It appears that, for the majority in the USA, Jesus is Savior no more. Even though the Supreme Court ruled against taking down the cross, citizens continue to remove Christ from their view (Referenced in South Carolina city news article on 7/25/2019.)
In the midst of all this public discord, we need to be Christians who are “makers and maintainers of peace” – actual peacemakers. Too many are just parrots mimicking what is said and done around us, supporting these “memorial scrubbers”.
Amplified Bible (AMP) version
Matthew 5:9
“Blessed
[spiritually calm with life-joy in God’s favor]
are the makers and maintainers of peace,
for they will
[express His character and]
be called the sons of God.
Are you able to be a “peacemaker”? What’s your life like? Do you have what it takes – for peace to happen through you?
According to Jesus in Matthew 5:9 – we need to “express His character“. God is peace. And we should be characterized by that same peace. That is what we children of God produce through the way we live and act and have our being (Acts 17:28a).
New International Version (NIV)
Acts 17:28
For in him we live and move and have our being.
How do you “live and move and have your being“? It’s all about being Christ’s love, day in and day out. You making peace – or sowing discord, making a difference – or being pulled this way and that way by non-believers around you? (Ephesians 4:14)
Ephesians 3:verses 16-18 Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith.
And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, 18 be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]
FOR MORE:
Ephesians 3:14-21 Amplified Bible (AMP)
14 For this reason [grasping the greatness of this plan by which Jews and Gentiles are joined together in Christ] I bow my knees [in reverence] before the Father [of our Lord Jesus Christ], 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name [God—the first and ultimate Father]. 16 May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, 18 be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; 19 and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].
20 Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen.
South Carolina city news article on 7/25/2019:
“We won the case at the Supreme Court just last month — The American Legion v. American Humanist Association,” Sasser told Fox News, referencing the 7-2 decision that allowed the Bladensburg Peace Cross war memorial to stand on public land. “The country is now free from the memorial scrubbers,” Sasser noted.
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