COLOSSIANS 1:3-14
July 4th is the holiday that honors the founding of the United States. The occasion is celebrated in many ways: firework displays with dazzling colors, festive parades showcasing high school bands and armed forces units, and backyard barbecues with family and friends. It is a day filled with activity.
This 4th of July finds America in need of rescue. Our country's slide down the slippery slope of godless living has accelerated. It started years ago when we as a nation departed from the standard of God's Word; at that time, a belief system was established that separated our land from the Lord and His ways. As a nation, we are now reaping a bitter harvest from those decisions in every level of business and government, in our communities, and in our families as well.
However, there is still hope. While we have seen our country's values change dramatically, our God has not changed. He continues to have the power to turn the nation back to Him. Scripture makes it clear that when Christ-followers obey the command to pray (Colossians 4:2), God is willing to act in response to those prayers. Since our national future is in our leaders' hands and they, in turn, are in the Lord's hands (Romans 13:1), our prayers for them can have a powerful impact.
This July 4th, won't you add in a time of prayer for our nation? Establish a new tradition, one of appealing to God on behalf of our government's leaders. Then continue to pray until God turns our country toward trusting in Christ alone.
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Charles Frazier Stanley was born September 25, 1932, in the small town of Dry Fork, Virginia. The only child of Charley and Rebecca Stanley, Charles came into the world during a time when the entire nation felt the grip of the Great Depression. To make matters worse, just nine months later, his father Charley died at the young age of 29.
However, Charles refused to let the Great Depression or the difficulties of his life define him. Instead, like his father and grandfather before him, he clung to God’s Word and took up the mantle to preach the gospel to whoever would listen.
Dr. Stanley’s motivation is best represented by the truth found in Acts 20:24, “Life is worth nothing unless I use it for doing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about God's mighty kindness and love.” This is because, as he says, “It is the Word of God and the work of God that changes people’s lives.”
Dr. Stanley’s teachings can be heard weekly at First Baptist Church Atlanta, daily on “In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley” radio and television broadcasts on more than 2,800 stations around the world, on the Internet at intouch.org, through the In Touch Messenger, and in the monthly, award-winning In Touch magazine.