Saturday, 27th May 2023
Bible Reading: Proverbs 24:10, 2 Chronicles 15:7, Isaiah 41:10
Memory Verse: You are a poor specimen if you can’t stand the pressure of adversity. Proverbs 24:10 (TB)
Credit to the works of Jonathan Curran. Roy Perez Benavidez. (August 5, 1935 – November 29, 1998) lost both of his parents by the age of seven and was raised by his aunt and uncle. At the age of 15, he dropped out of school to help support his family. He joined the Military Police (MP) training in 1959. After graduating from the MP course, Benavidez was assigned to the 82d Airborne Division and deployed to Vietnam as an advisor by 1965. On a patrol with a South Vietnamese Army Regiment, Benavidez stepped on a land mine and “woke up in the Philippine Islands, in Clark Air Force Base,” paralyzed from the waist down. When he arrived at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, doctors broke the worst of the news: the damage to his spine was too severe.
Benavidez learned that he might never walk again and would be medically discharged from the Army. Roy Benavidez had other ideas. Refusing to quit and determined to return to his comrades, he began a nightly personal training routine to return to service. Every night, against medical guidance but with the encouragement of the other Soldiers in his hospital ward (many of whom were amputees), he pulled himself out of bed, over to the wall, and slowly redeveloped his legs in a nightly routine he later admitted often left him in tears. Finally, in secret except for his ward-mates, Benavidez progressed from sitting, to standing, to shuffling along the wall.
When the doctors arrived months later with his final discharge paperwork, Benavidez stood up out of bed and walked; instead of sending him home, the Army fit 18 months of physical therapy into six and sent him to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. On his return to the 82d Airborne, Benavidez could barely walk. By the end of six months, he could run ten miles with a rucksack. After completing Special Forces selection in 1967 and training as a weapons expert, Benavidez earned an assignment to 5th Special Forces Group and returned to Vietnam.
Lesson:
1. By the spirit of God, know what you want out of life.
2. Know for sure, many times, destiny doesn’t manifest quite easily. There will be “landmines” (opposition forces) on the way.
3. What men or experts say may be important, but what is more important is what you say to yourself. What have you chosen to believe about your present condition?
4. With God, sheer courage, dedicated hardwork, determination, you can always change the narrative about your life.
5. Never ever forget the God factor. Paul could plant, Apolllos could water, but only God can bring the increase.
Quote: Don’t quit moving! Even when everything around is trying to stop you, God is with you and He is strengthening you! – LisaOsteen
Prophetic Decree: Those waiting to celebrate your defeat shall wait in vain forever, in Jesus name.
Prayer Focus
1. Thank you Father for the strength of your might.
2. I refuse to give up. I shall bounce back, in Jesus name.
3. I command a 360-degree complete revolution of my situation, in Jesus name.
4. O God of miracles, perform a miracle in my life today, in Jesus name.
5. I bind and cast out the quitter’s spirit, in Jesus name.
6. I bind and cast out, defeatist spirit, in Jesus name.BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 1 Chronicles 26-29; Psalm 127