Light and Salt

I have pledged to join Charles Stanley and other Christians in intercessory pray for America daily.

In week 1 we read Psalm 51 asking God for wisdom and personal forgiveness as we prepared our hearts for the 140 days of prayer.

In week 2 we read Psalm 77: 7-15 confirming God’s Holiness and showing His might and power in our lives and among the nations. I know that with Him, all things are possible and that He honors the fervent prayers of the righteous. There is power in prayer and great power in the collective prayers of many believers. I consider it a privilege to have been born in America where I have freedom to worship and pray. I will stand up for this right. Our Judeo-Christian heritage has made and will keep our country strong and free when each of us remains strong and committed to God’s laws and principles. We cannot let those who believe otherwise continue to slowly try to take away our freedoms; personally and as a nation.

This is week 3. I just read Matthew 5: 13-16. We must recognize our responsibility to be salt and light in what ever situation we find ourselves. We can’t afford to hide our lights under a bushel. We must sprinkle the truths which we know, the saltiness of our faith, into the lives of our loved ones, our friends, and into our nation. When we honor God, He will honor us; He will honor America. We cannot be responsible for others but we can start with individual accountability. Can you imagine the strength in our numbers if we all started right where we are. There is no perfect person other than our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, The Messiah. When we believe in Him, God sees us through His righteousness and we become righteous. We must stand tall in God’s promises! Trust and obey. The Holy Spirit helps us to live as God would want us to live.

The Beatitudes in Matthew 5, given by Jesus in The Sermon on The Mount, shows us how God wants us to live and treat each other. They instruct us in The New Testament as God through Moses gave us The 10 Commandments in The Old Testament.
Jesus in His Sermon on The Mount laid out a standard by which all Christians should live, a call for moral and ethical living that cannot be met in our own power. This power is given to us by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. Galatians 5:17,18 tells us that “The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what The Holy Spirit wants. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. But when you are directed by The Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law”. Galatians 22 says, “But when The Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law”.
How God wants us to react as related in The Beatitudes is exactly opposite from the reactions according to the world’s standards. When the Holy Spirit controls our lives and gives us His gifts as listed in Galatians 22, we can understand Jesus’ instructions in The Beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor in spirit..... they will inherit the Kingdom of God
Blessed are those who mourn........... they will be comforted
Blessed are the meek.................. they will inherit the earth
Blessed are those who thirst for righteousness......they will be filled
Blessed are the merciful.............. they will be shown mercy
Blessed are the pure in heart..........they will see God
Blessed are the peacemakers............they will be called sons of God
Blessed are those who are persecuted...theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven

John 10:10 tells us that Jesus gives us the abundant life. As seen in the Beatitudes, this abundant life is according to God’s standards, not the world’s standards. As we stand firm in our beliefs we cannot worry about what non-believers say about us as long as we are pleasing God. He is our ultimate rewarder. Our character is the sum total of our words, thoughts, and actions. I pray for wisdom, power, and strength to keep the Lord’s light shinning through me and the salt of His word working in me. I will daily pray for America and for God’s power in our lives and in our land.