{"id":526,"date":"2019-01-19T19:08:50","date_gmt":"2019-01-20T03:08:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/?p=526"},"modified":"2019-01-19T19:09:46","modified_gmt":"2019-01-20T03:09:46","slug":"america-the-beautiful","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/?p=526","title":{"rendered":"America the Beautiful"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

America the Beautiful<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words by Katharine Lee\nBates <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

O beautiful for spacious skies,
\nFor amber waves of grain,
\nFor purple mountain majesties
\nAbove the fruited plain!
\nAmerica! America!
\nGod shed His grace on thee
\nAnd crown thy good with brotherhood
\nFrom sea to shining sea!
\n
\nO beautiful for pilgrim feet,
\nWhose stern, impassioned stress
\nA thoroughfare for freedom beat
\nAcross the wilderness!
\nAmerica! America!
\nGod mend thine every flaw,
\nConfirm thy soul in self-control,
\nThy liberty in law!
\n
\nO beautiful for heroes proved
\nIn liberating strife,
\nWho more than self their country loved
\nAnd mercy more than life!
\nAmerica! America!
\nMay God thy gold refine,
\nTill all success be nobleness,
\nAnd every gain divine!
\n
\nO beautiful for patriot dream
\nThat sees beyond the years
\nThine alabaster cities gleam
\nUndimmed by human tears!
\nAmerica! America!
\nGod shed His grace on thee
\nAnd crown thy good with brotherhood
\nFrom sea to shining sea!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you know that every seat of power, realm\nof government, principality, and authority were all created through God and for\nhis purpose?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colossians 1:16 goes on to tell us He existed\nbefore anything was made; and now everything finds completion in Him.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, even America.  And God loves\nAmerica.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is nothing new under the sun.\n Our old man still needs to be dealt with and God goes to extreme measures\nto make himself great in us, in America and to our world around us.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens when darkness trembles?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     * it gets Loud<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     * spews insults, divides<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     * blinds, confuses<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     * accuses and destroys any\nand all for personal gain<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nthat\u2019s what darkness looks like.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\nme ask, how has the turmoil in America affected you personally?  Has\nit driven you closer to God or set you in a place of confusion, frustration,\nanger or even fear?  What has come out of your own heart, or mouth?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nhear him speak; \u201cMy child, do not forget my teaching but keep my commands in\nmind.  Wisdom will make your life pleasant and will bring you PEACE.\u201d\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

THIS\nIS HOW THE WORK OF THE LORD CONTINUES IN THIS GREAT AMERICA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deuteronomy\n6 gives us an outline for success.  It is personal.  It is up to us,\nindividually.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\ncautions us to be aware, that we do not forget the Lord our God by keeping His\ncommandments, his judgements, and his statutes so that it will go well\nwith us.  He warns us to observe all His statutes, to fear the Lord our\nGod.  It\u2019s for OUR good that He might preserve us.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nlove is so great!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whenever\nyou are connected to His tree of life, you will shine and cast a beautiful\nglory, even if you don\u2019t know it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Yesterday\nI was traveling with my elderly mom, which requires assistance all along the\nway.  Once we had gotten settled into our seats on the airplane, the woman\nin our row began chatting.  We were both so exhausted and how could someone\never know we were glory carriers?  Without saying a word, she told us that\nshe knew we were Christians as soon as we sat down.   This is what makes\nAmerica great.  People loving a God who not only gave us His only son in\nexchange for us, but living the rules and map for success.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joy\nand Peace are meant to be shared.  In\nfact when you discover or experience something this wonderful, you just can\u2019t\nkeep from sharing it!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your\nlight will shine and spread like wildfire until you are a pillar and a contagious\nambassador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Psalms\n27     <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nPsalm of Fearless Trust in God<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nLord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nLord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When\nevildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nadversaries and my enemies; they stumbled and fell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though\na host encamp against me, My heart will not fear;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though\nwar arise against me, in spite of this I shall be confident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One\nthing I have asked from the Lord; that shall I seek;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\nI may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nbehold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For\nin the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nthe secret place of his tent He will hide me; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nwill lift me up on a rock.  And now my head will be lifted up above my\nenemies <\/p>\n\n\n\n

around\nme, and I will offer in His tent sacrifices with shouts of JOY; <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwill sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THIS\nIS HOW THE WORK OF THE LORD CONTINUES IN THIS GREAT AND BEAUTIFUL AMERICA!\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My\nLove and devotion in Him,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Debbie Anderes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PTH\nAdvisor at Large<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

America the Beautiful Words by Katharine Lee Bates  O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158645842131926_419078791484035":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","Layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-newsblogpth","post-526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-ministry-updates"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4I3es-8u","jetpack-related-posts":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=526"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":527,"href":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526\/revisions\/527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointtohope.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}