Battle Drill #20:

Be a Hope-Bearer!

Proverbs 13:12-17 (NAS95)

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Be a Hope-Bearer!”

In a recent news article, the author explained the importance of teaching your children the practical life skills of hope, a timely reminder since we are living in a world filled with hopelessness and darkness:

Research shows that hopefulness can dramatically reduce childhood anxiety and depression. Hopeful kids have an inner sense of control. They view challenges and obstacles as temporary and able to be overcome, so they are more likely to thrive and help others. Yet despite its immense power, hope is largely excluded from our parenting agendas. The good news? Hope is teachable. One of the best ways to increase this strength is by equipping children with skills to handle life’s inevitable bumps.[1]

The article continues with “nine science-backed ways to help kids maintain hope.” Those ideas include the following: stop negativity in the moment, share hopeful news, celebrate small gains, create gratitude rituals, and embrace service opportunities. I must point out to you that these “science-backed ways” all find their origin in the Bible; therefore, I am going to give you a Proverbs-backed battle drill that encourages you to train yourself everyday to be a hope-bearer.

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.

The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 13:12-17:

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life. The one who despises the word will be in debt to it, but the one who fears the commandment will be rewarded. The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn aside from the snares of death. Good understanding produces favor, but the way of the treacherous is hard. Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool displays folly. A wicked messenger falls into adversity, but a faithful envoy brings healing.

To better understand how I am applying this Scripture, you need to hear these verses in their context, as a part of the whole of Proverbs 13. This is what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

It is not God’s will that you become a jaded, cranky doomsdayer. Rather, it’s God’s will that you become a loving, patient hope-bearer! So, let’s get to the heart of this very real human experience. The biblical concept of hope is linguistically and thematically connected to waiting on the Lord. An example of this is found in Isaiah 40:31, “Yet those who wait for [hope in] the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” The “wait for” and “hope in” are interchangeable; both translations are found in the same Hebrew word, “Qavah” (קָוָה), which has an original connotation of twisting or stretching.^[2]

How’s this for a new translation of Isaiah 40:31, “Yet those who are stretched by the Lord will gain new strength…” In response to that, maybe we should write a new Beatitude: “Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape.” Or “Blessed are those who are stretchable, for they shall not snap!” In returning to the soldier imagery of our sermon series, many a military person has expressed a common parody of the US Marine’s motto, “Semper Fi: Always Faithful” with the ever-present military reality of “Semper Gumby: Always Flexible!” I never realized that the US Army’s philosophy of “hurry up and wait” could bring about good.

Seriously, this is the key to being a hope-bearer. To truly understand biblical hope, you must understand that at the heart of hope is trusting God! Concepts like trust and hope are in short commodity in our culture today because we are not a patient people, we hate waiting and despise being inconvenienced. We are notorious for being the masters of our own fate. If we had to be honest, and not take offense at our own honesty, it is not the over 1.02 million deaths in America that dominates most American’s frustration with the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been the disruption and inconvenience to our schedules and lives. As a culture, we struggle with hope because we don’t wait gracefully, and we don’t tolerate inconvenience very well.

There is hope with every season of darkness because there is a sunrise coming! Creation reveals the majesty of God! As Jeremiah wrote in Lamentation 3:19-26, there is hope, even in the darkest night of the soul and in the worst possible circumstances:

Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and bitterness. Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me. This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the Lord.

This is real hope – biblical hope! It is not wishful thinking! It is not my life working out for me the way I want it to, or else everyone will hear about it. Quite the opposite, biblical hope is learning to trust God as the Good Shepherd of your soul. We train hope into our lives by learning to walk with the One described by David in Psalm 23, based on his life of waiting on God:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

There is no secret sauce to hope! It is 100% trusting God! It is learning that God is who He says He is, to take Him at His word to do what He says He will do, when He wills to do it. His time is always best! That takes us to the third action step to training yourself to be a hope-bearer.

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.

In John 10:10-11, Jesus described His purposes for our lives as our Good Shepherd, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” An essential reality to training to be a hope-bearers is found in not separating verses 10 and 11. Jesus came to give abundant life by laying down His life for the sheep! The lie of the thief is that you don’t have to lay down your life and you can still have abundance. God’s creation declares His glorious plan for our redemption: Just as there is no sunrise without the night and no spring without the winter, there is no crown without the cross and no resurrection without the grave.

There is no hope without the need to wait for “it.” It being God’s good pleasure for our lives – Jesus gave His life so that we may have life in Him. God’s good pleasure is to become like Jesus; therefore, even our waiting is a part of God’s redemptive purposes, every time, no matter the length of the wait, no matter the human explanation for the delay or inconvenience. God uses all things for His good pleasure; that is a fundamental truth of a hope-bearer! This is the reality of Paul’s promise in Romans 8:28-29, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son.” Therefore, wait upon the Lord and He will strengthen you for the mission. That brings us to the final action step.

Action Step #4) Live on mission.

It is why you were saved! In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus calls His disciples to the mission of God, to carry on His work as the Light of the world:

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

This is a radical statement – “You are the light of the world.” Jesus used the title given to Him and applied it to you. A significant way we train ourselves to be hope-bearers is to remember who we are, to memorize this truth and to recite it to ourselves – “I am the light of the world. I am a hope-bearer!” If we believe this about ourselves, then we can fight off the temptations of disappointment, despair, discouragement, and even depression. There is meaning and value in every dark season, in every delay and set back, and in all my waiting upon God.

Being the light of the world is more than a verse to memorize, it is a promise to experience, and a battle drill to train by giving yourself to the daily work of being hope-bearers. I wrote about this in Seize the Moment: New Testament Devotions for Today:

God is not surprised by your current darkness, whatever it is. But, if we let it, the darkness can prevent us from being the light of the world. Don’t let the darkness prevail – we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus! Shine the light into the darkness. Reflect specifically today on how you can help others to see the light of God in the midst of all the darkness. Seize the moment by being a hope-bearer, not a doomsdayer![3]

One person can make a difference by being a hope-bearer! It’s contagious. Bring the light of hope to all you encounter! Go from this place and may the light of your good works pierce the darkness. Christ is coming again to make all things new. Wait on Him and anchor your hope in His promise of the New Heaven and New Earth that awaits us all.

Make this battle drill a reflexive, instinctive, and habitual part of your Christian life so that you can CM – Continue the Mission! Therefore, live on mission today and train the battle drill of the week for the glory of God. Let us pray.

This message can be listened to here:

This message can be viewed by clicking HERE.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Michel Borba, “Child psychologist: The No. 1 skill that sets mentally strong kids apart from ‘those who give up’ – and how parents can teach it.” https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/04/psychologist-shares-the-top-skill-that-sets-mentally-strong-kids-from-those-who-give-up-easily.html. Accessed on July 6, 2022.

[2] Francis Brown, Samuel Rolles Driver, and Charles Augustus Briggs, Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 875.

[3] Jerry D. Ingalls, Seize the Moment: New Testament Devotions for Today (New Castle, IN: Northside Books & Media, an AGF Publishing Imprint, 2021), 7.

Battle Drill #19:

Give an Honest Report!

Proverbs 12:13-20 (NAS95)

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Give an Honest Report!”

In the military, reporting is critical to the mission success, whether it’s your location, an update on your situation, or a description of enemy activity, giving an honest and accurate report is an essential task for every soldier. For example, reporting your accurate location, on time every time, saves lives because when artillery or close air support is called in, or when friendly forces are moving into your area of operation, your location being properly posted on the map is a life-or-death reality. A false report easily leads to confusion, friendly fire, and even death. The same is true within the Church of Jesus Christ in our mission to seek and to save the lost.

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.

The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 12:13-20:

An evil man is ensnared by the transgression of his lips, but the righteous will escape from trouble. A man will be satisfied with good by the fruit of his words, and the deeds of a man’s hands will return to him. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel. A fool’s anger is known at once, but a prudent man conceals dishonor. He who speaks truth tells what is right, but a false witness, deceit. There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips will be established forever, but a lying tongue is only for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but counselors of peace have joy.

To better understand how I am applying this Scripture, you need to hear these verses in their context, as a part of the whole of Proverbs 12. Read from the Bible. This is what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

Psalm 133:1 proclaims, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!” Paul teaches in Ephesians 4:1-3 that there is a way for the body of Christ to dwell together in unity:

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

We must, each one of us, walk in a manner worthy of our calling as soldiers of Jesus Christ – we are fellow members of the one body of Christ (Romans 12:4-5). For us to grow into maturity, Paul further teaches in Ephesians 4:11-16 that we must give an honest report to one another by speaking the truth in love, and he makes it very clear that it starts with the spiritual leaders:

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

To give one another an honest report is to speak the truth in love. This is how the body of Christ matures in Christlikeness. In John 1:14, Jesus is described as coming to us, “full of grace and truth.” We must go to others as Christ came to us – full of grace and truth, not full of grace and, most of the time or only when it feels comfortable, truth. And not full of truth and, when we feel like it, grace. Jesus was full of grace and full of truth. It seems to me that very few of us find this balance of doing both. It boils down to fear and trust. A fear that grace is the same as complicity. A distrust that truth will be received well. I find this tension within myself.[1]

I, and my fellow leaders, are to teach you the Word of God “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and the knowledge of the Son of God.” Paul teaches us in Galatians 6:1-2 that we must be careful in how we do this, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.” Our logos of truth must be expressed in the pathos of grace so that the ethos of the gospel is love.

Our hearts must be aligned with our minds. We must live what we know is the truth. There is a prescribed way to go about giving honest reports to one another (accountability) and to avoid giving honest reports about one another (gossip). This is taught in Matthew 18:15-20:

If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.

This passage ends with a very popular promise – the promise of Jesus’ presence. We often forget that it is given within the context of loving confrontation and accountability. It’s not talking about worship or prayer times. Jesus is present during loving confrontation, and that should shape our conversations. Whereas Matthew 18 has been used to justify blacklisting people and shaming people for their decisions, that is not what God intends for us. It is to the glory of God and the good of His people that we do all things His way, which is why we now turn to action step 3 to see how we are to do this.

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

Let’s look at what it means to be LEADERS when it comes to applying today’s battle drill:

Lead by example; follow Jesus and the standards He has set for us in faith and practice. First and foremost, leaders live lives that are examples to imitate (Philippians 3:17; 1 Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:7-8; Hebrews 13:7; 1 Peter 5:1-3).

Evaluate the situation; start the process at the lowest level possible (brother to brother, sister to sister), just as Matthew 18:15 commands.

Approach the person prayerfully, with gentleness, humility, and in a timely manner, just as Galatians 6:1 teaches.

Discuss, discern, and decide the next steps with God in prayer, and with the person face-to-face, whenever possible. Pastors and elders must be prayerfully ready to uphold the holiness of the Lord in the body of Christ if we get to the final step of Matthew 18, which is for the purpose of loving the person back to a full fellowship with God, and then the church.

Empower the congregation before, during, and after the process to be a people who love well, relate as brothers and sisters in Christ, revere God, seek a holy life, and live a life as fellow members of the body of Christ according to 1 Corinthians 12-13.

Respect confidentiality; avoid all gossip, dissension, or unnecessary public exposure by walking in the Spirit through the process (Galatians 5:1-26).

Submit to and support your leaders. Trust that God works through God-fearing, Christ-exalting, Bible-teaching leaders, especially when you may not have all the facts (Hebrews 13:17).

When we each follow these seven steps as LEADERS, then we are living on mission in how we are conducting ourselves as His body in speaking the truth in love. This is how we are to give an honest report and that takes us to the fourth action step.

Action Step #4) Live on mission.

Follow up praise report for Backyard Bible Club (Davisson’s). Then, call up the DR short-term mission team to pray over them as they “go” to live on mission, taking the love of Jesus.

By training ourselves to deal with one another in love and according to God’s Word then we will not only give an honest report to one another, but our public witness will be an honest report that we belong to God and are proclaiming His gospel, in word, deed, and in how we do relationships. As a church leader expressed to me this week on this very point:

Many outside the church know the story of Jesus. They have heard the gospel. But they don’t believe it, or don’t want to associate themselves with it because of how they see the people within the church hurting each other, or hurting those outside the church, in the way they do relationships. Yes, the gospel is the uncompromised core of who we are and why we do what we do, but if our relationships, which are the thing that is the most relatable and most visible, are not loving and healthy, then we cannot hope to draw people to the Jesus we serve.[2]

You can listen to the message here:

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] Informed by my email conversations with both Curt Ferrell and Emily Hurst.

[2] From an email conversation with Emily Hurst, June 28, 2022.

Battle Drill #18:

Protect Your Priorities!

Proverbs 11:1-5 (NAS95)

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “ProtectYour Priorities!”

As a good soldier, you need to know the mission of your commander, but you also need to know the commander’s priorities for the mission. When I was an AT (anti-tank) platoon leader in the Army, we would have high value targets that we were to engage first with our TOW missile systems. Every round mattered and we trained hard to not only get a solid hit with every missile, but to also be able to identify targets and make critical decisions, under stress, on which target to engage first based on mission priorities, to accomplish the commander’s intent. In the same way, I believe there are mission priorities that every good soldier of Jesus Christ must know and train themselves to identify and engage successfully, first, regardless of the stressful conditions.

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual. The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs11:1-5:

A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight. When pride comes, then comes dishonor, but with the humble is wisdom. The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the crookedness of the treacherous will destroy them. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. The righteousness of the blameless will smooth his way, but the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.

To better understand how I am applying this Scripture, you need to hear the rest of Proverbs 11, so let’s continue with verses 6-31. Read from the Bible. This is what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit. Priorities reveal our hearts! What we devote our lives to is ultimately what we serve and what we serve is where we put our time, money, and energy. Where you put your time, money, and energy focuses your loyalty and grips your heart.

As a friend recently reminded me, “This is also true of our conversations. If we are into politics, that’s where our conversations will frequently focus on. If we are into New Castle HS Baseball and their recent run to Semi-State, our conversations will be peppered with baseball, or New Castle sports.” This is what Jesus was teaching us in Luke 6:45, “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.”

You are defined by that which you prioritize so be wise and discerning in what you put first in your heart. As you meditate upon it, it molds you into its image! This happens because God designed you this way, on purpose – we are designed by God to worship and that which we worship, we become like because we become enmeshed, or entangled, with it, for life or death.

A biblical illustration of this is found in Jesus’ confrontation of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19:16-26:

And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were very astonished and said, “Then who can be saved?” And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

The rich young ruler was enmeshed with his possessions. He couldn’t imagine his life and well-being without them, no matter what Jesus promised him. He, like each of us, is called to open his hands and pray the ancient prayer of Job, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). The point isn’t that we need to sell everything to follow Jesus, but that nothing we have should grip us so tightly that we can’t surrender it to follow the Lord. In other words, you must be very careful what you consider precious because it will take hold of your heart. We are all unique and can become uniquely enmeshed with different priorities that are not inherently sinful, but become sinful because of our devotion to them. Who or what is “your precious”? Who or what is on the throne of your heart?

To further emphasize the point of Jesus’ encounter with the young ruler, and encourage us to train this into our lives, listen to Jesus’ parable from Luke 14:16-24:

But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’ “But they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it; please consider me excused.’ “Another one said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ “Another one said, ‘I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.’ “And the slave came back and reported this to his master. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ “And the slave said, ‘Master, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. ‘For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste of my dinner.’ ”

Jesus was intense in His teaching – don’t miss the eternal wedding feast because you have become distracted by the things of this life! He was making it clear that when we don’t protect our priorities, we become derailed from God’s purposes for our lives. This is why Paul said to his protégé in 2 Timothy 2:3-4, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” As good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we are commanded to protect our priorities – to not become entangled in the affairs of everyday life. Why? Because there is an eternal feast waiting us and we never know when He is going to call us to it.

Bob Sheffer to share his testimony.

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval. It is easy to be distracted in today’s world. There is a constant feed of information and entertainment available at your fingertips. Beyond those distractions, there are also a multitude of good causes and charity organizations to focus your time, money, and energy. These are good things, but are they God things? Jesus modeled for us how we are to protect our priorities in Mark 1:32-38:

When evening came, after the sun had set, they began bringing to Him all who were ill and those who were demon-possessed. And the whole city had gathered at the door. And He healed many who were ill with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He was not permitting the demons to speak, because they knew who He was. In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there. Simon and his companions searched for Him; they found Him, and said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.” He said to them, “Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.”

The amazing testimony of Jesus Christ is from John 17:4, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” Jesus was focused on the Commander’s intent for His life and prioritized high value targets with His words and deeds. Jesus did this by first taking time to be with His Father. Jesus knew God’s Word and Jesus spent time with His Father in prayer. He sought the pleasure of His Father above all; this is how He protected His priorities – He accomplished the work which God gave Him to do! Mission first!

There are so many things you can be a champion for in today’s world, but are you doing the work that God gave you to do? Paul stated in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” You can only walk in these good works when you are first prioritizing time with God, in His Word and in prayer, like Jesus modeled for us. Jesus emphasized today’s battle drill of protect your priorities with this command from Matthew 16:24-27:

Jesus asks you today, “For what will it profit [you] if [you] gain the whole world and forfeit [your] soul?” Live your priorities and may your priorities be to the glory of God as you do His will on Earth as it is in Heaven. Make this battle drill a reflexive, instinctive, and habitual part of your Christian life so that you can CM – Continue the Mission! Therefore, live on mission today and train the battle drill of the week for the glory of God. Let us pray.

You can listen to the message here:

You can watch the message by clicking HERE.

Establish a Strong Defense!

Proverbs 10:9-12 (NAS95)

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.

The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 10:9-12:

He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out. He who winks the eye causes trouble, and a babbling fool will be ruined. The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.

To better understand how I am applying this Scripture, you need to hear these verses in their context, as a part of the whole of Proverbs 10. Read from the Bible. This is what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the sons of Israel, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for they will surely turn your heart away after their gods.” Solomon held fast to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and after Milcom the detestable idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.

Ironically, the very words of Solomon in Proverbs 10:9 are illustrated through Solomon’s life, “He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out.” God was angry with Solomon because “his heart was turned away from the Lord” (1 Kings 11:9) and God judged Solomon accordingly in 1 Kings 11:11-13:

So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

Solomon had taken steps to ensure a strong national defense through the vanquishing of enemies, successful treaties, successful administration of his kingdom, and a strong conscription program for the temple project. But Solomon did not set up a strong personal defense against his own flesh! As my friend recently said to me, “It is so easy to busy ourselves with perfecting what is visible, to the detriment of that which is invisible.” Solomon missed that his true enemy’s strategy was subtle, and that evil had a foothold in his heart! We must learn from Solomon’s positive words, and, also, from his negative example. Paul explains about the enemy within in Romans 7:14-25, from whom we all need to establish a strong defense:

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

A significant reality of establishing a strong defense is to forsake the three major forces of the fall that must be brought into submission to God’s will – the devil, the structures and systems of this present age that are in rebellion against God (i.e., the world), and the flesh (our self-will that seeks to make life work out on its own terms). We have spent time, and will continue to spend time, learning how the battle drills of a good soldier must be trained into our lives so that we live a victorious life and not be distracted or derailed by either of these three forces.

From today’s chapter, Proverbs 10:29 states, “The way of the Lord is a stronghold to the upright, but ruin to the workers of iniquity.” To keep God first and foremost in our lives is to make Him our stronghold, and that is the greatest defense against the devil, the world, and the flesh. To do so we must learn to live for the approval of God alone and not be so easily seduced by lesser things. That takes us to the third action step of being a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

What is essential about this truth is that the victory is not from us, but from God – He is our stronghold. God provides the way of escape so that we can persevere to the end. But we must choose His way and the key to that is that we must have our eyes and ears, hearts, and minds, open to seeing God’s way of victory. Often, the way of escape is well before the potential threat even appears, and we must faithfully walk in the way of Jesus, daily, so that we don’t walk down the wrong street through bad decision making. As I’ve taught you before, sometimes it’s too late to ask, “WWJD” because Jesus never would have allowed Himself in that dangerous situation in the first place. The way of victory was in not taking the exit ramp of the flesh – stay in the easy yoke of Jesus! Paul makes this clear in Galatians 5:16-26, as he teaches us the training regimen of a soldier for Jesus to set up God as our strong defense against the enemy within, our flesh:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.

Do you remember what God said about Solomon at the conclusion of his life? It was the exact opposite of God’s verdict of his father, David’s life! David was a man after God’s own heart; whereas, in 1 Kings 11:9, “the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord.” Once again, it is ironic that it was Solomon who wrote in Proverbs 4:23, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”

It was not for lack of wisdom that Solomon fell, it was from his disobedience to God’s ways in the most intimate places of his life – he didn’t watch over his heart with all diligence! Maturity as a Christian is not in how much Bible information you have in your head, but how much of what you know gets in your heart and establishes God as the stronghold of your life! Because Solomon did not guard his heart, the enemy got a foothold through his lust, ultimately making his heart a place of idol worship. It is only when our hearts are the throne room of God, His stronghold, that we can establish a rescue mission for God in this world. That takes us to the last action step.

Action Step #4) Live on mission.

This cannot be done by our own power! In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus commanded his disciples to pray in Matthew 26:36-41 because He knew the flesh was weak:

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” And He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

If Jesus couldn’t fulfill His mission on Earth apart from prayer and the Spirit’s consolation of His spirit, then how much more do we need to pray and seek the power of the Holy Spirit to empower us to preserve in the mission? Paul confirmed Jesus’ words in Galatians 3:3, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

The best defense you can establish for this life and the life to come is to put your faith in Jesus Christ. It is only by believing that you can do anything to further the Kingdom of God on Earth; to do the Lord’s will on Earth as it is in Heaven. Jesus explained this to us in 1 John 5:4-5, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”

Jesus promised the way of victory will come with tribulations, but don’t fear, find rest in the easy yoke of Jesus, and walk in the Spirit – His way of victory is belief. This is how you establish a strong defense. Make this battle drill a reflexive, instinctive, and habitual part of your Christian life so that you can CM – Continue the Mission! Therefore, live on mission today and train the battle drill of the week for the glory of God. Let us pray.

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Battle Drill #16:

Accept the Commander’s Correction!

Proverbs 9:7-10 (NAS95)

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Accept the Commander’s Correction!”

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.

The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 9:7-10:

He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, and he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

This is what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

Wisdom is crying out for you to walk in a habitual lifestyle of covenant faithfulness with God. The Hebrew word translated, “Come,” in verse 5, is הלך (hālakh), used in an imperative form, meaning it is a command. God’s people must “walk” in a habitual lifestyle of covenant faithfulness to God and His commandments, as explicitly used in Deuteronomy 10:12-13:

Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord’s commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good? [italics added]

The key to walking in covenant faithfulness is to obey the greatest commandment, as given to us by Jesus Christ in Matthew 22:37, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Because the essential ingredient to a life that submits to the Commander’s correction is love! Jesus Christ made this connection very clearly in John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

Jesus commands people to a lifestyle of covenant faithfulness when He invites them, “follow Me,” as in Mark 1:17, or to “Come to Me,” as in Matthew 11:28-30. The Hebrew word of hālakh, and all of it implications of walking in the habitual lifestyle of covenant faithfulness, is the foundation of Jesus’ invitations. Check out the connection between the use of this word in wisdom’s calling in Proverbs 9:4-6 and the prophet’s calling in Isaiah 55:1-3:

Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, according to the faithful mercies shown to David.

It is not just the wisdom of God and the prophet of God who is calling, Jesus is calling! There is a further connection between these Old Testament passages and Jesus’ words in John 7:37, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” Furthermore, listen to Jesus’ words from the throne of Heaven in Revelation 21:6-7, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.”

We are to accept the Commander’s correction in the same way, and for the same purpose, that a child heed’s his parent’s discipline. Listen to Hebrews 12:7-11:

It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Did you hear those final words, “those who have been trained by it”? What are we to be trained by? You’ve got it – the Commander’s corrections (i.e., discipline). We must train into our minds and hearts the importance of accepting the Commander’s correction, as a posture of our hearts and minds, because He loves us and we love Him. That takes us to the third action step.

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

Apart from the respect, reverence, and awe of God as the Sovereign King, the Ruler of all creation, the Supreme Commander of Heaven’s armies, then there can be no training of wisdom, or instruction in righteousness, for us as the good soldiers of Christ Jesus. We must know who it is we are seeking to please with our lives; therefore, we must train into our minds and hearts a complete submission to the one who saved us, called us to be His, and chose us to be a part of His plans – His search and rescue mission to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).

This is what Paul teaches his protégé in 2 Timothy 2:3-4, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” Your salvation is your enlistment as a soldier of Jesus Christ. If you are going to live on mission as an active-duty soldier, then you must learn to accept the Commander’s correction because He is trying to help you stay focused on the mission at hand and be effective and fruitful in the mission.

Action Step #4) Live on mission.

We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

Our mission is to love as God first loved us. When we don’t do this well, we should expect to be corrected by the Commander. I don’t know about you, but I don’t love as well as God. Unlike God, my love is impacted by selfishness, defensiveness, insecurity, and fear. Therefore, if I am ever going to live on mission for God in a way that is fruitful and effective for the Kingdom of God, I better expect His discipline and accept His corrections whenever I fall short. How I respond to Him is really the point of this whole battle drill. Listen again to Proverbs 9:7-9:

He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, and he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you, reprove a wise man and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man and he will be still wiser, teach a righteous man and he will increase his learning.

How do you respond to correction? Are you quick to get defensive and rationalize your actions, protect your ego, and blame others? If so, then welcome to the party of fools and scoffers. Today is the day to humble ourselves before God to become wise and righteous through the way we listen to feedback and accept correction. Are you already good at listening and learning from the correction, knowing that you can get better because of it? If so, you are wise and righteous. Continue to yoke with Jesus and become like Him – gentle and humble in heart.

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Battle Drill #15:

Search and Rescue!

Proverbs 8:1-36 (NAS95)

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Search and Rescue!” I wrote a fictional story called, “The Rescue Mission,” a modern-day parable, about a rescue mission on Lake Michigan.

The Founders came to Christ while serving together in the US Navy in the Pacific Theatre of WWII. After experiencing tragedies, like the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, when these sailors came back to the states, they decided to build a light house and rescue people from a watery grave in Lake Michigan. The Founders worked regular jobs while setting up the rescue mission, bought land, built houses to live close to the rescue mission, married women who had a kindred spirit for the mission, and raised their children together. The second generation was raised on the mission, and they kept it going, making improvements in honor of their parents’ commitments to the vision. They believed in the mission, but they also saw the sacrifices of their parents and remembered not having a normal childhood, so they wanted to give their kids more of a “normal” life. For the grandkids of the Founders, the ever-expanding compound started to be upgraded. A pool was installed, recreational boats were put in next to the rescue boats. These kids played every day, went to school in the local community telling their friends all about how much fun their rescue mission was, invited them over for birthday parties, so as the third generation grew up, they knew there was a rescue mission, but now they just called the place they lived “The Rescue Mission.” Now the fourth generation was being raised on a place that looks more like a resort area than a rescue mission. You should see the renovated Light House. You can even walk up it and look out over the Lake and witness the expansion of the Rescue Mission with the RV park, water play area, miniature golf course, and more. It truly is beautiful. A great place to bring your kids for a family vacation.

Remember the original vision of the rescue mission on Lake Michigan. Did I tell you that after the Korean War, in the 50s, the Founders mortgaged their homes to buy a helicopter to help them with their rescue efforts? And then after Vietnam, as they got older and their kids were coming back from their war, they did the same thing with their homes to buy a Vietnam-era Huey. The crazy thing is by the time the third generation was taking over the rescue mission, they stopped using those helicopters for rescue efforts and started selling rides to families on vacation to the Lake. You should have seen how much money came in during the 90s and the improvements that were made around the place. Wow! What a sight They even built a museum to honor their grandparents’ mission and to remember all the rescued people, saved from certain death. The mayor, the Chamber of Commerce, and even the governor came by for the grand re-opening. The sad thing is, on that very day, six people died less than a mile out from “The Rescue Mission”; no one was on duty when the distress call came in.[1]

I pray the Holy Spirit will use this story to show us our need and help us learn how we need to train today’s battle drill so we, God’s Rescue Mission on earth, can live on mission today.

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.

The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 8:17, 32-36:

I love those who love me; and those who diligently seek me will find me. … Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways. Heed instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me injures himself; all those who hate me love death.

To better understand how I am applying this Scripture, you need to hear these verses in their context, as a part of the whole of Proverbs 8:1-36. Read from the Bible.

This is what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

Now therefore, O sons, listen to me, for blessed are they who keep my ways. Heed instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For he who finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me injures himself; all those who hate me love death.

Responding to people and situations according to the heart of God requires a life of discipleship with Jesus Christ, the study of God’s Word, and the learning to listen to the Holy Spirit. The Church of Jesus Christ exists for the Mission of God on earth, but we cannot lose the heart of the mission because we have gone into maintenance mode on the upkeep of the infrastructure of the Rescue Mission itself.[2] That is why our greatest priority is to know God and to become like Him.

We must emphasize as our primary imperative, the building of a personal relationship with the mission’s Founder and His vision! If we emphasize who God is and His vision for His creation, then we cannot avoid becoming a missional people, for the mission is the heart of God and the very reason Jesus invites us to follow Him. Listen to Jesus’ invitation in Mark 1:17, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” In our commitment to follow Jesus faithfully, the Spirit of God transforms us into His likeness, with His heart, which is the life of search and rescue! This is the purpose of Christian discipleship – to transform us through the renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2). It is not the end game in and of itself – there is a vision!

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

Jesus’ parables, found in Luke 15, reinforce this purpose for God’s people:

All three parables end with celebration because that which was being searched for – the sheep, the coin, and the younger son – were found and returned safely. Success! Now, with that said, there is a necessary nuance to the last parable that we, as God’s people, need to hear, once again: The older son was also lost though he never left home. He didn’t share the heart of his father in the joy of his younger brother’s rescue. He lived on the “Rescue Mission,” but he wasn’t a part of the rescue effort; he made it all about him. We, as sons and daughters of God, need to hear this part of the story as it was intended – as a rebuke and as a warning; watch the exchange between the older son and his father in Luke 15:25-32:

Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.” But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, “Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.” And he said to him, “Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.”

While most of us do rejoice in being the younger son who was rescued, we must heed Jesus’ scathing rebuke of the Pharisees of His day and the Spirit’s warning to the Church today to not become like them in our spiritual pride and lack of concern for those who are lost, separated from God by their sin. We are to follow the example of Jesus Christ and go into the world, not to judge people, but to conduct search and rescue missions – to show them Jesus. And, furthermore, we are not to view the church community as one that keeps us “safe” from the world. In other words, we should not expect the church to be devoid of “messy” people who need Jesus. We must not only be willing to receive these people into our community, but we should be actively pursuing those whose lives indicate their own need for Jesus.[3]

This is the Great Commission of the Church of Jesus Christ, to join with Him in His great search and rescue mission, as commanded by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” We are to train ourselves to live on mission today! That brings us to our closing point and response time.

Action Step #4) Live on mission.

[Jesus] entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Are there areas of your life where you need to respond to Jesus’ invitation upon your life? Jesus sees you and He is calling out to you personally – to save you and to bring you into His Rescue Mission, simultaneously. He calls us to be saved so that we can be part of the rescue mission for others. Today is the day to respond to Him and to live on mission with Him. He rescued you and now He is calling you to be a member of His search and rescue mission team. There are people drowning out there, are you hearing their distress call?

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] I cannot remember where the idea first came for my story, The Rescue Mission © 2022. If it shares elements of other stories or grabs at bits of history from my tours of light houses and visits to Lake Michigan, then I am happy to give credit where credit is due, whether for the idea and for any specific details that overlap.

Battle Drill #14:

Plan Your Route!

Proverbs 7:1-27 (NAS95)

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the next battle drill – “Plan Your Route!” I have some stories to help illustrate today’s lesson:

1) Learning land navigation in the military is a significant investment of time, energy, and resources for infantry soldiers. We spent a lot of time working on the skills necessary to do this during the day and in the night. My body has the marks to show how hard it can be, especially at night, just like our souls bear the scars of how hard it can be to plan our routes properly in life, especially in the valleys of the shadow.

2) Ranger school taught me the need to know my location when on mission. At any time, you may need to pivot in place due to attack or unexpected changes. You need to learn to know where you are on the map by looking at the terrain around you (providence).

3) On a road trip you can’t blindly trust your GPS, or you may end up a dead end or in a place you never intended. You need to know how to use a map to double check your route.

Let’s learn how we can train this battle drill so that you can live on mission today.

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.

The battle drill we are going to learn and apply this week is from Proverbs 7:1-3:

My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you. Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.

To better understand how I am applying this Scripture to learning how to plan your route, you need to hear the rest of this passage so I will continue reading from Proverbs 7 with verses 4-27:

Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your intimate friend; that they may keep you from an adulteress, from the foreigner who flatters with her words. For at the window of my house I looked out through my lattice, and I saw among the naive, and discerned among the youths A young man lacking sense, passing through the street near her corner; and he takes the way to her house, in the twilight, in the evening, in the middle of the night and in the darkness. And behold, a woman comes to meet him, dressed as a harlot and cunning of heart. She is boisterous and rebellious, her feet do not remain at home; she is now in the streets, now in the squares, and lurks by every corner. So she seizes him and kisses him and with a brazen face she says to him: “I was due to offer peace offerings; today I have paid my vows. Therefore I have come out to meet you, to seek your presence earnestly, and I have found you. I have spread my couch with coverings, with colored linens of Egypt. I have sprinkled my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning; let us delight ourselves with caresses. For my husband is not at home, he has gone on a long journey; he has taken a bag of money with him, at the full moon he will come home.” With her many persuasions she entices him; with her flattering lips she seduces him. Suddenly he follows her as an ox goes to the slaughter, or as one in fetters to the discipline of a fool, until an arrow pierces through his liver; as a bird hastens to the snare, so he does not know that it will cost him his life. Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, and pay attention to the words of my mouth. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths. For many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, Descending to the chambers of death.

We know what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

1) Reading a map, to include plotting points and use terrain association skills along the route.

2) Using a compass to include setting an azimuth (the direction of travel between two points).

3) Learning your pace count (the ability to track distance traveled in a specific direction).

Here is how the two connect so that we can see how we are training them together as the church:

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

There is an expression that I used earlier and that I now want to explain to you so that you can learn how to seek God’s approval in your life before all else and in doing so plan your route: “Jesus is our true north.” Allow me to explain this to you by sharing from a research article:

The expression true north is based on a fact that navigators and surveyors must deal with every day: a magnetic compass is not a terribly reliable instrument. A magnetic compass points toward the magnetic north pole, which is not the same as true north, or the geographic (or geodetic) north pole. The difference between magnetic north and true north is currently a matter of several hundred miles—but it changes, due to the fact that the magnetic north pole drifts several miles a year. The earth produces a magnetic field. The places where the lines of magnetic induction converge are called the magnetic poles. The location of the magnetic north pole changes over time. In contrast, true north is a fixed spot on the globe: the true north pole is found at the conjunction of the lines of longitude, the point at which the earth’s axis exits the globe. Magnetic north varies position from year to year; true north is unchanging. Because the needle of a magnetic compass points toward the magnetic north pole, not the geographic north pole, it is not entirely accurate. It may give a general idea of where north is, especially in the middle latitudes, but it can be wildly unreliable in the regions closer to the poles, varying by 20 to 60 degrees. The difference between magnetic north and true north is called declination, and it varies according to where one is located on the globe. To compensate for declination and find true north, we must perform some mathematical calculations using an up-to-date chart or calibrate our compasses. Adding to the confusion is magnetic deviation, caused when nearby metallic objects or electrical equipment influence the compass needle. Deviation is especially a problem inside ships and airplanes and in areas containing a lot of metal ore. Like declination, deviation must be overcome, usually by means of auxiliary magnets, in order to find true north.[1]

Therefore, when you hear it said that “Jesus is our truth north” you know now that means that Jesus is the constant, unchanging source of truth and life. As Hebrews 13:8-9a states, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings…” Jesus concludes His sermon on the mount with these critical words of how we are to apply His teachings to our lives and in how we are to plan our routes, from Matthew 7:24-27:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.

Action Step #4) Live on mission by keeping Jesus Christ as the true north of your life.

Is your life off course? Do you feel lost? Do you need a course correction or an altogether new route for your life? “Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life… “ (John 14:6)!

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] https://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-true-north.html (accessed May 13, 2022).

Iron Sharpens Iron: Biblical Friendship

Today is a cool day for a lot of reasons- it was 20 years ago, in May 2002, that I accepted the job as the youth pastor here at FBC, moved to NC, and started out as a young person in her first full-time ministry role. Also it was 18 years ago today, May 8 2004 that I married Daniel who I met at this church. I’m really thankful for the way FBC has been supporting Daniel and me in ministry for years, and I’m so grateful to be able to live out God’s calling on my life in ministry while still being firmly rooted here in our local church- that’s a blessing! Thank you for supporting and encouraging us to keep following God’s leading.

Today I am not going to talk about motherhood or Mother’s Day, but I do want to say a couple things about Mother’s Day before I get started. First off, I will say that being a mom is incredibly rewarding even when it’s also really hard. To the moms in the room, I know what you had to do to get your people and all their stuff together just to arrive here today, and you younger moms who are pretty tired from this week, but you still got your kids up and going today and probably took care of the gifts for your own mom and mother-in-laws, way to go, you are absolute champs. To all of you in the room that are moms, I want to say thank you for all the work you do and have done to keep the humans in your house alive- you’ve done a great job. To the moms, stepmoms and grandmothers, spiritual moms, single moms, all of you in this room who are helping to raise or who have raised kids, thank you for what you do- you are amazing and you make the world keep running. I also want to acknowledge that Mother’s Day is a painful day for some of us in this room, and if that’s true for you, I want you to know that you are seen and you belong today just as much as those who are celebrating. Mother’s Day can be hard for

those of us who miss our moms, or whose moms hurt us. It also might be a hard day for those of us who have lost a child, or whose kids have caused us heartache and motherhood has not been like we wish it was. And I know some of us have desperately wanted to be moms and it just hasn’t happened. You are seen and you belong in this room and we honor you as well.  Scripture says that we are to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.  And so if you’re celebrating today, then happy Mother’s Day- your mom life is something to be proud of! And if you’re hurting today, we love you and we care about you. However you showed up today, you belong here and we are in this together. So I’d like to pray in that spirit.

I want to invite you to get out your bible and expect to open it and actually read it today. If you don’t have one, use your phone and I would suggest you look it up in the New Living Translation because that’s what I read and then my words will match what you’re looking at.

Today we are going to talk about friendship, biblical friendship. We have been going through the book of Proverbs, and today I picked Proverbs 27:17 as our key verse. And since it is only 10 words long, we’re going to look at several other passages and see what the Bible has to say about being a good friend and having good friends, the way Jesus intended for those who follow him. So let’s look at Proverbs 27:17 as our jumping off point today- it’s so short it’ll take way longer for you to find it than to read it but I still think it’s a good practice to actually read the words for yourself so please turn there with me.

PROVERBS 27:17  

TURN to a person near you and share, what do you think that means? in your own words, what does this proverb talking about?

When I was a senior in college, just a few months before I graduated and moved here actually, that spring my grandpa died. It was my first grandparent to pass away, and really the first person close to me at all to die. I went to school in Anderson, and I drove home from school to be here for a few days. The hardest part for sure was seeing my own dad grieve- and it just rocked my world a little, like it does when you lose a grandparent. I missed a couple days of classes, and was here in town for a few days, and I remember very distinctly something that happened the day of the calling. My senior year, I lived in a house with 6 other girls that had been close friends all through college. And I hadn’t been there all week of course, and I was really looking forward to seeing my friends because it had been a hard week. And that night, at the calling for my grandpa, not a single one of my roommates showed up. Thankfully, my closest friend from childhood and high school actually came, and I remember how thankful I was when Tiffany walked in the door. It meant even more to me because others hadn’t come. That same friend was the first person to arrive at the hospital the day my son Caleb’s heart stopped and she was the first person to come to the hospital the day he finally got word that he was going to receive a new heart. When a friend shows up for you and loves you like that, you never forget. But not only do you not forget it, it impacts you deeply. Being loved by a true friend shapes who we are as people. Being loved like that increases our own capacity to love and care for others- love produces more love. A good friend produces more good friends.

Having true friends and being a true friend is possibly the most important part of our human lives and yet it’s something that so many of us struggle with. We want to have great friendships and we want to be terrific friends but so often that’s not how it goes. And the thing is, God actually cares a whole lot about the quality of our friendships. In fact, our relationships with each other are so incredibly important that the Bible is full of instruction on how we are to treat each other- In John 17, Jesus went so far as to say that for Christians, the way we love and treat each other will show the world what God is like. So friendship is a big deal and its an area of our lives that we need to be intentional about.

1. I want to look back at the early church and see how the first Christians did friendship and community.
2. I want to address how different friendship and community are in our own current culture. and
3. I want to see how we can actually obey God’s design for us and have the kind of friendships He intended for his people to have.

Temple together, then ate meals in each others’ homes. They shared their needs and helped each other. They prayed and worshiped together. They experienced amazing fellowship with each other and had sincere unity.

Acts 2:42-47, Acts 4:32-36, Acts 5:12-16

The Church grew and grew and grew until there were thousands of Christians. But their mountaintop experience didn’t last forever. In Acts 8, we see that persecution began, and Christians were being arrested and even killed, so they fled Jerusalem and were scattered all throughout the region. But God was at work in this! Acts 8:4 says “the believers who were scattered preached the Good news about Jesus wherever they went”. Christianity spread and new, smaller Churches were popping up. We read letters Paul wrote to these believers, and the Churches that were eventually formed because of their scattering, and one of the most common themes was Paul urging the Christians to stick together and continue to help and love each other well.  You can’t read the NT without seeing the overwhelming message that Christians are supposed to function as one unit, just as Jerry preaches each week! We train together, we learn together, we obey Jesus TOGETHER. This is a team sport, guys!

When we read the first few chapters of Acts, it’s not hard to see how the church has changed. And I’m not talking about the logistics of how worship services were conducted- I’m talking about how the early Christians oriented their life around the life of their community, their church. They didn’t have church buildings, that’s not what they were about- they were about each other. They were together and they went through life together as a family.

• we treat church as a once a week activity that is mostly about what happens on the stage, while we sit and view the program.
• people like to be anonymous, or now more than ever “watch” church online. That’s like going to the fieldhouse and watching a basketball game and saying you played basketball! Let’s be honest- we want church to be like this because it costs us so little. It’s low-energy, low-time, low-investment of ourselves.
• we are individualistic to our core. Life is about me and what’s best for me and what I prefer and what makes me happy.
• we are proud and independent- I don’t want to need people. I depend on myself and that way I won’t be let down. And heaven forbid I let people see what needs I really have in my life, that would be humiliating.
• we are BUSY and disconnected

So how can we obey Jesus and have the kind of friendships he intended his people to have?

• HEBREWS 10:24-25   — Be here and make it a priority: we have to be present, in the life of the church and in each other’s personal lives. Be there! Be here!
• MARK 5:24-34 Ñ> Take a risk and allow yourself to be known: we have to be vulnerable
• Make an effort to connect with people: we have to initiate
• Evaluate yourself and your life and see your stumbling blocks: we have to be honest with ourselves.  Are you afraid and trying to be self-protective?  Are you too busy and really need to re-think your commitments and how you spend your time?  Are you spending time with the wrong people?  Are you convinced that you’re introverted or a homebody and you just don’t need much from other people?

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Battle Drill #12:

Trust your Training!

Proverbs 6:20-35 (NAS95)

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the twelfth battle drill – Trust your Training! I have three military stories to help illustrate this battle drill of “trust your training.”

1) Night operations and the 200’ cliff rappel.

2) Air Assault operations and stepping out on the skid to rappel out of a Huey.

3) Airborne operations and jumping out of a perfectly good airplane (day or night).

Regardless of your level of training, if you don’t trust your training at the moment that it matters then you will not live on mission. You will allow the circumstances, your feelings, or your nervous system to determine your response instead of trusting your training. Let’s learn how we can train this battle drill so that you can live on mission today.

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.

My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother; bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life …

The verse ended in mid-sentence. To better understand how I am applying this text to learning how to trust your training as your battle drill for this week, you need to hear the rest of this passage from the Field Manual so I will continue reading from Proverbs 6 with verses 24-35:

… to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. Do not desire her beauty in your heart, nor let her capture you with her eyelids. For on account of a harlot one is reduced to a loaf of bread, and an adulteress hunts for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom and his clothes not be burned? Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is the one who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; Whoever touches her will not go unpunished. Men do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy himself when he is hungry; but when he is found, he must repay sevenfold; he must give all the substance of his house. The one who commits adultery with a woman is lacking sense; he who would destroy himself does it. Wounds and disgrace he will find, and his reproach will not be blotted out. For jealousy enrages a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not accept any ransom, nor will he be satisfied though you give many gifts.

We know what the Field Manual says, let’s now take the second action step to learn how to apply today’s battle drill to our everyday lives as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

If anyone tells you that at any point in your Christian life you won’t struggle with your humanity and the effects of living in this tent (2 Corinthians 5:1), then they are placing a burden on you that Christ has not. Holiness is Christ in you, not your ability to live a perfect life based on a list of vices and virtues. The righteousness you have is imputed upon you through Christ’s victory, not one earned by a life of perfect thought life, perfect emotional stability, and perfect mastery of your body. The life we live is a life surrendered to the finished work of Jesus Christ, just as Paul commented about himself in Galatians 2:19-21:

For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.

Apart from Christ you can do nothing, as Jesus taught us in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” Additionally, as fellow members of His body, we need one another to walk in God’s will. Paul emphasized this in the body imagery of the church in Romans 12:4-5, “For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.”

We need one another, more than we know! We need to walk in the way of Jesus Christ with one another and carry one another’s burdens. Just as Paul teaches in Galatians 6:1-2, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”

A significant reality of learning to trust your training is to train as part of the body of Christ, and not alone, because if we are to do what Jesus, the head of the church, commands us, and please Him, then we must do it in concert with His will for our lives, collectively as the individual members of the one body of Christ. As Paul said in Ephesians 1:22-23, “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” That takes us to the third action item.

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother; bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck. When you walk about, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life …

Some of my favorite imagery in the Bible about our relationship with God is the familial language – we are sons and daughters of the King! I’ve already utilized the agricultural imagery of the Vine and branches, and the anatomical imagery of Jesus being the head and us being the members of His body, but now I want to emphasize, based on Proverbs 6:20-23, the familial imagery of God being our parent. Family relationships are commanded in Ephesians 6:1-4:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Parents, before you apply this to your children, you must first apply it to your relationship with God as your Father, where you are the child and He is the Father. His will for your life is that you mature in the discipline and the instruction of His Word for His glory! Therefore, you must learn to observe all His commandments, just as you expect your kids to know your expectations of them, not forsaking the Word, but memorize them and meditate upon them and apply them to your everyday life. As Psalm 119:105-106 teaches us as the children of God, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn and I will confirm it, that I will keep Your righteous ordinances.” Are you reaping at home what you are sowing with your heavenly father?

This is the tried-and-true way of God’s people, generation to generation, generation after generation, as instructed through the Shema and its instruction, as found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Why does the author of Proverbs 6 command his children to trust their training in the faith?  Because their only chance at life and blessing is to live according to it! And their faithfulness to God will be tested in the hardest of life’s circumstances, in the most challenging of human emotions, in the greatest allure of spiritual idolatry, and in the seductions of human adultery.

That is why today’s passage was intentionally evocative and persuasive on purpose, because the battle is not won on islands of serenity with peace-time conditions, but on the beaches of Normandy where the distress and tribulation of spiritual warfare manifests at every level of human experience! We live in a war-torn creation; therefore, we must train to live on mission today! You must train yourself according to this battle drill to trust your training in righteousness just as Paul taught his protégé in 2 Timothy 2:1-5:

You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.

Building upon this imagery, Paul said to his protégé in 1 Timothy 4:7-8:

But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

Action Step #4) Live on mission.

Pray, then, in this way: “Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”

Again, why does the author of Proverbs 6 command his children to trust their training? Because children represent their parents – you are image bearers of God! We are commanded to train ourselves to live on mission for God and the only way to do that is to put ourselves willingly and wholeheartedly under the instruction and discipline of the Lord, just as children are commanded to put themselves under the authority of their parents. We are to bind ourselves to Jesus and His commandments if we hope to live on mission. We are to “bind them continually on your heart; tie them around your neck” as Proverbs 6:21 commands. Jesus invited us to take on His yoke and live for Him, becoming like Him, and we will find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:28-30). This is the way!

Allow me to finish by praying over you a powerful passage from 1 Peter 2:1-12:

Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

This is who you are, and this is the way of your life in Christ! As you learn to trust your training in God’s Word, you bring glory to God and you will lead others to know Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, and they, too, will bring glory to God until the Day of His return. This is the promise of the Father, the provision of the Son, and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in and through you.

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Battle Drill for Easter:

Walk with the Living Hope!

Romans 8:18-25 (NAS95)

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn the battle drill for Easter – “Walk with the Living Hope!” As one of my friends said to me on Thursday as we were sharing about our walks with Jesus, “Put your hope in the Living Hope – the Hope above all hopes; the Hope over all other hopes.” Today, we are going to learn that Jesus Christ is the Living Hope! We are going to train ourselves to walk with Jesus as our Hope above all, before all, and over all other hopes so that we are not hijacked by lesser things.

The following are some real-life examples of lesser things to guide us along this journey, remembering that “lesser things” doesn’t mean unimportant or not urgent things, just not things that we can’t reliably put our hope in if we want to live out the Easter miracle in our daily lives:

None of these things can guarantee you that which you hope they are promising you. It is easy to put our hope in any of these things to complete us, to help us feel better about ourselves, to make life worth living, but none of these can be our first and foremost priorities for which we live or build upon as our hope for the future. Because hope is not wishful thinking! Hope is the certainty of our faith in God for the future He promised. We must realize that there is only One who can keep and fulfill His promises. That is what the promise of Easter is all about, as Jesus said in John 11:25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Do you believe this and are you learning to take Jesus at His word in your everyday life? That is the question for today and the thrust of your ability to live out this battle drill – to live with Hope is to believe that Jesus is who He said He is and can do that which He promises – “the resurrection and the life.” In what or in whom are you putting your hope? This is an important question because you will devote yourself and be shaped by that which you put your hope in!

Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 15:20, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep.” It is because of Jesus’ atonement of sin on the Cross of Calvary and His victory over death through His resurrection that Jesus is the Living Hope. This is why we remember to open up the Field Manual and tell the story of Easter. This is why we celebrate!

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

Because Jesus Christ is the first fruits of the resurrection, we who put our faith in Him, can walk in the power of His resurrection through the “first fruits of the Spirit.” John taught us in 1 John 4:4 to Spirit-walk in a creation that groans with pain and suffering: “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” On that first Easter, Jesus defeated sin, Satan, and death, so that, as Jesus proclaimed in John 16:33, we may walk in His victory: “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

Persevere in this hope – the Living Hope! Don’t let the score at half-time prevent you from experiencing Christ’s victory. Persevere with the Living Hope and you will overcome as you learn to walk with Him, through the resurrection power in you. That takes us to action step #2.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. “But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. “Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.” They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

You were never meant to walk alone! Walk with a traveling companion and you will experience the promise of Jesus Christ from Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” This is a powerful promise of Jesus walking with us as we walk with one another. Hebrews 10:23-25 commands all believers of the importance of doing life together, not just on Sundays and high holy days such as Christmas and Easter, but as a rhythm of our lives:

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

We walk together to encourage one another so that our lives bring glory to God through our love and good deeds, shining brightly of Jesus’ resurrection power in us through the first fruits of His Spirit. That takes us to our third action step.

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

You will have tribulations and hardships in your life. Walking with the Living Hope doesn’t change the reality of your sojourn through this fallen world, where you will experience the distress of various trials, as Peter said. When you walk with Jesus, then your perspective of your circumstances is not bound up in the momentary sufferings, but rather is captivated by the Living Hope and His eternal weight of glory secured for you through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. This is what Paul intended through his encouragement given in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

As we move to our last action step of training ourselves according to the battle drill of Easter, remember that your greatest witness is how you walk through the testing of fire that is the circumstances of your life, whether that be through painful times of hardship and suffering, or through dangerous times of ease and success. Either way, whether in seasons of richer or poorer, sickness or health, we are to CM – Continue the Mission!

Action Step #4) Live on mission.

[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Does Jesus have first place in everything? We finish where we started, “Put your hope in the Living Hope – the Hope above all hopes; the Hope over all other hopes.” This is the battle drill so guard your heart from allowing any lesser hope from captivating your devotion. You were created, by God, to live a life of devotion for His glory, so train yourself to live on mission by prioritizing your walk with the Living Hope through every circumstance of your life.

It is for your peace with God through the forgiveness of your sin that Jesus Christ died on the Cross. It is for your peace of mind and heart that He gave you the first fruits of the Holy Spirit.  Until you are at peace with God and at peace with yourself, you cannot fulfill God’s mission in your life to be His living embodiment of the resurrection, a signpost of Heaven, an image bearer of His glory. It was for this purpose Christ came and until He returns you are chosen and called by God to bring the hope of resurrection to all people by walking with the Living Hope.

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