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Salvation Is His
“Alleluia!
Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God”
(Revelation 19:1)
This past week, an
event happened that helps in better understanding the grace, the
salvation given us in our Lord, Jesus Christ. But first, let’s go
back a few years:
A man named Bob
Douglass became my best friend. I’ve been blessed in recent years
with a number of friends. But there was an openness, a genuineness
about the friendship Bob offered that made it special. We became
“best” friends.
Both of us had
been in the military when we were young. Bob was a cook in a base
camp. I was a radio operator in a security installation. The key
difference was TIME. I was in the service a few years before Bob.
Korea was a recent memory and Vietnam had not yet happened. Bob was
a few years later and he went to Vietnam.
He never saw
actual combat in Vietnam, but the military widely sprayed a
chemical, a herbicide called Agent Orange, which was in the air they
breathed, the drinking water and their food supply. Those in
Vietnam breathed, drank and ate Agent Orange.
Years later, Agent
Orange has reached from the past and killed many. Like others,
Bob’s immune system was crippled by it to the point where his body
was vulnerable. In his case, it took the form of non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma, a cancer that killed him in eighteen months from his first
awareness of the disease.
Out of the loss of
Bob, his widow, Genevieve, started AOWAC, the Agent Orange Widows
Awareness Coalition, where she reaches out to others who are
suffering similar loss. She has also been on the Board of Friday
Study Ministries since the beginning. When she started the AOWAC,
she asked me to be their Chaplain, a function I have held since
shortly after the organization’s inception, five years ago.
Last week, we
attended the unveiling ceremony of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
In-Memory plaque near the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
The plaque honors people like Bob - the men and women who served
during the Vietnam War and later died as a result of their service.
On the morning
before the unveiling, a call was received from the American Battle
Monuments Commission. The pastor who was to give the invocation at
the ceremony, an amputee because of his service in Vietnam, was
unable to attend because his prosthesis was giving him trouble –
They asked, would I “give the invocation
at the unveiling service?”
I said, “Yes,” of
course, because the ceremony would be significant and the need for
prayer was very real. And I have been touched deeply by those who
gave so much.
Sometimes people
will die for others, but most in this world just live for
themselves. Those veterans gave everything, some reluctantly,
others willingly, but when you think about it, our lives are all we
really have in this world, and they gave it all.
And that’s why the
key verse for today is incredibly important: “Alleluia!
(Praise the Lord!) Salvation and
glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God”
(Revelation 19:1). We are offered an eternal relationship; we are
given LIFE because He gave HIS life for others. Through His death,
salvation is offered to the world.
We need more, much
more than just being alive – We need to become ALIVE in the sight of
God. We need to be restored INSIDE, to find LASTING salvation, and
that is what the Lord has given: His life for yours and mine.
We are TOUCHED by
those who gave their lives. The In-Memory plaque is at the “Three
Servicemen Statue Plaza” near The Wall, where, as the name
suggests, a statue exists depicting three servicemen involved in the
Vietnam Conflict, decades ago. The plaque’s inscription reads, “In
Memory of the men and women who served in the Vietnam War and later
died as a result of their service. We honor and remember their
sacrifice.” Sadly, many are STILL dying as a result of that
conflict, decades ago. Indeed we should remember and recognize
their ultimate sacrifice.
We should also
remember what the Lord has done. Our Scripture for today reveals
much: “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and
honor and power belong to the Lord our God” (Revelation
19:1). People will sometimes die for others, but the Son of God has
given Himself for all who have ever lived - “The
Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
That’s important, for it shows us God’s perspective - we all need a
Savior. In the same place, Isaiah the prophet of God, observed, “All
we like sheep have gone astray.” Some decide this does not
apply to them, but God’s standard is holy; too high for any of us to
achieve, and the gentle Lord who did no wrong, has died in our
place.
I did not deserve
the honor of giving the invocation and benediction prayers at the
In-Memory service. If anyone did, it was the pastor who lost his
limbs in Vietnam. In much the same manner, we do not deserve the
salvation given us in Christ Jesus. The salvation, the glory and
honor and power – Is His.
Be thankful for
the veterans and others who gave everything they have for you. Many
have given their lives so that others might live. Be thankful also
for the Lord, who died so that all who simply place their faith in
Him might be acceptable in the sight of God. What we could not do
for ourselves, He has done for you and me. As Paul observed, “Whoever
calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans
10:13).
Lord Jesus, thank
You for those who have sacrificed and suffered so much. We call out
to You now, for You have suffered most of all. We tried so hard at
times, and then there were other times when we did not try enough.
We’re tired, Lord, and we have fallen short of the glory of God.
That’s why You came and died in our place. We trust in You and what
You have done. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Ron Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
www.FridayStudy.org
www.FirstChurchontheNet.org
www.BlessedHands.org
E-mail:
Ron@FridayStudy.org
Tel: (562) 688-5559
PO
Box 92131
Long Beach, CA 90809-2131
"While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
(Romans
5:8)
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