What Really Held Him There #spiritualwarfare #RTTBROS #Nightlight #goodfriday #Cross

What Really Held Him There #spiritualwarfare #RTTBROS #Nightlight #goodfriday #Cross

What Really Held Him There

D.A. Carson wrote something that stopped me cold the first time I read it. He said, "It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father's will - and it was his love for sinners like me." (QuoteFancy)

Read that again. Not nails.

Think about that. The One who spoke the universe into existence, the One who calmed the Sea of Galilee with a word, the One who raised Lazarus from the dead - He was not held by iron spikes driven through flesh and bone. He was held by something far stronger than metal.

He was held by love.

In the garden, just hours before, He had prayed, "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." (Matthew 26:39)

He knew what was coming. He could have walked away. He could have called ten thousand angels. But He didn't because His love for the Father and His love for us would not let Him go.

I've sat at a lot of bedsides in my work as a hospice chaplain. I've watched people spend their last strength for the ones they love. There's something about love that refuses to quit, even when quitting would be the easier road.

That's what I see at Calvary. Not a victim. A volunteer. Not a man overpowered by soldiers and nails and wood but a Savior who planted His feet in the will of His Father and said, in effect, "I'm not moving. Not until it is finished."

And it was. For you. For me.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, on this Good Friday, help me to see the cross clearly not as something that happened to You, but something You chose, out of love I will spend eternity trying to understand. Thank You. Amen.

#RTTBROS #Nightlight

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They Can't Take Everything #RTTBROS #Nightlight

They Can't Take Everything #RTTBROS #Nightlight

"That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings." — Philippians 3:10

Viktor Frankl was an Austrian psychiatrist. He was also a Holocaust survivor. When the Nazis ordered him to report to a concentration camp, he faced an unbearable choice. He had been invited to flee to America and teach at a university there. But his elderly parents could not survive the journey. So he stayed. He lost his manuscript, the work of a lifetime. He lost his parents. He lost nearly everything in the crucible of Auschwitz.

But he discovered something they could not take from him.

The guards would come in and beat him and torture him. And when they came in, Frankl would ask them how their families were. How their children were. They were stunned by it. One of them finally asked him, how do you do that? After everything we're doing to you, how do you ask us how we are?

Frankl said, you've taken everything from me that you can take. You cannot take how I choose to respond.

Paul would not have been surprised by that at all. He wrote Philippians from a Roman prison. Beaten. Scarred. Chained. And he called the fellowship of Christ's sufferings the highest fellowship a human being can enter into. Not because suffering is good, but because it is in the depths of suffering that we discover what cannot be taken from us, our relationship with a living Savior.

What are you facing right now that feels like it's taking everything? Friend, they can't take that.

Let's pray: Lord, in our suffering, draw us into the deep fellowship of knowing You. Let nothing separate us from Your love. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#Faith #Suffering #Hope #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #VictorFrankl #RTTBROS #Nightlight

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The War Is Over #RTTBROS #Nightlight #spiritualwarfare #spiritualwar

The War Is Over #RTTBROS #Nightlight #spiritualwarfare #spiritualwar

Stop Fighting a War That's Already Over #RTTBROS #Nightlight

"Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before." — Philippians 3:13

One of the strangest stories to come out of World War II involves a Japanese soldier named Hiroo Onoda, stationed in the Philippines. When Japan surrendered in 1945, Onoda refused to believe it. He stayed in the jungle and kept fighting. They dropped leaflets in Japanese trying to reach him. They couldn't track him down. He was simply too good at what he did. The only way they finally got him to come in was to find an officer he personally knew and send that man into the jungle to bring him out.

Hiroo Onoda fought World War II until 1974. Nearly thirty years after it was over.

Now here's the part that ought to stop us cold. The preacher in this sermon said it as plainly as it can be said: there are a lot of us still fighting battles that Jesus already won on the cross.

Paul said the one thing he did, the one discipline above everything else, was forgetting what was behind and pressing toward what was ahead. Not because the past didn't matter, but because staying stuck in it was keeping him from the prize in front of him. Past failures you've already repented of, let them go. Past successes you're still resting on, let them go too. God has something more for you.

There's a reason, somebody once said, that your rearview mirror is so much smaller than your windshield. God wants you looking ahead, not behind.

The war is won. You can come out of the jungle now.

Let's pray: Father, help us release what's behind us and press with everything we have toward what You have ahead. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#Faith #Forgiveness #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #LetItGo #PressOn #RTTBROS #Nightlight

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My Words #RTTBROS #Nightlight #silence #tongue #communication

Why Do My Words Keep Getting Me Into Trouble?

"In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise." — Proverbs 10:19

Social media has multiplied our words beyond anything Solomon could have imagined. In his day, your words reached the people in your immediate circle. Today, your words can reach millions. And every word is permanent. Screenshotted. Shared. Weaponized.

Solomon says in the multitude of words there is no lack of sin. That means the more you talk, the more likely you are to sin with your words. And social media has created a multitude of words like never before. Tweets. Posts. Comments. Stories. DMs. Replies. We're producing more words in a day than our grandparents produced in a week.

And all those words are getting us into trouble. Because we're posting in anger. Commenting without thinking. Tweeting reactions instead of responses. Sharing opinions that should stay private. And every careless word is creating problems.

Here's what social media has done. It's removed the natural consequences that used to restrain speech. In face-to-face conversation, you see the person's reaction. You feel the tension when you say something hurtful. You experience immediate feedback. But on social media, you don't see the damage your words cause. You just hit post and move on.

And because there's no immediate consequence, we say things online we'd never say in person. We're harsher. Crueler. More judgmental. Less gracious. Because we're not looking into someone's eyes when we wound them with our words.

Solomon's solution is simple. Refrain your lips. Talk less. Post less. Comment less. Not everything needs to be said. Not every opinion needs to be shared. Not every thought needs to be tweeted. Wisdom restrains words.

But our culture celebrates the opposite. It rewards people who post constantly. Who have hot takes on everything. Who never miss an opportunity to weigh in. And the result is exactly what Solomon predicted. In the multitude of words, sin abounds.

Here's my challenge. Before you post, ask yourself: Is this necessary? Is this true? Is this kind? Will this help or hurt? If you can't answer yes to those questions, don't post. Refrain your lips. Or in this case, refrain your thumbs.

The wise person on social media isn't the one with the most followers or the wittiest replies. It's the person who restrains their words. Who thinks before posting. Who values silence over constantly adding to the noise.

In the multitude of words there lacks not sin. Social media has given us unlimited capacity for words. But it hasn't given us wisdom to handle that capacity. And until we learn to restrain our lips, our words will keep getting us into trouble.

Let's pray: Father, we post too much and think too little. Teach us to restrain our lips. Help us to speak less and listen more. Give us wisdom about social media. Protect us from the sin that comes with too many words. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#Faith #Priorities #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #KnowingChrist #SpiritualGrowth #RTTBROS #Nightlight

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Get Grit: Finish the Race #RTTBROS #Nightlight

Get Grit: Finish the Race #RTTBROS #Nightlight

"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." — Philippians 3:14

At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, a marathon runner from Tanzania named John Stephen Akhwari fell hard on the pavement at the 19-kilometer mark. He dislocated his knee and badly injured his shoulder. The medical team wanted him to quit. The gold medal winner had crossed the finish line over an hour earlier. Most of the crowd had gone home. The stadium lights were dimming. Yet Akhwari rose from the pavement, wrapped his bleeding knee, and hobbled the remaining distance in sheer agony. When he finally entered that near-empty stadium, the few thousand people who remained gave him a standing ovation.

A reporter asked him afterward, why didn't you just stop?

He said, my country did not send me 5,000 miles to start a race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.

Friend, I think that is the spirit God is calling out of every one of us. Paul knew exactly what it felt like to be that man. He had been beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, and run out of more cities than most of us have visited. And yet from a Roman prison, with scars on his body and chains on his wrists, he wrote these words: "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."

He wasn't pressing because the road was easy. He was pressing because the prize at the end was worth every painful step forward.

So let me ask you something tonight. Are you running to finish, or have you quietly stopped somewhere along the track? God didn't save you just to get you started. He saved you to see you all the way home.

Let's pray: Father, give us the grit to finish what You started in us. When we're tempted to quit, remind us of the prize. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#Faith #Perseverance #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #FinishTheRace #TrustGod #RTTBROS #Nightlight

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Closed Mouth, Open Sky #RTTBROS

A Closed Mouth and an Open Sky #RTTBROS #Nightlight

"Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding." — Proverbs 17:28

You know, Aesop told a story a long, long time ago that I just can't shake. There was a turtle who lived on a quiet pond, and his best friends were a couple of ducks. Every time those ducks came home, they'd tell him about the world out there, the rolling hills, the rivers, the glorious treetops, and old turtle would just sit there on his log, green with envy. He wanted to see what they saw.

Well, one day those kind-hearted ducks came up with a plan. They found a sturdy stick, each duck took one end in their beak, and they told the turtle, "Grab the middle with your mouth, hold on tight, and we'll show you the world. But whatever you do, don't let go, and don't say a word."

Up they went. And friend, the turtle saw it all. The patchwork fields below, the shimmer of rivers, the trees dressed in their finest. It was everything he'd ever wanted.

Then a crow flew alongside and hollered, "Well, I never! Surely this must be the king of all turtles!"

And the turtle, swelling with pride, opened his mouth to say, "Why, certainly!" And that was that.

A closed mouth gathers no foot, as they say. And Solomon, who was a good bit wiser than Aesop, put it this way: "Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding" (Proverbs 17:28).

I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one, I'll tell you that. I've talked when I should have listened. I've filled silence that God meant to be kept. Pride has a way of opening our mouth at exactly the wrong moment, and what we gain from letting loose is rarely worth what we lose.

Here's the thing about that turtle. He was doing just fine. He was soaring. All he had to do was hold on and enjoy the ride. But he couldn't let someone else have the last word.

Can you relate? I sure can.

So today, let me ask you this: is there a conversation, a comment, a comeback you need to just let go? Sometimes wisdom isn't in what you say. Sometimes it's in knowing when to stay quiet and keep holding on.

Let's pray. Lord, bridle my tongue today. Remind me that silence is often the wisest sermon I can preach. Help me hold on to what matters and let go of my need to have the last word. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#Wisdom #TamingTheTongue #Proverbs #ChristianLiving #Faith #DailyDevotion #BiblicalWisdom #RTTBROS #Nightlight

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A Wartime Walkie-Talkie #RTTBROS #Nightlight

A Wartime Walkie-Talkie #RTTBROS #Nightlight

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." — Ephesians 6:18

You know, John Piper said something years ago that I haven't been able to shake loose. He said that prayer is a wartime walkie-talkie, not a domestic intercom to ring up the butler and ask for another pillow. When I first heard that, it stopped me cold. Because if I'm honest, I have to admit that a whole lot of my praying has looked a lot more like the intercom than the walkie-talkie.

Think about that image for a minute. A walkie-talkie on the battlefield is urgent. It's essential. A soldier doesn't pick up that radio and say, "Hey, while you've got a minute, could you make things a little more comfortable back here?" No. He keys that mic because he's in a fight, because the situation is serious, because he needs firepower and he needs it now. There's no casual tone on a battlefield radio. There's urgency. There's purpose.

But so many of us, and I include myself here, because I'm too soon old and too late smart on this one, we've wandered away from that battlefield mentality. We treat prayer like a nice spiritual habit, something we do before meals and at bedtime. A gentle, civilized little routine. And then we wonder why our prayers feel thin, why heaven seems quiet, why nothing seems to be happening.

Here's the thing. Paul didn't write Ephesians 6:18 from a comfortable study. He wrote it as a prisoner, in a real spiritual battle, surrounded by the full armor of God language, describing a real enemy. And right in the middle of all that armor, right after the sword of the Spirit, he says, "Praying always." Not "praying occasionally when things get rough." Always. Urgently. With all perseverance.

The reason prayer malfunctions for so many of us is that we've forgotten we're at war. We've gotten comfortable. We've pulled back from the front lines, and we're trying to use a battlefield radio to order room service.

Friend, history is just HIS story, and right now you have a role in it. You are on assignment. You have been given direct access to the General's headquarters. Use it. Pick up that walkie-talkie today, not to ask for more comfort, but to ask for strength, for wisdom, for the lost souls around you, for His kingdom to advance in this dark old world.

That's what prayer was made for.

Let's pray: Father, forgive us for treating prayer like a convenience and not a lifeline. We are in a battle whether we feel it or not. Tune our hearts to Your frequency today, and make our prayers urgent, faithful, and kingdom-focused. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#Prayer #SpiritualWarfare #ChristianLiving #DailyDevotion #Faith #BiblicalWisdom #EphesiansArmor #RTTBROS #Nightlight