My prayer today for all of us on this July 4th - that we may seek the Lord with all our hearts. 
American Flag, July 4th, Real Freedom Upgrade Your Life Holidays, Revival Stacie Stoelting is a Jesus-focused patriot who, with her sister, is on a mission to call America back to God. I thought she’d be perfect to share a special Holiday UPGRADE for the 4th of July!
“Fireworks on the Fourth of July always get me excited,” Stacie writes. “I’m like a little kid about it! People around me always hear, ‘Oooh! Aaah!’ I just can’t help it.”
I (Dawn) love to join my family at July 4th celebrations too. It’s our privilege as free Americans. But Stacie encourages us to think about something else as we watch those fireworks.
She continues …
I’m a diehard patriot who still gets thrilled by the concepts of Independence Day.
But God Himself excites me more than anyone or anything else. And I believe that my fellow Christians and I need more “fire to do the works” of God.
We need simple prayer. Pure prayer. Prayer with a purpose to know and praise God Himself. I feel inspired when I read passages like Hosea 6:3 (NLT):
“Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”
When we feel depressed, we must choose faith and “press on” to know him. He will respond. We need only to pray –even if all we can muster are extra short prayers.
Recently, I prayed hard from my heart. In a moment of high stress, I simply prayed, “SOS, Jesus!” He helped me as only He could! And later it hit me: That’s what Christians in America need to pray.
As we observe Independence Day, America needs to declare independence from sins and pray, “SOS, Jesus!”
Our population suffers from being over-programmed and “under-prayed.” In America, there is:
Yes, in America’s churches, we see more flashy ads and less Spirit-led fire.
In addition to simply praying from the heart—a prayer like “SOS, Jesus!”—this SOS acronym can also help:
S: Stop sin. We need to stop the “facades for God” and be ourselves while praying hard from the heart.
As Billy Graham once said, "We must repent of our prayerlessness. We must make prayer our priority. Even our churches today have gotten away from prayer meetings."
O: Open your heart to Jesus as Savior and Lord. (If you haven’t done so, click here to learn more about how to know God personally.) Be willing to do His will.
No prayer substitute exists. Nowhere in the Scripture do we see a Christ follower told to “do more” and pray less. The essence of prayer is to come into God’s presence.
S: Start believing and praising God. Practice child-like faith.
I believe that the fireworks of faith in America can be revived because of one simple fact: Jesus remains alive. We must erase sin and chase after Jesus.
Yes, it’s as simple as SOS: Stop sin. Open your heart to Jesus. Start believing and praising Him in private and in public. Remember that we will "...see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory" (Mark 13:26). Hallelujah!
The next time you notice our country’s symbolic bald eagle, be reminded that “…they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, ESV).
Yes, let us “wait for the Lord” and “press on to know Him” – depending on Him for the fire to do His works in America and beyond!
Are you asking God for the “fire to do His works”? What would that look like in your life, if the fire fell?
Stacie Ruth Stoelting and her sister, Carrie Beth Stoelting, are recording artists and authors of the
book 
Unite the USA, recently endorsed by Mike Huckabee, Pat Boone, Rick Santorum (Patriot Voices), Tony Perkins (Family Research Counsel), and Mathew Staver (Liberty Counsel). Learn more about their Christ-focused, patriotic mission at UnitetheUSA.org and join their prayer group here.
Graphic in text, adapted: Image courtesy of nirots / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Fireworks, July 4th, Prayer, SOS Jesus, Stacie Ruth Stoelting, Upgrade with Dawn Upgrade Your Life Holidays, Prayer In this Attitudes UPGRADE, Dawn Wilson helps us think biblically about our anger issues.
Some things just tick me off.
Insensitive people. Liars. Bratty kids. Government overspending. Immodest women in Wal-Mart. People who stab me in the back.
In the past, when I felt my ire growing, I practiced the old adage, “When angry, count to 10.”
The only problem is, I vented a lot of inner anger in between 1 and 9. And inner anger can be just as destructive as the kind we allow to explode all over others.
Between 1 and 9, I knew I wasn’t much like Jesus.
The mishandled stress and bitterness poisoned my soul. So, what’s better than counting to 10?
Breathing … praying … forgiving … thanking.
(1) Breathing
OK… to be honest, when I’ve “counted” in the past, I slowed down and breathed. It was calming. But it needed to be more than a physical exercise. We need to be still in those moments and acknowledge the presence of God (Psalm 46:10).
Now, when a circumstance arises that threatens to tick me off, I breathe out the venom and breath in God’s prescription for peace. At that moment, I surrender to what God is doing, and yield my rights to the Holy Spirit.
I believe this is what Jesus did on the cross. He surrendered in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46), already determining He would not run from the plan to secure salvation for those who would believe. And indeed, He did not come down off the cross as His enemies “encouraged” Him to do with mocking remarks (Luke 23:37).
A surrendered soul is free to experience the tough things in life with sweet, inner peace. There may be a spark of protest, but it is quickly extinguished with the grace, love and forgiveness of Christ.
(2) Praying
One of the biggest heart changes for me—an action that turned reactions into responses—was to instantly pray (Philippians 4:6; Ephesians 6:18; Matthew 5:44). To pray for my offender. To pray for strength in my temptation. To pray for God’s grace in my time of need. Prayer turns our focus God-ward.
Try that when someone yells at you and you're tempted to react more like the devil than Jesus!
(3) Forgiving
I realized that we always have a choice to forgive (Colossians 3:13; Ephesians 4:32; Matthew 6:14). Rather than spewing angry words and bitterness that defile others, I can choose to cover them with kindness and pour out the love of Christ. Again, my heart attitude is God-ward rather than ruled by circumstances.
Try that next time someone cuts you off in traffic ... or takes your place in line ... or gets the praise you think you "deserve." Instant grace can be difficult, but it's a sign of spiritual maturity.
(4) Thanking
I’ll admit it. This one is tough. But the Bible says we’re to be thankful in all things (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
We thank God, not necessarily for the circumstance itself—although we might recognize how a situation causes us to stop and think and perhaps find a lesson in the pain—but that He will use even this tough thing to shape us and make us more like Christ. We acknowledge that God uses and redeems all things for His glory (Romans 8:28).
So, if it helps you, count to 10 when you’re ticked off, but don’t stop there. Practice these biblical responses—breathe, pray, forgive, and thank—and watch God flood your life with His peace.
What really ticks you off? Own your anger ... and then consider which of these biblical responses could best help you deal with it.
Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Ministries, is the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God, and Upgrade 
with Dawn. In these ministries and as President of the San Diego chapter of Network of Evangelical Women in MInistry (NEWIM San Diego), Dawn encourages, edifies and energizes women. She wrote "The Blessing Basket" in the new book, It's a God Thing. Dawn and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.
Anger, Attitudes, Count to 10, Emotions, Surrender, UpgradeWithDawn Upgrade Your Life Attitudes Melissa Edgington is a pastor's wife who writes about life with kids while living with kids—and that's quite a challenge for any mom! I appreciate her wisdom about family life; and in this post, she shares a 
Parenting Upgrade about preschoolers.
“Preschoolers can understand much deeper biblical concepts than we think," Melissa says. "The earlier we lay solid biblical foundations, the better."
I [Dawn] was blessed to serve in a revival ministry during my children's preschool years, and I know the blessing and power of teaching biblical truth early. The world will try to squeeze our children into its mold. We've got to start early!
Melissa continues:
I've compiled a list of six important truths we should be sure to teach our preschoolers.”
1. The Bible is God’s special book (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Psalm 119:105).
Preschoolers can learn from an early age that the Bible is not like other books. We can teach them that the Bible comes from God and teaches us important things about Him. We can open the pages of the Bible and let them touch it, so that they learn young that the Bible is for them, too.
When we talk about the Bible in these terms, we’re reinforcing the fact that the Bible is true and is the authority for our lives.
2. You and I are sinners (Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10).
Children already know that they do things they shouldn’t. But, we can put their bad behavior in different terms by talking about what sin is and why it matters to God.
Our church’s preschool teachers say: Sin is anything we think, say, or do that breaks God’s law.
3. Jesus died on a cross and came back to life (1 Peter 2:24; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
This concept is one that we often debate in our minds. Are we doing wrong when we tell our three-year-old a story that’s, well, let’s face it, bloody?
At this age, we can simply talk about how Jesus is God’s Son, how He died for us on a cross, and then God raised Him from the dead. It’s good for them to know the basic facts of what happened, even before they really understand the significance of what Jesus was doing on the cross that day.
4. The Bible is one big story (Genesis 3:14-15).
This is a concept many adults have never even been taught. But, it’s important for our children to understand that, even though we tend to study the Bible in small chunks (stories) on Sunday mornings, all of those smaller stories link together to form one big story of God’s great love, saving us from our sin through Jesus.
I recommend reading The Big Picture Story Book Bible with your children. It does a fantastic job of showing how Jesus is all over the Old Testament, too. It helps kids to get the “big picture” of God’s redemption plan.
5. Heaven is for real (John 14:3-4).
Because the Bible says so. And Hell is for real, too. We can talk in basic terms with our preschoolers about how Heaven is the place where we can go to be with God someday. It can be helpful to talk about Heaven in terms of someone you know who has passed away.
Most importantly, we should make sure that the kids know that doing good things doesn’t get you to Heaven. There is only one way to Heaven, and that way is believing in Jesus.
6. God keeps His promises (Deuteronomy 7:9).
Even our very youngest charges can understand the idea that God is good and He tells the truth. God follows through. When He promised He would send a redeemer, He did it.
And, we can trust His other promises, knowing that God is “working all things together for the good of those who love Him."
When we teach our preschoolers well, we help them combat the wrong thinking that will come their way. It’s never too early to lead our babies to the truth.
Do you have preschoolers? What is your biggest challenge in teaching them the truth of scripture? How has God blessed you (and them) in teaching them biblical truth?
Melissa Edgington is a pastor’s wife and mom of three young children. She writes about motherhood and the Christian life at Your Mom Has a Blog.
Biblical Truth for Preschoolers, Melissa Edgington, Parenting, Preschoolers, Upgrade with Dawn Upgrade Your Life Parenting, Spiritual Growth Twila Belk’s positive attitude encourages others to look to Jesus. In this Attitude UPGRADE, the author/speaker shares her approach to dealing with fears.
“Whatever we focus on becomes magnified in our minds,” Twila says. “If we concentrate on our 
fears, they overwhelm us.”
Fears come and go, and I (Dawn) likely have as many fears as you do. We can’t stop the thoughts of fear from entering our minds, but we don’t have to let them take up residence!
Twila continues …
Sometimes we become so absorbed in the problems that produce these and similar questions, we can’t think about anything else. We dread the unknown.
During those times, a shift in focus is necessary. We need to fix our eyes—on God.
When we have complications seeing, we might fix our eyesight with a product called Artificial Tears.
When our spiritual vision is obscured, and we can’t imagine anything but trouble, the best remedy is T-E-A-R-S.
Let me explain what I mean.
T – TRUST. Trust is the opposite of fear.
Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust God with ALL our heart. We’re supposed to acknowledge Him in ALL our ways. If we do that, He promises to direct our paths—to take care of us. We’re not left to flounder on our own.
The better we know Him, the easier it is to trust Him.
E – ETERNAL-MINDEDNESS. In 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, we’re encouraged to fix our eyes not on what we see—the difficulties surrounding us—but on what we don’t see. The visible things are temporary and changing, but God and His promises are eternal.
If our hope is in Christ, we can endure the here and now through God’s bubble of grace, knowing that the best is yet to come.
A – ABIDE. Psalm 91:1 says, “He (she) who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”
To me, that’s a picture of crawling up on the Father’s lap and resting in His warm embrace. There we express our intimate thoughts to Him, pour out our hearts, and share what’s bothering us. As we’re on his lap, we hear his heartbeat and realize that it’s beating for us. With every pulsation we’re reminded how special we are to Him, how big He is, and that He has everything under control.
In the arms of our loving Father is the safest and most comfortable place to be.
R – REMEMBER. We easily become forgetful when face-to-face with adversity. The things we know to be true about God go by the wayside.
That’s why we need to continually rehearse His goodness and faithfulness. When we remember what God has done for us (or others) in the past, we can trust Him for today and tomorrow.
S – SET. David says in Psalm 16:8, “I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I won’t be shaken.”
Here’s how we can set the Lord always before us:
I’ve learned that my circumstances don’t change who God is; they show me who God is.
When I apply T-E-A-R-S to my tribulations, I see clearly that God’s presence, power, and provision are all I need. I pray you’ll discover that as well.
Do you have a nagging fear? How might you apply the T-E-A-R-S concept to that fear?
Twila Belk—aka The Gotta Tell Somebody Gal—is a writer and speaker who 
loves braggin’ on God. She’s written or co-written five books, contributed to several others, and recently started work on a new project, Raindrops from Heaven, that will release early next year. To learn more about Twila, including her newest title, I Believe in Heaven: Real Stories from the Bible, History and Today, visit her website, www.gottatellsomebody.com.
Abiding, Eternal Focus, Facing Fear, Faith, Fear, Twila Belk, Upgrade with Dawn Upgrade Your Life Attitudes, Spiritual Growth 
