The Unread Message #RTTBROS #Nightlight #USA250 #AMERICA250 #NATION250

Trenton on Christmas Night #RTTBROS #Nightlight #America250 #USA250 #Nation250

“It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:22-23 

THE STORY

On Christmas night, 1776, everything was about to end. The Continental Army had been retreating for months. New York had fallen. New Jersey had fallen. Philadelphia was threatened. Men were deserting by the hundreds, their enlistments expiring, their feet leaving bloody prints in the snow. Washington's army had shrunk from twenty thousand men to fewer than three thousand. Thomas Paine, writing by firelight as he marched with the army, produced the lines that named the moment: "These are the times that try men's souls"

Washington decided to attack. The plan was to cross the ice-choked Delaware River on Christmas night, march nine miles to Trenton in the dark and cold, and surprise the Hessian garrison before dawn. It was the kind of plan that only a desperate man would attempt, and Washington was desperate in exactly the right way: desperate enough to trust God with what human calculation could not support. 

The crossing was brutal. The river was full of ice. The boats were inadequate. It took far longer than planned, and the column did not reach Trenton until well after dawn. But something remarkable had happened in the Hessian camp. Their commander, Colonel Rall, had received a note during a Christmas celebration warning him that the Americans were coming. He had put the note in his pocket without reading it. He was still in bed when Washington's men came over the walls.

THE REFLECTION

Nine hundred Hessians were captured. Not a single American was killed in the battle. Washington wrote to Congress afterward: "Providence seems to have smiled on every part of this enterprise". 

Lamentations 3:22-23 was written by Jeremiah in the rubble of Jerusalem. The city had fallen. The temple was destroyed. Everything he had loved was gone. And in the middle of the ash and the grief, he found something that had not failed: the mercies of God were new every morning. His faithfulness was great. 

Washington's army experienced that verse on Christmas night, 1776. They crossed an impossible river in the dark and cold, arrived late and found their enemy asleep, and won a victory that had no human explanation beyond the one Washington offered: Providence had smiled on every part of it. Colonel Rall's unread note is one of the most extraordinary details in American military history. A warning that could have prevented the battle sat in a dead man's pocket because God had other plans. The timing of the crossing, the ice, the delay, the darkness, the note that was never read, none of it was coincidental. It was morning mercy arriving in the form of a frozen river crossing on the night after Christmas. 

The mercies of God are new every morning. Even the mornings when you have been retreating for months. Even the mornings when your men are bleeding through their boots. Even the mornings when everything says stop, and faith says cross. Cross the river. The mercies are waiting on the other side.

Buy your copy of The Summer Of The Patriot  90 Days Of Faith and Freedom https://a.co/d/00gLtWNI

Daily Development #Nightlight #RTTBROS

Daily Development #Nightlight #RTTBROS

We often look for God’s big, dramatic moments, the lightning strike, the sudden revelation, the miraculous intervention. And those moments are real, don't get me wrong. But I’ve come to believe that God is just as interested in the quiet, repetitive moments of our lives. He’s the ultimate coach, and He’s the ultimate drill instructor.

Think about an athlete. They don't get to the championship game by just running around the field once. They get there because they’ve run the same mile, over and over, in the rain, in the heat, when they’re tired and want to quit. That disciplined difficulty, that repetition, builds the muscle, the endurance, the character.

A soldier, too, doesn't become a hero by just reading a manual. They go through simulated combat, drills, and grueling physical tests until the response becomes second nature. They are trained to act rightly, even when they are exhausted and scared.

God works the same way with us. He uses the daily drudgery, the tedious chores, the difficult conversations, the mundane tasks that feel like they’ll never end, to shape us into dedicated disciples.

It’s easy to pray for the big breakthrough, but it’s in the small things that we learn to trust Him. It’s in the quiet moments when you choose patience when you’d rather snap, or when you choose integrity when no one is watching. Those are the moments where the "grind" of discipleship is happening.

The Bible speaks to this reality, though perhaps not in the language of a modern gym coach. It speaks to the endurance required. Consider what the Apostle Paul wrote:

"And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Galatians 6:9, KJV)

"Weary in well doing." That’s the phrase that hits home. It’s not about doing something badly; it’s about doing something good when you’re tired. It’s about the sustained effort of grace.

God doesn't just want us to have a flash of faith; He wants us to have a faithfulness. He wants us to be the kind of people who keep showing up, day after day, trusting Him with the small things.

So, if you’re in the middle of a grind right now, if you feel like you’re just going through the motions, if the small stuff feels heavy, don't mistake the drudgery for God’s absence. It’s often His presence, working quietly, forging something strong inside you.

Let’s commit today to not just doing the good things, but to enduring them. Let’s trust that the small, consistent steps are what build the character that can withstand the big storms.

May the Lord give you strength in the daily walk. Amen.

 

The Unread Message #RTTBROS #Nightlight #USA250 #AMERICA250 #NATION250

Trenton on Christmas Night #RTTBROS #Nightlight #America250 #USA250 #Nation250

“It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:22-23 

THE STORY

On Christmas night, 1776, everything was about to end. The Continental Army had been retreating for months. New York had fallen. New Jersey had fallen. Philadelphia was threatened. Men were deserting by the hundreds, their enlistments expiring, their feet leaving bloody prints in the snow. Washington's army had shrunk from twenty thousand men to fewer than three thousand. Thomas Paine, writing by firelight as he marched with the army, produced the lines that named the moment: "These are the times that try men's souls"

Washington decided to attack. The plan was to cross the ice-choked Delaware River on Christmas night, march nine miles to Trenton in the dark and cold, and surprise the Hessian garrison before dawn. It was the kind of plan that only a desperate man would attempt, and Washington was desperate in exactly the right way: desperate enough to trust God with what human calculation could not support. 

The crossing was brutal. The river was full of ice. The boats were inadequate. It took far longer than planned, and the column did not reach Trenton until well after dawn. But something remarkable had happened in the Hessian camp. Their commander, Colonel Rall, had received a note during a Christmas celebration warning him that the Americans were coming. He had put the note in his pocket without reading it. He was still in bed when Washington's men came over the walls.

THE REFLECTION

Nine hundred Hessians were captured. Not a single American was killed in the battle. Washington wrote to Congress afterward: "Providence seems to have smiled on every part of this enterprise". 

Lamentations 3:22-23 was written by Jeremiah in the rubble of Jerusalem. The city had fallen. The temple was destroyed. Everything he had loved was gone. And in the middle of the ash and the grief, he found something that had not failed: the mercies of God were new every morning. His faithfulness was great. 

Washington's army experienced that verse on Christmas night, 1776. They crossed an impossible river in the dark and cold, arrived late and found their enemy asleep, and won a victory that had no human explanation beyond the one Washington offered: Providence had smiled on every part of it. Colonel Rall's unread note is one of the most extraordinary details in American military history. A warning that could have prevented the battle sat in a dead man's pocket because God had other plans. The timing of the crossing, the ice, the delay, the darkness, the note that was never read, none of it was coincidental. It was morning mercy arriving in the form of a frozen river crossing on the night after Christmas. 

The mercies of God are new every morning. Even the mornings when you have been retreating for months. Even the mornings when your men are bleeding through their boots. Even the mornings when everything says stop, and faith says cross. Cross the river. The mercies are waiting on the other side.

Buy your copy of The Summer Of The Patriot  90 Days Of Faith and Freedom https://a.co/d/00gLtWNI

The Pineapples That Weren't Mine #RTTBROS #Nightlight

The Pineapples That Weren't Mine #RTTBROS #Nightlight

"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." - Luke 9:23 (KJV)

I heard about an old missionary named Otto Koning who spent years in the jungles of New Guinea trying to reach a village for Christ. To break up the monotony of his diet, he planted a hundred pineapple shoots and waited three long years for them to ripen. The day they finally did, someone stole every last one, and it turned out to be the very man Otto had hired to help him plant them. When confronted, the man just shrugged and said, "My hands plant them, my mouth eats them."

For seven years Otto fought for those pineapples. He threatened to close the mission clinic. He brought in a guard dog. Nothing worked, and worse, nothing about his anger looked like Jesus. In seven years of preaching, he never saw a single soul come to Christ.

Then at a seminar back in the States, Otto realized something that changed everything. His anger was not really about the fruit. It was about ownership. He was gripping something with both fists and calling it his right. So he went back to that garden and gave it away. He told God, out loud, that the pineapples belonged to Him now.

Not long after, the villagers stole from him again, and Otto just smiled. They could not figure out what had happened to him. Finally one of them asked why he was not angry anymore, and Otto said, "I gave that garden away. You are not stealing from me. You are stealing from God." Word got around fast, and folks who will steal from a missionary without blinking will not touch what belongs to the Almighty. A revival swept through that village, all because one man let go of something he had been holding onto with white knuckles.

I think most of our anger works the same way. Somebody takes our time, our credit, our comfort, and we come up swinging because we believe it is ours to defend. But Jesus said if we are going to follow Him, we deny ourselves and pick up a cross, not a fist. The moment we hand our rights over to God, whatever gets taken from us becomes His problem, not ours. And that kind of peace preaches louder than any sermon we could give.

Prayer:

Lord, I hand my pineapples over to You today, my time, my reputation, my comfort, all of it. Where I have been gripping my rights with white knuckles, loosen my hold, and let Your peace be the sermon my life preaches. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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From Trying To Trusting #Nightlight #RTTBROS Isaiah 40:31:

From Trying To Trusting #Nightlight #RTTBROS 

Isaiah 40:31:

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and shall walk, and not faint

At night as the world begins to quiet down, we often find ourselves in a state of exhaustion. We’ve run our race, we’ve faced our battles, and sometimes, we feel utterly drained. We look at the calendar and see another day looming, and the weight of it can feel heavy.

But tonight, I want to talk about a different kind of energy, an energy that doesn't come from caffeine or sheer willpower. It’s about being continually refueled. And the promise of that renewal is found in the Word of God.

Let’s look at a powerful promise from the book of Isaiah. The King James Version says in Isaiah 40:31:

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and shall walk, and not faint."

Notice the key phrase here: "Wait upon the Lord." This isn's not passive waiting, like waiting for a bus. It is an active, expectant waiting. It is leaning into God, trusting Him, and allowing Him to be the source of your power.

To help us understand what this renewal looks like, I want to share a short illustration.

Think about the great preacher Charles Stanley. He often spoke about the difference between the trying and trusting. He would tell us that many people try to live life like a machine. They try to push themselves, they push their own limits, they try to be the engine of their own life. They run until they are broken. They run until they are exhausted.

But Stanley would tell us, "My brothers and sisters, you cannot run on your own strength. You are not a machine. You are a vessel. And a vessel needs to be filled."

He would tell us that the Christian life is not about trying to be strong; it is about waiting on the One who is infinitely strong. He would say in essence "When you are tired, when you are weary, that is not the time to push harder. That is the time to stop. That is the time to look up. That is time to remember that the One who is the Eagle. That One who can lift you up."

That is the difference. The difference between the trying and trusting.

 Tonight, as you prepare for sleep, I invite you do this: Stop trying to solve tomorrow’s problems in your head. Stop trying to force yourself to be okay. Instead, pause. Breathe. And consciously "wait upon the Lord."

Ask Him to renew your strength. Ask Him to lift you, not just to survive the day, but to soar with wings like an eagle. Let Him take the weariness from your shoulders and replace it with His enduring power.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your heart and mind. Sleep well, and may you wake up renewed.

When God Delivers The Giant #RTTBROS #Nightlight

 When God Delivers the Giant #Nightlight #RTTBROS 

"Do not fear them, for the LORD thy God, he shall fight for thee" — Deuteronomy 3:22

In the Bible, there are moments that feel like footnotes, names we rush past. Og, King of Bashan, is one of those. But I’ve learned that in Scripture, nothing is filler. The Holy Spirit never wastes a word.

Og was a physical manifestation of overwhelming opposition. His iron bed was nine cubits long, a monumental detail that forces us to pause. He ruled sixty fortified cities. He was the immovable object standing between Israel and the land God had promised. He was the ultimate "No."

Yet, the narrative doesn't focus on the battle tactics. It focuses on the divine intervention. The text simply states: "So the LORD our God also delivered into our hands Og king of Bashan."

The giant didn't surrender through human strength; he surrendered because God had already claimed the victory. And the result? The land of the giant became the inheritance of the faithful. The fortress of fear became the field of faith.

Perhaps you are facing your own Og tonight. A financial mountain that feels too heavy to climb. A health battle that feels like a permanent siege. A spiritual weight that seems too entrenched to shake.

I want to whisper this to you: Those giants are not the final word. They are remnants—loud, yes, but ultimately, they are the fading echoes of an opposition that God is dismantling. Our God is the God who delivers the impossible into the hands of His people.

Don't let the size of the giant dictate the size of your hope. Let the size of your God dictate the size of your victory.

Let’s pray: Father, we bring the giants to You tonight. The things that feel too big, too fortified, too entrenched. We choose to remember Og. You delivered him. You turned his territory into testimony. Do it again, Lord. Fight for us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

#TrustGod #SpiritualGrowth #ChristianLiving #RTTBROS #Nightlight

The Portrait And The Person #RTTBROS #Nightlight

The Portrait And The Person #RTTBROS #Nightlight 

I had the privilege of preaching this past Sunday at Twin Falls Church of the Nazarene, and I want to share something with you that I think could change the way you read your Bible. We were in Hebrews chapter 4, and the big idea is this - the Bible is not the destination. It is the road. The written Word of God is like a letter from someone you love deeply. You read it slowly, you feel them in every word, and it is a precious thing. But the letter is not the person. It was made to point you to the Person. The Bible is the portrait. Jesus is the Person. And the whole point of the portrait is to make you want the Person so badly you cannot stay away from Him.

Now, Hebrews 4:12 tells us that the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. That word "quick" does not mean fast. It means alive. And here is what Pastor James helped me see when John opens his gospel and says "in the beginning was the Word," that is the same Greek word used right here in Hebrews. The written Word and the living Word are connected. And the sword of verse 12 belongs to a Person because verse 13 makes the shift from "it" to "Him." He sees everything. The thoughts, the intents, the fear underneath the anger, the wound underneath the performance. Nothing is managed or hidden before Him. And most people, when they hear that, want to get up and leave. But Hebrews does not stop there.

What the writer does next is one of the most beautiful pivots in all of Scripture. The terror of verse 13 is immediately answered by the mercy of verse 14. We have a great High Priest. Jesus did not study our weakness from a distance - He inhabited it. He moved into the full weight of human experience. In the 1800s there was a priest named Father Damien who went to a Hawaiian leper colony where people were sent to disappear. He dressed their wounds. He built their coffins. For years he was a whole man ministering to broken ones and there was always a gap. Then one morning he stood to preach and said two words he had never used before "We lepers." He had contracted the disease himself. That is a picture of Jesus. He said "we lepers" about you and me. And He carried it all the way through without giving in - which means He knows the weight of your temptation better than you do, because we tap out before we ever feel the full force of it. He carried it to the other side of victory, and now He is reaching back.

That brings us to verse 16, and I want you to hear this. In the Old Testament, the throne room of God was the most terrifying address in the universe. They tied a rope around the High Priest's ankle before he went behind the veil, in case the glory of God struck him down. Nobody got in uninvited. But now now the writer says "let us therefore come boldly." That throne has been given a new name. Grace. And you have been told to come not trembling, not performing, not with your life cleaned up first but boldly, with everything you are carrying right there in your hands. Some of you have been carrying something for a long time that you have never told anyone. He already sees it. And His response to everything He sees in you is not to turn away. His response is come. Come right now. The portrait points you to the Person, and the Person is still saying the same thing He has always said to weary people who are one step from giving up - come and find mercy for what is past, and grace for what is coming.

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