Good morning...

Today was a busy day. I seemed to have some sort of malady, I was feeling under the weather. It is hard to get anything done except in slow motion. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Hope your Tuesday is a good one.

God bless from
Corinne

The Devotional component in the Tuesday Writings of Women's Focus Ministries is titled, "Founded in Freedom and Prayer" and was written by Diane Sutton. This devotional is another one describing the prayerful establishment of this country. Diane wrote, "Our nation has been built by people who yearned for freedom and prosperity. People from different countries, of different religions, different talents and different ideas have come together in America to stand as “One nation under God”.

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Today's Devotional

"Founded in Freedom and Prayer"

written by

Diane Sutton

As we celebrate our country’s freedom let us remember that our great nation was founded in freedom and prayer. In 1620, early European settlers, later known as Pilgrims, sailed on the Mayflower from England, disembarking at Plymouth Rock to start a new colony. The pilgrims had fled England to seek religious freedom, maintaining that their congregations needed to be separated from the English state church. This story of seeking religious freedom has become a central theme of the history and culture of the United States.

After enduring miserable conditions on board the Mayflower for about sixty-five days, the pilgrims were led by their leader in Psalm 100 as a prayer of thanksgiving.

Psalm 100

¹Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
²    Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
³Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
⁵For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Just imagine the pilgrims all bowing in prayer to thank the Lord for giving them the strength to endure their treacherous journey and for His faithfulness in providing a new beginning in a foreign country. Imagine what emotions they felt as they watched the Mayflower sail away to England leaving them in this strange place.

Hebrews 11 talks about “strangers and pilgrims" who had the opportunity to return to their old country but instead longed for a better, heavenly country.

¹³All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.¹⁴People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own.
¹⁵If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return.
¹⁶Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God,for he has prepared a city for them.

Hebrews 11:13-16

Our nation has been built by people who yearned for freedom and prosperity. People from different countries, of different religions, different talents and different ideas have come together in America to stand as “One nation under God”. They have sacrificed their lives, their loved ones, and their livelihood to defend freedom against tyranny. Let us fight for our country and freedom by standing together on our knees to pray for our nation and its leadership. Let us praise the Lord for granting us the freedom to be able to openly worship Him.

Lord, let us praise you each day for our freedom and not take freedom for granted. Let us worship you each day because you are worthy and holy. Lord, guide our country and its leaders towards its future with a steady and righteous hand. Give us strength to not give in to the current popular moral trends and practices but to stand firm in our beliefs based on your Word.

Let us not be bystanders in the fight for freedom but engage in the battle by putting on the full armor of God to stand against our enemies. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, we will put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes, we may be able to stand our ground, and after you God have done everything, to stand. Amen