November 17, 2014

Heart and Soul: Devotional

War. The very word brings to mind scenes of once-beautiful cities reduced to flames and rubble, battlefields strewn with dead, flag-draped coffins, and white crosses marking graves of those who once lived and laughed but now are no more.

In the nine major wars the United States has fought since 1775, more than

1 million American soldiers have been killed, and a million and a half more have been wounded.

Gwen Terasaki, American wife of a

Japanese diplomat, tells of visiting Tokyo after World War II. She describes not only the silhouettes of burned trees and shells of buildings, but also the eerie silence. “Even the noise of our footsteps seemed out of place. Then I realized that we, like others we saw, were automatically speaking in whispers. In a city where so many had died, one felt almost ashamed to be alive.”
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War is never pretty, and our present conflict is no exception. The Bible tells us: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).
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Our war is not a struggle between earthly nations, but it does drag into it every inhabitant of earth, and, indeed, the entire universe. Like many earthly conflicts, combatants include both the willing and the reluctant. And though we have no choice but to fight, every individual born on earth is free to decide on which side he or she will contend. One-on-one combat is the only method used in this war. It is waged on the battlefield of the heart, with joy and life in Jesus the prize of the winners, and eternal death the losers’ lot. It all began in heaven.

War in Heaven

“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him” (Rev. 12:7-9, NIV).
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War in heaven? How can that be?

Sometimes the initial cause of war is something that, although rather insignificant in itself, serves as a lighted match to ignite a mighty wildfire. Such was the case in World War I, the “war to end all wars.” A single bullet from an assassin’s gun killed the heir to the throne of Austria, and ensuing events transformed Europe into a battlefield of previously unimagined proportions.

Each human being now must decide who is right and worthy, Jesus or Lucifer.

Although the assassination was no small thing, it became rather insignificant compared to the losses that followed. Likewise, some historians believe that one of the battles of the Crimean War in the 1850s was caused by a seemingly small thing: jealousy between two brothers-in-law.

Jealousy is also the cause of our present conflict. A tiny seed of jealousy harbored in the heart of Lucifer, one of God’s angels, grew into open rebellion. Lucifer was jealous of the worship, power, and position of Jesus, and decided to assassinate the Prince. The war that followed in heaven got Lucifer and his followers exiled to earth, where each human being now must decide in their heart and mind who is right and worthy of worship, Jesus or Lucifer, now called Satan.

War on Earth

Satan made his second attack in the Garden of Eden, when he convinced Eve to believe what he told her over what God had said. Eve and Adam’s decision to side with the devil validated his claims that he was just as worthy of being followed as God was.

But Satan had convinced Adam and Eve to believe a lie. Because of this, God knew that destroying Satan wouldn’t be enough to win the war, that He would have to get humanity to believe the truth in order for them to return to His side and be saved. Otherwise God’s children would become casualties of war, dead forever.

Left on Satan’s side with no defense, humanity would be helpless to find the truth. In order to give us a fighting chance, God put enmity, a natural feeling of discomfort or hostility, between us and Satan. That enmity waxes ever fiercer as Satan continues his attacks on the church and makes “war with [those] who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12:17).

Sacrifice

One night during World War II the
Dorchester, a United States Army Transport ship with about 900 on board, was sailing near Greenland when it was hit by a torpedo and began to sink.

Panic-stricken soldiers and sailors desperately tried to find life jackets and lifeboats. Among those on board were four military chaplains: Catholic John Washington, Clark Poling of the Reformed Church in America, Rabbi Alexander Goode, and Methodist George Fox.

The ship was sinking rapidly, and there were not enough readily available life jackets. But the four chaplains, all first lieutenants in their 30s or 40s, did not forsake their duty. They remained calm and tried to give comfort and hope to the men they served.

As the ship went down, the four chaplains stood on the ship’s deck with linked arms, praying and singing. About 600 men lost their lives that night, but those who survived said the four chaplains removed their own life jackets and gave them to others.
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Our present spiritual conflict also has its heroes. Casualties include not only the martyrs of times past but also those of the present. Soldiers of truth still willingly offer their lives to save others as they unflinchingly face the fury of the enemy and spread the good news of a world without war. But the most incredible sacrifice is that of our Captain Himself, who left heaven to join us on the battlefield.

Jesus knew that the only way to win the war for the minds of humanity was to come and personally show us the truth. He came and fought Satan, repeatedly, until Satan killed the Son of God. The outcome of the war was assured when Jesus willingly laid down His life so that we, His fellow soldiers, might live. It is as though even now He stands on the sinking deck of this sin-filled ship, handing out life jackets to all who receive them.

The last battle of the greatest war ever fought is almost over. When will the end come? Only God knows. But the turning point has come and gone, and the outcome is sure. Soon the war to
really end all wars will be behind us, and the troops can go home. What rejoicing there will be as the entire universe participates in the splendor of that homecoming celebration!

Greater love hath no soldier than this, that the Commander-in-Chief gave His life in death to save His army.


  1. Gwen Terasaki,
    Bridge to the Sun (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1957), condensed in Reader’s Digest, September 1957.
  2. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations in this article are from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
  3. Texts credited to NIV are from the
    Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
  4. www.fourchaplains.org/the-saga-of-the-four-chaplains/
    .
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