How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:9, 11)

One of the keys to land navigation is to trust your compass. I can’t count the number of times I’ve traveled through thick vegetation in the blackness of night and wondered, “how lost am I, really?” But, in the end, following the luminous dial on my lensatic compass, led me to my destination. My compass kept me from wondering off course (where I could have found myself in a heap of trouble). The Bible is our spiritual compass. It points our heart in the right direction no matter what temptations may try to pull us to the one way or another. We need to read it and follow it. The Word of God will guide us in the straight and narrow way and to our final destination, being like Jesus.

Men of Zebulun, experienced soldiers prepared for battle with every type of weapon, to help David with undivided loyalty… (1 Chronicles 12:33)

Loyalty is one of our most prized values but different things can ambush relationships. We can be put in circumstances where commitments to one another are tested. Things like misunderstandings, unresolved conflict, or petty jealousies can rip us apart. Sometimes people want us to cross over to the other side by joining in on gossip. And you know what? There are times, in our weakness, we give in to saying or doing something against the ones we love the most. Commanders, peers, parishioners, friends, and family all deserve our faithfulness. My prayer for you and I is that we will recognize the ambush and steer clear. Be true to the people around you.

The Wood Family

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)

Being in the military is a young man’s game. We walk, run, march, throw, lift, push, carry, and drag. You have to be in good shape at all times. Units take a lot of pride in their physical fitness. We can get so physically strong we almost start feeling like there’s nothing we can’t do. Then life slaps us around and we come to grips with our mortality. We face challenges that stretch us to the point of failure, not only physically and mentally, but spiritually too. It’s then that we find our true strength is in Jesus Christ. He gives us strength beyond our own. Call upon the Lord. He will renew your strength.’

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. (1 Corinthians 2:12)

I was talking to an ederly lady on a flight home during Christmas leave years ago. As we discussed her grandchildren and other things, she asked me what I did for a living. I told her I was an Airborne Ranger. Her response was typical for those who know nothing about the military, ‘Oh, that’s good. We need people to take care of our forests and animals.’ This nice lady didn’t have a clue. It’s the same with the world. When it comes to spiritual things, they just don’t get it. But we should! As believers in Christ, we have the Spirit of God within us and we should know better. Live what you know!

‘I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)

I’ve built a lot of rope bridges and most of them were near an existing bridge or a fallen log. It was all good training but it looked pretty ridiculous building a rope bridge next to a perfectly good concrete bridge 100 meters away. You can bet in a real situation we wouldn’t stop to build a bridge if the other was secure. The objective is to get to the other side. It’s the same in our spiritual life. If Jesus has already made the bridge, the work has already been done and we simply walk across in faith. We cross at the Cross.

He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5)

A good friend of mine, Major Rusty Rowe, saved another soldier from drowning. For his act of selfless service and courage, he has been recommended for the Soldier’s Medal. Two soldiers were swimming during riptide conditions and one could not make it back to shore without help. So Doc Rowe swam out and brought the young soldier back to shore. He saved her. In the same way, we are drowning in our sin and there is no way we can make it to Heaven through our own efforts. It’s Jesus who, in the depths of our despair, has made His way out to us and rescued us through His work on the cross.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)

When I attended Recondo School at Ft Bragg, I was a young E4. At the end of the three-week course there was a board for Distinguished Honor Graduate. As we went into the small Quonset hut we had to knock on the door before we entered. I was last to appear before the board. I knocked on the door so hard the window pains cracked and they yelled, ‘Come In.’ I entered and slammed the door behind me insuring it would need future repairs. As I saluted the All Special Forces panel their eyes gleamed and they all had a halfcocked smile. Later, I was informed that it was my knock at the door that persuaded the board to award me the top position and not my correct answers on patrolling. God is beating on the door. All you have to do is say, ‘Come In.’

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit (1 Peter 3:18)

American Veterans are passionate about POW/MIAs. You see the black and white flag flying all over our nation. Even over some State capitals. We want to bring our own home and we won’t give up. Some are still wearing red bracelets for the missing from the Vietnam War some thirty years later. This is so important to us, that we are willing to spend millions to recover the remains of our fallen comrades. God feels even stronger about His own. We are POW/MIAs in this world. He has gone to great efforts through the sacrifice of His Son to find us and bring us home.

Application: Do you know a spiritual POW/MIA? Why not send them SWORDPOINT or some other devotional. Invite them to your church or Bible study. You’d be amazed how Jesus can use these simple acts of kindness.

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment (Hebrews 9:27)

At the National Training Center, the training is as real as it gets. The exercises even include the evacuation of the wounded and dead. Once the simulated dead and dying reached a certain destination in the rear, they stayed out of the fight for a number of hours and then were Reincarnated as a replacement to be sent back to the units. There’s much talk in the spiritual world of reincarnation. Even Patton thought he was a reincarnated soldier. But the Bible teaches there is no second life here on earth. You get one shot at this life and then the big After Action Review in the sky. One chance to live a life of Faith in Christ. Use it wisely.

My brother Mike and I, building the Prayer Cabin on our 6 acres of retreat for soldiers at Fort Benning.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

The radio transmissions I’ve found the hardest to take to the TOC were, ‘We have lost a Ranger Student.’ Ranger students were so tired and in such a state of delirium they sometimes would walk away from the patrol. Or if the patrol stopped for even a second, you ran the risk of one of the students falling asleep on the spot and the patrol would move on without them. When this happened, everything else stopped and we went looking for the lost Ranger. Sheep do the same thing in the flock and so do we with God. Have you drifted from the fold? He’s looking for you. Come on home.