Monday, July 4, 2011

"In God We Trust" - Happy 4th Of July To Our Great Nation

Reprint By LeAnn
 Each year we have the opportunity on the 4th of July to reflect on the freedoms we enjoy due to courageous men and woman who have fought and died for our liberty and our pursuit of happiness. We are so blessed to live in this country and we should never take it for granted.
In The Book of Mormon the people of that day were blessed to come to the Americas.The Lord covenanted with them that if they would be a righteous nation they  would have this promised land forever. Eventually, this blessed people became so wicked that they were destroyed an only a remnant of those people remained.
5." But, said he, notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the Lord God hath covenant with me should be a land for the inheritance of my seed. Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord.
6. Wherefore, I, Lehi prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.
7. Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring.
 And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever."
This is our promise land today. However, as in the time of the Nephites our nation is dwindling in unbelief."
 In the Book of Mormon; Helaman 11: 24, 26-27
24. ''A certain number of the dissenters from the people of Nephi who had some years before gone over unto the Lamanites, and taken upon themselves the name of the Lamanites and also a certain number who were real descendants of the Lamanites, being stirred up to anger by them, or by those dissenters, therefore they commenced a war with their brethren.
26. And thus in time, yea, even in the space of not many years, they became an exceedingly great band of robbers; and they did search out all the secret plans of Gadianton; and thus they became robbers of Gadianton.
27. Now behold, these robbers did make great havoc, yea, even great destruction among the people of Nephi, and also among the people of the Lamanites." 
"The Gadianton robbers of today with their secret combinations are the gangs, mafia, and perhaps even those that are in our present day financial, government, and political arenas. Our nation is no longer a God fearing nation. Many do not profess to believe in a God thus Evil abounds and Satan reigns.
In their day in Alma 43:45;
45. Nevertheless, the Nephites were inspired by a better cause, for they were not fighting for monarchy nor power but they were fighting for their homes and their liberties, their wives and their children, and their all, yea, for their  rites of worship and their church.

In Moroni's day as stated in Alma 46: 12-13; 16-17; 19-20  
12."And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it- In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children - and he fastened it upon the end of pole.
13. And he fastened it onto his head plate, and his breastplate, and his shields, and girded on his armor  about his loins; and he took the pole, which had on the end thereof his rent coat, (and he called it the Title of Liberty) and he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should be band of Christians remain to possess the land.
16. And therefore, at this time, Moroni prayed that the cause of the Christians, and the freedom of the land might be favored.
17. And it came to pass that when he had poured out his soul to God, he named all the land which was south of the land Desolation, yea, and in fine, all the land, both on the north and on the south - a chosen land, and the land of liberty.
19. And when Moroni had said these words, he went forth among the people, waving the rent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing which he had written up on the rent part, and crying with a loud voice saying: 20. Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them."

We have a Title of Liberty in our American flag of today. May it fly always over a free land. Here is the last verse from our National Anthem; "The Star Spangled Banner".
"Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand,
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that has made and preserved us as a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust";
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.''
We should all pray for this great country to be the land of the free and the home of the brave.

The following flag is modern rendition of Moroni's Title of Liberty!
"In God We Trust."



 96. I am so grateful for this great country; The United States of America.
 97. I am grateful for all the freedoms that we enjoy.
 98. I am grateful for all that have served in our Armed Forces.
 99. I am thankful for all those who have fought for these freedoms we enjoy.
100. I am thankful for all those who have given their lives for our country.
101. I am thankful for our American flag and all it represents. Every child should be taught of how to care and preserve this great flag.
102. I am thankful for the founding fathers who created the Declaration of Independence.
103. I am grateful for all of the work that our founding fathers did in creating our "The constitution of the United States of America.
104. I am grateful for our National Anthem; The Star "Spangled Banner."
104. I am grateful for Francis Scott Key who wrote this great Anthem during a very difficult time in the Revolutionary War. 
105. I am thankful for the 4th of July and the great celebration that we have every year to celebrate the birth of this great nation. 
106. I am thankful for every symbol that we have throughout our nation that gives thanks to God for preserving this great country.
107. I am thankful that we have a God in whom we can trust. 
108. I am so thankful that we have the "Pledge of Allegiance  To The Flag" and that we can place our hand over our heart in deep respect for this symbol.
109. I am grateful for the love that I know our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has for this great country. 
110. I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon which is a history of the people who processed this great land first as their promised land.






                   Living Well Wednesdays

12 comments:

Susan Anderson said...

Happy Independence Day, LeAnn.
We all need to remember to hold up that standard of liberty. Thanks for reminding us.

=)

Pitterle Postings said...

Wonderful post today!

Kim-A Creative Spirit said...

Check out my blog tomorrow for a surprise for you.

The WIlloughby Family said...

I always love your blogs!!! Thank you for sharing these thoughts. I too am grateful to live in this country!

The Adventurer said...

Great post to remind us all what it really means to be free:) Although I currently live in England and it is suppose to be a free country it is a socialist country and the government is very involved in all aspects of peoples lives. I never realized how lucky Americans have it until I lived here. Don't get me wrong we love it here but freedom here comes with strings:(

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

Oh, I always enjoy your posts too! We constantly keep our nation in our daily prayer. I am so grateful for those who risked their lives to declare independence and fight for our freedoms and for those who continue to serve our country today.

Just Ramblin' said...

This was a wonderful post. I am most grateful to live in this beautiful country. After spending some time in a third world country visiting my son, I was so grateful to return home and made a vow never to take for granted the freedoms we enjoy. As mentioned above, we constantly pray for this nation and its leaders. Nola

Pamela said...

In a world where liberty is limited, we should be thankful for each one who preserved and still preserve the freedom of our country. You have a beautiful list of thanks.

Blessings,
Pamela

Kim-A Creative Spirit said...

Thanks soooooo much for stopping by...I always love your comments.

Galen Pearl said...

Thank you for the Mormon perspective on our country's birthday. And for your gratitude list. Lovely post.

Darlene said...

I am so grateful that I live in this country. I am so glad to be an American. I love celebrating the 4th of July, even though our celebration was pretty much just here at home because I still wasn't quite well enough to go out. We did get to watch the fireworks from a great seat in our driveway and then went in to listen to the Boston Pops play all the wonderful patriotic songs that make me cry and to watch the great fireworks at the concert. They are pretty dramatic, even on T.V. I enjoyed your post very much LeAnn.

Darlene said...

I really did enjoy this post!