In America we have a spirit of Independence do we not? It is awesome! We don’t need anybody or anything. We didn’t need the King, Britain, or Europe, did we? We left there on purpose! We trekked out on our own, blazed our own trail, and wouldn’t let anyone stop us! The American dream is built on the relentless pursuit of that dream. We are self-made people. The all-American person does it on their own! They make themselves! Nobody hands them anything! The all-American man is a self-made man and the all-American woman doesn’t need any man! We didn’t ask for anyone’s permission or help to become what we have become. We are strong and we are fortified! There has only been one war in our history that we have even come close to losing and we call it a tie! We are tough, we are rugged, & we are unstoppable! No one can stop America and we stand on our own two feet! When other nations need help who do they call? America! We have ambition, drive, and intestinal fortitude! We are what we are and we make no apologizes for it! God bless America! America is the greatest country on the face of the earth and we did it all by ourselves!
Or did we? (Philippians 4:13)Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence? I can’t even spell it! (Spell checker is screaming at me right now) Yeah we threw off the British rule, but we did it with the help and direction of God. The last paragraph has these two statements, “We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions,…” & “ with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence,…” We admitted from the beginning that we needed and had help. But it has been a long time since that day. It has been a long time since we as a nation truly relied on God for our survival. Even after 9/11 we didn’t truly rely on God! We gave Him some lip service and ran to sanctuaries all over the country. But we didn’t truly rely on Him! We wanted to be known for lifting ourselves out of the ashes of that horrible day and taking it to the punks that did this thing to us! And that is just what we did. We didn’t wait for permission from the rest of the world to chase those rats back into their holes. We jumped onto our steel steeds, rode over there and opened fire on ‘em! Man what a fight we put up! But where did we leave God? Did we follow Him or did we try to do it ourselves? I am not saying that we should not have defended ourselves. Even I myself called my Marine reserve unit and volunteered to come back and go with them if they needed me. I was mad!
How far should we take the independent American spirit? Have we taken it too far already? Is that spirit destroying us right now? Are we really independent? I submit to you that we are not totally independent, so the question is where do we put our dependence?
It is our independent spirit that makes it difficult for us to admit that there is a God. Even if we admit He is there, it makes it difficult for us to admit that we need to rely on a crucified savior for salvation and strength. But there is a God, and we do not have to do it all on our own. We can’t! We have to have something to depend on. Let’s put down our independent spirit long enough to seek the help we need.
If we would truly seek God, the true God, and live by His plan, we would have harmony, and love. We are not strong enough to get there without Him; as much as we would like to think we are. We are not strong enough to be totally independent of everything and everybody. That is why we have community and church; to be here for each other and lean on God. Let us be here for you and let God.
Some call God a crutch for the weak and feeble. I say they are right. If by crutch they mean something that helps me stand when I don’t have the strength; or they mean something that helps me walk when I don’t have the means; or they mean something that helps me get through life when I fall short of being able to do it myself; then I say: YES, YES God is a crutch! I am not too proud to admit I need a crutch. I am NOT independent of God and neither are you. Today I declare to be my dependence day for I depend on God and God alone! Maybe we ought to write a Declaration of Dependence?
Total independence is a pipedream. We all depend on something. So I ask you, what are you going to depend on to make it though life?
Or did we? (Philippians 4:13)Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence? I can’t even spell it! (Spell checker is screaming at me right now) Yeah we threw off the British rule, but we did it with the help and direction of God. The last paragraph has these two statements, “We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions,…” & “ with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence,…” We admitted from the beginning that we needed and had help. But it has been a long time since that day. It has been a long time since we as a nation truly relied on God for our survival. Even after 9/11 we didn’t truly rely on God! We gave Him some lip service and ran to sanctuaries all over the country. But we didn’t truly rely on Him! We wanted to be known for lifting ourselves out of the ashes of that horrible day and taking it to the punks that did this thing to us! And that is just what we did. We didn’t wait for permission from the rest of the world to chase those rats back into their holes. We jumped onto our steel steeds, rode over there and opened fire on ‘em! Man what a fight we put up! But where did we leave God? Did we follow Him or did we try to do it ourselves? I am not saying that we should not have defended ourselves. Even I myself called my Marine reserve unit and volunteered to come back and go with them if they needed me. I was mad!
How far should we take the independent American spirit? Have we taken it too far already? Is that spirit destroying us right now? Are we really independent? I submit to you that we are not totally independent, so the question is where do we put our dependence?
It is our independent spirit that makes it difficult for us to admit that there is a God. Even if we admit He is there, it makes it difficult for us to admit that we need to rely on a crucified savior for salvation and strength. But there is a God, and we do not have to do it all on our own. We can’t! We have to have something to depend on. Let’s put down our independent spirit long enough to seek the help we need.
If we would truly seek God, the true God, and live by His plan, we would have harmony, and love. We are not strong enough to get there without Him; as much as we would like to think we are. We are not strong enough to be totally independent of everything and everybody. That is why we have community and church; to be here for each other and lean on God. Let us be here for you and let God.
Some call God a crutch for the weak and feeble. I say they are right. If by crutch they mean something that helps me stand when I don’t have the strength; or they mean something that helps me walk when I don’t have the means; or they mean something that helps me get through life when I fall short of being able to do it myself; then I say: YES, YES God is a crutch! I am not too proud to admit I need a crutch. I am NOT independent of God and neither are you. Today I declare to be my dependence day for I depend on God and God alone! Maybe we ought to write a Declaration of Dependence?
Total independence is a pipedream. We all depend on something. So I ask you, what are you going to depend on to make it though life?
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