You have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God

Hidden with Christ in God

How can we who died to sin still live in it?—I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.—He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.—Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

We are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ.—“Just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us.”—Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.—“Because I live, you also will live.”

“To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

Selah.

Col. 3:3; Rom. 6:2; Gal. 2:20; 2 Cor. 5:15; 2 Cor. 5:17; 1 John 5:20; John 17:21; 1 Cor. 12:27; John 14:19; Rev. 2:17

The owning of wings

Be Like the Bird

Victor Hugo

Be like the bird
That, pausing in her flight,
While on boughs too slight
Feels them give way beneath her
And yet sings,
Knowing she hath wings.

Selah.

Faith at the edge of a cliff

Hope. Trust!

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? — He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. — My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

If God is for us, who can be against us? — The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? — Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. — We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

“Arise and work! The Lord be with you!”

Ps. 27:1; Isa. 40:29-31; Ps. 73:26; Rom. 8:31; Ps. 118:6; Ps. 44:5; Rom. 8:37; 1 Chron. 22:16

A field of the loyal fallen

Stones River National Battlefield

Eagle strength: They who wait upon the Lord

Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard?

Words: Scottish Paraphrases (1781), Isaac Watts (1674-1748) and William Cameron (1751-1811)
Tune: Abridge

Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard,
That firm remains on high
The everlasting throne of Him
Who formed the earth and sky?

Art thou afraid His power shall fail
When comes thy evil day?
And can an all-creating arm
Grow weary or decay?

Supreme in wisdom as in power
The Rock of Ages stands;
Though Him thou canst not see, nor trace
The working of His hands.

He gives the conquest to the weak,
Supports the fainting heart;
And courage in the evil hour
His heavenly aids impart.

Mere human power shall fast decay,
And youthful vigor cease;
But they who wait upon the Lord
In strength shall still increase.

Selah.

Those unfading flowers round the throne of God

Those eternal bowers, man hath never trod

Words: John of Damascus, eighth century; trans. John Mason Neale, 1862
Tune: St. Alban's

Those eternal bowers, man hath never trod,
those unfading flowers round the throne of God:
who may hope to gain them after weary fight?
who at length attain them, clad in robes of white?

He who wakes from slumber at the Spirit's voice,
daring here to number things unseen his choice:
he who casts his burden down at Jesus' cross--
Christ' reproach his guerdon, all beside but loss.

He who gladly barters all on earthly ground;
he who, like the martyrs, says "I will be crowned;"
he whose one oblation is a life of love,
knit in God's salvation to the blest above.

Shame upon you, legions of the heavenly King,
citizens of regions past imagining!
Why with pipe and tabor waste the hours of light,
when he bids you labor, when he tells you, "Fight"?

Jesus, Lord of glory, as we breast the tide,
whisper thou the story of the other side;
where the saints are casting crowns before thy feet,
safe for everlasting, in thyself complete!

Selah.

The fairest flowers: the noblest psalms

The fairest Alpine flowers bloom in the wildest and most rugged mountain passes -- the noblest psalms were the outcome of the profoundest agony of soul. And souls which love God will find reasons for bounding, leaping joy. Not simply to endure God's will, nor only to choose it; but to rejoice in it with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Selah.

Note: A quote shared by George Hosier. Thanks, George!

When the storms are o'er us

Lord, thy Word abideth

Words: Henry Williams Baker, 1861
Tune: Ravenshaw

Lord, thy Word abideth,
and our footsteps guideth;
who its truth believeth
light and joy receiveth.

When our foes are near us,
then thy Word doth cheer us,
Word of consolation,
message of salvation.

When the storms are o'er us,
and dark clouds before us,
then its light directeth,
and our way protecteth.

Who can tell the pleasure,
who recount the treasure,
by thy Word imparted
to the simple-hearted?

Word of mercy, giving
succor to the living;
word of life, supplying
comfort to the dying!

O that we, discerning,
its most holy learning,
Lord, may love and fear thee,
evermore be near thee!

Selah.

A word of hope from worm theology

Worms

by Amy Carmichael

And He talks with us in many ways, sometimes through the pleasure of rarely quoted lovely old words, like those from Herrick, who, when in 1647 his all was taken from him, wrote:

God, when He takes my goods and chattels hence,
Gives me a portion, giving patience:
What is in God is God; if so it be
He patience gives, He gives himself to me.

But Weigh Me the Fire is what carries me far away from bed and chair today:

Weigh me the fire; or canst thou find
A way to measure out the wind;
Distinguish all those floods that are
Mixed in that watery theatre;
And taste thou them as saltless there
As in their channel first they were.
Tell me the people that do keep
Within the kingdom of the deep;
Or fetch me back that cloud again,
Beshiver’d into seeds of rain;
Tell me the motes, dust, sands, and spears
Of corn, when summer shakes its ears;
Show me that world of stars, and whence
They noiseless spill their influence:
This if thou canst, then show me Him
That rides the glorious cherubim.

And yet, in spite of the help that is given, there is a feeling [I can only call it worminess] that can come, especially between 2 and 3 o’clock in the morning, when all the fight really seems to be drained out of us. It really is a very horrid feeling, but the word of our God is equal to anything – even to this. At such a time, clear through the fog and stuffiness and the oppression of the enemy, the worminess, came this word from Isaiah: “Fear not, thou worm!”

It was startling; it was so exactly it. There was no smooth saying that things were not as they were. They were wormy. I was wormy. Well then, “Fear not!” He who loves us best knows us best; He meets us just where we are. But He does not leave us there. There is power of the word of the King to effect what it commands. In the Fear not of our God [a word repeated in one form or another from Genesis to Revelation] there is power to endue that which is at the moment most lacking in the one to whom it is spoken – be it courage, or the will to endure, or the will to triumph which easily slips away from us, or the love that we need so much if we are to help others, the love that never fails, or the wisdom which is not in us, and which we must have if we are to make right decisions, or just common hope and patience to carry on in peace and joyfulness of spirit. O Lord, I am nothing before Thee, a worm and no human. Fear not, thou worm.

“Fear not, thou worm Jacob… I will help thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, for I, thy God, am firmly grasping thy right hand – I am saying unto thee, Do not fear; I have become thy helper. Do not fear, thou worm.

Do not fear, but sing, ‘Praise the Lord upon earth, mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, beasts and all cattle, worms.”

These various words helped me exceedingly. And yet I know that they may be dumb to some who turn the pages wearily, their strength spent out in the hot land of pain.

In one of Blackwood’s Tales from the Outposts a man, telling of an arid tract of country in Central Africa, despairs of making one who has not experienced that flaming heat understand anything about it:

But how describe the thirst and heat of torrid lands to those who simply turn the tap near at hand to secure an endless cooling supply? How describe thirst engendered by effort on foot across miles of stark, shadeless forest, heated by a ball of molten fire, to those who live in temperate, well-watered lands of perpetual verdure? The English language, born in a land of cloudy skies, frequent showers, forest shades and evergreen fields, with water on every side, lacks, and must lack, terms for precise description of heat, thirst and drought.

And so it is that this writing lacks the precise touch to describe the devouring flame of anguish that licks up the last drop of the juice of life. I write from a cooler, easier region than that of many a hospital ward and nursing home. Should this writing find its way to one whose heart is in the fiery wasteland – yes, these words will seem lacking, to you.

But there is One who endured the worst extremity of thirst in His own flesh: we can always know that He has been there, and He has not forgotten, nor will He ever forget, what it is like to be there. He was tempted in all points as we are – including vast unrecorded experiences of suffering. Thus He is able to succor all who are tempted – follow that single line of thought, it is like a track across a desert, and soon we come to deep wells of cool water: Whoever drinks of that water will never thirst. They thirsted not when He led them through the deserts.

Selah.

Amy Carmichael, Rose from Brier, 99-102.

A word for the day: discipline, perseverance, trust, blessing

Trust, persevere in the fear of the Lord

Readings from Ecclesiasticus 2

My child, when you come to serve the Lord,
prepare yourself for testing.
Set your heart right and be steadfast,
and do not be impetuous in time of calamity.
Cling to Him and do not depart,
so that your last days may be prosperous.
Accept whatever befalls you,
and in times of humiliation be patient.
For gold is tested in the fire,
and those found acceptable, in the furnace of humiliation.
Trust in Him, and He will help you;
make your ways straight, and hope in Him.

You who fear the Lord, wait for His mercy;
do not stray, or else you may fall.
You who fear the Lord, trust in Him,
and your reward will not be lost.
You who fear the Lord, hope for good things,
for lasting joy and mercy.
Consider the generations of old and see:
has anyone trusted in the Lord and been disappointed?
Or has anyone persevered in the fear of the Lord and been forsaken?
Or has anyone called upon Him and been neglected?
For the Lord is compassionate and merciful;
He forgives sins and saves in time of distress.

Delight yourself in the LORD!

Readings from Psalm 37

Do not fret because of evil men
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Delight yourself in the LORD
and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in Him and He will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him;
do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
For evil men will be cut off,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy great peace.

If the LORD delights in a man's way,
He makes his steps firm;
though he stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with His hand.
I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be blessed.
Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever!

The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
He is their stronghold in time of trouble.
The LORD helps them and delivers them;
He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in Him.

Alleluia!

Selah.

A word for the day: Joy is strength!

The joy of the Lord is our strength

The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! for the Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted. — “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” — The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him. — My soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God. — We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. — I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Neh. 8:10; Isa. 49:13; Isa. 12:2; Ps. 28:7; Isa. 61:10; Rom. 15:17; Rom. 5:11; Hab. 3:18

Selah.

Still will we trust

Still will we trust, though earth seem dark and dreary

Words: Words: William Henry Burleigh (1812-1871)
Music: Stanstead

Still will we trust, though earth seem dark and dreary,
and the heart faint beneath his chastening rod;
though rough and steep our pathway, worn and weary,
still will we trust in God!

Our eyes see dimly till by faith anointed,
and our blind choosing brings us grief and pain;
through him alone who hath our way appointed,
we find our peace again.

Choose for us, God! Nor let our weak preferring
cheat our poor souls of good thou has designed;
choose for us, God! Thy wisdom is unerring,
and we are fools and blind.

So from our sky the night shall furl her shadows,
and day pour gladness through his golden gates,
our rough path lead to flower-enameled meadows,
where joy our coming waits.

Let us press on, in patient self denial,
accept the hardship, shrink not from the loss;
our portion lies beyond the hour of trial,
our crown beyond the cross!

Selah.

Through the vale of lamentation

If there be that skills to reckon

Words: attributed to Thomas Kempis (1379-1471); trans. John Mason Neale

If there be that skills to reckon
all the number of the blest,
he perchance can weigh the gladness
of the everlasting rest,
which, their earthly exile finished,
they by merit have possessed.

Through the vale of lamentation
happily and safely past,
now the years of their affliction
in their memory they recast,
and the end of all perfection
they can contemplate at last.

There the gifts of each and single
all in common right possess;
there each member hath his portion
in the Body's blessedness;
so that he, the least in merits,
share the guerdon none the less.

In a glass through types and riddles
dwelling here, we see alone;
then serenely, purely, clearly,
we shall know as we are known,
fixing our enlightened vision
on the glory of the throne.

There the Trinity of persons
unbeclouded shall we see;
there the Unity of essence
perfectly revealed shall be;
while we hail the threefold Godhead
and the simple Unity.

Wherefore man, take heart and courage,
whatso'er thy present pain;
such untold reward through suffering
thou may'st merit to attain:
and for ever in his glory
with the Light of light to reign!

Selah.

Happy birthday Mr. Abraham Lincoln

A real man

I salute you, sir.

Post at Powerline.

Selah.

A constancy in battle

"What counts in battle is what you do once the pain sets in." -- John Short

But the helm of her secrecy had fallen from her, and her bright hair, released from its bonds, gleamed with pale gold upon her shoulders. Her eyes grey as the sea were hard and fell, and yet tears were on her cheek. A sword was in her hand, and she raised her shield against the horror of her enemy's eyes...

She should not die, so fair, so desperate! At least she should not die alone, unaided...

Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then fell swiftly down upon Eowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw.

Still she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but as a steel-blade, fair yet terrible. A swift stroke she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she clove asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow passed away. A light fell about her, and her hair shone in the sunrise...

-- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

Sam Thomas presses the battle for orphans

Hopegivers orphan care carries on in faith

Hopegivers International is sporting a new website, fronted by recent coverage of Dr. Sam Thomas, and his return to India. Dr. Sam was recently reunited with his wife Shelley, and their boys, after being separated from them for 14 months. His time with them was brief… and he returned to India, to carry on for the orphans there.

It all sounds so easy, so clinical, but the reality is truly life-threatening. Sam is risking his health, his freedom and his life for these orphans. He’s already been persecuted terribly and imprisoned, facing threats spoken and physical. Like Nehemiah, Sam has many high profile enemies who seek his life. And yet, also like Nehemiah, the cause is worth the risk.

He’s offering himself to stand in the gap for the orphans, to take a lead for the work there. As the article states,

There have been many setbacks and obstacles for the ministry on the India side over the last year. And as much as he suffered through the persecution, his real heartbreak was for the hundreds of children who were forced back to the streets when the orphanage licenses were revoked last March. Since then, it's been an uphill battle all the way, trying to get them reinstated so the kids can come back. Any day now Sam is hoping to hear the news that the orphaned and abandoned kids – his kids – can come back home.

In Sam’s words, “I breathe, sleep, dream, and talk about my goal and deepest desire – one million orphaned and abandoned children raised up for God.”

That is a passion worth giving one’s life for! Read the whole article here.

Sam’s departure words from Atlanta airport are reminiscent of the Apostle Paul, as he stood at safe harbor and said, “I must go to Rome for the sake of the gospel, whether I am free or bound!” Essentially, Sam looked at the reality on the ground in India, and said, ‘I am willing to be free or bound for the sake of saving orphans.”

He entrusted his wife and boys to the God who does all things well, and then flew to India – facing threats, persecution, intimidation, legal manipulation, and spiritual warfare… all for the sake of the call. He doesn't know for sure if he will see them again, but he is driven to the calling of saving lives: a million orphans in his vision.

God bless you, Sam Thomas! You are in our prayers…

For those of you who want to be a part, offer your prayers today, and consider visiting the new Hopegivers site and making a donation for orphans and leaders.

It will be a small part, a cog in the wheel of integral orphan care and deep sacrifice!

God bless you too, for your care!

Selah.

You can refuse the spirit of fear

If God is for us, who can be against us?

I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:31, 37-39

Infectious fear

Amy Carmichael

Have you ever thought how infectious fear can be? It spreads from one person to another more quickly and certainly than any of the fevers we know so well.

You can refuse the spirit of fear, which never comes to us from God. [And if He does not send it to us, who does?] Instead, open your heart wide to the Spirit of “power and love and a calm and well-balanced mind, and discipline and self-control.” Because fear is so infectious, let us, for the sake of others and ourselves, refuse it.

Thank God…! Courage is as “infectious” as discouragement. Haven’t you often felt the cheer and strength that seem to flow from a person whose mind is fixed and firm on God? I have.

And I have been thinking of another, greater reason for rejecting fear.

When we are downhearted or fearful or weak, we are saying to everybody [by the way we look and by our timidity, if not by our words], “After all, the Lord can’t be absolutely trusted.”

Somewhere near us, though we do not see them, are others: Men and women who we can see; and also good angels and evil spirits we cannot see. To all of these, when we give into fear, we say the same dishonoring thing.

We have a Savior who has never once failed us. He will never fail us. He has loved and led and guarded us all these years.

Look to Him now, and pray from the barren bedrock of your heart, if that is the ground you are standing on – “Lord, give me courage!”

The advancing edge of your powerful storm

Lost, alone, isolated

In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From His temple He heard my voice…
He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under His feet…
He made darkness His covering, His canopy around Him…
Out of the brightness of His presence clouds advanced…
He shot His arrows and scattered my enemies, great bolts of lightning routed them.

Psalm 18:6, 9, 11-12, 14

Amy Carmichael

There was one who was unafraid of any evil that might rise against her, unafraid of even the hint of bad news. Her heart stood fast, believing the Lord, trusting in the tender mercy of God for ever and ever.

How often had He risen as light in the darkness! How often she had called on Him from the very center of trouble, knowing that He heard her the instant each storm broke upon her – knowing He would come at once and deliver her. He had been so full of love, and she had sung and proclaimed His goodness, saying, “Who is like the Lord our God – who has His dwelling so high, yet humbles himself to take part in things that are far below Him in heaven and on earth?”

But now…

She found herself standing alone, isolated, looking into a great, gray mist.

Fold after fold, the hills lay before her, but always in impenetrable mists. She could see no path. Only a little track in the valley below. She felt quite alone. For a while she stood. Listening. Feeling an inward isolation and uncertainty harder to bear than any acute physical pain had been.

Softly, voices began to speak within her. Now stealing her courage, now filling her with courage again:

“My heart and my flesh may fail…”

“But God is the strength of my heart, and the good portion that is allotted to me – forever!”

“My closest friends avoid me, or else they have no idea what is happening in the depths of my soul. And even my own family do not understand…”

“Nevertheless, I am with you moment by moment, because you have reached out for my strong hand.”

“My tears have flowed day and night, while unbelievers look at me and think, ‘Where is your God now…’”

“You shall answer for me, ‘The Lord is God!’”

“Why are you cast down, O my soul – and why are you so unsettled within me?”

“Hope in Me, your God! For you shall yet praise Him, who gives the very blush of health to your face.”

“No, the path I’m forced to walk is hidden from God…”

“I know the ways you must walk. All your ways are before me. As for Me, my way is perfect and I make your way perfect. The people never thirsted even when I led them through the desert. Will you faint, though I lead you through mist-clouded hills?”

When her inner struggle ceased, she looked again at the mist – and saw that a great light was growing in its very heart. At once, she knew that she was not alone. God was her refuge and strength, present with her, ready to help in times of trouble! (Psalm 46:1)

Suddenly, He was all about her path. He would make good on His promises of lovingkindness toward her, and He comforted her. He would not let any of her hopes be disappointed. Nor could she fear any longer, for those gloomy paths that lay ahead, through the folds of the hills, they were open ways before Him.

So it was enough for her to only see the next few steps. He would go before her and make His own footsteps a way for her to walk in! She was filled again with assurance: The One whom she followed could see through the mist all the way to the end of the path.

And as she walked the misted way, she was given a song to sing: “You, my Lord, never fail those who seek you…!”

As she walked and sang, others whom she did not see because the mist lay heavy all about her, heard her singing.

And though she did not know it, she gave many comfort and helped them follow in the path of His footsteps too – all the way to the end.

Prayer

My Father, is the mist around me really the advancing edge of your powerful storm, to drive away my enemies?

I know that you hear my voice when I call for help. Give me courage to stand, through all the gathering darkness, so that I can encourage others when your brightness is at last revealed.

Would you recognize Hitler...

...if he came in your generation?

A question runs through my mind: How can we claim to be on the side of light in reference to past crimes, if we cannot delineate between good and evil on this day, this very day?

Look at this video, where a modern leader leads the masses in mesmerizing chants: Death to Israel! Death to America!

Look at this video, where a passionate speaker sways the minds of his followers with a revised history and call for blood.

Look at these videos and ask, "Was it any clearer during Hitler's time -- this call for Jewish destruction?" Or was it even muddier then, with the Holocaust denied until the camps were discovered by the Allies? Indeed, morality is easy in hindsight, and these calls for Jewish destruction are far clearer than Hitler's... or Stalin's... in the death of tens of millions of Jews.

We will not be judged for another time. Neither will easy moralisms against evil in another time absolve us from the guilt of our own time. We will be judged for today, for where we stood when darkness offered the price in our own terms.

Look at these videos, and evaluate where you stand!

Selah.

Sad update: Meanwhile, Mike Wallace of CBS News calls Ahmadinegad smart, interesting and charming...at the same time referring to Israel as "that Zionist state." Unbelievable, yet real. Thus is evil enabled in our time. Hitler and Stalin had their charms, as does every mass murderer. Antichrist comes as a man of peace. Now we see just how such destroyers are feted, how they are excused: good called evil and evil good, on the basis of banalities, while millions of Jews, Christians and innocents die.

Testing whether that nation can long endure

High tide of the Confederacy ends at a stone wall
in a Pennsylvania field [Mort Kunstler painting]

The meaning of the 4th of July

In the hot afternoon sun of 3 July 1863, Federal troops turned back Pickett's final, desperate assault on the center of Union lines at Gettysburg. The smoke of the cannons blotted out the sun, turning it into an eerie red ball hanging in the summer sky; the thunder of shot and shell, cannister and exploding ordinance joined in incessant, deadly chorus with the crashing fire of muskets and rifles: souls streamed toward heaven's door from such battlefield destruction never seen before on human soil.

Waves of shot and shell ripped through the ripening wheat as the fixed, glistening lines of proud Confederate warriers marched through the valley of harvest: "There go the boys that will march through your lines!" one Conderate medic told a wounded Union prisoner. And march they did, to the very gates of hell it seemed, but not through Federal lines that day...

The attack crossed a mile of open field, enduring horrid casualties, briefly pierced the center line at the stone wall, wavered...then fell back: broken, blood poured out like water on shattered wheat -- once waving wheat now flattened under continuous cannon concussion, splattered with the blood of a divided nation.

But what did this fateful attack at Gettysburg mean? And how did it affect that glorious Independance declared 87 years earlier on July 4?

Had the attack succeeded, had Gettysburg ended in Confederate victory, Conderate General Robert E. Lee already had drawn up cease-fire partition plans to submit to President Lincoln in Washington. And such was the state of the war that such "seperate but equal" plan undoubtedly would have been supported by Congress: already Lincoln stood very alone in his resolve of a unified America free of slavery: a war-time President, he carried the weight of the war on his shoulders, to the constant vilification of media and political enemies.

The nation would have been split -- if not irrevocably, at least for a foreseeable future -- and all this would have meant for a world that so desperately needed a whole America.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand," said One who walked this human sod; and a divided house could not have stood against lurking totalitarian evil: the evil within our own national breast threatened our intended power against the evil that would sweep over the world a few decades later.

"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people," said the prophets.

There, in the rolling fields of Gettysburg, the result of sin was seen in spades -- surely angels wept in the shattered atmosphere, where souls lingered in silent tears. Yet mercy was also poured out with the valiant blood: a nation yet stood, Independence still meant light for the world. July 4 now meant far, far more to a fledgling nation, nation humbled under Almighty hand.

When word of Gettysburg [and Vicksburg] reached Lincoln on the 7th, he stood in the early evening of Washington, sober and humble. He spoke to gathered persons and reporters, but was so humble, and so overcome with emotion, that he could only speak a few sentences: he said something to the effect that such occasion demanded a speech so eloquent that he was not up to the task.

He knew the truth: a nation had been preserved.

And later, in his humility, he spoke words worthy of a day of Freedom, words only he could have written and spoken:

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battle field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Happy Independance Day, America!

May we never forget the meaning of July 4, and how this meaning has been measured and defended in blood on subsequent July 4ths -- a new birth of freedom. May we take renewed devotion to the task yet before us, pleading the grace of God!

And may we never lack in standing against evil in our own time, in our own hearts...

Selah.