For Such A Time As This

It is always darkest

 just before the Day dawneth.

-Thomas Fuller

" The choice before us is plain:

Christ or chaos,

conviction or compromise,

discipline or disintegration.

I am rather tired of hearing

about our rights and privileges

as Americans.

The time is come

-it is now-

when we  ought to hear

about the duties and responsibilities 

of our citizenship.

America's future depends

upon her accepting and

demonstrating God's government."

 -Reverend Peter Marshall Sr.

GOD, give us men!
A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, 

true faith and ready hands,

Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office can not buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;

Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and in private thinking; 

For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps.

-Josiah Gilbert Holland 

 “A truly humble man is sensible 

of his natural distance from God; 

of his dependence on Him;

 of the insufficiency of 

his own power and wisdom; 

 and that it is by God's power 

that he is upheld and provided for,

 and that he needs God's wisdom

 to lead and guide him,

 and His might to enable him 

to do what he ought to do for Him.” 

-Reverend Jonathan Edwards

Has the year brought sadness?
Joy is yet in store.
Has it given gladness?
Next year giveth more.

Let your Father measure
All your pain and care,
Let Him weigh the burden
That your heart must bear,
Sending light or shadow
As He deemeth best,
For in His sure wisdom
You can safely rest.

Peace for all the morrows,
Strength for all the days,
These shall be your portion
Through the New Year's ways.

Annie Johnson Flint

If I can endure for this minute
Whatever is happening to me,
No matter how heavy my heart is
Or how dark the moment may be-

If I can remain calm and quiet
With all the world crashing about me,
Secure in the knowledge God loves me
When everyone else seems to doubt me-

If I can but keep on believing
What I know in my heart to be true,
That darkness will fade with the morning
And that this will pass away, too-

Then nothing in life can defeat me
For as long as this knowledge remains
I can suffer whatever is happening
For I know God will break all of the chains

That are binding me tight in the darkness
And trying to fill me with fear-
For there is no night without dawning
And I know that my morning is near.

-Helen Steiner Rice 

Sunrise at Virginia Beach

Virginia

 God is more concerned with our character

than with our achievements.

Achievements have importance only

in the realm of time.

Character is eternal.

It determines what we will be

through eternity.

-Derek Prince