The American Soul
The American Soul
The Divine Blueprint for a Nation's Healing
Finding time for God daily strengthens our relationships with Him and others, especially our marriages. When we neglect prayer and scripture, we experience disconnection and disarray in our spiritual lives.
• Examining our roles as spouses from God's perspective rather than focusing on our partner's shortcomings
• Through Christ and faith in Him, we can approach God boldly and confidently
• Scripture readings from Ephesians 3, Psalm 68, and Proverbs 24 emphasize God's love and presence
• Historical perspective from John and Abigail Adams highlights the importance of biblical principles in leadership
• America's recovery requires returning God, the Bible, and Jesus Christ to the center of our nation, education, and families
• Medal of Honor recipient James Bennett Bell demonstrates perseverance and sacrifice
For children's reading similar to Narnia or Harry Potter, check out my book series "Countryside" available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, with the Kindle version of the first book currently available for 99 cents.
The American Soul Podcast
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hey folks, this is jesse co, back with another episode of the american soul podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are and whatever part of the day you're in. I sure do appreciate you joining me, giving me a little bit of your time and a little piece of your day, a little bit of your attention. I will try and use it wisely. For those of y'all who continue to support and encourage the podcast, tell others about it. Thank you for those of y'all who continue to pray for me and for the podcast, thank you very much, very grateful for your prayers. Need them, obviously, father. Thank you for today. Thank you for you, father, father and your Son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace and your forgiveness of sin, for all the many blessings you bestow upon us as individuals and as a nation. Forgive us our lack of gratitude. Forgive us when we take your blessings for granted or when we pretend like they're due to our own efforts or skill or goodness. Help us to do your will above all else, to love your son Jesus Christ and to follow his commands, to love you with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Thank you for the time to record this podcast. Thank you for the people that listen to it. Please be with them, father, wherever they are, comfort them, ease any pain or heartache that they may be feeling. Help them to know how much you care about them, how much you love them. Be with our leaders, both in the state and the church and the pulpit. Give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Help them to lead in fear of you, father, and not in fear of man. Help us to walk humbly with you, father. Help us to love mercy and help us to act justly. And please guide my words here today, father. In the name of your Son, jesus Christ, we ask and pray Amen. Have you made time for God today? Have you made time to read his word? Have you made time to pray, to talk to him, to listen to him?
Speaker 1:I've been struggling with that lately. Not the listening part I always struggle with that, as I've told you all before but just my prayer life has been a little less than it should be of late, and I think I'm feeling that kind of in a sense of disarray or disconnectedness. Disarray or disconnectedness. Do we make time, though, for God each day and with our spouse, do we make time for them? I was talking to a good friend of mine that puts it lightly and we got to talking about this and that and eventually the topic of marriage came up and he asked a question in a way. You know, he said no-transcript Do we really follow our roles as a husband or a wife? And I know we talk about it on the podcast each day. But I wonder how often we really ask ourselves that question, how often we look in the mirror and say, hey, have I really done what I'm supposed to do today? Am I really pursuing my spouse in the way that God tells me to, following my roles and responsibilities, not being concerned about whether our spouses folks, just about whether we are? Are we doing the job that we're supposed to be doing according to God and Jesus Christ? And I know, at least for myself, I need to ask that question more often, on a day-to-day basis, at least in that way, at least in that way.
Speaker 1:Ephesians, chapter 3, verses 1 through 21. When I think of all this, I Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the benefit of you Gentiles, assuming, by the way, that you know, god gave me the special responsibility of extending His grace to you, gentiles. As I briefly wrote earlier, god Himself revealed His mysterious plan to me. God Himself revealed His mysterious plan to me. As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now, by His Spirit, he has revealed it to His holy apostles and prophets, and this is God's plan. Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the good news share equally in the riches inherited by God's children. Both are part of the same body and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.
Speaker 1:By God's grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving Him by spreading this good news. Though I am the least deserving of all God's people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning. God's purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus, our Lord. Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence.
Speaker 1:So please don't lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored. When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts. As you trust in him, your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ. Though it is too great to understand fully, then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now, all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus, through all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Psalm 68, verses 1 through 18. Rise up, o God, and scatter your enemies, let those who hate God run for their lives. Blow them away like smoke, melt them like wax in a fire. Let the wicked perish in the presence of God. But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God's presence, let them be filled with joy. Sing praises to God and to his name. Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the Lord. Rejoice in his presence. Father to the fatherless, defender of widows, this is God whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families. He sets the prisoners free and gives them joy. But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. O God, when you led your people out from Egypt, when you marched through the dry wasteland, the earth trembled and the heavens poured down rain. Before you, the God of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel, you sent abundant rain, o God, to refresh the weary land. There your people finally settled, and with a bountiful harvest, o God, you provided for your needy people. The Lord gives the word and a great army brings the good news. Enemy kings and their armies flee, while the women of Israel divide the plunder. Even those who lived among the sheepfolds found treasures Doves with wings of silver and feathers of gold. The Almighty scattered the enemy kings like a blowing snowstorm on Mount Zalman. The mountains of Bashan are majestic, with many peaks stretching high into the sky. Why do you look with envy, o rugged mountains, at Mount Zion, where God has chosen to live, where the Lord himself will live forever, surrounded by unnumbered thousands of chariots? The Lord came from Mount Sinai into his sanctuary. When you ascended to the heights, you led a crowd of captives. You received gifts from the people. Proverbs 24, verses 1 through 2. Don't envy evil people or desire their company, for their hot hearts plot violence and their words always stir up trouble. You go back to Ephesians, chapter 3. Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God's presence. So please don't lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored. It's nothing more or less than our faith in Christ, and because of Christ we can go boldly to God. You go back over. You go to verse 20, now, all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power, to work at, work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Do we really go to God in confidence? Because of Jesus Christ, not because of anything we have done.
Speaker 1:Medal of Honor for today. James Bennett Bell, sergeant US Civil War Hotel Company, 11th Ohio Infantry, us Army. Date 25 November 1863, place Missionary Ridge, tennessee, usa, though severely wounded, was first of his regiment on the summit of the ridge, planted his color inside the enemy's works and did not leave the field until after he had been wounded five times. Accredited to Troy, miami County, ohio. Not awarded, posthumously Presented 9 October 1907. Born August 9, 1835. Branott, ohio. Died June 30, 1910, elkhart, indiana. Buried Gettysburg Cemetery 132-3 Gettysburg, ohio, united States. James Bennett Bell, you notice that the Medal of Honor wasn't awarded until 1907 or presented, and he died three years after that.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, folks, the things, even things we deserve, don't come for a long time, and that's another pretty good reason to trust in God and Jesus Christ and their timing and their plan, and not ours. Talking to myself there, obviously as much as any of y'all Abigail Adams writing to her husband 8 February 1797. Husband, 8 February 1797, when he was elected the second president of the United States, you have this day to declare yourself head of a nation. And now, o Lord, my God, thou hast made thy servant ruler over thy people. Give unto him an understanding heart, that he may know how to go out and come in before this great people, that he may discern between good and bad. For who is able to judge this? Thy so great a people Were the words of a royal sovereign, and not less applicable to him, who is invested with the chief magistracy of a nation, though he wear not a crown nor robes of royalty. Though personally absent, my petitions to heaven are that the things which make for peace may not be hidden from your eyes, that the things which make for peace may not be hidden from your eyes, that you may be enabled to discharge them with honor to yourself, with justice and impartiality to your country and with satisfaction to this great people. So be the daily prayer of your Abigail Adams. Great, great love story.
Speaker 1:There again, folks, if you haven't had a chance to read about John and Abigail Adams John Adams, this is a diary entry from 22 February 1756. Suppose a nation in some distant religion or region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. Every member would be obliged, in conscience, to temperance, frugality and industry. In conscience, to temperance, frugality and industry, to justice, kindness and charity towards his fellow men, and to piety, love and reverence toward Almighty God. What a utopia, what a paradise would this region be. We can't expect perfection here on earth, folks, but that doesn't mean we can't strive for it. And the only way to strive for it for any society across any part of the globe, is to put God and the Bible and the principles of Jesus Christ at the center of their nation. That's the only way. There is no other way. If we have any hope of America recovering, we have to put God and the Bible and Jesus Christ back in the center of our nation, of our education, of our culture, of our institutions, of our marriages, of our families, of our individual lives. That is the only path. Again, if y'all are looking for something for kids or grandkids to read along the lines of Narnia, the Hobbit, percy Jackson, harry Potter, that kind of stuff I wrote a book a few years back and if you get a chance and you can check it out, I would appreciate it.
Speaker 1:And if you enjoy it, if you'd leave a review, I'd appreciate that Also. It's called Countryside. There's two books so far in the series. You can buy them on Amazon, barnes, noble, pretty much anywhere. Any bookstore ought to be able to get them. Barnes, noble pretty much anywhere. Any bookstore ought to be able to get them. You can buy the Kindle version right now on Amazon of the first book for 99 cents. If you have a Kindle reader, but they also have paperback and hardback, I would appreciate it. God bless you all. God bless your families. God bless your marriages. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world. God bless America. We'll talk to you all again real soon. Folks Looking forward to it.