ash heap of history

ACH Study Groups

Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders

7659 Gingerblossom Drive

Citrus Heights, CA 95621

916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com

www.ACHStudyGroups.com

September 17, 2013

This is a letter to our friends –

Flickers

Each morning at dawn, Fran and I share coffee at the table by the front window. For many years we have read through “The Bible In A Year”. It involves a section of the OT. NT, Psalms & Proverbs for each day of the year, Usually I will read the passages aloud (sometimes Fran reads). After reading we pray aloud about whatever is on our heart and may be on the day’s schedule. A great way to begin each day. We recommend it!

The other morning, during our prayer time, American government and our society were heavy upon my heart. I asked the Lord to forgive the nation for having so blatantly turned her back on Him. I reminded Him of everything He had invested over the centuries to teach men how to relate to Him and to one another.

It took Him 1620 years to make a Pilgrim!! After they landed and planted the seed of Christian self-government, it took another 150 years to create a nation that could illustrate His principles of civil-self-government to an astonished world.

In spite of our backsliding into a civil-war, the good fruit of that Christian form of government dwarfed the positive results of any other nation in human history!

Today, that system is still firmly in place. The words written on the paper of the Declaration and the Constitution have not been erased. “We the people” are the ones who have drifted away from our foundations. The rest of the world, even our enemies, are hoping, desperately, that we will wake up and get our act together.

If God’s illustration of civil-self-government fails and America dissolves into the ash heap of history, a sense of gloom will engulf the globe! So, my prayer, like Moses’ prayer over rebellious Israel, is, “Lord, if we fail, it will look as if your principles have failed. It will appear that men, even with YOUR help, are unable to govern themselves! Grant us mercy for your principles’ sake, rather than the justice we deserve. ”

Suddenly, I saw, in my mind’s eye, Ben & Fran sitting alone and quiet in prayer for America. A tiny flicker of prayer in the vast population of America. As I watched the picture, the Holy Spirit was gently blowing upon the flicker – Like one would do in camp to start a fire.

I continued watching. I could see flickers of prayer all across the nation. Praying as were we, for America. The flickers became flames nursed by the breath of the Holy Spirit. The flames burst into an inferno of answered prayers. Truth and righteousness swept through the continent. America was saved. The world rejoiced.

Scoffers may say, “It is far too late.” I reply, “It is never too late! I want to be found believing for God’s grace.”