How to Share Love in America (for Valentine's Day)

Stacie Stoelting is a Jesus-focused patriot who, with her sister, is on a mission to call America back to God. She and her sister are national recording artists, authors, and repeat "Fox News" guests. I thought she’d be perfect to share a special UPGRADE for Valentine’s Day!

“Every Valentine’s Day, the culture tries to shift our focus onto ourselves,” Stacie writes. “For instance, it tends to make us think, ‘How am I going to be happy on Valentine’s Day?’ That kind of focus is not what we, as believers, need to embrace.”

I (Dawn) appreciate Stacie’s redirecting of our thoughts here. I have personally encountered at least three people, just this week, who need a touch of God’s love—far beyond the “sentimental” love of Valentine’s Day.  

Stacie continues…

“Valentine’s Day can be a time to share God’s love with others and share Jesus with America…one neighborhood at a time. It’s an opportunity from God to do great things!”

Valentine’s Day presents major opportunities to share Jesus’ love at a prime time!

You see, as we know, Valentine’s Day catalyzes acute cases of loneliness at an epidemic rate in America.

The sufferers include a wide range of people:

• widows and widowers,
• divorced people,
• singles,
• military men and women serving away from home,
• unhappily married people, etc.

Again, this is an opportunity for Christians to share Jesus’ love and comfort!

I love this passage from II Corinthians 1:3-5 (ESV):

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”

The best way to love America is to love Americans with Christ’s love and love the Lord, who allowed America to be founded.

Look around you. In America, a lot of people’s hearts ache today. Be the deliverer of Christ’s comfort.

Let’s cover the main heart health troubles in America and answer them with God’s Word.

1. Are you lonely?

Jesus is with you.

In Matthew 28:20, Jesus Christ Himself said, “I am with you all the days (perpetually, uniformly, and on every occasion), to the [very] close and consummation of the age.”

2. Are you persecuted and rejected?  

He will help you shake the dust off your feet and enter new territory for His kingdom.

Jesus said, “And wherever they do not receive and accept and welcome you, when you leave that town shake off [even] the dust from your feet, as a testimony against them.” (Luke 9:5)

3. Are you afraid?

Let the Lord draw you close to Himself and carry you.

“Even to your old age I am He, and even to hair white with age will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry and will save you.” (Isaiah 46:4)  

4. Have you been forsaken by a person or group of people?

Embrace Christ and realize that He will never forsake you.

“…He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]” (Hebrews 13:5, AMP)

And now it’s your turn. Ask the Lord to bring someone to mind that needs to hear from you. 

• Perhaps it’s a veteran.
• Perhaps it’s a military family.
• Or could it be one of your loved ones with whom you’ve lost touch?

With prayer, share the truth in the preceding points and Scriptures with that person or group of people. Let us share about the One who binds up the wounds of the brokenhearted!

Again, to love America well, each of us must love our fellow Americans and our Lord, who allowed America to be founded in the first place.

Now, the real question remains: Near Valentine’s Day, will you share Christ’s love in America?

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). To receive prayer or learn more about how to know God, go to www.PrayingPals.org (“Know God” page). To learn more about the Stoelting sisters’ Christ-focused, patriotic mission, visit UnitetheUSA.org.

Graphic adapted, Image courtesy of supakitmod at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

America, It's Time to Pray: 'SOS, Jesus!'

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 4^th 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 4^th 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: 

• so much stress and so little happiness;
• so many activities, yet so many lonely families;
• so many fears and so little faith.

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