Showing posts with label battles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label battles. Show all posts

Monday, May 7

Passing Gas!




We just celebrated the Run for the Roses, the Kentucky Derby, and all the events that led up to it. The air show and fireworks display is the biggest event, attracting hundreds of thousands of people, sometimes three quarter million, from many states.

As I watched the air show on television, I learned that those flying the Lockheed Martin KC-130 in-flight refueler call what they do...passing gas! (Gotcha!)

Wikipedia says, “The Lockheed Martin KC-130 is the basic designation for a family of the extended-range tanker version of the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft modified for aerial refueling.”

The KC-130 is capable of fulfilling a multitude of roles and missions. As a tactical tanker/transport, it provides support for the Marine Air Ground Task Forces, such as...

*carrying wounded
*being the largest aerial firefighter
*having some converted into gunships
*emergency supply into battle areas
*emergency medical and other evacuations
*aerial delivery of troops, cargo, and equipment
*humanitarian missions for food and medical supplies
*in-flight refueling for both tactical aircraft and helicopters as well as rapid ground refueling.

So, what does this have to do with you and me? Let’s see.

We have our own personal air and ground Task Force, the Lord and His army, His hosts of heaven. He is our Refueler. He is all things to us, working for us in every area of our lives.

The Lord is to us whatever we need:

*He carries us when we are wounded and hurting, when there is only one set of prints in the sand, as Mary Stevenson said in her poem Footprints in the Sand, “The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you.”

He carries us through those wilderness days, as He did the Israelites, “You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.” (Ex. 19:4 NLT)

*He puts out the fires around us, joining us in the midst of the fiery circumstances, just as He did with the Three Amigos when they were bound in the midst of the fiery furnace. Others saw that over their “bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.” (Dan 3:27 NKJV) The Lord enters our flaming trials and we are loosed, walking unhurt in their midst.

*He helps to fight our battles and makes them His, as Scripture says, “The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you,” (Deut. 1:30 NKJV) and “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.” (2 Chron. 20:15 NIV)

*He brings emergency supply into wherever we are and in whatever we need, for “my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 4:19 NKJV)

*He is there to evacuate us from certain situations. “I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the [enemy], I will rescue you from [his] bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.” (Ex. 6:6 NKJV)

*He supplies our need for daily sustenance, “He has filled the hungry with good things,” (Luke 1:53 NKJV) and “He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” (Ps. 107:9 NLT)

*As our Refueler, He fills us when our soul-level gets low or drains out and we seek His infilling. Scripture tells us, “He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!” (Ps. 103:5 NLT) And “I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.” (Jer. 31:25 NKJV)

The questions are: Do we allow Him to refuel us with His Spirit and fill us with all He offers in order to accomplish all the things He desires us to do? Do we run to Him to be refilled in whatever we lack?

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,” and may you be “made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with Himself.” and “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Rom. 15:13 NKJV, Eph. 1:23 NLT, Eph. 3:19 NIV)

Do you need to be refueled today? Need gas?









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Tuesday, February 2

Scars of Service


“What nobler decoration of honor can any godly man seek after than his scars of service, his losses for the crown, his reproaches for Christ’s sake, his being worn out in his Master’s service!” Unknown

All soldiers compare their wounds and battle stories, especially when in their sunset days. They are proud to share them as badges of honor, as victory scars of service for their homeland, proving they made it through the campaigns, the conflicts.

How many saints in heaven will not have battle scars, their scars of service, endured for the sake of their heavenly homeland? Not a single one! Male or female, all will be a part of that brotherhood of soldiers, who have fought the good fight and won.

As Paul approached the end of his life, he gave his valedictory speech in his second letter to Timothy, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Tim. 4:6-7 NKJV)

How many victory scars of service did Paul have? More than most of us. Some may have even more than Paul. But he fought the good fight. He endured the scars. He received his crown.

Charles Spurgeon (a British preacher in the 1800s) said, “We will be content to share the battle, for we shall soon wear the crown and wave the palm.”

We all suffer struggles of one sort or another and one day they will cease. When we come to the end of our earthly conflicts, we will all gather on those heavenly shores and exchange the sagas of our days on the battlefield.

How many different service scars will we find? What stories of conflict will we hear? Voices will ring out…

*See, here, that’s my scar of divorce.
*This one is the scar of prison.
*This one is the scar of severe sickness.
*This one is the scar of being abused as a child.
*This one is the heartache of my spouse’s infidelity.

*Mine is the scar of rape.
*This is the scar of poverty.
*This is the scar of great heartache.
*This is the scar of children who went the way of the world.
*This is the scar of agony of torture for my stance in the Lord.

Throughout all our battles, God says to us, “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with My victorious right hand.” (Is. 41:10 NLT)

God is our help and our shield (Ps. 33:20). We have His full armor to protect us (Eph. 6:11). He never leaves us on the battlefield alone. He is Immanuel…God with us, always (Matt. 1:23).

What battles do you fight? Are you victorious? What scars of service do you proudly share with others, telling them you made it through the conflicts?

When our days of battle on earth end, I will meet you on those heavenly shores. We will wear our crowns of perseverance and wave our palms of victory. I look forward to sharing with you the scars of service we have each endured.

To God be the glory!



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