From Now until Easter - So Shall I Be Saved from My Enemies

From Ash Wednesday until Easter, I will post from Lent and Easter devotionals offered online. Tonight's post is written by Brent Mulder, a chaplain in the United States Air Force, currently assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska.
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I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.

Psalm 18:1-3 NIV

This psalm is set in the context of war. “War is hell,” my late grandfather and World War II veteran once told me. He never said much more than this. War profoundly changes people. How can it not? The ones who survive certainly have reason to sing praises as David did. Many of their stories are remarkable and a bit unbelievable. I have been in war and heard these testimonies myself, first-hand. The most memorable one was from a soldier who had been shot in the head. It was not as bad as it sounds, though. The bullet hit his helmet and ricocheted off. He was obviously in shock, but he did not have any injuries, not even a concussion or traumatic brain injury. This soldier was so stunned and thankful that he could hardly speak. He just sat there, on the hospital bed, looking down at his helmet. I eagerly watched as he stared and felt the little indent and scratch mark. As a chaplain, it was good to know that another warfighter was safe that day.

As I wrapped up my shift, I rejoiced and said a prayer of thanksgiving for a God who saves people from their enemies. God still saves people from fatal bullets and charging insurgents. God still saves soldiers surrounded in battle with no way out. But God also saves people from less dramatic enemies outside the context of battlefield warfare, from enemies that are a bit more relatable, like divorce, financial ruin, a co-worker who seems to be “out to get them,” depression, addiction, and failure. Our God is a God of salvation.

Maybe we cannot relate to the war stories of victory, but this Lenten season, we can all draw near to the God who saved us—and is still saving us—from our enemies.

Prayer:

Dear God, 

                Thank You for miraculously saving people from their enemies. Thank You for miraculously saving me from my enemies. Teach me to always put my trust and hope in You. Continue to be my strength for the rest of my days. [In Jesus' Name we pray.] Amen.

Let It Grow! Let It Grow!

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
James 1:2-4 NLT

You know it's easy to serve the Lord when everything is going well. It's easy to be kind. It's easy to be loving. It's easy to be patient - in the good times. It's really easy to have great joy when everything's good. Would you agree?  

We've talked about it before - there are times I still struggle with considering troubles as opportunities for great joy. I can lose sight of the joy when the mountains of obstacles overwhelm me on every side. That is the test of our faith - the opportunity for our endurance to grow. (Some translations read patience for endurance.) So, how important is that, anyway, to let our endurance grow?

In Matthew 24:13, Jesus tells us just how important, But the one who endures to the end will be saved. I don't want to have made it this far only to give up when we're so close to the end, do you? As the writer of Hebrews exhorts us in 12:1, Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

So let's join with James, and Jesus, and the great cloud of witnesses, and do as Peter says, So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. (1st Peter 1:6 NLT)

Prayer:

Father,
          Thank You for the opportunities for great joy! Thank You for the faith-building endurance training. Thank You for strengthening us to to be able to endure to the end, just as You have said, so that we will be saved. Let us be found faithful to the end. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Losing to Gain

If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
Mark 8:35-37 NLT

What'd He say? Hang on and we lose it? Give it up and we keep it? It's the type of thing that confuses those who don't know Jesus as their Savior. Stuff like the last shall be first, and in our weakness He is strength, or like our text, If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. One of the best - Peace that passes all understanding. It makes no sense to the unbeliever. You really can't get a grasp on it until you have a hold on Jesus.

We're living in perilous times. I catch a lot of conversation from where I sit at work. People worry about everything - the country, their jobs,  their finances, their futures. They're worried about their homes being broken into and being robbed because the news and the Internet keep writing stories of increased robberies and burglaries. It's amazing to hear - it all revolves around money. You mess with people's money and it gets crazy. Of course, if the job (money) is their source for life, it's totally understandable. If that's all they have, what do they do? I don't know. I can't answer that.

That's another one of those wonderful things about the Lord. He is NOT diminished by interest rates or elections or world financial fiascos. He does NOT lose value in tough times or when the Dow tumbles. He is immoveable, unshakeable, Rock solid. You want a better interest rate? Increase your interest in Him. You want job security? He's always looking for workers. You want a financial institution that cannot be affected by today's market or some Fed in Washington? Matthew 6:19-21 NLT reads, (Jesus speaking), Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

How do you store up treasure in heaven? Matthew 19:21 tells us, Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me. So let's revisit today's text - If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. Losing to gain. That's upside down. However, if you want a sure thing - there's only One Way...Jesus.

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

Prayer:

Father,
             It's true, Your ways are not our ways. We don't always understand. But some things we don't have to understand. Lord, cause us to walk in obedience to Your Word - to walk by faith in You, rather than in what we see. Help our unbelief. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen