Read Micah 6:1-8. Many people spend a lifetime pursuing happiness and yet never seem to find it. In one small verse, God sets out the requirements for finding true happiness. We’re going to look at the three of them over the next three days. Firstly, God says you must “do what is right”. Many translations translate the Hebrew word of mišpāṭ as “act justly”, which gives it connotations of justice in a court of law. But generally, “do what is right” is a better translation. Mišpāṭ is about setting up every area of your life so that it matches God’s will and purpose for you. It means letting go of your advantages, comfort, and desires. Thinking only about yourself, your problems, your worries, and your needs will lead to unhappiness. Genuinely caring about others and their needs, focusing on who needs your help and how others are doing is the best way to be happy. As the United Kingdom and Ireland Salvation Army’s mission statement says, Love God, Love Others. That’s where you’ll find true happiness. THINK IT OVER Think about the following: •          What distractions in your own life keep you from focusing on the needs of others?

Read Micah 6:1-8. Do you ever think you need to do something in order to earn God’s love? It’s a trap many people fall into, and Salvationists - as part of an activist church - need to be especially wary of it. When God accused his people of taking him for granted and of never being satisfied, their response was to say, “what shall we do”? They came up with some pretty over-the-top ideas! The list gets weirder and weirder! Shall we make burnt offerings to God? Perhaps that will satisfy him? Maybe it shouldn’t be just any old sacrifice? Perhaps we should sacrifice yearling calves? Maybe that will make God happy? Perhaps it’s about the quantity of sacrifice, not the quality? Maybe we should offer thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Perhaps that will make God love us again? Better still, perhaps we better join the pagan religions around us and sacrifice our firstborn children? Maybe then God will stop being angry? If only the children of Israel had realised that God could not love them any more than he did, even as he charged them for their unfaithfulness. Knowing there is nothing you can do to make love God love you more is one of the most freeing lessons you can learn. Trusting in what you can do for God is called legalism. It leads to following a list of orders and regulations in order to prove yourself worthy to God. And it’s a trap. It leads to judgmentalism and being critical of others. When you realise life is about what Jesus has done for you, then you can show the grace he has shown you to others around you. You can relax and you can find happiness. THINK IT OVER Think about the following: •          When are you most tempted to rely on your performance for God, rather than on the pardon God has shown you through Jesus’ sacrifice?

Many people spend their lives seeking happiness. This week in Battle Drill Devotionals, we discover God’s surprisingly simple requirement for happiness. Read Micah 6:1-8. Are you grateful for the people around you, or are you guilty of taking them for granted? It takes effort to show gratitude to those around you. The people of God were guilty of taking God for granted. They had forgotten all he had done for them over the years and yet they had grown tired of him and his will and purpose for their lives. If only they had remained grateful that God had freed them from slavery and helped them escape Egypt. If only they would recall that God had raised up godly leaders for them, starting with Moses, Aaron and Miriam. How could they forget that God had saved them from the curse of Balak. How could they take for granted the Promised Land that God had given them and led them towards. When we, like the children of Israel, refuse to see how fortunate we are as God’s children and begin to take all God gives us for granted, we become self-absorbed, just like they did. Everything centres around us, our lives, and our priorities. The antidote to this is to regularly remember God’s goodness to us and to thank him for it. Remembering what God has done for us in the past will help us see what he is doing for us in the present. THINK IT OVER Think about the following: What are you grateful to God for today?

Read Matthew 14:22-36. Where is Jesus in all this? He seems to have abandoned me when I needed him the most. Have you ever thought that? The account of the disciples caught in a storm on the Sea of Galilee promises that’s not the case. There must have been moments when the disciples were battling the wind and the waves, far from the shores of Lake Galilee when they thought, Why isn’t Jesus here? Why did he insist we get in the boat and make our way to the other side? Didn’t he know there was going to be a storm? Why has he abandoned us when we need him the most? But Matthew tells us Jesus hadn’t abandoned them at all. Jesus knew there would be a storm and he was praying for his disciples. Jesus is God in human form, and so he knows the past, the present and the future. He was praying about the storm even before the winds started picking up. Jesus had prayed for us and all that we’ve faced in the past. He’s praying through this cost of living crisis and anything else you’re facing right now. He’s prayed for what we’ll go through this year too. He’s praying we’ll make it through whatever storms we face. The Bible says that no matter what life storms you are going through at the moment, Jesus is praying for you. He loves you. He is for you. If you trust him as your Saviour, he is interceding for you right now. THINK IT OVER Think about the following: What would you ask Jesus to pray for you today?   You can listen to an audio of these devotionals every week. Head to https://battledrilldevotional.podbean.com for more details and to subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts or you can catch up with us on the Battlefield Resources Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/battlefieldresources. Like the page and get a notification when a new episode drops or sign up to be sent an email - http://eepurl.com/h2FPND. You can also watch a video version of each devotional at www.youtube.com/@RobWestwoodPayne. Unless otherwise shown, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Read Matthew 14:22-36. When you look around you, what do you see? A creaking health service? Workers striking? A cost of living crisis? War in Ukraine? Failing health? A difficult economic outlook? A shrinking job market? A generation falling behind in education? Jesus says, look at me instead. Only Peter had the faith the step out of the boat. Physics tells us that a grown man could not walk on water. But Peter did. Often, we move so quickly to focusing on his sinking that we forget to pause and note: PETER WALKED ON WATER! So, what went wrong? Peter took his eyes off Jesus. The moment he looked away from Jesus and looked at the circumstances around him – the wind and the waves – he began sinking: When we focus on our circumstances – whatever they are – we start to sink. If you want to walk about the storms of life, you have to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus: If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed; if you look within, you’ll be depressed; if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest. Pastor Rick Warren THINK IT OVER Think about the following: •          What helps you focus on Jesus in the storms of life?

Read Matthew 14:22-36. Have you ever been water skiing? Or surfing? Or ice skating? It takes courage to step on the water, or to catch a wave and let it take you, or to step onto the ice rink. I’ve only ever attempted the latter and fallen flat on my face! But if you’re going to achieve any of those things, you have to take the step of faith at some point. There’s no point in standing on the shore with water skis on. You have to get out on the water. A surfboard might make a fashion statement, but it’s of little use unless you’re going to plunge into the ocean and surf the waves. Ice skates make terrible shoes! You have to get out on the ice. Sometimes, God uses the storms of life to encourage us to take a step of faith. If my line of legal work hadn’t changed beyond all recognition, I might still not be a Salvation Army officer. And being made redundant probably pushed me to make the right decision to obey God’s calling rather than prevaricating over whether I should or not. Peter would never have attempted to walk on water had it not been for the storm. The storm caused him to react in faith and to experience a special outpouring of God’s power. If you feel you’re in a storm at the moment, pause and ask God what he wants you to do. And be willing to do it. It’s time to get out of the boat! THINK IT OVER Think about the following: •          Where is Jesus inviting you to step out of your comfort zone and “walk on water?”

Read Matthew 14:22-36. Have you ever thought you’d seen a ghost? I’m not sure I have, although I do remember when we were teenagers at Norwich Citadel Salvation Army frightening ourselves silly with stories of the “ghosts” that wandered around that old building! Only peer pressure kept us standing firm and not running out of the door! At the moment, there’s probably enough going on in your life that you don’t need to be frightened by ghosts! But what stops us from running away from the storms of life we find ourselves in? Only Jesus. The disciples were fighting exhaustion. They’re trying to keep a low profile following Herod’s murder of John the Baptist. They’re recovering from the responsibility of trying to feed five thousand men and their women and children in the remote area on the shore of Galilee to where Jesus had led them. And they’d been fighting the wind and waves for several hours. Jesus comes to them. But he comes walking on the water. It is unexpected. Impossible. No wonder they thought they’d seen a ghost! They were terrified. But Jesus says, Don’t be afraid. I am here. Do you need to hear those words today? Don’t be afraid. Jesus is here. He brings unexpected help and encouragement just at the time you are most desperate. In his presence, fear is gone. Take courage in him today. THINK IT OVER Think about the following: •          How would you have reacted to seeing someone walk on water in the middle of a storm?

This week in Battle Drill devotionals, we are focusing on encountering Jesus in the storms of life. Read Matthew 14:22-36. Some of us have been blown off course over recent years, particularly by the Coronavirus storm of 2020-2021 and its aftermath. We feel out of control. Our health, our finances, our jobs, even our spiritual lives are nowhere near where we intended. We just want to feel safe again! That’s why so many of us were so keen for things to “go back to normal.” Where is Jesus in all of this? He shows up! He doesn’t ask us to come to him. In fact, John records the boat had gone three or four miles from the shore. So, Jesus walks a long way on the water to come to us in our storms. He doesn’t stand on the side lines shouting instructions at us. What we need most in the storms of life is his presence. So that’s what Jesus does. He shows up. You may feel abandoned and lonely just now. As if no one cares what you’re really going through. All is well, despite your storms. Jesus comes to you with his peace-making presence. You can trust the one who controls the storms of life and ensure they do not overwhelm you. THINK IT OVER Think about the following: •          How does Jesus try to calm your fears?

Read John 10:1-10. “If one door closes, another will open”. Have you ever heard or used that phrase? It suggests that with every end, there’s a new beginning. Sometimes that is true. Sometimes it isn’t. People have been made redundant or voluntarily chosen to leave a job and struggled to open the door on a new job. Some people have closed the door on a relationship and opened the door of a new one, only for that door to close soon after. But God does want you to be free and he is ready to open doors for you. In fact, he is willing to be the door for you. Jesus said, “I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:9 MSG). In Jesus, you can move about with freedom. When his door opens, it is always to something good. The same power that rolled away the stone and opened up Jesus’ tomb, the same power that sprung Paul and Silas from prison, is the same power that will open the door of freedom for you. Choose Jesus and he will help you break free! THINK IT OVER Think about the following: What door do you wish you could close? Do you believe God wants you to be free from it? You can listen to an audio of these devotionals every week. Head to https://battledrilldevotional.podbean.com for more details and to subscribe to the podcast wherever you get your podcasts or you can catch up with us on the Battlefield Resources Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/battlefieldresources. Like the page and get a notification when a new episode drops or sign up to be sent an email - http://eepurl.com/h2FPND. You can also watch a video version of each devotional at www.youtube.com/@RobWestwoodPayne. Unless otherwise shown, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Read John 10:1-10. Many people mistakenly believe that being a Christian is full of restrictions. That it’s all about following the rules and a long list of “don’ts”. But that cannot be further from the truth. Jesus said, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (John 10:10 MSG). God wants us to live in freedom. He wants you to be free from your past. Many of us are locked down by regret about something we did or didn’t do in the past. We are wracked by guilt. Others resent something that was done to them. They allow bitterness to continue to eat away at them. It keeps us from the freedom God longs for us. God wants us to be free from the stress and exhaustion we face from trying to control our every day lives. If only we hand over the complexities of modern life over to God and allow him to take control, we would find the freedom we crave. And God wants us to be free of the worries we have for tomorrow. The best thing we can do is to let go of all of those and grab hold of God instead, the One who offers us true freedom and a more and better life than we’ve ever dreamed of. THINK IT OVER Think about the following: How can you plug into the freedom God longs for you to experience?