Brown's Daily Word 5-27-10

Good morning,
Praise the Lord for this new day. The Lord blessed us with beautiful and joyful evening yesterday during our Mid-week gathering. The food was delicious and the fellowship was sweet. It was one of the warmest days of May, tying a record for the date around much of the state. It was just like it is in Orissa, India at this time of year.
As we get ready for the Memorial Day weekend I was doing some reading about this day of remembrance. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, in his General Order No. 11. It was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York, in 1873. By 1890 Memorial Day was recognized by all of the northern states. It is now celebrated in almost every state on the last Monday of May.
Since the late 50’s, on the Thursday before Memorial Day the 1,200 soldiers of the Third U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during that weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing. I was reading about the number of men who gave their lives during the wars fought in or by our nation. The losses in World War I numbered 116, 500 brave men, in World War ll 405,400 lost their lives, and the number of men lost in our bloodiest war, the Civil War, far exceeded that. At least 618,000 Americans died in the Civil War, and some experts say the toll reached 700,000. These casualties exceed the nation's loss in all its other wars, from the Revolution through Vietnam. Whenever I read about the valor and bravery of those who have given their lives I am humbled and deeply grateful.
"They will remember young soldiers like Captain Joshua Byers, a West Point man born in South Carolina who died in Iraq. When this son of missionaries was given command of a 120-man combat unit, he wrote this to his parents: ’I will give the men everything I have to give. I love them already, just because they’re mine. I pray, with all my heart, that I will be able to take every single one of them home safe when we finish our mission here.’"
God, who called us to Christ, sent His Holy Spirit to have the Apostle Paul write, “I urge, then first of all, that request, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone…” (1 Timothy 2:1) Ephesians 6:18 tells us that Christians are to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers…” Prayer is mightier than a king’s power of authority and more effective than a warrior’s sword. Wars are going to come and it is the responsibility of Christians to hold up their generation of soldiers in prayer which the Apostle Paul understood to be a weapon that has divine power to demolish strongholds. (2 Corinthians 10:4)
The Holy Spirit moved the church to pray for Peter when he was in harms way before King Herod. (Acts 12:5) The goal for every Christian should be to say with the Apostle Paul, “God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times…” (Romans 1:9-10)
History records powerful truths of God’s intervention for armed forces as people take time to prayer for those in harm’s way. In May of 1940, Germany was on the move and it was unbelievable how much control Hitler took over Europe in just a few short weeks. Hitler had backed up nearly all the remaining Allied troops to the beach at Dunkirk, France. The Allied troops were surrounded. Ten miles to their rear was the German army. In front of them the English channel. An evacuation by water was their only hope however, it would not be easy. The English Channel was known for terrible tides and treacherous winds. The Channel was also full of German mines and down the beach was Nazi artillery. The only other direction to go held German U-boats.
400,000 Allied troops were at Dunkirk and one English General said, “Nothing but a miracle could save them.” It was at this time the Holy Spirit of God moved upon Reece Howell and a group of 100 students in a Welsh Bible College to become intercessors for those who were in harm’s way at the mercy of Hitler’s armed forces. For some time they prayed from 7:00 P.M. to 12:00 Midnight. While those Welsh Bible students prayed, the British Royal Navy rounded up practically everything that floated in England to go to rescue the troops.
During the rescue attempt there were several miracles. First Hitler, for some mysterious reason, stopped the Panzer tanks just 10 miles away. If he had kept them moving he could have done great damage to the Allied Forces or destroyed them completely. Second, for an unheard of 9 days, the English Channel was perfectly calm and as smooth as glass. Old-timers said, “We have never seen it like this before.” Then heavy fog sometimes moved in and at other times smoke from burning oil fields drifted calmly towards the beach, keeping the German air-force from seeing anything from the air during the evacuation. When the evacuation off the beach was finished, 338,000 Allied troops had been rescued. The other 62,000 soldiers gave their lives so their fellow soldiers could get off the beach. They fought the oncoming Nazi Armed Forces when they finally made their move to attack again.
It is because such sacrifices that we take time to observe Memorial Day. It should be on the heart of everyone to spend some time this Memorial Day remembering the lives of those who stayed in harm’s way so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today.
In Christ,
Brown

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTv9QgPrXCU