Watch the Devotion

Based on Romans 12:14-21; 13:4

If you currently serve or have served in our nation’s military as a warfighter or a service member, do you know how God describes you in the Bible? He says in Romans 13:4 that you are “agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.”

Because you are employed by our government, God has given the government the sword. In Romans 13, Paul says that the servant of God, the government, does not bear the sword for nothing. You are an extension of God’s hand through the government. You are to bring punishment on evil people, to bring punishment on wicked people, which means you are to be “Army Strong,” to “Ranger Up,” to be “Forged by the Sea,” to “Aim High,” to be “Always Faithful,” to be “Always Prepared,” Semper Fidelis, Semper Paratus. You are to bring punishment on the enemy.

You are also to be a deterrent, which is why we have units and squadrons and battalion stations strategically all over the United States to tell our near-peer competitors, “Listen, if you step out of line, you know what waits for you.”

And at the same time, this is how God talks to us in the same letter to the Romans, in 12:17-21. He says, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Some years ago, when I served a congregation that was located near a military installation, I had a U.S. Army soldier come up to me after church and say, “Pastor, I really struggled with your prayer this morning.” This soldier had recently redeployed from the war zone, and I had prayed for our enemies. And as a U.S. Army medic, he had treated the wounded and the dying, his battle buddies, his friends in arms, his brothers in arms. And he had seen what the enemy had done to his friends. So he said, “Pastor, I don’t really pray that prayer. I really stick to the imprecatory psalms.” These are psalms that talk about dashing the enemy’s head against rocks and bathing our feet in our enemy’s blood. King David prayed these prayers.

So how do we reconcile that? Love our enemies. And the job that you are called to do is to serve as an agent of wrath. Look to Christ. Look to Jesus on the cross as he is being put to death, as he’s being murdered at the hands of wicked men, and listen to what he says: “Father, forgive them.” Look to Christ.

When a royal official—a man who worked for a pagan, hedonistic government ruler—went to Jesus because his son was dying, Jesus didn’t question him. He went and he healed his son. Actually, Jesus didn’t even go! He just said the word and this man’s son was healed.

Another time a Roman centurion came to Jesus. This is a company commander of men who knew how to kill. They were agents of wrath, right? He came to Jesus because one of his servants was dying, and Jesus said the word and he healed the servant.

When Roman soldiers went to John the Baptizer, John didn’t say, “Hey, you need to find a new profession.” He said, “Carry out your vocation faithfully and honestly and with integrity.”

Look to Christ when you struggle to reconcile these two truths that seem to contradict each other at times. Go to the cross, and there you will find forgiveness for your anger, for words of vengeance, for thoughts of revenge, for when you have spoken hateful words about other human beings. Bring that all to the cross and know that you are forgiven for that. Then bring that cross with you as you carry out your vocation as a warfighter, so that you know why you were called to do what you do.

Then go carry out your vocation as a warfighter, a service member, a pencil pusher, a support staff person, a grunt, a pilot, an aviator, an officer. And do it faithfully and give glory to God for it in all that you do. Rely on him to be your strength to carry it out.

And if it means that you must go to war, then go do that. Go and carry out your missions and your sorties and do it in good conscience, for God has called you to do it. He sends you to punish the evildoer, to protect the good, to preserve peace.

Martin Luther once said, “If the sword were not on guard to preserve peace, everything in the world must go to ruin because of lack of peace.” Pray for successful missions and sorties. Pray that God would suppress evil people who wish to bring to the world rape and murder and robbery and chaos and terror and destruction and corruption and every other wickedness that threatens peace. Everything that threatens the prosperity and spread of the gospel. Everything that prevents citizens from their ability to earn their daily bread by carrying out their vocations in society.

And at the same time, follow your Savior, pray for your enemies, pray that they hear the gospel, pray that they repent, pray that they come to faith, and pray that they may be saved and not die but live. For that is God’s will too—that all people be saved. That all people come to a knowledge of the truth and not die but live.

So go to war and love your enemies. Be the sword. And if you struggle with that and if you wrestle with that, continue to go to the cross and live in peace knowing that God is at peace with you because of what he has already done. The war has already been won for you in Christ Jesus. So go to war and love your enemies.

Prayer:

I also pray for the naval aviators whose aircraft crashed in the San Diego harbor. I thank you that you have kept them safe, that they were able to eject from their aircraft safely. I thank you for the civilian boat in the harbor that was there to pull them out of the water in less than a minute from when they hit the water. I thank you for the Coast Guard that has also come to help. I thank you for those that have contained the oil and fuel that has been spilled into the harbor.

We pray that you be with all pilots and aviators, mechanics, air traffic controllers, and the instructors who train the men and women who dare the eagles’ flight. Send your holy angels to keep them safe, O Lord. In your name I pray. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

Watch the Devotion

Based on 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10

Recently, a Marine Corps gunnery sergeant’s wife reached out to me and said, “Chaplain Horn, my husband is dealing with some things. He has been deployed in the past, and he’s seen some things and experienced some things. He’s seen the death of our enemy combatants. He has seen the pain and suffering of civilians in that country. He has seen the pain and suffering of his battle buddies, and he feels that pain and suffering in himself. And he’s asking the question, ‘Where does God fit into the reality of our human suffering?’ ”

He’s not alone, is he? A U.S. Army colonel recently reached out to me and said, “Chaplain Horn, my teenage daughter is suffering and in pain and is dealing with some things and she’s asking me some questions that I don’t have the answers to. Namely, where does God—a good, holy, just, loving God—fit into the reality of our human suffering?”

They’re not alone, are they? The apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in Corinth, and in this second letter to the Corinthians, in chapters 11 and 12, Paul talks about pain and suffering. He specifically talks about the pain and the suffering he went through as an apostle for Jesus.

In chapter 12 Paul talks about specific pain and suffering and describes it as a thorn in his side—literally a sharp thing, a messenger of Satan to torment him, to vex him, to irritate him. And it’s so bad that Paul finally says, “Enough is enough.” He prays to the Lord Jesus to take it away. He literally says, “Three times I begged God to take it away from me.”

So what is it for you? This pain in your side, this thorn in your flesh, this messenger of Satan to torment you and vex you? The apostle Paul never explained what the thorn in his side was—whether it was physical, mental, emotional, psychological, or spiritual. Maybe it was all of the above, and that’s good. Because then you and I can put our names into this story too and say, “Hey, we get it.” We’ve suffered mentally, emotionally, physically, psychologically, spiritually—all of the above—and we’ve prayed to God maybe more than three times. We’ve begged God for weeks, months, maybe even years to take it away.

And how does God answer the apostle Paul? He says this: “Enough is enough. Enough is my grace for you.” Jesus answered Paul, “Enough is my grace for you. Sufficient is my grace for you. Adequate is my grace for you. This love that you have not earned, that you have not asked for—it is undeserved. This is enough for you, Paul, in your suffering and in your pain.”

Why was God’s love for Paul enough? Because Jesus said to him, “For my power is made perfect in weakness” (1 Corinthians 12:9). “This well-known power of mine reaches its goal in weakness.” We see that in Jesus’ own life, don’t we? We see Jesus’ weakness on the cross, being tormented in body, mind, and soul as he bore the guilt of the world. That weight must have weighed down on his soul and on his mind. The shame and the embarrassment. The weakness of dying as a criminal on the cross. But through it God reaches his goal, through the pain and suffering of his Son, Jesus. The goal was the forgiveness of all of your sins. The goal is that through weakness and pain, Jesus does away with weakness and pain forever because he rises from the dead, never to suffer or be in pain ever again, never to die again.

So Jesus promises that through your pain and through your weakness, God will reach his goal. His grace is sufficient for you. God’s love for you is enough in your pain and your suffering. God loves you enough to allow pain and suffering to come into your life because it’s going to reach its goal. You’re going to realize that you are weak, that you are beyond your ability to endure, just like Paul said. You’re going to say, “Enough is enough.” Maybe you’ve said that once, twice, three times, or even more than that in your lifetime. “Enough is enough, Lord.” But God says, “My grace is sufficient for you. Enough is my grace for you. Because my power is made perfect in your weakness. I’m going to do something great and glorious through your pain and through your weakness. You’re going to realize you can’t do this by yourself, that you have to rely on me when you are weak. Then you are strong because my power rests on you.”

And so we can say, “Yes, I’m beyond my ability to endure.” Just like that gunnery sergeant. Just like that colonel’s daughter. Just like the apostle Paul. We can say, “I’ve had enough, but God is my strength, he is my power, and so then I am strong when I’m weak, because God is strong enough for me.” I may not often understand why I suffer, or why others suffer, but God gives me the answer in his Word: “My power, my grace, is sufficient for you.”

So when we ask the question, Where does God—a loving, just, and holy God—fit into the picture of suffering? Sometimes we don’t always have the specific answers to those questions, but God comes back and says, “You know what? Not yet. The pain and the suffering will go away someday when I bring you home to heaven. But for now, my grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in your weakness.”

And so with the apostle Paul, we can say, “Well, I delight in my weaknesses. I’m glad in my hardships and persecutions and difficulties. For when I’m weak, then I am strong, for God promises to be my power and my strength.” He promises to be your power and your strength to get you through the suffering. He will be with you in the suffering to bring you through to its end, which is a resurrection from the dead and life eternal in heaven—where he will wipe away the tears forever, where we will be happy and glad and rejoice all the days of our life for eternity. Enough is enough. Enough is God’s grace for you.

Prayer:

Lord, this week we celebrate with the Coast Guard Reserve, which celebrates its birthday on February 19th. Since 1941, the Coast Guard Reserve has provided a trained force of officers who are ready to serve during emergencies. And so, Lord, we ask that you keep reservists proficient and ready in their skills so that they may faithfully provide homeland security, serve as national defense, and save lives during domestic disaster operations. We recommend them to your care, O Lord. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

Watch the Devotion

Based on Isaiah 6:1-8

Some years ago, I was privileged to attend the graduation for the U.S. Army Rangers at Fort Benning, now Fort Moore, in Georgia. At that graduation, one of the speakers quoted Isaiah 6:8: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ ”

The purpose for that quotation and its use among the U.S. Army Rangers is that it reflects the Rangers’ ability to complete tasks with little to no prompting, to engage in violence of action. And those who wear the Ranger tab are qualified to carry out those types of missions.

I’m not a U.S. Army Ranger. I’ve not been qualified in any type of the Special Operations Command training with their weapons or their tactics. I am unqualified in close quarters battle. That’s not something that I’ve been called to do. And I don’t know about you. Maybe some of you are qualified in that, and I thank you for doing that on our behalf.

And maybe for some of you, that’s not your vocation either. You are a military service member. You are a warrior. And maybe you’re not a warfighter, but you are somebody who supports the warfighters. You also have other callings from God—other vocations. Maybe you are a son or a daughter to your parents, and you’re called to love and care for your mom and your dad. Maybe you are a husband or a wife, and you’re called to love your spouse. Maybe you are a father or a mother, and you are called to love your children.

Maybe you are someone who is not in the military world, but you’re on the civilian side, but you’re still called to serve those that you interact with on a day-to-day basis. And still there may be some of you who have one foot on the military side and one foot on the civilian side as you serve in our Guard or as a reservist. This is where God has put you, and what he has called you to do is to love and serve those people at this time and at this place.

So my question to you is this: How is it going? Do you feel qualified to serve those people at this time in your life and at that place?

I don’t know about you, but I often don’t feel qualified to carry out the vocations that God has called me to carry out. I often disappoint my spouse and my children and my friends and my colleagues with promises made and promises not kept. And I often find myself with a self-serving attitude rather than a self-sacrificing attitude. And it reminds me of a part of the Ranger Creed that says, “Never shall I fail my comrades.” Well, I am often guilty of that. I don’t do those things. I often feel unqualified to carry out the vocations that God has called me to do.

What about you? Well, you’re not alone. The prophet Isaiah felt that way as he stood in the presence of a holy God. He acknowledged that he was sinful and unclean, unqualified to do the work that God was going to call him to do. But in Isaiah 6, that same chapter that that U.S. Army Ranger quoted at that Ranger tab pinning ceremony, God said to Isaiah, “Your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (verse 7). And by faith Isaiah believed that. His Savior would not take on human flesh for another 700 years. But Isaiah believed that that’s what God had done. He had taken away his guilt. He had atoned for his sin.

And the same is true for you and for me. Our Lord Jesus has taken away our guilt by becoming our guilt. For all those times that we were self-serving and not self-sacrificing, Jesus sacrificed himself perfectly for you and for me. He said to you and me, “You are innocent. You are not guilty.”

Jesus paid the ultimate price by laying down his life for yours and mine. He has atoned for your sin, which means he has made that payment of life blood for you and for me. And it was after the Lord had proclaimed that forgiveness to Isaiah and asked him, “Who shall go for us? And whom shall we send?” Isaiah raised his hand and said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Whatever vocation God has called you to at this time and this place to love and serve other people, we can confidently say to God, “Yes! Here am I. Send me! You have called me to love and serve these people.” The reason we can do that is because he has taken away our guilt. He has atoned for our sin.

So go! Go and serve confidently and say to the Lord, “Here am I. Send me!”

Prayer:

Lord, with heavy hearts we come before you on behalf of the families of those U.S. Army soldiers, Rebecca Lobach, Ryan Austin O’Hara, and Andrew Eaves, the U.S. Army flight crew who died in that helicopter crash in Washington, D.C.

We also pray for the family members of the 64 individuals on that commercial aircraft who also perished. You tell us in your Word in Isaiah’s book that your ways are higher than our ways and your thoughts are not our thoughts, and sometimes we struggle to understand a tragedy like this, Lord.

When we suffer and when we are sad, you point us to your promises in Christ Jesus to grant peace and to give the hope of eternal life into heaven and to strengthen us on our way there. And so, Father in heaven, we ask that you grant that peace, that hope of eternal life, that strength to the survivors, that you provide faithful Christian pastors and chaplains and family members and friends to comfort them in the weeks and months ahead.

And so also, Father, we pray for all of our service members who are training around the world. Send your holy angels to watch over them and to protect them. Keep them faithful to their training. Keep them alert and aware. Keep them safe, Lord, by your grace. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

Watch the Devotion

Based on Isaiah 62:1-5; Ephesians 5:25-27

What are you looking for in a marriage?

Now, before I lose you, I fully understand that some of you who are reading this devotion are single, and maybe you’re not really looking for a significant other right now. So just hang with me for a second.

Maybe others of you are looking for that special someone and you’re wondering, “What am I looking for in a future spouse?”

Some of you have a Christian spouse. Your marriage is firmly built on Christ. It’s kind of like a Navy ship that is out to sea, and you bring it into dry dock quite often to do maintenance and repair or preventative maintenance on your marriage. And even when it goes out to sea and the seas are kind of rough, you do OK in your marriage relationship.

But for others of you, that marriage is like a Navy ship that is out in the middle of sea being rocked this way and that by the storms of life. And you’re not exactly sure what to do. You think, “We should probably bring it into dry dock to do maintenance.”

Still others of you may have a marriage that resembles a Navy ship that has been brought out to sea and has sunk in the middle of the ocean.

I’m here to tell you that no matter what your relationships are like, you have the perfect marriage. In Isaiah 62:5, this is how Jesus speaks about you: “As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”

You see, this is who you are. You are in a perfect marriage relationship with your God in heaven—with Jesus as the groom, and you and I as his bride, his Church. And I know you may not feel it at times because of the way you’ve treated your relationships here on earth, whether as a single person or as someone who is married or divorced or widowed. Because of the things that you’ve said, the things that you’ve done, the things that you’ve left undone, or the things that you need to repent of.

So rest in this relationship—this perfect marriage relationship that your God has with you. The prophet Isaiah says your God will rejoice over you. How can he do that? Because this is what your husband in heaven has done for you. The apostle Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5 that your husband has loved you, his bride. He gave himself up for you. He has cleansed you. He has washed you with water through the Word in your baptism. He has presented you to himself as a radiant bride, his Church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish. Holy and blameless. That’s who you are.

And knowing that means you can rest in that relationship and all that Jesus brings to it. So as you think about what you might be looking for in a relationship with a future spouse, you know what to look for. Someone who points you to Jesus. Someone who has that solid relationship with God in heaven so that when you do get married, you can continue to remind each other of that perfect relationship that you both have.

And for those of you who are in a marriage that’s on that Navy ship out to sea—which seems to be rocking back and forth and threatened to be capsized—bring it into dry dock. Do preventative maintenance. And both of you get back into the Word of God and remind each other, “Hey, we are in a perfect relationship with our God in heaven.”

So what does that look like? It means there will be love, forgiveness, patience, understanding, healing, and peace. Because you are in that perfect marriage relationship between you and Jesus.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, you are the example for single people of all times. Give the single people the strength to live a Christian life. Let encouragement from family and friends sustain them when days are lonely, and give them joy in lives of service to you.

Heavenly Savior, you have instituted and blessed marriage, so also help those who are married to keep you ever in their homes. Forgive them for those times that they have let anger or distrust or unhappiness or lack of devotion harm their relationships. Teach those who are married to turn to you and to talk to each other to get through difficult times and to bring Christ back into the home and to remind each other of that special relationship that you have with us.

Father in heaven, we also ask that you be with all of our warfighters, our active duty National Guard Reserve troops that have been activated, called up to service to our borders here between the United States and Mexico. We pray that you would keep them safe in their missions, to help them to be firm when they need to be firm, and to help them to be loving and compassionate and patient when they need to be loving and kind and patient. Be with them. Keep them safe and bring them back home to their families and friends, in your time and in your way, according to your good pleasure. We ask this all in your name. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

Based on Luke 4:16-30

Has it ever happened to you that you’ve been out on the flight deck, in the motor pool, out at the range, or in the shop, and you’ve gone over the training regs over and over again, but there’s that one individual or maybe that small group of people that just don’t seem to get it, for whatever reason? How does that make you feel?

I’m guessing there’s probably some frustration or maybe some anger. Maybe you had a loss for words, or maybe you want to say some words that you probably shouldn’t say, and you’re thinking to yourself, What more can I do for you?

I wonder if Jesus felt this way a little bit in Luke chapter 4. I encourage you to read it today. In Luke 4, Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth. He’s there with his family and friends and neighbors, people who knew him and people whom he knew. He’s in the synagogue reading the Scriptures to them and reading about how the Scriptures point to himself. He is saying, “These Scriptures are talking about me. Here’s what I’ve come to do: I’ve come to bring you good news.”

This good news is not just some military briefing on a new policy or a safety stand-down, but this is how to get to heaven and how to be right with God—all of the promises that God has to give to them. It’s a free gift to them. But as you read the story, they refuse to believe it. We’re not told what is going through Jesus’ mind as this is all happening, but I suspect there’s some sadness and some compassion for these lost souls because they are so obstinate that they rush him out of the synagogue and take him to the edge of the town where there’s a cliff. They intend to throw him off of it to murder him.

The reason we have this story in the Scriptures is so Jesus can remind us that if people did these things to him, our Lord and Savior, how are they going to treat us when we, his followers, have conversations with others about this same good news, this same free gift?

I know you’ve already had those conversations, and I’m hoping it has never escalated to the point of violence. But I know that you and I have heard some pretty awful things said about our Savior Jesus. We’ve heard some pretty awful things said about our faith, the Bible, our churches, and about Christianity.

Jesus gives us this story in Luke 4 to tell us to not be afraid. This is nothing new, and you are not alone. Your Savior Jesus knows and hears and sees all these things. And he doesn’t just know and hear them, he provides us with tools to get us through it, to endure. He gives us the power of prayer, just as he gave it to the apostles. And we see this time and time again in the book of Acts and in Paul’s letters and in Peter’s letters, where they talk about praying when people were so obstinate that they wanted to kill the apostles, and they did. But they prayed, and God answered their prayer and gave them the strength to get through those things.

Jesus gives you prayer. He gives you his promises. These are the same promises that Jesus himself clung to when evil men hated him so much that they murdered him by putting him on a cross. But even in that moment, Jesus continued to pray to his Father to deliver him, and he did, by raising him from the dead.

So do not be afraid. People will reject you because they reject Christ, but Jesus will never reject you. Jesus’ encouragement to you and me today is to continue to be bold and persistent. Be confident and be patient with people. Have compassion for their lost souls, and love them.

Because you already know that you have the hope of eternal life. You have the joy of the forgiveness of all of your sins. You have the peace of knowing that you are in a right relationship with your Savior. And there are some people who are just going to reject that good news. So pray for them. Pray for them today by name. Pray that the almighty power of the gospel would break their stony hearts like a hammer. Pray in joy and humility that the Holy Spirit would use you as his mouthpiece to point another soul to Jesus Christ.

Prayer:

Almighty God, you sent your Son to proclaim your kingdom and to teach with authority. Anoint us with the power of your Spirit that we too may bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, and proclaim liberty to the captive.

And today we pray, O Holy Spirit, that you would open doors for our Ministry to the Military. Open the way for WELS congregations who are near our duty stations to connect with the military communities in their area, to fulfill needs of the military members in those areas, and to use their efforts to build relationships so that a bridge might be built to Jesus. The power of your Word alone can do this. So we pray, do this according to your good pleasure and purpose. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share by Mail
• Link to Flickr
• Link to Instagram
• Link to Vimeo

Based on Galatians 3:26,27

When I was in Okinawa recently, I stood in the location for the final battle of World War II. When the American forces landed on the western side of the island, they did not experience the opposition that they had when they landed on previous islands to engage the Japanese forces. When they rolled up onto the island, they walked around, did some scouting, and didn’t see any enemy forces.

Then three or four days later, the Japanese really let them have it. You see, the Japanese allowed the American forces to land where they did and let them set up camp where they wanted, because then they knew exactly where the American forces would be and where they would be setting up camp. They then had their artillery zeroed in on those locations. They had their enemy forces located in the intricate web of caves, in the cliffs, and in the hills of the island of Okinawa, because they knew exactly where our troops would be so they would inflict heavy casualties on them.

Some days it feels that way, doesn’t it? Our life is kind of like a battlefield. And actually, the Bible describes it that way. And it’s because we are baptized into Christ. Because we are baptized into Christ, we have his name on us. The devil marks us as the enemy, and he knows exactly where to hit us with temptations so that we despair when things come up in our lives and we say, “What is going on?” We wonder where God is. The devil tempts us into false belief. He tempts us into great and shameful sin, and it just seems that no matter where we go, the devil always knows how to get us. We’re baptized into a battlefield.

But you know, my friends, that Jesus was baptized into a battlefield too. The Bible tells us that as soon as Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led him out into the wilderness to engage with the devil in hand-to-hand combat—spiritual hand-to-hand combat. The devil was tempting him for 40 days and 40 nights, but on that battlefield, Jesus won the battle for us. He won the fight for us so we know that when we are on this battlefield called life—and it oftentimes feels like we’re losing and like the devil has our location zeroed in all the time—we know that the battle has been won, because Jesus has won it for us.

Not only are we baptized into a battlefield, but Galatians 3 tells us that all of us who are baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ (verse 27). Not only do we have Jesus’ name on us as his friend, as his ally, as his brothers and sisters, but we also have been clothed with him in his righteous life. The life that he won when he engaged in battle with the devil—he gives us that. And he doesn’t leave us alone.

When the American forces were on the island of Okinawa, there were times that platoons of Marines were by themselves for a very, very long time, until reinforcements came to relieve them of the battle fatigue and all the things they were going through in that battle on Okinawa.

In that same way, Jesus doesn’t leave us alone. He gives us this promise in our baptism. He gives us this promise in his Word that he will never leave us or abandon us. He also gives us his Lord’s Prayer, especially the Sixth and Seventh Petitions—lead us not into temptation; deliver us from evil.

Those are things the Father promises to do for us when we pray to him. So, my friends, know that, yes, you are baptized into a battlefield, but you are also baptized into Christ.

Prayer:

And so also in that same spirit, Lord Jesus, we ask that you be with all of our warfighters who are deployed right now. Some of them are engaged in combat operations and are in harm’s way, and so we pray that you send your holy angels to watch over them. Protect them in body, mind, and soul. And also to be with their family members and friends here in the States. Remind them that they are not alone, but that you are with them. Surround them with good, faithful, Christian friends and neighbors to remind them of these promises too. We ask this in your name. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share by Mail
• Link to Flickr
• Link to Instagram
• Link to Vimeo

Based on Titus 3:3-7

Who are you? How do you see yourself? Maybe by your rank. Maybe by your spouse’s rank. Maybe you identify yourself by the things that you’ve done and the places you’ve been. And I know what happens. One of my friends who’s in the military says, “As soon as another military member walks into the room, you start sniffing each other out like dogs to see where you stand and where that other person stands.”

Is that you? Is that really you? What you’ve done, where you’ve been, your rank, maybe your spouse’s rank? You might think that you’re something. But look at what God says about you and me in our reading in Titus chapter 3. In it, the apostle Paul writes to Pastor Titus and says that God’s kindness and mercy saved us.

So it’s really not about us, what we’ve done, or who we think we are, but it’s all about God and who he is and what he’s done for us that makes us who we are.

But maybe that’s not you. Maybe you would answer that question “Who are you?” by looking at yourself in the mirror and saying, “Yeah, who am I? I’m a nobody. I’m nothing. I haven’t been able to promote as quickly as I’d like to. I haven’t been places or done things that my peers have done. I’m a nobody because of my past faults and failures.”

Look at some of the things that Paul lists in Titus chapter 3. He says, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another” (verse 3). You look at that list and say, “Yeah, that’s kind of the person that I am.” And the devil will try to convince you of that—that this is who you are. You’re less than nothing in God’s sight, and why should he pay attention to the likes of you?

But keep reading. The apostle Paul then begins to list the beautiful descriptors of who God is. He says that he is a Savior who saved you and me, as Paul writes, “not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy” (verse 5). That’s right. You are who you are because of who God is—kind and loving and merciful, the God who saves us and who saves us from ourselves.

And Paul answers the question, “Well, how did he save you and me?” in Titus chapter 3: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior” (verses 5,6). He saved you by washing you. He is, of course, talking about your baptism. In the waters of your baptism, God caused you to be reborn, as Paul says, which means you have a new life—a life that is no longer controlled by your sinful nature. You’ve been set free to live for Christ and to live with Christ and to live in Christ. In a life renewed, you no longer live for yourself but live for others. That’s who you are.

And there’s more. The apostle Paul goes on to say, “So that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (verse 7). All that you and I think that we are, even when we think we’re something, is really nothing. God makes us who we are because he justifies us by his grace, not because of what we’ve done.

And grace is one of those words that means “God’s undeserved love.” It’s God’s grace, his undeserved love, that moves him to justify us in the first place. And to justify means that as the judge, God declares you and me to be innocent, not guilty, of all those faults and failures that we listed before. You’re innocent. That’s who you are.

And there’s more. The apostle Paul goes on to write, “so that we might become heirs, having the hope of eternal life.” This is who you are. You have a spiritual bank account that has more wealth in it than Warren Buffett, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos combined. Because of your baptism, you have everything that Jesus has. He owns the universe, which means you do too. He owned the devil and the grave, which means you do too. You have a resurrection from the dead. You have eternal life in heaven. That’s who you are.

So when you look at yourself in the mirror tonight before you go to bed, or when you wake up in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror, say out loud, “I am a baptized child of God. I am justified. I am reborn. I am renewed. I have an eternal inheritance because of who God is and what he has made me to be.”

My friends, live in your baptismal identity today and every day.

Prayer:

Today, Father, we thank you for our military members who are currently deployed in response to humanitarian aid. So often we forget that our military doesn’t just provide a show of force or to seek and destroy the enemy or to defend our United States. But our military also provides help to those who are in need around the world. And so we ask, Father, that you keep them safe as they travel. Bring them joy as they bring aid to people who need it. Bring peace to those places of the world where people are without their daily bread, so that stable governments may bring aid to their own people. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share by Mail
• Link to Flickr
• Link to Instagram
• Link to Vimeo

Based on Galatians 4:4-7

They really had nowhere to go. They were wandering through mountainous regions and wilderness areas. They had little to no food, little to no water, no shelter, no extra clothes. They were fleeing from the wrath of a dictator who wanted to wipe them from the face of this earth. This is 500,000 people we’re talking about. These are the Kurds that were fleeing from Saddam Hussein.

Then comes Operation Provide Comfort.

Humanitarian and military aid came to help these Kurds, and among those groups that came to help them were the 10th Group Special Forces, known as the Green Berets. The motto of the Green Berets is on a challenge coin that somebody had gifted to me. It says, “De oppresso liber.” It’s a Latin phrase that means “to free the oppressed.” That 10th Group Special Forces was credited with saving the lives of 500,000 Kurds from extinction.

De oppresso liber. Isn’t that what Jesus came to do? That’s the truth we hear in our reading today from Galatians chapter 4. This letter to the Galatians—that region is actually in modern-day Turkey, which really isn’t that far from where the oppressed were liberated.

Listen to the apostle Paul’s words. He says, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:4-7).

Like the Kurds in the early 1990s—with nowhere to go, feeling entrapped, feeling enslaved—maybe there are times you feel that way. Not because an evil dictator is trying to wipe you from the face of this earth, but because of Christmases past, or maybe because of past New Years, where you made an honest resolution to change not just bad habits in your life but sinful behaviors. Times that you wanted to change your attitude toward your family members, your spouse, your children, your own parents, your co-workers, your friends, or just the random person out in the community.

The times you wish you would have been Christ to somebody in a way that was meaningful to them, and you just failed to do that. All of that guilt has you in shackles, and you feel there’s nowhere to go because of that guilt.

Well, in comes Jesus with Operation Redemption. At the right time in history, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, to take on our human flesh. That means that he had to be born under the requirements of God’s laws and his commandments. But Jesus fulfilled all of those perfectly in his attitude and his actions and his words toward his family members, his siblings, his parents, his friends, even those enemies of his—those who oppressed him.

Jesus was perfect in everything he said to them, the way that he loved them, and the way that he forgave them. And by that perfect life he has redeemed you, which means that he has set you free from that guilt.

You are no longer slaves to your guilt. Take that guilt to Jesus, and know that he has set you free from it. He has set you free to be his sons and his daughters. He has adopted you into his family. You are sons and daughters of God, your Father in heaven and that by your baptism.

And because of that you have an inheritance. Paul says you are an heir, which means that you have an inheritance of heaven, where you are set free from guilt, from sin, from death, from slavery to all of those things forever and ever.

So now go live that way. Go live as free sons and daughters of your Father in heaven.

De oppresso liber. You are set free.

Prayer:

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share by Mail
• Link to Flickr
• Link to Instagram
• Link to Vimeo

Based on Luke 2:41-52

Recently I made a trip to 29 Palms Marine Corps base to meet with some of our Wisconsin Synod members who live there, but also to meet with a military chaplain who is stationed there. He’s a Navy chaplain that serves the Marine Corps there. I had the opportunity to sit down and have breakfast with him and listen to his story.

He’s about 54 years old, and he’s only been in the Navy for two years. He had to get a waiver for that, but this wasn’t on his radar at all. He had been a teacher, he had been a pastor in the Missouri Synod, and then some of the Missouri Synod recruiters for the chaplaincy started talking to him, and he said, “You know what? I think this is something that I could do.” Just listening to his story, you can tell he is right where he needs to be.

What about you? Do you feel that you are right where you need to be? And have you always felt that way? Are you one of those people who knew from the time you were little or maybe in high school that you wanted to serve your country in our nation’s military?

Or maybe you’re someone who has always desired to serve in that honorable vocation of being a stay-at-home mom or dad while your spouse continues their military career.

Or are you someone who struggles with where you are right now, and you ask this question: Is this where I need to be right now? That is a question that I often get from our warfighters and from those who support them, and especially from the Marine recruits at MCRD in San Diego.

Now just imagine as a 12-year-old knowing exactly where you needed to be and what you needed to do with your life. That seems incredible, but that’s exactly what we see when we read Luke chapter 2. It contains the story of Mary and Joseph and their family as they travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. They offer sacrifices there in the temple and then head home to Nazareth, but Jesus remains and stays in the temple in Jerusalem.

As you read the story, you see that Jesus schools the religious teachers in the Old Testament Scriptures—the prophecies that point to him and his work, which are a clear roadmap of his life, his death, and even his resurrection.

Jesus allows his family to travel one day north toward Nazareth. Mary and Joseph do a frantic search, realizing that Jesus isn’t with them. They run back to Jerusalem, and after three days find their 12-year-old boy, not cowering in some alleyway, but in the temple, with a full understanding of where he needed to be.

He says to Mary his mother, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). He was, of course, speaking of his heavenly Father, begotten from eternity. And his house was that temple, which was a picture of God’s presence among his people.

But now God himself stood among his people in the flesh. That’s where he needed to be. And this temple was where sacrifices were brought and offered by the priest, which was a picture of what Jesus came to be—your High Priest, to bring that one sacrifice of himself for the sins of all people, for you and for me.

During this time between Christmas and New Year’s, it’s good for us to ponder these things just as Mary did and to marvel that a 12-year-old knew exactly where he needed to be. Not for his benefit, but for yours—knowing that this roadmap of his life that he saw in the Scriptures, his life and death and resurrection, would benefit you eternally.

That puts a proper perspective on your life right now here on this earth. Because maybe you don’t have life figured out. You’re not exactly sure this is where you want to be or what you want to do with your life.

On the other hand, maybe your life is like that chaplain at 29 Palms who is flourishing in his vocation. Maybe that’s you. Praise and thank God for that!

Either way, right now Jesus has you right where he needs you to be, and know that it’s going to be okay. Jesus has it all figured out for you. He has you where you need to be right now, and you are where you are right now to love and serve and respect those around you and to be a blessing to someone else.

Thank God that you are right where you need to be.

Prayer:

Tomorrow on December 28th, the Army Chaplain assistants, a Religious Affairs Specialist, celebrate their anniversary. Since the time of the Revolutionary War, soldiers of exceptional quality have served alongside our United States Army Chaplains, providing spiritual care and facilitating spiritual care, so that all might have the freedom to practice their religion, and caring for all. We thank you especially that through Religious Affairs Specialists, faithful Christians in our nation’s military have had the freedom to worship the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and without hindrance.

We pray that you continue to keep those doors open in our nation’s military so that your faithful people might continue to hear the good news of salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share by Mail
• Link to Flickr
• Link to Instagram
• Link to Vimeo

Based on Micah 5:2-5a

The morning I put together this devotion, I woke up to this news headline: Rebels seized the Syrian capital of Damascus. President al-Assad and his family flee to Russia. The prime minister of Syria has agreed to hand control of the government over to the rebel-led “Salvation Government.” That is somewhat ironic because this rebel group known as HTS is a designated terrorist organization.

This transfer of power comes after 13 years of civil war and 50 years of brutal rule by the Assad family. And it ends a war that has killed thousands and has displaced millions and has left an economy that has been hollowed out by global sanctions.

On top of it all, we still have more than 900 United States war fighters that are stationed in Syria, fighting alongside Kurdish-led forces.

But there’s more: 2.6 percent of the population in Syria is Christian, which accounts for just over 500,000 people in Syria who are Christian. And their future is uncertain because Al-Qaeda has urged the HTS rebels to turn against the crusaders. It’s a pejorative term for Christians.

I wonder how these Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ in Syria, will be celebrating Christmas this year. What will their celebrations look like as they welcome Jesus coming in the flesh to be their Savior?

But this is how it has always been for God’s people. The prophet Micah lived about 700 years before Jesus took on human flesh. And maybe you know the passage I’m going to quote—maybe it’s very familiar to you. Or maybe it’s not. But this is one of those passages from Micah chapter 5 that you’ll hear read in church on Christmas Eve or at a children’s Christmas service. It’s the one that talks about Bethlehem being the place where the King would be born.

You may know this passage very well, but the verses that follow are ones that maybe you haven’t really heard before. Right after Micah points out the fact that the coming King will be born in Bethlehem, he says this: “He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses” (Micah 5:4,5a).

Did you catch that? Micah didn’t say if, but he said when the Assyrians march through our fortresses. The foreign army, the Assyrians who lived in modern-day Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and you guessed it, Syria, would come and attack the northern kingdom of Israel and completely destroy it. And they would march against the capital city of Jerusalem in the south.

But in spite of that, what does the coming King promise to do for his people? Even when enemies march through their fortified cities? He will stand and shepherd his flock, and he will be their peace.

You see, when God talks about peace, it doesn’t mean he is always going to bring peace between warring nations. It doesn’t mean you and I will always have a peaceful feeling. It doesn’t always mean that there’s going to be a peace even for God’s people in foreign countries, or even in this country.

What it does mean is that in spite of war and uncertainty and persecution for Christians, in spite of the war that may unfortunately rear its ugly head in your home as family members argue and fight, in spite of war that may separate you from family members this Christmas because they’re serving far away from you overseas, in spite of family members and friends who don’t share the same reason that you do when you celebrate Christmas and maybe have some choice words for you because of it—in spite of all of that, the King born in Bethlehem promises to be your strength. He promises to be your shepherd and promises that you will rest securely and that he will be your peace. This peace is knowing that Jesus is with you.

In spite of all of the things that are going on in the world and in spite of the things that are going on in your personal life, you have the peace of knowing that God will use his almighty strength and power to be your shepherd, to protect you and keep you safe.

You have the peace of knowing that Jesus came as the King in Bethlehem, and he came to die on a cross and to rise again from the dead so that you know that no matter what happens in this world or in your personal life, you have peace with God through the forgiveness of your sins. This means that God is at peace with you. And it means that you can be at peace with yourself and at peace with others.

You have the peace of knowing that there is an eternal peace in heaven, and it is yours. Yes, there is peace even in the middle of war. Jesus is that peace. He is your peace.

Prayer:

O Lord, we ask that as our U.S. Space Force celebrates its fifth birthday today on December 20th, we ask that you be with those who protect us from the growing threat of near-peer competitors who seek to threaten our commerce, our financial and economic stability, and disrupt our infrastructure. Continue to raise up men and women who are wise and knowledgeable in this vocation so that we might live in peace. In your saving name we pray. Amen.

Written and recorded by Rev. Paul Horn, WELS National Civilian Chaplain to the Military, San Diego, California.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. Note: Scripture reading footnotes are clickable only in the web version.

• Share on Facebook
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share by Mail
• Link to Flickr
• Link to Instagram
• Link to Vimeo