PLUS

Ephesians 6:12-13 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Late at night on May 2, 2011, IT consultant Sohaib Athar was working on a computer project in the hills of Pakistan.  On this unremarkable night, he was annoyed by the noises of helicopters and explosions. During the minutes of this distraction, he Tweeted out his observations and closed that string of thoughts with the following … “I hope it’s not the start of something nasty :-S.”  In reality, it was the end of something nasty.

Eight hours later, the world learned about what Athar had been Tweeting about.  Breaking the silence of the highly classified raid, President Obama proudly declared on live television that Osama bin Laden was dead. The nighttime noises heard by Athar were the ongoing raid itself and he had unknowingly journaled one of the world’s most noteworthy events live eight hours before anyone understood the full context of those observations.

There is much going on around us at all times.  Sometimes we understand all of it.  Sometimes we understand some of it.  Sometimes we understand none of it.  Sometimes it is related to flesh and blood.  Sometimes it is related to principalities and powers.  We rarely understand the full context of our observations.

Regardless of our perspective, we need to be vigilant and well-armed spiritually for the rigors and the nastiness of the day.

PLEASE PRAY TO BE SPIRITUALLY ARMED FOR THE CHALLENGING CONTEXTS WE WILL FACE.  Sometimes it is the start of something nasty.  Sometimes it is the end of something nasty.  Sometimes we are a part of breaking news without even knowing about it.

Pslam 66:17 “I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.”

Psalm 118:25 “Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD:  O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.”

General Jerry Boykin is a well-known special operations leader and Christian.  His combat experience is stunning, with roles in Vietnam, Iran, Granada, Panama, Columbia, and Somalia.  One of the formative experiences in his life was his failure to rescue the American hostages in Iran in April of 1980 as the Delta Force Operations Officer, something he considered “the greatest disappointment of [his] professional career.”

On April 24, 1980, a special operations team stopped at a remote staging location in the Iranian desert to refuel for their final push to the rescue location at the American Embassy in Tehran.  At that location, two aircraft collided causing a fiery death trap for the 45-warriors trapped in the C-130 engulfed in flames.  Boykin had a front row seat for the seemingly impending tragic death of his trapped men.

Boykin’s thoughts at the time were humble and spiritual:

“It took only seconds before I instinctively began pleading with God for the lives of these men.  My prayer was that of a desperate man who knew that only God could save those forty-five souls in that wreckage.”

He went on to say these powerful words about prayer: “It was all I could do – and the most important thing I could do.”  Sure enough, God answered miraculously as each man was able to escape completely unharmed.

One of the mottos of the PLUS ministry is strikingly similar to Boykin’s thought – praying for our nation and our leaders is the least we should do and the most we can do to make a difference in this land.  It is the least we should do and the most we can do!  We need God to answer miraculously.

PLEASE PRAY INSTINCTIVELY AND DESPERATELY FOR OUR NATION.  In many ways, it is simultaneously all we can do and the most important thing we can do for this great nation.

II Timothy 4:7 “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”

Philippians 3:14 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

The Revolutionary War started on April 19, 1775 in the colony of Massachusetts.  On that day, British forces unexpectedly fired against the citizens of Lexington killing eight militiamen.  Their ultimate objective was a large stash of colonial arms at a militia armory in Concord just a few miles west of the Lexington Green. It was there that the colonial soldiers successfully stood their ground, causing the mighty British army to retreat back to Boston.  The retreat route took the British forces back near Lexington where 78 year old Samuel Whittemore was waiting.

This seasoned war veteran was not going to let the slaughter of his fellow countrymen stand.  He singlehandedly ambushed and killed three British soldiers before being shot in the face, stabbed by bayonets, beaten, and left for dead.  This old timer’s bravery boosted the spirits of the Revolutionary forces, and his toughness allowed him to recover and live another 18 years.  He died a free man under an American Constitutional government.

Whether we are old or young, we have a mission to complete.  We have a fight to win.  We must finish our course while keeping the faith.  We must press toward the mark.  We must aggressively answer the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  We must urgently serve God and fulfill our purpose.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO FINISH OUR COURSE WHILE KEEPING THE FAITH.  All Christians, young and old alike, must press toward the mark.

Judges 7:2-3 “And the LORD said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.  Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead.  And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.”

Judges 7:7 “And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand:  and let all the other people go every man unto his place.”

In a previous post (https://prayatlunch.us/a-needy-people/), I discussed the important truth that even the “one-percenters” need to rely upon God.  The verses above provide a different reminder in a different context with respect to the “one-percenters”.

God whittled down the manpower of the Israelite army to less than one percent of its original size to battle against the Midianites.  He trimmed it from 32,000 men, to 20,000 men, and then to 300 men.  It is with this group of “one-percenters” that the Lord brought a great victory that could only be attributed to Him.

God doesn’t need a majority to succeed.  He doesn’t need a majority to bring great victory.  He doesn’t need a majority to win a battle or win the war.  He simply asks for a faithful group of “one-percenters”.

Don’t be dismayed by our lack of numerical superiority in our twenty-first century American culture. With God, we have the power of a mighty majority.

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE FAITHFUL MINORITY IN THIS LAND TO HARNESS GOD’S POWER.  We may just be “one-percenters,” but with God we are a mighty minority.

Please see the following for related thoughts:

https://prayatlunch.us/minority-miracles/

https://prayatlunch.us/spiritually-alert-minorities/

Ephesians 3:17-19 “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”

Colossians 2:6-7 “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:  Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.”

Ephesians 4:14 “That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”

As America was getting prepared for a looming World War II, President Roosevelt set some ambitious goals for improvements in industrial production.  When Adolf Hitler heard about these milestones, he discounted the capabilities of the American industrial machine.  In fact, he responded to our goals with the following: “What is America but beauty queens, millionaires, stupid records, and Hollywood?” (Freedom’s Forge, pg. 13)

May we never be simply a country of beauty queens.  May we never be just a land of millionaires.  May we never be known only as the producer of stupid records.  May we never be defined by being the home of Hollywood.

We need breadth, length, depth and height. We need to be rooted and grounded and built up in Christ and his love.  We need to be stablished in the faith.  We need to abound therein with thanksgiving.  Otherwise, we will be tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, by cunning craftiness, and by those who are waiting to deceive us.

Hitler may have been right, but when the crisis of world war came, we snapped back to our foundational source of strength.  May it not require a crisis to snap us back to our foundational source of strength today.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICA TO REST ON A FIRM FOUNDATION OF FAITH, WHETHER IN GOOD TIMES OR IN BAD TIMES. May America be known not for its beauty queens, millionaires, stupid records, and Hollywood, but by our stunning foundation that produces lives that are rooted and grounded in love.