Archive for January, 2024
Prayer Warriors – Really
2023 is a microwave year. Things are happening fast.
The current Israeli/Hamas War is certain to be devastating as previous wars have been. In World War II 30,000 civilians died in an air raid in Dresden Germany. Eighty thousand died in one night in Tokyo. War is devastating.
Well-trained and well-equipped, highly motivated young Israelis using sophisticated high tech weapons have undertaken an effort to purge the Gaza Strip of Hamas. Smart weapons, military genius, and dedicated personnel are the means of achieving victory.
Regardless of how skeptical you might be regarding prayer it has often been the essential component for victory in past events.
Historically, the Lord has turned more than one major battle by the weather. Deborah’s victory over the ancient Canaanites, Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, Lord Nelson’s victory at sea over the Spanish Armada, and Washington’s victory over the British are classic examples.
A great concern is that the present generation might presume on the grace of God and inadvisably depend upon sophisticated weaponry. Our gratitude for past blessings should not be replaced by complacency regarding prayer.
Pray for Israel. The potential of Iran, Syria, and Lebanon joining to attack them is real. The forces now in Lebanon pose a real threat. Having the others join with them would be a significant threat.
Pray for America. There is no telling how many threatening forces have crossed the border and are poised to carry out omni destruction weakening us for further destruction.
Here is a third group for which to pray. That is, the innocent Palestinian people in Gaza. There is no nation of Palestine, only a territory. Hamas has taken them over without them having any desire for conflict.
Abraham had one son too many. Hagar bore a son by Abraham. She and her son Ishmael were banished to the desert, though God promised that through Ishmael would raise up a great nation of his own. To them God said, “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation” (Genesis 17:20). The Palestinian people are his heirs. Their oil rich home lands are their blessing. Pray for the innocent ones in Gaza.
It appears America has a farmable armada poised to aid Israel if needed, and they are sure to be needed if Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq join the fray. Compounding the complexity is the potential of our own homeland made vulnerable by unknown numbers of likely terrorists who have entered by crossing our open border.
Likewise, let’s not become self-critical. There is a tendency in America for some to be self-condemning of America.
President Bush said it well in his address to the nation, “War has no certainty, other than the certainty of sacrifice.” Foremost are the lives sacrificed.
As an aside, when Joshua and the Jews crossed into the promised land they killed the inhabitants of the land. From our perspective that poses some questions. God has a different perspective. He knew the inhabitants of the land and that they all had a mind set opposing His will that would never change; it was permanently fixed. He had Joshua purge the land and provide a homeland free of spiritual and moral contamination. The purpose was for Israel to become a model for all nations. They did for a time before they began to fail in their role.
The present war is for the same reason, a homeland for the descendants of Abraham through Sarah, Isaac.
The Hamas Covenant
It is imaginative to think the forces in Gaza and those in Israel will ever be at peace. It simply never would be, never. One will inevitably best the other. The time has come that when provoked they decide it is their time to prevail. Several times they have tried to establish a tolerable existence, but have had their hand slapped every time they have tried.
World War II American General George Paton got it right when he said, “War is hell.” It has now surfaced.
When the good day comes this conflict is over and the festered evil is revealed that will be Israel’s hour of vindication in the eyes of most logical people. It will then be obvious the horror of war was enjoined in order to prevent a greater evil and far more deaths and destruction. If Israel’s actions preempt such devastation they will be worth the grievous cost of their efforts. If that scenario plays out then the uninvolved nations who have demurred will have cause to have a collective conscience — a guilty conscience.
When this war is over Israel’s national leaders will be vindicated and their military efforts validated. More importantly a sinister evil will have been averted.
One of the most valuable forms of support is prayer. Through the millennia the outcome of more than one war has been determined by what insurance policies refer to as “an act of God.” Let’s ask the Lord for His divine guidance.
A friend who was a general in the Persian Gulf War introduced me to the term “mag force.” It refers to using the maximum force to achieve the maximum result. Israel’s military is using it. We here at home need to employ mag force in trying to pull our nation together and make it more cohesive in this difficult time.
The Islamic Resistance Movement, known as Hamas first released their Covenant August 18, 1988. It is a comprehensive manifesto which actively promotes the annihilation of Israel by means of Jihad.
The preamble of the Covenant is unequivocal in its declaration of the destruction saying, “Israel exists and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.”
Israel was provoked into attempting to preempt a new holocaust in the only way possible.
Article eight of the Covenant serves as a slogan for Hamas, “Jihad is its path.” Further resolve is contained in the Covenant: “Initiatives, proposals, international conferences, are all a waste of time, and vain effort.”
Within the hoard that has streamed across our border it is highly likely there are sinister forces bent on injuring America and making us vulnerable to a greater evil. It is so likely we need now to pray for divine guidance.
Make no mistake this is a holy war being fought over a contested territory, but the holy aspect is primary. Americans, especially Christians need to earnestly engage in the conflict by praying. Our interest is very much at risk.
Wimps and War
War has been best described by one who knew how to wage it, General George Patton, who said, “War is hell.”
Israel and America have been thought to be close allies for years. A popular item for sale on the streets of Jerusalem is a t-shirt showing a tank and jet posting the message: “America don’t worry Israel is behind you.”
I have another popular item, a lapel pin consisting of crossed American and Israeli flags indicating the closeness.
However, in light of the current war between Hamas and Israel there have been rallies in support of Hamas in several American cities. At Harvard University 31 student groups have shown support of Hamas and blamed Israel for the war. These young intellects don’t know the long standing history of Hamas aggression and the numerous efforts made by Israel to try to improve relations. Israel conquered the Gaza Territory in their Six Day War and set it free after the war rather than investing resources trying to govern it. It was hoped Gaza would be the Singapore of the Mediterranean.
Since that war there have been conflicts between the two interests inside Israel with both sides at fault at times. In most instances the Jews have been right. With two opposing interests living in close proximity within Israel conflicts are inevitable. The Palestinian demand for conquered territory to be given back to the Palestinians is a major source of conflict. There is an applicable adage that explains the situation: “To the victor goes the spoils.” Israel has developed major cities in those territories consisting of hospitals, schools, banks, roadways, waterworks, expansive housing and numerous other amenities in these areas. These are Jewish cities occupied by Jews. Palestinians occupied these territories for years and let them exist as undeveloped desert.
There are numerous global examples of national boundaries having changed long ago due to war. The losers accepted their defeat and loss and have abided by the change. Hamas has not abided by this practice.
At the end of the Six Day War Jews and Arabs could cross former borders into the other’s section. Traffic lights in the Jewish section which had been unknown in the Arab section were so fascinating to young Arabs many stood on the street corners applauding when the lights changed. Jerusalem has since been developed by Jews as a major modern metropolis. The concept of giving it back is unthinkable.
If Israel does what it says it must do to destroy Hamas a grievous side effect will be the killing of many innocent people. If they don’t there will later be the killing of many Jews in subsequent wars. This is part of the horror of war. Israel will be represented as over reacting and acting unjustly. In turn, much of the press will feature this. The result will be negative and critical of Israel.
There is a statement that has been attributed to a number of Israelis, among those cited in slightly different forms are Golda Meir and Benjamin Netanyahu: “If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel”. Based on the record that appears to be true.
All of my contacts in Israel ask for prayers. Please respond positively with their entreaty.
America Is Still the Beautiful
“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance.”
Psalm 33:12
Jesus lovingly talked with a group of religious leaders in His day about repentance and righteousness and their response was: “We are of Abraham’s seed.” That was good, but it was not good enough. What they were saying was their heritage provided them with righteousness which immured them from the need of repentance.
Today many Americans act as though our heritage is enough to protect and preserve us. We behave as though we are the modern chosen people living a charmed life that allows us to violate any of God’s laws we desire. Our legacy is a good one, but it does not immune us from a need for present day vigilance and devotion.
No civilization has ever enjoyed the freedom we now have. We are one of the few civilizations in which people do not have to carry a personal I.D. card at all times.
Now with our open border we have no record of who has crossed our borders and with what intent.
With a member of Congress displaying a Palestinian flag in our national capitol, with 31 student groups at Harvard supporting Hamas, and with Hamas support rallies in our streets and on college campuses it is not foolish to be apprehensive about Hamas terrorist cells in America. Incidentally, Palestine is not a country, it is simply a territory.
These groups in supporting Hamas are endorsing terrorists who breached the border wall between the Gaza Strip and Israel and reigned terror on innocent unarmed civilians slaughtering 20 infants along with an estimated 1000 other people. Their animalistic behavior betrays any code of military conduct.
At a Fourth of July speech a young man shouted: “Why don’t you tell them that freedom is the most dangerous fight anyone can have? Why don’t you tell them that it’s a two-edged sword that will destroy us unless we learn how to use it — and soon?”
Our failure to use this two-edged sword has caused the British historian, Lord Macaulay, to write of our current drift: “Your republic will be pillaged and ravaged just as the Roman Empire was by the Barbarians in the fifth century, with the difference, that the devastators of Rome came from abroad, while your Barbarians will be the people of your own country and the products of your own institutions.”
The renowned historian, Arnold Toynbee, in an interview on ABC was asked: “Are you saying that religion is going to save us or that it can save us in our present state?”
He replied to the question: “I’m saying we can’t be saved unless we have a religious conversion, or if you like, a new religious revival.”
He has made a historical deep dive into the demise of approximately 100 societies in making this statement.
Such a renewal is the one thing it appears we don’t want. Churches are at fault in this by rarely calling for a renewed commitment to biblical virtue.
Not only are the words “God Bless America” good musical lyrics, they are worth praying. Following is a promise made by our promise keeping God.
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” II Chronicles 7: 14.
Bloom Where You Are
Out of the history of Napoleonic France, Leonard Griffith has given us a moving story of a political prisoner by the name of Charnet. Charnet was thrown into prison simply because he had accidentally, by a remark, offended the emperor Napoleon. Cast into a dungeon cell, presumably left to die, as the days and weeks and months passed by Charnet became embittered at his fate. Slowly but surely he began to lose his faith in God. And one day, in a moment of rebellious anger, he scratched on the wall of his cell, “All things come by chance,” which reflected the injustice that had come his way by chance. He sat in the darkness of that cell growing more bitter by the day.
There was one spot in the cell where a single ray of sunlight came every day and remained for a little while. And one morning, to his absolute amazement, he noticed that in the hard, earthen floor of that cell a tiny, green blade was breaking through. It was something living, struggling up toward that shaft of sunlight. It was his only living companion, and his heart went out in joy toward it. He nurtured it with his tiny ration of water, cultivated it, and encouraged its growth. That green blade became his friend. It became his teacher in a sense, and finally it burst through until one day there bloomed from the little plant a beautiful, purple and white flower. Once again Charnet found himself thinking thoughts about God. He scratched off the thing he had scribbled on the wall of his dungeon and in its place wrote, “He who made all things is God.”
Somehow through the guards and their wives and the gossip of the community, this little story reached the ears of Josephine, Napoleon’s wife. She was so moved by it and so convinced that a man who loved a flower that way could not possibly be a dangerous criminal that she persuaded Napoleon to release him. So Charnet was set free. You can be sure that he dug out his precious little prison flower and took it with him and cultivated that plant in the years to come. He also pondered in his heart a verse that he put on the little flower pot holding the plant. What would that verse be? “If God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
What great provisions or promises of God brighten your road and lighten your load? Take time and make your mind a storehouse of God’s Word. Your mind is such and you are stockpiling it daily with thoughts. Discipline the storage process and refine what is being stored there. Your life will respond in kind. There is a worthy adage: GIGO which stands for “Garbage in, garbage out.” Why not “gospel in, gospel out.” Don’t be flippant about that truth. If you do deposit biblical thoughts it will show in your life and give you peace, joy, and love.
Bloom where you are.