222. The Lord your God will be with you: When you pass through the waters, He will be with you.

24 November 2021

The Lord your God will be with you.

Deuteronomy 20

1 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.

Isaiah 43

2 “When you pass through the waters,

    I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

    they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

    you will not be burned;

    the flames will not set you ablaze.”

When you go to war, do not be afraid, as Deuteronomy chapter 20 starts.

I came about this news article in The Charlotte Observer, July 03, 2014:

"Billy Graham’s words rescued war hero in 1949

Nightmares, alcoholism, revenge fantasies: Those were the demons that defined Louis Zamperini’s life in 1949 when he first heard the words of an up-and-coming preacher named Billy Graham.

Zamperini’s wife, who had threatened divorce if he didn’t get help, had dragged him to a tent in Los Angeles, where Graham was preaching at a revival that would launch his national career.

A World War II veteran who had survived torture in a Japanese prison camp, Zamperini had resisted Graham’s sermon at first. But as the evangelist spoke about how people in despair always turn to God, Zamperini remembered a war-time prayer promising a life of service if he could just stay alive.

“Billy Graham’s message hit me between the eyes.…I knew my whole life had changed,” Zamperini told the Observer in 2011, just days before traveling to Charlotte’s Billy Graham Library to sign copies of “Unbroken,” the best-selling book that told the story of his incredible life.

Zamperini, who died this week at age 97, became a born-again Christian that night in Los Angeles, spent his post-war life helping juvenile delinquents and others – and spoke at Billy Graham crusades in 1958 (in San Francisco) and in 1963 (in Los Angeles).

That 2011 appearance at the library drew long lines. In a video made that day by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Zamperini saluted the Charlotte-born evangelist for steering him to Christ. “Thank God for Billy Graham,” he said. “He’s indelible in my heart and mind.”"

You may watch Louis Zamperini share his story at the 1958 Billy Graham Crusade in San Francisco: https://youtu.be/O5UkPM0mTh8

"From 1952 onwards, he devoted himself to at-risk youth. Zamperini is the subject of three biographical films: Unbroken (2014), its sequel Unbroken: Path to Redemption (2018), and Captured by Grace (2015)." From Wikipedia

You may be in some form of "war" spiritually.

Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 

For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you. Deuteronomy 20:3-4

I have been in the war zone.

I could have been dead.

Two life-threatening affliction, full blown depression around 2004, and Steven's Johnson Syndrome in 2008.

In our lingo, ang masamang damo ay matagal mamatay.

Solitude. My skirmishes with death have become precious moments of solitude for my soul.

I would regard my long season of severe affliction as the beginning of my faith journey. I would not be at this point writing about God's grace if I did not experience serious failure that my abilities counted to nothing, yet the Good Lord provided for all the needs of my family at that very crucial stage that I was at my wit's end.

The Lord our God promised, when you pass through the waters, He will be with you.

"“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;

    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord,

    “and my servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may know and believe me

    and understand that I am he.

Before me no god was formed,

    nor will there be one after me.

I, even I, am the Lord,

    and apart from me there is no savior.

“I, even I, am he who blots out

    your transgressions, for my own sake,

    and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43:1, 10-11, 25). My Lord, my

 Savior, I give You praise, in Jesus' name. Amen.

20 February 2018"

May you be blessed with God's Word.

Maraming salamat.