We’re celebrating the holiday set aside to commemorate the Declaration of Independence, the document that established the United States as a free and independent nation. We usually consider this day as our nation’s birthday. Since the Declaration was adopted 234 years have come and gone. One of the things believers need to do is remember that Independence Day is about much more than hotdogs, cookouts, parades, swimming and fireworks. One of the things to remember is that every believer should be the very best citizen that we can be.

In 1 Timothy 2, I think we can find several ways Christians can be a blessing to our nation. That chapter beings with the words “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority…” One way to bring blessing to America is through consistent prayer. In fact, judging from the words “first of all” in the text, prayer is our first priority. The devil would like nothing more than to keep us so occupied with busyness that we neglect our prayers, but prayer is what our nation needs.
Every believer should commit to pray for our leaders both elected and appointed at all levels of government: national, state and local. In addition prayers should be offered for those who serve in law enforcement, fire protection, emergency medical services and most certainly the military. Our desire and goal is to “live peaceful and quiet lives.”

Another way Christians can be a blessing to America is by living what Paul calls “all godliness and holiness.” God wants us to be a godly people and through holy living to make the Gospel of our Savior attractive. This is consistent with other teaching in the New Testament. For instance 1 Peter 2:12 tells us to “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” In other words, it is one thing to TALK about being a follower of Christ and it is quite another to live in such a way that our followership is OBVIOUS.

Believers can also be a blessing to America by sharing our faith. Verse 4 says that God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Lifting up our nation in prayer and faithfully living for Christ will help fulfill God’s desire for our nation and our world which is for “all men to be saved.” Once again this lines up with other New Testament verses like 2 Peter 3:9 which says that God “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Sharing our faith doesn’t depend on having answers to all the possible questions. It doesn’t depend on our being perfect, or having a complete knowledge of the Bible. But it does mean building relationships with others and then letting them know the story of what Christ has done in our life.

If we do these things, then we will be a blessing to our nation.

Throughout history God has used men and women who know where He is calling them to go and who were willing to follow God’s dream for their lives. Hebrews chapter 11 contains the examples of many who followed God’s dream for their lives. Though these people had different backgrounds and abilities, carried different baggage and burdens, and accomplished different things they also had several common characteristics. They all lived “by faith.”

They had the ability to see God’s vision for their lives. This isn’t a reference to physical sight. God uses people who can see something their eyes can not. In Hebrews 11:7 we reach that Noah was “warned about things not yet seen…” Noah had the ability to see an ark, rain, animals, preservation of food, the flood, and so on although none of these things had yet been seen. God has called each of us to dream His dream – to have the ability to see what He sees and to desire what He wants for you!

They also had the faith to believe. Beginning in verse 8 we read the story of Abraham. If you remember your Bible history you will remember how God promised Abraham that the world would be blessed by his descendents who would be more numerous than the sands of the seashore, even though Abraham had NO descendants at that point. Abraham was able to act in faith to believe that God’s promise would come to be even though he had no evidence at that point to prove it. Sometimes it isn’t easy to see things the way God sees and to believe the promises of God will come true. But that’s what God has called us to do: dream His dream – and to have faith enough to believe that His promise is true even before it is realized.

Third, God’s dreamer has the courage to act. God needs people who will not only see what He wants to happen and with the faith to believe God can bring it about and be courageous enough to do what He wants them to do. Courageous enough not to give up, not to quit, not to abandon the right path. Sometimes this is where we fall down. We say we can see where we need to go. We might even believe that God can make it happen. But then we are unwilling to do what we need to do to make God’s dream come true.

The last characteristic of God’s dreamer is the hope to endure. This may be the most difficult quality because it takes incredible courage too. Starting is not the hard part, finishing is! But finishing is a huge part of pursuing God’s dream. Going back to Hebrews 11, where would the Israelites have been if Moses had quit in the wilderness? Or take the New Testament example of Peter and the rest of the Apostles. What if they had given up after their first imprisonment? And the ultimate example: where would we be if Jesus had stopped short of Calvary?

Hebrews 11:13 says, “All 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…” You see no dream is complete until we finish! We cannot afford to quit – we must persevere at all costs, even if the dream isn’t fulfilled in our lifetimes. For the Lord has given us an eternal hope that the best has not yet happened!

Have you ever given much thought to your death? Do you ever think about things like how and when it will happen? What about after your death? Have you ever given much thought to that? Many people look at death with a fear and dread. Hebrews 2:15 speaks of those whose lives are held in “slavery by their fear of death.” It seems that none of us are immune from this fear.

People have developed several purely human approaches to deal with death. Some seek pleasure and think that pleasure is the only thing of value. Others respond with pessimism. This is the “woe is me” approach to life. A third approach is to deny or avoid death. People spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in “stay young” or other beauty products. These are the people who know that death happens, but they prefer to think about it happening to somebody else. A fourth human approach is to devise some way to explain death away to make it seem not so bad. Despite the clear teaching of Scripture to the contrary people use a variety of escape explanations like expecting everyone to go to heaven, or being re-born through reincarnation or transmigration.

But in contrast to these human approaches, the Bible prescribes a response of faith. Early Christians in Thessalonica had some questions and fears of their own about death. They fully expected Jesus to return in their lifetime and therefore many worried about loved ones who had died. What would happen to someone who died before Jesus came back?

In chapter 4 of 1 Thessalonians the Apostle Paul reassures and comforts his readers with some information about death. These same ideas will encourage us too. Paul wanted the Thessalonians to know that death is not a crisis to be faced but a corner to be turned. He connected the resurrection of Jesus with that of Christians. He did the same thing in his first letter to the Corinthians where he referred to Jesus as the “firstfruits” meaning that Christ’s resurrection assures us of our own resurrection. Paul wanted his readers to realize that for a Christian death is simply the door into the presence of God. After describing how the dead in Christ and those who are still living will be caught up together at the second coming, Paul concludes “…And so we will be with the Lord forever.” The idea that for a believer death is the entrance into God’s presence is a consistent message of the New Testament. One excellent example is found in 2 Corinthians 5 where Paul says if we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, but when we are away from the body in death we are at home with the Lord.

“At home with the Lord…” That is such a comforting thought. No wonder Paul wanted his readers to know that Christians do not need to grieve as those who have no hope. We still mourn, but our mourning is tinged with a glimmer of hope because we know that for a Christian death means we have turned a corner and have entered into the presence of God where we will live forever.

Most people spend a lot of time and energy obsessing over all the “what ifs” in our lives. What if it rains? What if I lose my job? What if I’m late? What if I flunk the test? What if… What if… What if… According to one source the average American is in a bad mood 110 days each year. That means about 30 percent of the time, people are in bad moods because of things like worry and stress and anger and depression.

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus had some very direct things to say about worry. He simply said: “Do not worry.” While this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have legitimate concerns in our lives, it does mean that we mustn’t give too much concern for things over which we have no control, or circumstances that might never occur. Instead Jesus taught us to “seek first” the Kingdom of God and then “all these things” will be given us as well.
I like the approach Max Lucado took regarding worry. He presents eight worry stoppers. I like his list a whole lot.

P = Pray First. 1 Peter 5:7 says “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” Instead of pacing the floors of the waiting room; pray for a successful surgery; rather than bemoaning the collapse of the stock market; ask God to help provide for your needs.
E = Easy Now. Many of our biggest fears and worries are the result of running ahead of God. We can refuse to let God be God and work on His own schedule. But Psalm 46:10 begins, “Be still, and know that I am God…”
A = Act on it. James 4:7 says, “Anyone…who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.” Sometimes with all our fretting and worry, we don’t do the good that we KNOW God wants us to do.

C = Compile a Worry List. Take some time to physically write down your anxious thoughts. Then after your worries are recorded take time to review them. How many turned into reality? How many never happened at all?
E = Evaluate your worries. Don’t throw that list away just yet. Look back over it again. It will probably reveal some themes of worry. You will most likely detect areas where you fret more than others. Use your worry list to compile your prayer list. You can pray specifically about the things that trouble you most.

F = Focus on today. The Lord usually doesn’t meet our needs in bulk form. He tends to meets our daily needs on a daily basis. Not weekly or annually. God will give you what you need when it is needed. And often JUST when it is needed.

U = Unleash a worry army. Admit your tendencies to fret with a few fellow believers. Share your new worry generated prayer concern list with them and ask them to pray with you and for you.

L = Let God Be Enough. Listen to how Jesus concluded this section about worry in His great sermon: “…your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” Are you willing to do that? That’s what it all boils down to: being willing to let God supply what you need.

One of the best things about the Bible is that it is very realistic about both the positives and negatives in the lives of the characters it describes. Moses was used by God to lead His people out of slavery in Egypt, but Moses had his moments of failure. Fortunately God was able to overcome Moses’ fear of failure to use him to lead His people out of Egypt.

Exodus 2:11 reveals a huge moment of failure in Moses’ life: he saw an Egyptian beating one of his Hebrew countrymen and killed the Egyptian, hiding his body in the sand. We don’t know if Moses thought he was going to singlehandedly deliver Israel through his own power or what was in his mind. We do know that God’s plan did not involve murder or deceit. We also know that the next day it became clear that his deed was known and he took off across the desert to make a new life for himself in the land of Midian.

We can learn a lesson from this part of Moses’ story, that everybody fails sometime in their life. James 3:2 is very specific about that. James wrote: “We all stumble in many ways….” Everybody fails in their lives, but failing at something does not make you a failure.

Forty years later Moses had made that new life for himself. He had married and had two sons. He was a shepherd helping to care for his father-in-law’s flocks. One day like any other day as Moses was talking the flocks to pasture he saw a bush that was burning but was never consumed. The Angel of the Lord appeared and told Moses that God wanted him to go and lead Israel out of Egypt. Moses was not excited about the assignment! In fact, he replied with a series of excuses. God replied to each of Moses’ excuses to let him know that He was with Moses and would equip him with what he needed to do the job he was called to do.
The lesson for us is that even if we have failed, we can’t let fear of failure paralyze us and keep us from following where God leads us. Just as God equipped Moses to do what he was calling him to do, so God will equip us and empower us to do what He is leading us to do. Success is not up to us, it is up to God. What is up to us is being willing to get up after failure and going where God leads.

Failure is not final. It was not final for Moses and it does not have to be final for us. The great American inventor Thomas Edison once said, “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Scripture says it like this in Galatians 6:9: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at a proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Isn’t it true that many of us give up too quickly? I wonder how many people let the fear of failure keep them from getting back up and causing them to give up too quickly.

Don’t let the fear of failure keep you from doing what God is calling you to do.