–MSgt. Roy P. Benavidez          

       “…I plead with you to give your bodies to God.  Let them be a living and holy sacrifice–the kind he will accept.  When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?”

                    –Romans 12:1 (NLT)
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Sorry, Miles Forrest is busy with marshaling and I need to get out my traditional Veterans Day poem.

In Flanders Fields
     –John McCrae

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 fields.
* * * * * * * * * *
For some reason we need to be constantly reminded of the sacrifice of those who served to keep this country free.  There are those who bombast America for its faults, but there has never been a country that has done so much for the world in regard to freedom and sending out the gospel.  Today, remember those who put on the uniform, took up the weapons to fight the foes that sought to destroy this country.  Maybe also put it in a spiritual sense and see how much Satan has tried to destroy this country because of its dedication to missions work.  Good thought to ponder.
     Two thoughts for today, and I’ll be brief.  First of all, those words in the last stanza hit home.  We, all veterans, have done our time, did our duty, and passed the torch on to protect freedom.  Is this generation prepared to handle the responsibility and the obligation of taking the torch and holding it high?  Is it too much for them?  I recall the words in Judges 3:1-2 where God said that the people of that generation needed to learn war as they had no experience in battle.  But the question I have is, will they fight, take the torch, or just give in to the enemy?  Woe to us if that happens.  Woe to this country if faith is broken with the veterans of the past.
     A second thought–those in the military used to be called “serviceman” or “servicewomen.”  Get that–service!  Veterans have provided an important and dire service to this country.  Whether in combat or support roles there was a call, a need to be met.  Time, effort, sweat, tears, and blood were needed to fulfill the need of the hour.  Yes, it was truly service.  Now ponder this: in the Bible service is the term that comes closest to the idea we have of worship.  Service, not hip-hopping.  Service, not prosperity.  Service, not comfort.  Service, not idleness.  Service to the point of giving their lives.
     I think it is appropriate that Veterans Day begins the holiday season.  Take time to be thankful for their time, effort, and sacrifice.  This is a time of the year that we are brought to the idea of Thanksgiving and giving itself; the veteran gave.

                    –Louis L’Amour  (The Man From Skibbereen)

       “I will shout for joy and sing your praises, for you have redeemed me.”
                    –Psalm 71:23 (NLT)
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Over the hill?  In reading this psalm by Zechariah in Luke, I was reminded of that phrase.  When is one over the hill?  Zechariah, an elderly priest was ready to serve his time in the Temple.  There were twenty thousand priests, so at his age he might have wondered what good was he?  He and his wife, Elisabeth, had no children, none to celebrate with, none to enjoy, hmmm, what good was he?  Perhaps he thought that no one would miss him if he were gone. (Petersen) This song is called the “Benedictus” which is Latin for “blessed” or “praised.”  They are the first words in Zechariah’ song found in Luke chapter 1:  

          67 — Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
          68 — Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people,
          69 — And has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David,
          70 — As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began,
          71 — That we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us,
          72 — To perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant,
          73 — The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
          74 — To grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear,
          75 — In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
          76 — And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
          77 — To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins,
          78 — Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
          79 — To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.  (NKJV)

     Read the whole story of Zacharias and his wife.  Old people, over the hill?  Not quite for the Lord still had something for them to do.  Our work is not through until that last breath is taken.  Granted it may change through the years, but our obligation, our duty is to remain faithful in our service to the Lord.  Think about it!  The role of Zacharias and Elisabeth in the plan of God.  John, would prepare the way of the Lord.  No wonder Zacharias sang at his birth.
     A forerunner, a preparer for the Lord.  John would be that one and Zacharias sang praises unto the Lord.  Many thought that it would be Elijah returning to announce the way of the Messiah, but no, Zacharias saw in his son the one who would prepare the way for the coming of Jesus, the Lord and King.  All his life Zacharias had done his duty, he worked in the Temple, performing the priestly office.  His life was preparation, and the Lord was watching.  As Barclay writes, “In life God is working all things together to bring us to Christ.”  We perform our task, we sing praises unto the Lord, yes, sometimes because of duty, but mostly because of a love to the One who has redeemed us.
     “Praise the Lord,” said a teenage Mary.  “Praise the Lord,” said the senior citizen Zacharias.  “No matter your age, God wants to use you to bring Him praise.” (Petersen)  Take time to read these wonderful verses of Scripture.  Dissect them, contemplate of all the truth that they hold, and praise the Lord.

               “This is he whom seers in old time
               Chanted of with one accord,
               Whom the voices of the prophets
               Promised in their faithful word;
               Now he shines, the long-expected;
               Let all people praise the Lord.”
                     –Aurelius Clemens Prudentius

Joy an’ happiness, whatever makes life worth livin’, is in you. No man can go forth to find what he hasn’t got within him.”

                     –Zane Grey  (Wanderer of the Wasteland)

 

       “The LORD came down on top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain.  So Moses climbed the mountain.”

                    –Exodus 19:20 (NLT)

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As you read this you may be recalling some trip you made into the wilderness.  Perhaps you are currently going through that wasteland experience.  What is it that forced you into the wilderness?  There may be many reasons:  you were forced there by others or by circumstances, you are running away and found yourself there as a means of escape, it was an accident that brought you into the wilderness and you may have entered in desperation, to die.  Yet few would ever recognize that they have been placed there by God.  There is something to learn, to gain from this special time.  There is the opportunity to come closer to the Lord, to know Him better and in a more intimate way.

     The woman Hagar fled to the wilderness to die.  She was running from the hateful treatment by Abraham’s wife, Sarah.  She was giving herself up to die along with her unborn son when God found her.  Isn’t it ironic that the name of Ishmael means “God hears”?  He heard the moans of Hagar in that desert wilderness, spoke to her, and brought her comfort.

     Sometime later we see that Abraham has thrust Hagar, and her now young boy, into that same wilderness.  The wasteland was before her, and surely Abraham knew that he didn’t give them enough food and water to survive, for Abraham was a man of the wilderness.  This time Hagar enters the wilderness because she was forced there by another person.  Pushed out and probably given up to eventually die out there.  A master and a father was the tool used to send them away.  Abraham could not, or would not, stand up to Sarah’s jealousy, so he pushed the seeming intruders into the vast wasteland–to die.

     However, the boy did not die, nor did his mother.  In fact, it seems that the boy adjusted well to the wilderness.  He did not try to leave, and eventually he married.  Have you ever thought much about Ishmael and Hagar after they left the tents of Abraham?  Did they serve God?  Did Abraham give them enough of a foundation to find and serve God?  They may have, especially since God appeared to Hagar and saved them.  How many people are mentioned in the holy writ to have actually seen God?  Hagar and Ishmael must have been people special to God and part of His larger plan.  It makes a person wonder, what would the world be like if Hagar and Ishmael had stayed in the tents of Abraham?  Or if they had died in that wasteland?  This is surely a mystery; there must be something in the overall plan of God that is hidden.  After walking in the wastelands and seeing the wilderness, what would or should Ishmael have learned?  In pondering that, there is one thing for certain; he would learn to survive.  The other thing is that he would be able to handle the solitude that was there.

     Imagine the thoughts that must flow through the minds of those who find themselves evicted into the wilderness by their father, or other person.  What is it that they must learn?  Will they find God, or will they be like Ishmael and only learn how to survive, but not depend upon God?  Those of you in this situation need to recognize that God is listening for you to cry out to Him.  He has allowed you an opportunity to come to a greater knowledge of Him.  Don’t get bitter because the place you are–that wilderness, but call out to the Lord, He is waiting.  Don’t struggle just to survive, but seek Him.

 

(taken from Trails in the Wilderness)