Memorial Day, in the United States of America, is set aside to honor all those in our Armed Services who paid the ultimate price of their life on the battle field for our freedom. We honor their memory and the memory of all who have served our country and are no longer with us. We pray for all those families and friends who are daily grieving the loss of their loved ones who died serving to keep us free. Memorial Day weekend was never to be just another three day weekend.
We respectfully remember the profound sacrifice of every service person throughout our history who served to keep us free. It is with deep gratitude and heartfelt thanks that we remember each of them today. We stand humbled by their willingness to put self aside for the safety of this Nation and her freedom.
May God Continue To Be Our Foundation
Today, we sadly see in this great Nation a denigration of the ideals that have made us great and kept us safe. Our Nation was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. God is the foundation upon which this Great Republic is established. Yet today, there is such an erosion of these ideals as foreign ideologies are given an open door to arise to attempt to forever displace our very roots as a Nation.
Personal integrity, respect and support of elected officials has all but vanished from our landscape. The youth protest our flag flying over our Universities. Immigrants want their country’s flag to fly rather than ours.
For those of us who are true patriotic Americans, we fly our flags with respect and honor and deep love of God and country. We place flags on the graves of Veterans throughout our land in respect for their ultimate sacrifice.
If…Then…
Again, this is not just another three day weekend. If you are new to this country, I extend to you a most heartfelt welcome. However, if you cannot, for whatever reason, embrace our ideals and serve to keep us free, then please go home. If you cannot respect our flag and fly it proudly, then please go home.
If you came here to be free from the tyranny of your native land yet continually speak division and disrespect of the way our democratic system works, then please go home. If you left wherever you came from to have a better life, know that that better life has been bought and paid for by the very lives of countless patriotic Americans! So, once again, if you cannot fully embrace our ideals and step up to serve, then please go home. America-Love It Or Leave It!
If you are a cradle American, remember, each of us has our roots elsewhere. If you are blessed to be an American, you live in the greatest country. You are afforded the greatest freedom. Your freedom was bought and paid for by countless Veterans throughout history who left their loved ones and the safety of home, put aside petty differences and rose up to put their very lives on the line on bloody battlefields throughout the world so you could have the freedom to voice your opinion.
If you are a cradle American and find it necessary to be part of the current division sweeping our land, then stop. If you cannot honor our Veterans’ sacrifices for you and honor this Nation, then please go elsewhere. If you are a cradle American and find this country so displeasing then please consider going elsewhere to live out your life. If you cannot rise to the occasion to love your country, faults and all, and step up in this season to support her and serve in her defense, then please consider going elsewhere. America-Love It Or Leave It!
If…Then…
“If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
Quotes to Ponder
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s own life for his friends.” Jesus, John 15:13
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12
“But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate-we cannot consecrate-we cannot 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.” ~President Abraham Lincoln, November 1863, Gettysburg Address
“We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom.” ~Dwight D. Eisenhower
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.” ~Douglas MacArthur
“The purpose of all war is ultimately peace.” ~St. Augustine
“The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.” ~ www.usflag.org/colors.html
“Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. ~By Section 110 of Article III. of the Constitution of the United States
“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man. Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.” President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, January 20, 1961 Inaugural Address
Please Join Me in Prayer
Father God, We thank You for the ultimate price that Jesus paid to set us free. We remember our fallen warriors and ask that Your peace descend on their families this day and always. Place deep in our heart the love of God and love of country that has guided our Nation from its inception. We thank You that You keep Your hand on this United States of America and that we will remain One Nation Under God. Raise each of us up in the fullness of our calling ‘for such a time as this.’ We pray this in Jesus’ mighty name. Amen and Amen.
