It was almost one o’clock in the morning when the phone range in the Winters’ home. Dr. Leon Winter, the highly acclaimed Chicago surgeon, was awakened with a start.

Tonight it was a young boy, they said, tragically mangled in a late night accident. Couldn’t someone else handle it? Not this time. This time his hands were possibly the only ones in the city, or maybe in the whole region, which were skilled enough to save.

The quickest route happened to be through a rather rough area, but with time being a critical factor, it was worth the risk. He almost made it through the worst of the neighborhood. Almost. Then, at a stop light, his door was jerked open by a man in a gray hat and a dirty flannel shirt. “I’ve got to have your car!” the man screamed, pulling him from his seat. Winters tried explaining the gravity of his situation, but the man was not listening.

The doctor wandered for over 45 minutes looking for a phone. When the taxi finally got him to the hospital, over an hour had passed. He burst through the doors and into the nurses’ station, but the nurse on duty only shook her head. Too late. The boy had just died about 30 minutes earlier. “His dad got here just before he died,” the nurse told him. He is in the chapel. Go see him, would you? He is awfully confused. He could not understand why you never came.”

Without explaining, Dr. Winters walked hurriedly down the hall and quietly entered the chapel. At the front knelt the huddled form of a weeping father, in a gray hat and a dirty flannel shirt. Tragically, he had pushed from his life the only one who could save.

How many today are pushing from their lives the only One who can save? (Copied)

At our weekly Bible study in a local retirement village this week I taught from Psalm 116:12, “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?” Wow! That opens up enough stuff to keep our mind busy for hours.   As we celebrate the birth of our nation I want to encourage you to think about all the many benefits you have as a result of God’s blessings on America. I’m tempted to start the list for you, but you need to do that for yourself. It might not hurt if you get a pen and paper so you can jot down those things that come to mind. It’s easy to see that we are blessed indeed—let us then be thankful!   The Psalmist was able to overcome his disappointments by keeping his focus on God and His blessings. You can do the same. As you meditate on your numerous blessings I want you to consider four things: They are (1) unlimited,(2) unsurpassed,(3) unending, and (4) undeserved. Pay especially close attention to that last one–“undeserved”. None of us are earning our way with God. All we have is the result of His grace.   If read this Psalm you will see that the writer was provoked to faithful service by his appreciation for God’s benefits. He even promised to pay his vows, promptly and publicaly. This would be a good time for all of us to do the same. As you reflect on God’s blessings, I hope your concluding remark will be, as it was with the Psalmist, “Praise ye the LORD.”

Lord Jesus, thou who art the way, the truth, and the life; hear us as we pray for the truth that shall make all free. Teach us that liberty is not only to be loved but also to be lived. Liberty is too precious a thing to be buried in books. It costs too much to be hoarded. Help us see that our liberty is not the right to do as we please, but the opportunity to please to do what is right.

Peter Marshall, Before the U.S. Senate

Although this message was delivered some years ago, the significance of what you will read is timeless. We are seeing an unprecedented crisis in this country and around the globe. So what is our part? It is time to seek God and ask for a miracle!

God blessed the nation of Israel. God has blessed the nation of America. There are principles and parallels in our heritages that the discerning eye can see and the ready heart can apply.

Grave National Danger

Psalm 80:12 says, “Why hast Thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?” Here was a vineyard, divinely planted, divinely protected, and divinely prospered, then suddenly God removed the hedge. Anyone who came by could now pluck the fruit off the vines.

Do you see any similarity with what is happening in America? Our adversaries are plucking our fruit – we are disintegrating before our eyes. There is an external danger but also an internal danger.

Something is happening in America that is very un-American. America is tottering. And I am not talking about the danger we could experience from external forces. Instead, we are experiencing internal danger.

I do not believe that America can hold back the hand of God’s righteous intervention much longer. This nation has become so immoral, corrupt, and vile that I believe we are ripe for God’s judgment.

And for that I believe God’s judgment of external danger is imminent. Now, not only is there external and internal danger, but there is also eternal danger. The vine has been cut down. Psalm 80:14-16 says,

Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; And the vineyard which Thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that Thou madest strong for Thyself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of Thy countenance.

Now, the great wrath of God has been manifest in the vineyard. This may come as news to you, but I want you to understand that not only is God our only hope, but God is also our biggest threat.

The acts of God’s judgment – the fire to burn the vine, the ax laid to the very root – are not only probable events, but as we have seen in history these are also real events. We have no right to believe that God is going to let this nation endure unless we have a national revival.

I believe we are no longer standing at the waterline, we are knee-deep in the waters of the wading pool of God’s judgment. And it is time that America repents.

Great National Despair

What is it that so grieves my heart? First, it is the spiritual sterility of our country. People say we need to pray, and we do. But, don’t think God is pleased every time someone prays. Sometimes when people pray, God gets angry. Psalm 80:4 says, “O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt Thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people?”

The prayers of a wicked, unrepentant people only move God to anger. Religion without righteousness is repugnant to God. Right now, the cesspool of iniquity is overflowing in America. It’s a wonder He doesn’t blot us off the face of the earth!

On top of the spiritual sterility I see in our country, there is personal sorrow. Israel was baptized in salty tears. America will, as well. Sorrow follows sin like night follows day. Psalm 80:5 says, “Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.” We cannot flaunt God and prosper.

We seek peace, but we’ll not have it until we have an alliance with the Prince of Peace. Proverbs 29:2 says, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” I wonder how high the price is going to be that we will pay – how large the oceans of tears and rivers of blood?

The once mighty God-blessed America has become a laughing stock in many respects to the world. Now, I’m not saying we should not be patriotic and think we are a great nation. But, I believe the Bible when it says: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom He hath chosen for His own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12).

Well, is there hope for America? Yes. Can there be a way in these last days? Absolutely. There was a gracious national deliverance for Israel, and there may be one for us.  (By Adrian Rogers)

Then Naomi her mother-in-law said unto her, “My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee?”

–Ruth 3:1

Maybe you’ve experienced tragic disappointment in your life. Naomi could relate. She was uprooted from her home and lost her husband and her sons. Life’s troubles had darkened her spirit and turned her bitter.

But I’d like to remind you what Naomi did in the midst of her state of depression. In fact, it’s one thing that helped get her out from under the dark cloud of bitterness she was living in:

Naomi stopped thinking about herself and started thinking about someone else.

I don’t know where you may find yourself today, but if you’re down, I have a word for you: If you can get outside of yourself and start serving others, you will find any depression you have will begin to lift.

If you’re discouraged today, I encourage you to get interested in someone else! Get involved in your church. Adopt a family or find a child that you can share a gift with.

And certainly it’s important to share your faith. Nothing will lift your spirits and enliven your heart like sharing the Good News with someone who needs to hear it!

When you’re discouraged or depressed, the best thing you can do is to get your mind on the Lord Jesus Christ… to worship Him, to look to Him, to speak to Him, to open your Bible, and to ask the Spirit of God to mend your broken heart.

And when you will do that, watch God begin to restore and replenish and refresh your despondent spirit. To move your life from bitterness… to blessing.

BLESS SOMEONE ELSE TODAY. WHEN YOU OFFER A SMILE, A CUP OF COFFEE, OR PRAYER OF ENCOURAGEMENT, YOUR SPIRITS WILL BE LIFTED!

—By Dr. Jack Graham