day no. 14,997: weak will opportunity

"The ability to take advantage of opportunity is a function of speed, flexibility, boldness, and initiative."

Galatians 6:10
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Some opportunities are a product of careful planning or a natural outcome of having followed previous plans. But some opportunities are provided by unforeseen circumstances. A mistake you hadn't planned on making, a mistake you hadn't planned on your enemy making, a change in weather or terrain under which you and your enemy must both adapt, etc... 

The fact of opportunities is inescapable. The ability to act in the face of them is not. Some are prepared ahead of time or in the moment better equipped to shift in light of opportunities. This ability determines whether or not you can turn the turn of events for your favor. Speed, flexibility, boldness and initiative are needed in order to make full use of the opportunities God provides.

Ephesians 4:27
Don’t give the devil any opportunity to work.

The devil cannot create opportunities. His only means of creating anything is by convincing you to provide them to him. He does not have your PIN. Do not provide him an opportunity you could have kiboshed by keeping him at arm's length.

James 4:7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

day no. 14,996: boldness

BOLDNESS!!!

"Boldness is a source of combat power in much the same way that surprise is. Boldness is the characteristic of unhesitatingly exploiting the natural uncertainty of war to pursue major results rather than marginal ones. According to Clausewitz, boldness “must be granted a certain power over and above successful calculations involving space, time, and magnitude of forces, for wherever it is superior, it will take advantage of its opponent’s weakness. In other words, it is a genuinely creative force.” Boldness is superior to timidity in every instance although boldness does not  always equate to immediate aggressive action. A nervy, calculating patience that allows the enemy to commit themselves irrevocably before we strike them can also be a form of boldness. Boldness is based on strong situation awareness: We weigh the situation, then act. In other words, boldness must be tempered with judgment lest it border on recklessness.

There is a close connection between surprise and boldness. The willingness to accept risks often necessary to achieve surprise reflects boldness. Likewise, boldness contributes to achieving surprise. After we weigh the situation, to take half measures diminishes the effects of surprise."

Proverbs 28:1

The wicked flee when no one pursues,

but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Boldness is not just rushing headlong into any endeavor one supposes is advantageous. It is the patience to wait for the pristine moment to produce itself. It is allowing the enemy to advance in order to wait until they've opened themselves up. It is holding your ground because you have the ability to control your impulses. 

2 Corinthians 3:12

Since we have such a hope, we are very bold

Boldness is not merely attacking what's in front of you, but loving what's behind you.

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” No hero marches into battle merely to destroy for the sake of destroying. He marches into battle for the sake of conserving. He marches not because he is trying to break free from something, but because he is bound to something. Love is not blind; that is the last thing that love it. Love is bound.” - G.K. Chesterton

Boldness is not unchecked animalian impulsivity. That is NOT boldness or courage because it isn't choosing anything. It's reacting to passions without appealing to principles. Boldness of the variety the MCDP is equipping its marines to employ is that of calculated, directed courage that waits and then acts when the right time arrives. 

In other words, boldness can endure the difficulty of waiting and can conjure great strength and energy when the time comes to pounce.

Acts 4:29-31

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

day no. 14,995: surprised by coy

"By surprise we mean a state of disorientation resulting from an unexpected event that degrades the enemy’s ability to resist. We achieve surprise by striking the enemy at a time or place or in a manner for which the enemy is unprepared. It is not essential that we take the enemy unaware, but only that awareness came too late to react effectively. The desire for surprise is “more or less basic to all operations, for without it superiority at the decisive

point is hardly conceivable.” While a necessary precondition of superiority, surprise is also a genuine source of combat power in its own right because of its psychological effect. Surprise can decisively affect the outcome of combat far beyond the physical means at hand."

2 Corinthians 2:10-11

Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

God does not want us to be surprised by Satan's schemes. God is omniscient, Satan is not. We are not. So God reads Satan's mail to us so that we know what to expect from him. 

One extremely common tactic Satan uses to erode individual souls is unforgiveness and bitterness. This he then leverages into eroding relationships with others: marriages, families, neighbors, friends, communities, local churches, workplaces, etc... 

This is not new information. This is how that always works. So we should be on guard and ready for it and prepared for it. This removes the element of surprise from it. When we feel the temptation to be embittered, we should not be wearing our shocked faces. We should not be undone by the presence of this temptation thinking, "I never imagined I would be tempted to be so mean-spirited or unforgiving." You should have imagined it and been preparing for it. The problem isn't the temptation, it is giving in to it or being surprised and unprepared for it because you failed to see the possibilities God was clearly warning you about ahead of time.

day no. 14,994: a crucified Christ is my only hope

A Christless cross no refuge for me;
A Crossless Christ my Savior may not be;
But, O Christ crucified! I rest in thee!
- B.B. Warfield

If the cross remains without anyone in my place upon it, then on it I must die and pay for my own sins. Someone must die for sin and the soul that sins shall die. If I die to myself, but Christ does not die for me, then even the carrying of my own cross proves insufficient to fend off God's wrath.

If Jesus only came to correct our misunderstandings about God without dying for them, I find no harbor in Him. I will have a better realization of how far I fall short, but I will have no mechanism or means of bridging the ever increasing gap. Awareness of the problem does not fix the problem. My ignorance of the problem, in other words, is not my only problem. Knowledge only reveals how bad it really is in increasing measure.

My hope is in Jesus' vicarious life, sacrificial death, triumphant resurrection and glorious ascension. Because He lived the life I should have lived and died the death I should have died, my life's work is covered by His death and His life's work covers my death. Because He rose from the grave defeating sin, Satan and death, I can rest assured that the Father has received and accepted Jesus' sacrifice on my behalf as paid in full and can fully expect to be saved from the penalty of my past sins, from the power of my present sins and from the presence of sin altogether in the resurrection. Because He lives and is seated next to the Father even now, He can hear me and intercede for me constantly until His return when I will meet my crucified Mediator face to face.

day no. 14,993: defense is a shield made up of well-directed blows

"An effective defense must assume an offensive character, striking at the moment of the enemy’s greatest vulnerability. As Clausewitz wrote, the defense is “not a simple shield, but a shield made up of well-directed blows.” The truly decisive element of the defense is the counterattack. Thus, the offense is an integral component of the concept of the defense."

When someone rears back to punch you, they open themselves up in a unique fashion. When the offense hikes the ball, they open themselves up to loss by attempting to gain ground. You can view an enemy attack through fragility, resilience or anti-fragility.

Fragility is seeing an enemy attack as the end of your peace. Everything is fine... until it isn't. Well, there goes that!

Resilience is seeing an enemy attack as an opportunity to hold your ground. You are prepared and ready for this. You've been waiting. Bring it! We aren't going anywhere.

Anti-fragility is seeing an enemy attack as an opportunity to do damage. You are prepared, but not just to absorb their blows, but to seize the weak spot they created by their aggression. 

"Defense is not a simple shield, but a shield made up of well-directed blows." - Clausewitz

The best way to shield yourself from trouble is not just to endure the blows of the enemy, but to counter strike at the point of the weakness they created in their ranks by attacking. This type of shield not only endures the enemy's attacks, but makes future attacks less likely and/or less powerful.

Defense is not about merely holding ground, it is about gaining ground. It is not the fear of surviving aggression, but the faith to aggressively engage the attacker in a way that gains ground for you precisely because you were attacked. In this understanding, the enemy attacking produces a net gain for you and loss for them. How frustrating to throw a punch and find yourself on the ground, eye-blackened because of it. That is the type of frustration we delight in supplying generously to our enemies.

day no. 14,992: initiative is imposing our will upon our enemy

"All actions in war, regardless of the level, are based upon either taking the initiative or reacting in response to the opponent. By taking the initiative, we dictate the terms of the conflict and force the enemy to meet us on our terms. The initiative allows us to pursue some positive aim even if only to preempt an enemy initiative. It is through the initiative that we seek to impose our will on the enemy. The initiative is clearly the preferred form of action because only through the initiative can we ultimately impose our will on the enemy. At least one party to a conflict must take the initiative for without the desire to impose upon the other, there would be no conflict. The second party to a conflict must respond for without the desire to resist, there again would be no conflict... Actions in war more or less reflect the constant imperative to seize and maintain the initiative.

Genesis 1:28
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion

One of the most fundamental essences of masculinity is that of initiative. It is knowing what to do, when to do it and then doing it. It is imposing your will. God created Adam and gave him marching orders and objectives. He was to be the imposer of God's will upon all of creation, stamping God's image upon it and bearing fruit from up out of it. He was also called to impose his will and subdue any threats to the world under his feet or the objective on his soul.

Initiative is essential because resistance is a given.

The world will not produce more fruit than it has to, sin will not mortify itself and praise will not vivify itself. The imposition of the Spirit-guided and empowered man of God is to spread the glory of God to and through all of creation, to each and every place, in every nook and cranny, to every height or depth... all of life under all of Christ.

But the darkness will not go quietly into the light. The greater the diameter of light, the greater the circumference of darkness. As the light swells, the perimeter grows, resulting in increased contact and touch points with the darkness. The skirmishes increase as the opportunities for battle increase. Where the spotlight is growing, the battlefield grows. The front lines increase as the light bulges. 

Genesis 3:15 
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
He shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise His heel.

day no. 14,991: fear is conquered by bits

"The public sees only the thrill of the accomplished trick; they have no conception of the tortuous preliminary self-training that was necessary to conquer fear." -- Harry Houdini

We remember the martyrs for being martyred, but we forget that the glorious moment of spectacular faith and faithfulness was back-filled with unglamorous, daily, difficult faith and faithfulness. We see the faithful tied to stakes and bearing it well, but we fail to see the long days of being faithful while being overlooked. We miss the miserable work completed without complaining. We fail to consider the broken nails, bruised arms, battered egos, bitten lips, swallowed tongues, etc... that made them the kind of person who endured such exquisite difficulty so elegantly. Behind the thrill of the trick is the thrashing of overlooked, faithful drudgery. The daily grind did not turn these martyrs into powder or ash. It sharpened them for the day their sword would be fashioned in fire. And after having been heated and beaten, battered and boiled down, they are left pure and sharp. 

But this does not just happen. Onlookers only see the completed feat before them. The martyr sees the years of practice behind them. Fear was not conquered merely at the moment of climax, but over the years bit by bit, in whatever climate it came.