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]When I was in school, it seemed they ran a “fire drill” at least once a year. A long, loud, kind of scary bell would sound and we knew it was either a real fire, or, more likely, just another drill. We were formed into lines, ushered down the halls, and out the doors we went. Of course, the point was practice….so we would be prepared for a real fire.
The children of Israel are facing yet another test, this one, even more severe than hunger– dehydration – which, unabated, quickly leads to a miserable death. Yet, now, every day they are also seeing the miracles of God, who is feeding them regularly with manna, and surrounding them by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Once again, they fail the test, even in the midst of their daily witness of miracles. So even though the test is more severe, the evidence for trust is that much greater.
Is there something about miracles that makes them forgettable? Or is the problem with us? After journeying for a season the children of Israel were faced with hunger — another test. This time, naturally faced with starvation, they murmured against the Lord, AGAIN! You’d think they might begin to put it together that God truly wanted them to trust Him. Apparently not yet. The dire circumstances attacked their mass cerebral cortex (memory) and once again they went into attack mode, bitterly complaining in unbelief. The Ten Plagues, the pillar of fire, the Red Sea walk, the Egyptian chariot soup, none of these connected to the present hunger pangs. Nature trumped super-nature, and sadly, God Himself.
The Apostle Paul’s discourse in 1 Corinthians 10 recalls the great miracles God performed for the children of Israel during the time of the Exodus. Delivered from Egypt and Pharaoh’s slavery, they were dismayed to discover his maniacal rage pursuing them anew, driving them into a deadly corner and imminent destruction. Humanly speaking, their terror and panic was understandable. With their eyes they could only see the wrath of Egypt succeeding at last to utterly destroy them. In that state of mind, how might they have remembered the consecutive miracles God had wrought against Egypt which had brought them to this very place?
When Ruth pledged her alligence to Naomi and to the God of Israel, it wasn’t based on, “What ifs?” or circumstances. It was a faith rooted in her devotion to Naomi and God even to the point of death!
This season of the Resurrection also occurs during a significant Old Testament feast day, the feast of “Firstfruits” (Hebrew, “bikoreem”). When Yeshua (Jesus) rose from the dead he was the firstfruit of the resurrection. On that day the keys of Hell and Death were obtained by our Lord. The apostle Paul connected the resurrection with the feast of Firstfruits in his letter to the congregation at Corinith. “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”
There is a long standing tradition of cleaning one’s house in the springtime – hence the term “spring cleaning”. One source for this tradition is certainly the Jewish Passover (Pesach). Each spring as the holiday approaches observant householders in Israel and around the world perform a meticulous cleaning of their homes, especially to be sure there is no leaven in the house before Pesach begins. Leaven, in scripture, is often a metaphor for sin and impurity; and this season of the year is often a time for emphasizing “spiritual housecleaning”.