Psalms 37:37-40 Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; The future of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.
A "beachhead" is the first objective, the primary location for a military force landing on an enemy shore, which, when secured can be used to gain further advancement.
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces landed on the beach at Normandy during the height of World War 2. It was an extremely dangerous mission. Failing to secure the beachhead at Normandy would have led to a major defeat on that day. While the allies did succeed in securing the beachhead the cost was very high as many soldiers lost their lives.
The enemy knows the significance of the beachhead, that it is a place of breaking through with great potential for further losses on his part, and he defends it with great intensity. At Normandy, brave, committed and valiant soldiers stormed the beach and opened the way for far greater victory for the allies.
The "beachhead" is a powerful metaphor for us believers in Yeshua (Jesus), who are involved in a spiritual war. Each one of us is called to be a "beachhead" for the Lord's love and truth, His influence, the breaking through of His light into this dark world.
Yet to be effective, our own lives must be increasingly secured by the Lord. For those of us who are serious and involved in the battle, the Lord will be shining His light into our own dark places and gaining ground and influence in our lives, characters, and actions. We ourselves will be His "beachhead" for breakthrough into the lives of others. But realize, it won't be easy or without cost!
Is God taking more and more control of your life? Is the battle for your heart and soul raging and seeming to become more and more costly? Remember D-Day and the lives laid down there for the sake of freedom; and remember both the cost and the incredible significance of the allied victory. Your sacrifices will reap eternal rewards, when Yeshua, Himself will say to you – "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" -- "for you were 'my beachhead!'"
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]For several years now, I’ve been focusing on the Kingdom of God, a central theme of Yeshua’s preaching [Luke 4:43], and will be offering a series of devotions on this topic with particular emphasis on our present season, which I believe portends the birthing of this Kingdom. A study of the gestation process from conception to birth yields insight as a natural parallel into the historical process we’re witnessing and taking part in. This theme will be developed in the coming days.
One of the sacrifices mentioned in the Tenach (Old Testament) is mentioned as a Peace sacrifice or sometimes translated as the Thanksgiving sacrifice. It is known as the ‘shalem’ sacrifice. The root behind this word is the word ‘shalom’ whereby we get the word, peace.
From the beginning of Genesis (Genesis 4:4) to the end of the Bible (Revelation 22:3), there is a common theme — the Lamb! In Revelation 6 we read about the Lamb who sits in the midst of the throne — worshiped by all of heaven because the Lamb was worthy to take the book and open the seals therein. The most harmless of creatures — the object of sacrifice, becomes the authority of heaven. Isn’t it interesting that the focal point of heaven is a Lamb?
So often in ministry, the Lord deals with my own spirit, saying – “You need to step back and get refocused!” And we all know how hard it is at times when we get so busy with the normal every day stresses of life tugging at our limited time.
Throughout the United States today, everyone will be celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — a document through which leaders of the colonies in the New World broke free from the King of England.
The Hebrew expression in this verse from Isaiah is rich with meaning. The root “nus” (from the expression “raise up a standard”) is related to or sounds like numerous words which mean “sign”, “miracle”, “to drive away”, “to flee”, “cause to disappear”, “a waving flag”. This abundance of meanings in Isaiah’s poetic style reveals the multiple dimensions of God’s revelation; in this case, the way he deals with evil. The assertion in this word is that the Spirit of YHVH will be powerfully activated when evil comes.
The word contrite in Hebrew is ‘dakah’ which means one that is crushed to pieces. Paul wrote of being a ‘living sacrifice’ holy and acceptable to God. Being a living sacrifice means we often can walk off the altar. To be a continual living sacrifice we need to renew our minds day to day!