John 14:1-2 “Let not your heart be troubled:  ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions:  if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.”

John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Chaplain George Barber didn’t just pray and preach for the men as D-Day approached.  He also waded into the bloody surf alongside of them on Omaha Beach on the 6thof June 1944 as they charged the shoreline against a determined German military defense.  He later stated that “when we hit the shore they let down the ramp and I stood in front and led my men off” as shots were splashing into the water all around them.  As men were hit he urged them to trust in the Lord for salvation, and he quoted John 14 to them in their dying hour.

As they got established on the shore, he dug a trench to set up a proper defensive position.  He said that “I prayed as if everything depended on the Lord, and I dug as if everything depended on me … the Lord and me got that foxhole pretty deep.”  The faithful service of that single chaplain was a source of encouragement, challenge, and blessing to scores of men during the brutal fighting of that day and the many others that filled the calendar until total victory in Europe in 1945.

The faithful service of that single chaplain should be a source of encouragement, challenge, and blessing to us today.  His proclamation of truth through his words and his actions is unmistakable and unshakable. Through faith, we must stand in front and lead the charge for the cause of Christ.  We must urge those around us to trust in the Lord for salvation and remind them of the truths of John 14.  As we serve God, we must pray as if everything depends on the Lord, and work as if everything depends upon us.  If we do these things, then we can be an encouragement, challenge, and blessing to scores of men around us.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A BOLD FAITHFULNESS TO SERVE GOD IN THE FACE OF A DETERMINED ADVERSARY.  Let’s get our foxholes pretty deep.