Thomas Nelson - Seeing God in America: Devotions from 100 Favorite Places

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Seeing God in America

2015 by Thomas Nelson

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Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked PHILLIPS are taken from J. B. Phillips: THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH, Revised Edition. J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. Scripture quotations marked TLB are taken from The Living Bible. 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from THE NEW KING JAMES VERSION. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from THE ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION. 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE. The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from Holman Christian Standard Bible. 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7180-3660-7

ISBN-13: 978-0-7180-3661-4 (eBook)

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Contents

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it. He was afraid and said, How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.

GENESIS 28:1617

W hen Jacob opened his eyes at sunrise in his sheltered camping spot, the first thing he remembered was the vision that had come to him in the middle of the night. If he lived to be 147 (and he did), he would never forget it. Hed seen a grand stairway resting on the earth near his little camping spot, with the stairs winding up, high through the night sky into the wonder of heaven. God Himself had been standing at the top of the stairway, and countless magnificent angels had been walking up and down the stairs.

Jacob was stunned and shaken by what he had experienced. It was more than a dream; he knew he had seen something real. God had been in that placeand he hadnt even realized it.

When he had curled up in his cloak to sleep that night, it had seemed like a perfectly ordinary camping spot. Grass, trees, rocks, crickets, a whisper of wind in the treetops, and a few drowsy night birds. But now... after he had seen God in that place, with angels coming and going on the golden stairs, it could never be ordinary again. This wasnt just a random tent site under some trees; it was the very gate of heaven!

What Jacob discovered in the land of Canaan we can discover in America as well. If we catch a glimpse of heaven and experience Gods nearness in the places we travel and explore, those places will never again seem ordinary to us. Instead, they will be threaded through with memories of walking and conversing with Him. We wont be just seeing America, we will be seeing God in America. And that is a very different proposition.

This little book is like looking through a keyhole at some of the loveliest, most intriguing, awe-inspiring corners of our much-loved nation. Youll see quick glimpses of all fifty states, highlighting some of the most unforgettable cities and towns, panoramic vistas and natural wonders, boundless parks, and scenic highways that seem to ride the top of the world. From the dancing northern lights on a clear arctic night in Anchorage, to the mysterious glowing white sand dunes of southern New Mexico, to the color-splashed autumn hills of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina... No matter which of these places you explore for yourself, God has already traveled ahead of you, scoped out the details, and prepared for your arrival.

Every corner of America and everywhere you go can be a gate of heaven, if you have eyes to see it. With Jacob, youll find yourself saying, How awesome is this place!

For my people have done two evil things: They have abandoned methe fountain of living water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!

JEREMIAH 2:13 NLT

B ack in 1893, the Kansas City Humane Society built the citys first fountain on the corner of Third and Minnesota. It wasnt supposed to be aesthetic. In fact, it was a large square pedestal with four small pools for the benefit of thirsty dogs and horses. People liked it too, however, and somehow the idea of Kansas City fountains caught on and kept growing through the 1890s. The first city-built fountain was dedicated in 1899, at a cost of $12,000. Fountain-building, with its decorative statuary, surged in the 1920s, and building has continued throughout the citys history. Today, fountains form part of Kansas Citys identity and honor many of its prominent citizens. While the city itself has two hundred fountains in the Metropolitan area, that number doesnt include hundreds more found on corporate and private property. Only Rome, it is said, has more fountains than Kansas City.

Fountains bring beauty and life to any city. In Scripture, God refers to Himself as the fountain of living water (Jer. 2:13 NLT). Jesus said, Those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life (John 4:14 NLT). Water, then, is a picture of lifeeternal life in heaven and abundant life here on earth. And no matter what our world or culture might tell us, God is the only Source of that life. He is the Fountain, the Headwaters, the Artesian Spring. In Jeremiahs day, people were turning away from God, looking for life in themselves, in their pleasures, in traditions, and in false gods. But all of these attempts were like carrying water in a leaky bucket, and real life just slipped away from them. Its the same with us. We can become preoccupied with many good thingscareers, hobbies, politics, recreation, sports, family, and even church responsibilitiesbut the true source of life never changes. Unless we draw life every day from Jesus, we begin to dry up inside and have little to offer anyone.