Good morning, dear ones.
I’m ready for an old man nap already. Thano and I attended an inspirational men’s meeting in Tualatin this morning. Now, after launching this devotional, maybe I can squeeze in a little nap—before I get ready to receive a guy hauling in a few logs for me to mill—then get ready to go this evening to the Clackamas County Jail with John Patrick.
Sorry about the oversize of this message. I don’t know what’s wrong with me—I just keep getting carried away. Hope you can handle it. If not, you can let me know.
Blessings on the rest of your day. Ray.
It seems that the only time I ever read anything from a newspaper is when I take one apart to use the paper for starting a fire in our wood stove—as I did this morning about 4:30am. The section of the paper I happened to be wadding up was a collection of tributes to various war veterans surrounding the November 11 Veterans Day theme. That seemed to grab my interest—so I laid the rest of that section aside to give closer attention after I had the fire started. I read several accounts of several vets, having served in several conflicts—World War II, Korea, Viet Nam, and Iraq. Some of the accounts are so emotionally moving that a tear from my eye nearly formed. The dedication, courage, and sacrifices of these special people make them, in my judgment, worthy role models and authentic war heroes who deserve honor.
A good deal of my recent meditation has flowed from pondering a promise Jesus made to His followers in John 16:33: “And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!” (The Passion Translation) I’m judging that it’s important that we underline this promise and embrace it along with all His other promises—rather than try to oppose it or think that we can circumvent it. The promise Jesus makes here is basically this: IN THIS FALLEN WORLD YOU WILL EXPERIENCE TROUBLE AND SORROWS. Guaranteed. No exceptions. Unavoidable. Therefore, all this trouble and heart ache that surrounds us in the form of war, disaster, accident, sickness, interpersonal conflict, and death should come as no surprise whatsoever—in fact they are right on schedule!
Please note that Jesus not only drops on us this unbecoming promise, but also graciously prescribes the one and only recipe for peace and victory. The key to it all is closely related to the themes of Psalm 23 and 100. If it is true that “we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (Ps 100:3, NIV)—very weak sheep at that—we become safe, secure, and victorious sheep ONLY by staying close to the Shepherd. That’s not only a point of wisdom—but our only hope for peace and victory. After all, Jesus backs up that promise with wonderful encouragement. Let’s hear it again—“…but you must be courageous, FOR I HAVE CONQUERED THE WORLD!” Therefore, my only hope for success and victory is to stay as close as I can to this TRANSCENDENT CONQUERING SHEPHERD AND HEAVY-WEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE UNIVERSE—confirmed in today’s reading as the one and only proven Victor over Satan. Wow! Talk about a war hero! Talk about a role model in this universal battlefield of spiritual warfare!...where you and I represent the territory desired by both kingdoms (Remember—only TWO kingdoms).
Consider once again the ancient battle report and our key to victory as recorded in Ephesians 6: “Put on God’s complete set of armor provided for us, so that you will be protected as you fight against the evil strategies of the accuser! Your hand-to-hand combat is not with human beings, but with the highest principalities and authorities operating in rebellion under the heavenly realms. For they are a powerful class of demon-gods and evil spirits that hold this dark world in bondage” (Eph. 6:10-12).