#Discerning My #Discipleship: Not Constant #Dissent, but more 'Another #Disciple of Saint #GeorgeWashington

In a post I did the other day (linked through |those words| below) I mentioned that Brother Kenneth Copeland indicated that fulfillment of certain prophecies was 'coming "due"'; but I got distracted by 'more-correctly translating the time-indicator(s)'---too distracted to focus on 'the only reason I wanted to share his message' ... the prayers over The United States of America (given beneath some of my studies' findings).

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 The word |Disciple| (Discipline) sits at the top of the tower built on the proto-word *kap- "to Grasp" (with a prefix Dis- "Apart") or the proto-word *dek- "to Take, Accept (as Pupils/Students/Followers do)."

The word |Discernment| sits at the top of the tower built on the proto-word *krei- "to Sieve (thus Discriminate, Distinguish)," evolving (with the prefix Dis- "Off, Away") through ancient words its meaning today. 

The word |Dissent| sits at the top of the tower built on ancient words that mean Differently (Dis-) + to Think, Feel (Sense)."

just like #Dissentpleship #Dissentple #Discerntment
 (I.E. #Discipline for #Discerning #Discipleship of
 #Dissenters, #Dissenting #Disciples) #Disciple #Dissent
 #Disciplines #Disciplined #Disciplining #Disciplinable
 #Disciplinarian #Disciplinary #Discerns #Discerned #Discernible
 #Dissented #Dissenter #Dissension

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Oh, I know George Washington wasn't exactly "a Saint" (he owned slaves, started The French & Indian War, didn't go to college, etc.), but he is upheld as 'the man won whom all other Presidents are supposed to model themselves.'

And one way they can model him? By keeping with- & maintaining the answers to-his prayers. First, there's "WASHINGTON'S PRAYERS FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" (from "George Washington to the States, 8 June 1783:" a circular written from Washington's military headquarters in Newburgh, NY, according to the Founders Online National Archives on May 25, 2023)

I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you and the State over which you preside, in his holy protection that he would incline the hearts of the Citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination & obedience to Government, to entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another, for their fellow Citizens of the United States at large and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field—and finally that he would most graciously be pleas’d to dispose us all to do Justice, to love mercy and to demean ourselves, with that Charity, humility & pacific temper of mind, which were the Characteristicks of the Divine Author of our blessed Religion & without an humble immitation of whose example in these things, we can never hope to be a happy Nation.

And another prayer (recorded in E.C. M'Guire's The Religious Opinions and Character of Washington (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1836) #170 p. 166

... Almighty Father, if it is thy holy will, that we shall obtain a place and a name among the nations of the earth, grant that we may be enabled to show our gratitude for thy goodness, by our endeavours to fear and obey thee. Bless us with wisdom in our councils, success in battle, and let all our victories be tempered with humanity. Endow also our enemies with enlightened minds, that they may become sensible of their injustice, and willing to restore our liberty and peace. Grant the petition of thy servant for the sake of Him whom thou hast called thy Beloved Son; nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. Amen.

---GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Lots of atheists like to attack Believers on the lie that Prayers are "theists' demands that God make miraculous things happen," when they're actually more like 'self-expression of "the way things are going" so that we can-change things as much as we can, -convince others to help us change those things, and -accept the things we cannot change.'

You can see that those are the kinds of prayers Washington gave---seeing that things were going the way he'd hoped they'd go, he encouraged his fellow citizen-leaders to guide the Nation further in that direction as much as they might.

The Spiritual Disciplines (and my 'Discerntment')



• Meditate on God's Word (I agree, but I don't agree with their implication that The Bible is God's Word; 'The Bible is God's Word' in the same way that 'The Globe on teacher's desk is the actual Earth.')
• Giving Thanks - Yes, it's good to be thankful for the things in your life; maybe that's why people imagine God is "magic Daddy in the Sky"—because it's a lot easier to be thankful when you imagine your gratitude is "a big 'thank you' you give to the person who gave you a gift." But the true God is not so simple. Just remember that the best 'Thanks' you can give God is in "using the gifts in following God's will for your life,"
• Prayer - Lots of Christians interpret 'prayer' as something like "asking God for special favors." I can see how it might be taken that way, but I pray to 'the God that is part-&-parcel with all of creation' (not 'the Magic Daddy in the Sky'); remember that Jesus told His disciples, "Speak unto this mountain (not 'ask Our Heavenly Father to move this mountain for you!').
• Giving - good habit
• Serving - also good
• Fasting - good way to remember that you never know where your true strength comes from

Satan is a master of disguise. Christians think he's 'The Enemy—the Adversary who's trying to destroy Our Heavenly Father יהוה (Yahweh/Jehovah),' but no; Satan's aim is to convince people that he is Our Heavenly Father יהוה!

I read this article that lists spiritual disciplines people need, and I ... I struggle to read it past the first point without dismissing the whole thing (with a comment I gave there and -which I'll put below). 

Because of a condition which we humans wish we could forget, but which persists: We Are Sheep. We convince ourselves that we are 'highly-intellectual' and 'fully aware of all the factors influencing our surroundings,' but ... the main reason that people believe in God is "because our minds can't rest until we assure ourselves that 'someone has everything under control.'"

But then, The Bible is written by humans. Oh, people will tell you it's "written by God" (as that is 'the way pastors hope you read it—like it's "God's letter written to you"'); but it's really more like 'some interesting writing that is so "inspired" that it must be "an idea given to the writer by God"' (much the same way science-fiction space-explorers are regarded as 'gods' by the primitive aliens who see them using advanced technology).

Yes, we are "sheep"; but God gives many of us "senses, reason and intellect," so some caution seems reasonable to me. If a leader tries to convince you to throw away God's gifts of 'senses, reason and intellect' in favor of "just doing what the Bible-teachers say," the leader is duped and is just another sheep leading you the way the conniving thief is leading you-all.

You avoid 'being misled' by testing the human interpretation!