First From Julie's Keyboard:
Our Purpose....
This week while sitting in a public waiting room, I couldn't help overhearing a conversation between a young mother of two children and what appeared to be a friend considerably older than she. The young mother was sharing her recent conversion to Christianity and her baptism. She stated that she was very close to finishing her associates degree and would soon know what her "purpose" was in this life. Fortunately, the older woman, who was holding this girl's small baby, lovingly reminded her that her "purpose" was to "multiply and replenish the earth." As you might have guessed, this went over like "a lead balloon." The young mother replied that one of her recent courses, that will compliment her associates degree, pointed out to her that 2.1 children was the quota required by a responsible mother in this nation. Then she followed the remark with this: "I love God and what He has done for me, but I'm not having anymore 'dang brats.'" "My work for Him will have to come about another way."
I don't know about you. You may agree with this young lady who could not be persuaded by the senior woman about the purpose of God in the lives of mothers. We can take any issue we like with this, but the safest guide to knowing our purpose is to read His Word, the Bible. How careful we should be to not become a people determining what we do based upon percentages and how many letters rank behind our names.
Someone said, "The hand that rocks the craddle rules the world." If there's truth in this, and I for one believe so, what kind of ruling influence will emerge from the disposition of this young mother that just spoke so profoundly? Friends, we have a nation struggling before our very eyes, yet we are so focused on our selfish developments and abilities that we refuse to see the "forest for the trees."
Do we have individual purposes? Certainly. Do we need to know our purpose? Maybe. If not, we need to know the One to Whom we are purposed. I'm speaking of our life that is hidden with Christ in God. He's our purpose. His Word defines our roles in this life. Regardless of career path, level of education, or any other well noted agenda, His will and purpose are priority.
Can you imagine a nation where families live as solid characters of virtue once again? Don't you think that if we'd take the Biblical model of the family the way God instituted it to be, there'd be some dramatic change for the positive?
I leave you today with this passage from II Timothy to ponder. We each have purpose. We were born in His likeness and created in His image. Shouldn't we get to know Him?
7-9 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS OWN PURPOSE AND GRACE, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"
Have a blessed week,
Julie
_________________________________________
"National Debt"
In my writings here on this blog I speak a lot about the principles our founding fathers lived by, principles they have inculcated into our system of government. I have even given the name of the blog to reflect that aspect of their lives. But it's really more than just principles, it was a way of life, a belief that developed a way of thinking, of viewing the world around them. Some today would call that a world view, but in essence, it made them who they were as leaders, husbands, fathers, citizens, a people set on living their lives as it related to this world view.
They were a people who, yes, lived by certain principles, but the principles did not produce them, they produced the principles. The principles came forth out of their faith, the substance of life that was the driving force in every aspect of their lives.
Our Purpose....
This week while sitting in a public waiting room, I couldn't help overhearing a conversation between a young mother of two children and what appeared to be a friend considerably older than she. The young mother was sharing her recent conversion to Christianity and her baptism. She stated that she was very close to finishing her associates degree and would soon know what her "purpose" was in this life. Fortunately, the older woman, who was holding this girl's small baby, lovingly reminded her that her "purpose" was to "multiply and replenish the earth." As you might have guessed, this went over like "a lead balloon." The young mother replied that one of her recent courses, that will compliment her associates degree, pointed out to her that 2.1 children was the quota required by a responsible mother in this nation. Then she followed the remark with this: "I love God and what He has done for me, but I'm not having anymore 'dang brats.'" "My work for Him will have to come about another way."
I don't know about you. You may agree with this young lady who could not be persuaded by the senior woman about the purpose of God in the lives of mothers. We can take any issue we like with this, but the safest guide to knowing our purpose is to read His Word, the Bible. How careful we should be to not become a people determining what we do based upon percentages and how many letters rank behind our names.
Someone said, "The hand that rocks the craddle rules the world." If there's truth in this, and I for one believe so, what kind of ruling influence will emerge from the disposition of this young mother that just spoke so profoundly? Friends, we have a nation struggling before our very eyes, yet we are so focused on our selfish developments and abilities that we refuse to see the "forest for the trees."
Do we have individual purposes? Certainly. Do we need to know our purpose? Maybe. If not, we need to know the One to Whom we are purposed. I'm speaking of our life that is hidden with Christ in God. He's our purpose. His Word defines our roles in this life. Regardless of career path, level of education, or any other well noted agenda, His will and purpose are priority.
Can you imagine a nation where families live as solid characters of virtue once again? Don't you think that if we'd take the Biblical model of the family the way God instituted it to be, there'd be some dramatic change for the positive?
I leave you today with this passage from II Timothy to ponder. We each have purpose. We were born in His likeness and created in His image. Shouldn't we get to know Him?
7-9 "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, BUT ACCORDING TO HIS OWN PURPOSE AND GRACE, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"
Have a blessed week,
Julie
_________________________________________
"National Debt"
In my writings here on this blog I speak a lot about the principles our founding fathers lived by, principles they have inculcated into our system of government. I have even given the name of the blog to reflect that aspect of their lives. But it's really more than just principles, it was a way of life, a belief that developed a way of thinking, of viewing the world around them. Some today would call that a world view, but in essence, it made them who they were as leaders, husbands, fathers, citizens, a people set on living their lives as it related to this world view.
They were a people who, yes, lived by certain principles, but the principles did not produce them, they produced the principles. The principles came forth out of their faith, the substance of life that was the driving force in every aspect of their lives.
That is why John Adams stated, "[W]e
have no government armed with power capable of contending with human
passions unbridled by morality and religion. . . . Our constitution was
made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to
the government of any other." ~ John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States, Charles Francis Adams, editor
(Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. 1854), Vol. IX, p. 229, October 11, 1798.)
They understood if our people ever once lost that driving passion, what was left would become unbridled and uncontrollable in our society as our system of government was made for a people who possessed such a faith burning within them.
Are we to take such statements as the one above by Mr. Adams and discard it as some frivolious thought that is meaningless to us today? These men build this system, this experience of freedom of which we now live, something that never before existed in human history! When they tell us its limitations, its supports and the pillars upon which it stands, do we just ignore and proceed on in our lives taking no thought of it's preservation?
Our nation at this moment is struggling with many things, just one of them is a national debt the likes of which it has never known before, over ($16,000,000,000,000) and growing exponentially, a number most minds cannot conceive in their imagination. It seems we as a people are unable to find the answers to the strain of which this is placing upon our society.
What would our founders tell us? Remember, their answers would come not from a book of laws, but from the way they lived their lives. When they arose each morning, the decisions they made about life, their family, their conduct in business, their integrity in public office, the way they greeted you walking down the street, all would be a product of this way of life that gave birth to this nation and it's governing documents!
What would they tell us? They would tell us, Proverbs 22:7 "The rich ruleth the poor, and the borower is servant to the man that lendeth." I quote that from the Geneva Bible, the one they most likely were reading from.
They would tell us, Deuteronomy 15:6 "For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, as he hath promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou thyself shalt not borrow, and thou shat reign over many nations, and they shall not reign over thee."
Mr. Jefferson, would you agree with the above statement?
(Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. 1854), Vol. IX, p. 229, October 11, 1798.)
They understood if our people ever once lost that driving passion, what was left would become unbridled and uncontrollable in our society as our system of government was made for a people who possessed such a faith burning within them.
Are we to take such statements as the one above by Mr. Adams and discard it as some frivolious thought that is meaningless to us today? These men build this system, this experience of freedom of which we now live, something that never before existed in human history! When they tell us its limitations, its supports and the pillars upon which it stands, do we just ignore and proceed on in our lives taking no thought of it's preservation?
Our nation at this moment is struggling with many things, just one of them is a national debt the likes of which it has never known before, over ($16,000,000,000,000) and growing exponentially, a number most minds cannot conceive in their imagination. It seems we as a people are unable to find the answers to the strain of which this is placing upon our society.
What would our founders tell us? Remember, their answers would come not from a book of laws, but from the way they lived their lives. When they arose each morning, the decisions they made about life, their family, their conduct in business, their integrity in public office, the way they greeted you walking down the street, all would be a product of this way of life that gave birth to this nation and it's governing documents!
What would they tell us? They would tell us, Proverbs 22:7 "The rich ruleth the poor, and the borower is servant to the man that lendeth." I quote that from the Geneva Bible, the one they most likely were reading from.
They would tell us, Deuteronomy 15:6 "For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, as he hath promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou thyself shalt not borrow, and thou shat reign over many nations, and they shall not reign over thee."
Mr. Jefferson, would you agree with the above statement?
"To
preserve their independence, we must not let our rulers load us with
perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty,
or profusion and servitude." ~ Thomas Jefferson, writtings
of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Henry Augustine Washington (Washington: Taylor
and maury, 1854), Vol. VII, p. 14, to Samuel Kercheval on July 12 1816.
Mr. Jefferson, am I to understand that frugality produces liberty, but spending produces slavery? That to enjoy liberty, we must practice frugality, but if we want to bring ourselves into bondage and oppression, spend ourselves into debt!
"The forehorse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression." ~ Thomas Jefferson. writtings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Henry Augustine Washington (Washington: Taylor and maury, 1854), Vol. VII, p. 14, to Samuel Kercheval on July 12,1816.
" . . . place economy [frugality] among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." ~ Thomas Jefferson. Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol, VII, p. 19, to Governor Plumer July 21, 1816.
"I am for . . . applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of the national debt." * "But if the debt should once more be swelled to a formidable size, its entire discharge will be despaired of and we shall be committed to the English career of debt, corruption, and rottenness, closing with the revolution. The discharge of the debt, therefore, is vital to the destinies of our government." ~ Thomas Jefferson. Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol, V, p. 477, to Albert Gallatin on October 11, 1809. * Vol, IV, p. 268, to Elbridge Gerry on January 26, 1799.
Mr. Hamilton, would you like to add anything to Mr. Jeffersons assessment?
Mr. Jefferson, am I to understand that frugality produces liberty, but spending produces slavery? That to enjoy liberty, we must practice frugality, but if we want to bring ourselves into bondage and oppression, spend ourselves into debt!
"The forehorse of this frightful team is public debt. Taxation follows that, and in its train wretchedness and oppression." ~ Thomas Jefferson. writtings of Thomas Jefferson, ed. Henry Augustine Washington (Washington: Taylor and maury, 1854), Vol. VII, p. 14, to Samuel Kercheval on July 12,1816.
" . . . place economy [frugality] among the first and most important of republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared." ~ Thomas Jefferson. Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol, VII, p. 19, to Governor Plumer July 21, 1816.
"I am for . . . applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of the national debt." * "But if the debt should once more be swelled to a formidable size, its entire discharge will be despaired of and we shall be committed to the English career of debt, corruption, and rottenness, closing with the revolution. The discharge of the debt, therefore, is vital to the destinies of our government." ~ Thomas Jefferson. Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Vol, V, p. 477, to Albert Gallatin on October 11, 1809. * Vol, IV, p. 268, to Elbridge Gerry on January 26, 1799.
Mr. Hamilton, would you like to add anything to Mr. Jeffersons assessment?
"Nothing
can more interest the national . . . prosperity than . . .
extinguishing the present debt and to avoid as much as possible the
incurring of any new debt." *
"Establish that a government may decline a provision for its debts, though able to make it, and you overthrow all public morality, you unhinge all the principles that must preserve the limits of free constitutions, you have anarchy, depostism, or what you please, but you have no just or regular government." ~ Alexander Hamilton. "The Defence of the Founding system," 1795
* Civis to Mercator, September 11, 1792
Mr. Washington, do you concure with the previous statements?
"Establish that a government may decline a provision for its debts, though able to make it, and you overthrow all public morality, you unhinge all the principles that must preserve the limits of free constitutions, you have anarchy, depostism, or what you please, but you have no just or regular government." ~ Alexander Hamilton. "The Defence of the Founding system," 1795
* Civis to Mercator, September 11, 1792
Mr. Washington, do you concure with the previous statements?
"The
progressive accumulation of debt . . . utimately endangers all
governments. No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular
redemption and discharge of the public dept" ~ George Washington. The Writings of George Washington, Vol. XII, P. 41, "Speech to both Houses of Congress," December 3, 1793.
Most honorable men, I want to thank you all for your advice in maintaining this wonderful blessing you have given us under the inspiration of that Mighty Governor of the Universe! If only now we will truly heed your warning, once again burn with the passion that was the driving force of your everyday life!
May God bless each of you,
David
Most honorable men, I want to thank you all for your advice in maintaining this wonderful blessing you have given us under the inspiration of that Mighty Governor of the Universe! If only now we will truly heed your warning, once again burn with the passion that was the driving force of your everyday life!
May God bless each of you,
David
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