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Jeremiah 17:7-8 “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.  For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”

Nahum 1:7 “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.”

The fighting on D-Day was only the beginning of the liberation of Europe during World War II. The war raged on until the spring of 1945.  Upon completion of the campaign in Europe, General Marshall wrote a letter to his friend and subordinate General Eisenhower congratulating him on his massive accomplishment for the cause of freedom.  Eisenhower’s response back was powerful and telling:

“Since the day I first went to England, indeed since I first reported to you in the War Department, the strongest weapon that I have always had in my hand was a confident feeling that you trusted my judgment, believed in the objectivity of my approach to any problem and were ready to sustain to the full limit of your resources and your tremendous moral support, anything that we found necessary to undertake to accomplish the defeat of the enemy.  This has had a tremendous effect on my staffs and principal subordinate commanders.  Their conviction that you had basic faith in this headquarters and would invariably resist interference from any outside sources, has done far more to strengthen my personal position throughout the war than is realized by those people who were affected by this circumstance … Our army and people have never been so deeply indebted to any other solider.”

What a powerful lesson on leadership and a power lesson on faith!

We must trust in our all-loving, all-powerful Lord and Savior!  By doing so, we shall be blessed.  We shall be steadied.  We shall be secure.  We shall be courageous.  We shall be known by God.

May we trust in His judgment.  May we believe in His wisdom.  May we embrace His sustaining power.  May we cling to his moral support.  May we accept His strengthening influence.  May we truly understand how deeply indebted we are to Him!

PLEASE PRAY FOR A TRUSTING SPIRIT THAT DEMONSTRATES A FAITH IN OUR ALL-LOVING, ALL-POWERFUL GOD.  He is our strongest weapon!

ADMIN NOTE: The Eisenhower quote was from Partners in Command

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 6^thof 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.

I Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing.”

Romans 12:12 “Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer”

By the evening of June 6^th, 1944 the invasion of mainland Europe had seen an amazing first day of activity.  By the end of that day, over 150,000 Allied troops had landed on French soil, transported by thousands of aircraft and ships in a massive surprise military operation.  President Roosevelt spoke to the nation that evening, and shared the following:

 

“My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far.

And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer:

Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity.

Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith.

They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. For the enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph.

They will be sore tried, by night and by day, without rest-until the victory is won. The darkness will be rent by noise and flame. Men’s souls will be shaken with the violences of war.

For these men are lately drawn from the ways of peace. They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home.

Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom.

And for us at home — fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas — whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them–help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice.

Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

Give us strength, too — strength in our daily tasks, to redouble the contributions we make in the physical and the material support of our armed forces.

And let our hearts be stout, to wait out the long travail, to bear sorrows that may come, to impart our courage unto our sons wheresoever they may be.

And, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee; Faith in our sons; Faith in each other; Faith in our united crusade. Let not the keenness of our spirit ever be dulled. Let not the impacts of temporary events, of temporal matters of but fleeting moment – let not these deter us in our unconquerable purpose.

With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace – a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil.

Thy will be done, Almighty God.

Amen.”

 

President Roosevelt was wise to lead the nation in prayer to Almighty God.  After all, they needed heavenly power to sustain them through the brutal conditions upon which the history of the world hinged.  Freedom against tyranny hung in the balance.

It wasn’t to be a one-time prayer or a one-day prayer, but prayer without ceasing.  It was to be said that the nation’s “thoughts and prayers are ever with them.”  The American people were to “devote themselves in a continuance of prayer.” Americans were to “rededicate [themselves] in renewed faith in Thee.”  As we reflect upon that desperate hour 75 years ago, we must do the same today.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A CONSTANT SPIRIT OF PRAYER IN THIS LAND.  Let words of prayer for this nation be constantly on our lips.

Zephaniah 3:17 “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”

Psalm 118:6 “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear:  what can man do unto me?”

Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.”

As we approach the 75^thanniversary of D-Day, it is appropriate to spend several weeks lingering upon the spiritual linkages of this pivotal moment in world history.  It was a situation so dire and in need of God’s blessing that General Eisenhower stated after making the decision to invade that “there was nothing we could do but pray, desperately.”  (See https://prayatlunch.us/pray-desperately/)

In the days and the weeks leading up to the invasion, American military chaplains were busy tending to their anxious and restless flocks.  One of these was Chaplain George Barber, who was well known for preaching to thousands of men in the lead-up to the invasion of mainland Europe, and for liberally passing out copies of God’s Word.  He loved to emphasize that “God is in control.”  In the midst of this vital ministry, Chaplain Barber stated:

“We’re on His side and we’re going to win. Jesus gave his life for us and we may have to give our lives for Him and for our country. He knows all about it and He’s with us here.”

His words ring true today. God is in control.  Jesus gave His life for us.  We must be on His side and must surrender our lives to Him.  He knows about what we are going through, and He is with us.  Even when things look dire, God stands ready to bless in ways we can’t even imagine.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A SERVANT’S SURRENDERED ATTITUDE THAT LIVES KNOWING GOD IS IN CONTROL.  Whatever we are going through, “He knows all about is and He’s with us here.”

 

Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

In Southern California this year, we experienced a fairly rare phenomenon called a super bloom.  Because of the excessive rain during the wintertime, beautiful poppies covered the fields, the hills, and even the desert floor.  It was a magnificent sight.

A little over a hundred years ago, Western Europe experienced its own super bloom.  In the middle of the brutal conditions of World War I, beautiful poppies covered the battlefields and even the hastily dug graves of fallen soldiers.

Seeing this super bloom, a Canadian doctor named Lt Col John McCrae wrote the following after presiding over the funeral of a friend:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Field

In these few short stanzas, the dead provide a simple reminder to the living.  Live up to their legacy.  Catch the torch they have passed on and hold it high.

This Memorial Day weekend, may we honor those who have passed on before us.  May we do so not just on this holiday weekend, but throughout the year.  We must do so in remembrance of our military heroes.  Yet, let us also do so for our Christian heroes.  All the while, may we remember that our best tribute to them is to catch the torch they have passed on to us and hold it high.

PLEASE HONOR THE MEMORY OF OUR BRAVE FOREFATHERS AND PRAY FOR OUR ABILITY TO LIVE UP TO THEIR LEGACY. May we hold high the torch that they have passed on to us … though poppies grow.

Admin Note:  This is the 500th PLUS post.