“I thank my God every time I remember you.”¹

I have read that “Charles Plumb, a US Naval Academy graduate, was a jet pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent six years in a Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

“One day after Plumb gave a presentation, a fellow came up to him and said, ‘You don’t know me, but I am the person who packed your parachute the day you were shot down.’

“Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude. The man pumped his hand and said, ‘I guess it worked!’

“Plumb assured him, ‘It sure did. If your chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.’”

If it weren’t for somebody else—perhaps many “somebody elses”—most of us wouldn’t be where we are today either. And if it weren’t for somebody else telling us about Jesus and God’s gift of salvation, forgiveness and eternal life, most of us wouldn’t know God and wouldn’t be bound for Heaven.

May we ever be mindful and thankful to all who have “folded our parachute,” as it were, and may we do the same for others.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank you for all who have helped me be where I am today and especially for those who shared your love and message of eternal salvation with me. Help me to have a thankful heart and help others to find Jesus and know God—as others have helped me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Paul the Apostle (Philippians 1:3, NIV).

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“Sir, we would see Jesus.”¹

I have read that when Leonardo de Vinci was forty-three years old, the Duke Ludovinco of Milan asked him to paint the dramatic scene of Jesus’ last supper with his disciples.

Working slowly and giving meticulous care to details, he spent three years on the assignment. He grouped the disciples into threes, two groups on either side of the central figure of Christ.

Christ’s arms are outstretched. In his right hand, he holds a cup that was painted beautifully with marvelous realism.

When the masterpiece was finished, the artist said to a friend, “Observe it and give me your opinion of it.”

“It’s wonderful!” exclaimed the friend, “the cup is so real I cannot divert my eyes from it.”

Immediately Leonardo took a brush and drew it across the sparkling cup! As he did he exclaimed, “Nothing shall detract from the figure of Christ!”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please grant that nothing I ever do or say will ever detract from the beauty of Christ being seen in me. This I can only ever do with your help. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. John 12:21.

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“For in the day of trouble he [God] will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.”¹

I have read that William Cowper, like many people today, suffered from times of deep melancholy and depression. One night when he was in a particularly dark mood of despair, he decided to take his life by jumping into the Thames River.

That night the city of London was blanketed with an extremely heavy fog and Mr. Cowper, searching to find the river, lost his way. Stumbling blindly through the fog he was dumbfounded when he found himself on the doorstep of his own home. Going to his room he penned the words of the beautiful hymn:

God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me in my times of despair and depression to trust in you. Hide me in the shelter of your love and lead me to the place of help that I need. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. King David (Psalm 27:5, NIV).

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“He [Jesus] looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man [with the withered hand], ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.”¹

Because Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath (the formal religious day of the religious leaders), they were furious with him and planned to kill him.

A major fault of these religious leaders was that they loved their man-made rules and doctrines more than they loved people! Furthermore, they used these rules to control people. Instead of communicating God’s love and mercy, they communicated their rigid religiosity and drove people from God rather than draw them to him.

While correct teaching is important, “Christianity is much more than a creed. It is experiencing divine love, divine acceptance, and divine forgiveness and communicating these to every life we touch.”

St. Francis had it right in his prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light, and
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much
Seek to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to
eternal life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please make me an instrument to share your love, joy and peace wherever I go and to every life I touch. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Mark 3:5-6 (NIV).

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“Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross over the Jordan River, you, and all these people, to the land which I am giving to you.… Every place where you set your foot, that I have given to you.”¹

When God told Joshua and the ancient Israelites that he had given them the Promised Land, he didn’t hand it to them on a silver platter. To claim God’s promise, they had to battle every inch of the way. They still had to go, conquer, and possess it.

The reality is, however, that had God not given the Promised Land to them, they never would have been able to conquer and possess it.

God also has a work for you and me to do. He will give us opportunities every day to serve him but it’s up to us to take advantage of every one of these as they will come to pass—not to pause!

With God’s help, let us “seize the day” and take advantage of every one of these opportunities, and claim every promise he has for us.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be ready to ‘seize’ every opportunity you give me to serve you and claim every promise you have made to me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. God to Joshua in the Bible (Joshua 1:2-3).

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