His plan?

What kind of man would turn his back and quickly walk away;

Not take the time to lend a hand to those lost in life's dark fray.

What does it take, what can be done... to open closed and blinded eyes;

To see the suffering all around or hear the anguish in their cries...

Of those who are downtrodden, living less than God intended

Who only need a helping hand; a chance to be befriended;

What kind of people do not seek to make anew and change what is...

How can they continually do these things and say they are...HIS!

So I will show my love for all, each and every day;

I'll love this land and let it show to those who come my way;

Not only in single deed, but in what I think and say;

And I pray the Lord will listen, when I bow my head to pray....

HOLY FATHER....BLESS THIS LAND; THE LAND I TRULY LOVE!

LET YOUR MERCY SHINE UPON US FROM YOUR THRONE ABOVE.

HELP US SEEK THE LOST AND AS WE POINT THEM TO YOU;

MAY THE MESSAGE WE SHARE BE FOUND FAITHFUL AND TRUE!

MAY OUR LOVE BE ETERNAL AS WE SEEK TO FOLLOW YOU,

MAY OTHERS KNOW OF JESUS BY WHAT WE SAY AND DO;

MAY WE BE A BEACON FOR ALL WHO ARE LOST IN THE NIGHT

MAY WE ANSWER THE CALL...TO BE THE SALT & LIGHT!!!!

MAY EACH DAY BRING WITH IT, A WONDROUS OPPORTUNITY

TO SHARE THE LOVE OF JESUS, SO THAT OTHERS MIGHT SEE;

WE LONG TO BE THE PEOPLE YOU WOULD HAVE US TO BE....

AMERICA, YOUR BLESSED LAND, FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA!!!!

OH YES...I LOVE THIS LAND !!!!!

WPQ© JULY 2019

Celebrating America's Birthday ...Joy or Pain...You Decide!

It seems that each year, this day of celebration gets here just a little bit quicker and leaves me a little wearier and a little less hopeful for what lies ahead. We all run hither and yon, wishing all those we know a “Happy 4th”, singing patriotic songs, eating BBQ and watching fireworks. We collectively ask for God to Bless America and then, somehow seem perplexed when gas prices keep rising, crime escalates and our leaders debate in open forum the merits of partial birth abortions, gay marriages and legalized gambling known as state lotteries. How can a righteous and holy God bless this mess that we now call America?

In fact, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Anne Graham Lotz was queried on the Early show, the host asking, “How could God let something like this happen? Her response was quite profound. She said, “I believe that God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And, being the gentlemen that He is, I believe He has quietly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand that He leave us alone?”

And that my friend, unfortunately, is the sad state of affairs that we find ourselves facing in this year 2018. God has slowly and surely left us to our own demise and I am sure that it is breaking His heart to see how far we have fallen from our roots as a Christian nation. A country that He ordained, that began with such great and magnificent promise is sinking fast and unless, God Himself, orchestrates some cataclysmic jolt to all of us….this nation that still prints “In God We Trust” on our money, is doomed to a bitter end. There is one bright and shining star though ….His CHURCH that He ordained to be both salt and light for such a time as this. Let us not shrink from the battles that lie before us, but rather put on the whole armor of God and wage war. We serve the Great Commander-in-Chief who has never been defeated ….and HE NEVER WILL BE!!!!

Proclaim this July 4th as our day of Dependence on the Creator of the Universe….and fight the good fight…..we know the outcome, WE WIN!

MARCHING ON,

WPQ

As we prepare to celebrate our 243rd Birthday, may the words of this poem

resonate within the soul of every American that longs for our return to the God of the Universe...

May He hear our prayers and Bless us once again with HIS GREAT FAVOR!!!!

Poem for the day...

It's great to live in the land of the free

Especially when nothing's required of me.

I don't have to do what others think right;

I'm not required to be a guiding light.

I can go where I want, live as I please;

Take all I want and live a life of ease.

No one can tell my life is a mess

But sometimes I wonder and so I confess....

What if I lived like life is a gem

And I spent my days, focused on Him.

What if I gave with no thought of reward

Put on my armor, raised up my sword.

What if each day I battled those horrible lies

That tells us God's love is not truly life's prize.

What if I gave Him all I could be....

Would that make a difference others would see?

So as we celebrate the birth of our nation

Let us remember the God of creation!

No longer as His can we sit on the fence;

It's time to tell others of our dependence.

To stand and shout at the top of our lungs,

To revel in joy as songs of triumph are sung.

So whether rich or poor, no matter life's station

Petition our God to BLESS THIS NATION!!!

WPQ © June 2018

HAPPY 4TH...MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!