“How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him.” (The Message)

When I think about all the blessings of God, and knowing God through Christ, I can be overwhelmed.  I have been blessed by God with every spiritual blessing through Jesus Christ so I can be a blessing TO OTHERS.

• I am chosen in him from eternity past, so that I can be holy and blameless. NO SHAME.
• I am predestined by His love for adoption as his child.  NO ALONENESS.
• His purpose is my adoption, and my purpose is to live to praise His grace.  PURPOSE for my life.
• I am blessed by His glorious Grace:  UNDESERVED.  LAVISH.  UNENDING. 
• I am redeemed by His blood.  BOUGHT FROM BONDAGE TO MY FLESH AND THE WORLD.  SET FREE.
• All of my sins, past, present and future, are forgiven, because His grace is that rich and lavish.  FORGIVEN. 
• He lavished His grace upon me, along with wisdom and insight, so that I could know the mystery of His will which is this:  In Christ, all things, all people, all creation, one in Him, in heaven and on earth. UNITY.
• I have an inheritance in Jesus.  Guaranteed by the sealing of His Spirit.  FUTURE GRACE.
• I am predestined according to His purpose, which is that all things work according to His will.  SECURE IN HIS WILL FOR MY LIFE.
• I live to bring praise to His Glory.  MEANING TO THIS LIFE AND THE NEXT.
• I have heard His truth, the Good News, and I have believed in Him, SO I am sealed by His Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit guarantees my inheritance until I get full possession of it in eternity.  SECURE NOW AND ABUNDANCE THEN.

March 1st Shame

Today is March 1, 2013, the day the infamous “sequestration” begins.  Today should always be a day which the American people remember as a day of shame, a day when political leaders on both sides of the aisle failed to govern.  Politics is the art of the possible, and requires compromise.  The President has steadfastly refused to negotiate and to compromise, and to give Congressional Republicans something for which they can vote.  Likewise, many Congressional Republicans, without even serving one day in their lives wearing the uniform of our Nation, have put our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Guardians and Department of Defense civilians, in great harm by passing this harmful and foolish “sequestration” legislation.  As I write this letter, I have never been more ashamed of our political leadership.  It is often said by the President and by pundits, that our system is broken.  No, our system is not broken, but the people who lead our system have failed.  The American people decided to give us divided government.  Divided government means compromise and prudence are a must.  It is time for the President and for the Congress to set aside political agendas and do their most essential job, which is the defense of the Nation. 

I am a retired US Army Reserve brigadier general, and also a Department of Defense civilian.  Somehow, should furloughs actually happen, our family will muddle through and trust the Lord who is our provider, even if we cannot trust our political leadership who have broken faith with us.  However, our deep, constant concern is for the 66,000 Americans in uniform serving in harm’s way in Afghanistan.  Our family has three Soldiers deployed right now.  Our oldest two sons are serving in Afghanistan in the Army, along with one of our nephews elsewhere in the Middle East.  Congress and the President have failed our sons, and if these devastating and automatic budget cuts last long, our sons will not have the support they need, and their lives will be endangered.  Contrary to foolish comments that the impact on DOD is not that great, one less aircraft carrier is in the Gulf, which means decreased support to our troops in danger.  The United States Army, as the Army Chief of Staff said today, will not be able to train for upcoming deployments, increasing risk of mission failure and danger to our soldiers. 

It is time to govern and lead.  Should this impasse not be resolved, may the American people remember this day of shame, and punish both parties during the 2014 mid-term elections and beyond. 

Sequestration and National Defense

Letter I have sent to the President, the Vice President, Senator Bennet, Senator Udall and Congressman Lamborn

RE:  Sequestration and National Defense

The time has come to govern, and to end the partisan posturing. As a retired United States Army Reserve Brigadier General, I fully understand the pressures of leadership and hard decisions. As I write this, I find myself disgusted with the inability of a divided government to execute its most basic core function: the national defense.
 
Inaction by the President, Senate Democrats and House Republicans will cause devastating and possible permanent degradation to the ability of the Department of Defense to execute missions assigned by the Commander in Chief.  Let there be no doubt in your minds. All of you are on the "blame line." All of you are responsible for enacting this foolish and automatic legislation. All of you will be blamed by the American people for your failure to act.
 
There is no doubt in any senior leader's mind that the DOD budget must be reduced as we wind down our involvement in this war in two theaters. However, the right way to do this is NOT through automatic budget cuts, political gamesmanship and grandstanding. As a voter, I am ashamed of all of you, and ashamed to see our nation wrenched through this debacle.
 
Further, I have "skin in the game." I am a disabled Vet, I have deployed, and my oldest TWO SONS are serving in the Army in Afghanistan as I write this letter. There is no doubt in my mind that my sons' lives will be endangered by your failure to act and act NOW! Lastly, I am also a government civil servant probably facing a 20% furlough pay cut for the remainder of this year, causing my family undue hardship in addition to the stress and uncertainty caused by our sons' service in the combat zone.
 
I urge you to take immediate action to prevent the March 2013 sequester that, in days, will force a cumulative 18% defense budget cut in one year, plus nearly a half-trillion dollars in additional defense cuts over the next nine years. I urge you to amend this foolish legislation and give the Secretary of Defense and Service Secretaries the leeway to manage their Service budgets in a reasonable manner.
 
Our nation is still at war. Our nation's unemployment level is near the highest in recent memory. I urge you to do everything in your power to forge an immediate, bipartisan resolution to avoid this unconscionable prospect.
 
Respectfully,
 
 
Ray Woolridge
Brigader General, US Army Reserve, Retired

All things work for the good?

How do we understand that all things work out?  Work out for what?  Some people naively assume that everything is going to be fine, and then it isn't.  Life can be random, brutish, nasty, short to paraphrase Hobbes.  The relentless attack of disaster, disease, death can seem meaningless and brutally unfair.  I am clinging to the truth that "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28)."

"In" all things God works.  All things are NOT God's work.  Some things happen because of stupidity, apathy, foolishness, risk-taking, or evil.  The verse says that "IN ALL things God works for the good of those who love him...."  I am clinging to this promise like a drowning man clings to a life raft in the middle of the Pacific.  I have had my share of bad things happen. I choose to desperately believe that God has a purpose in all things and that He is going to work all things for my good.  Imagine the great theologian and missionary falsely accused of crimes, appealing to the highest authority to avoid a kangaroo court rigged against him by unjust men.  Socrates?  No.  Paul.  Appealing to Caesar.  Spending the next several years of his earthly life in prison awaiting his hearing before Caesar. We don't know if Paul ever got that hearing.  We do know what he did in those years.  He wrote more than half of the New Testament.  The Bible says Paul welcomed all who came to see him and "boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ."  No self pity.  His master work which is changing lives even today. He changed my life even this morning!  ©2011 Ray Woolridge

Terrified

One morning I awoke to a rising sense of panic.  The thought of the uncertainties of the future can be terrifying.  What to do?  Place my trust in the Lord and seek some light from His word.

In my times with God lately, working through the Old Testament book of Numbers, I have been reminded that:

I can listen to God's voice, just like Moses did, and I can speak to God when I have concerns.  See Number 7:89.

I can draw near to God because Jesus is my perfect atoning sacrifice, given once for all of my sins.  I don't have to fear death when I draw near.  Compare with Numbers 4:20.

I belong to God, just as much as the Levites did.  God says of me, "Ray is mine, for all of the firstborn are mine..."  See Numbers 3:13.

I can bless people like Moses and Aaron blessed the Israelites in Numbers 6:22-26:  "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace."

God's presence is going to be with me.  See Numbers 9:10-17

God's presence will lead me, and when I set out, God's enemies will be scattered.  Look at Numbers 10:35-36.  They were scattered when God's children entered and occupied the Promised Land.

God will give me manna daily to meet my needs.  "Lord, I need spiritual food from you, and physical food from you as well!"  Look up Numbers 11.

So many other good things to learn from God's Word...Keep studying and applying!