There seem to be more and more people these days who claim to know God, but are not willing to explain how the relationship was established.  Perhaps because of their assumed favored status, they feel no compulsion to share Him with us “have nots.”  Some may be so bold as to believe that they are unique, and God has chosen to commune with them because they are simply His type.  Perhaps they believe that they are more intellectual than those of us who are compelled to talk about religion and God, and they don’t want to waste their time trying to reason with us.

  The greatest number of those who are silent about their salvation believe simply that they are “good people,” and God would have no logical reason to reject their fellowship in the future.  These good people are often afraid to talk about their relationship with the Lord because they are ashamed of their ignorance.  To say that they are “Christians” or that they “believe in God” is the best way to avoid the conversation.  The old, “If you can’t beat them, join them.” approach.  They get angry at those who are persistent with them.

   No doubt, there are still others who reject everything that does not stand up to their reasoning.  While they would not deny that there is a God, they cannot accept that He might be more complex or capable than themselves.  They refuse to believe anything that cannot be explained in the same terms that they use to describe their own existence, and the matter is not open for discussion.

  While it may seem logical to call one’s relationship with God a personal matter, it is certainly selfish and ill-advised to say that such a relationship with the Almighty could, or should, be private.  The Psalmist said, “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; (Psalm 107:2)”  God requires that believers share His way of salvation with others.  “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: (1Peter 3:15)”  But maybe you are without hope.  “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. (Acts 16:31).”

  Quite often we hear secularists suggest that America was founded by Deists  (Deists believe in a watchmaker type God, who created everything, set it in motion, and left it to its own demise).  These same revisionists teach that the foundational principles upon which our nation was founded were the sentiments of rationalists from the 18th century Enlightenment in Europe (rationalists generally have no regard for religious beliefs).  These same activists promote and empower the “cancel culture” movement today (a sociopolitical movement which endeavors to delegitimize and ostracize those who disagree with them).  They speak with authority, but they are not students of history, as true historical fact is contrary to their political narrative.   Generations have believed their lies and America has been redefined while armchair patriots are appeased with stimulus checks and the endless political foosball played by increasing numbers of ignorant political activists with misplaced loyalties.

  But lies don’t become truth because someone believes them, and truth does not bend for those unwilling to accept it.  America was founded on Christian principles by men who believed that God had ordained that they formulate an independent nation.  They understood that their success would not be possible without divine blessing.  Our laws were intended by the founders to be a reflection of universally accepted biblical morals and standards that they believed were essential to ensure longevity.

  In his prayer journal, George Washington wrote, “Bless my family, kindred, friends and country, be our God and guide this day and forever for His sake, who lay down in the grave and rose again for us, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”  Samuel Adams declared, “Providence [God] will erect a mighty empire in America.”  Patrick Henry declared, “…we shall not fight our battle alone.  There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations…”  And the list goes on—just look them up for yourselves.

  I, for one, agree with our founding fathers, if our Christian roots are denied, without God, our unalienable rights will be forgotten, and the land of liberty will be lost.

  You have probably heard someone say, “Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.”  “It is the only one that cannot be commercialized.”  While it may be true that Thanksgiving is not the most “profit taking” season of the year, there are those who post, at the top of their list of blessings, the capital gains from the sale of decorations, and preparations of Thanksgiving cuisine. 

  And then there are those for which the day has become only a gluttonous feast, often followed by a festival of folly.  For them, there is no thought of blessing nor giving of thanks.  What they have was earned by endless hours of toil and strain.  They have only themselves to thank—or so they say.

  Still others have taken the season seriously.  They carefully categorize their bounty in order to offer a sincere “thank you” to those who were instrumental in helping them to achieve their personal goals.  Their list of recipients is like the credits that roll up the screen at the end of a Hollywood feature film.

  What’s my point?  Simply this: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17)”  Thanksgiving was instituted with God in mind as its Object.  We have missed the mark!

  In 1863, Abraham Lincoln reminded the country,“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”  Perhaps we should be reminded again.

  If you temporarily lived in a country in which you were not a native, you might be referred to as a sojourner—a resident foreigner whose home is elsewhere.  Let’s say you are living in a country that is not your own, and the economy is turned upside down, inflation soars, political confusion divides the masses, civil unrest stokes violence in major population centers, morality has been redefined, laws have been reinterpreted so that evil wins the day, friends and neighbors have chosen isolation over the risk of promoting the old norm for fear of rejection—or worse.

  IF you were a sojourner, and IF this aptly described the country of your sojourning, what would you be inclined to think?  Perhaps you would remember the land to which you ultimately belong, and would rejoice in the fact that your loved ones, though far away, are fairing well.  The issues that plague the land of your pilgrimage cannot touch the distant shores of home.  …this welcomed thought calms the soul, and brings a tear to the eye.  Oh the joy that fills the hearts of those who possess a confident expectation of going to their peaceful homeland.

  The word sojourner is used several times in the Bible to refer to those who have been adopted into God’s family.  The illustration above represents our present plight, and the pleasant hope of all who have become heirs of God.  This troubled land is only the land of our pilgrimage, but there is coming a day when we who know Him, will rest in the eternal presence of God, in a place that we, even now, call Home.

  Jesus said to His followers, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1-3)”

  He also said, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)”  Won’t you join us?

  It seems that in our day, eternal truths and moral absolutes have been relegated to the status of Santa Claus, and anyone who maintains the old standards is deemed an intellectual child in need of enlightenment.  Godless generations have taken it upon themselves to impose a new standard for measuring truth and defining moral excellence.  This arrogant crowd actually believes that to change eternal absolutes, all they have to do is to announce it.

  But truth is not truth because someone believes it, and right and wrong are not defined by the whims, words or actions of mere men.  Truth is truth because God says so, and right and wrong are defined by the character of God.  They always have been, and always will be, no matter what we think or do.

  God says, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination. (Leviticus 18:22)”  —and so, homosexuality is an abomination.

  “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27)  —and so, there are only two genders, and God decided which of the two you are.

  God says, “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God. (Deuteronomy 22:5)”  —and so, transgenderism is an abomination.

  God said of Jeremiah,“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (Jeremiah 1:5)”  —and so, a fetus is a living soul, and abortion is murder.

  God says, “…Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery. (Mark 10:11-12).” 

 Beware little man, you and I cannot change the truth or redefine moral absolutes,  …and God is holding us accountable for His.