A version of the story goes…Robert the 17th Earl of Bruce (the very one that betrayed William Wallace on the field of battle), as you know picked up where William left off after Wallace’s life was dispatched. When Robert was close to death he made one of his trusted men cut out his heart to carry it with his army when they were engaged on the field of battle!

During a battle while nearly being over taken; in the face of the enemy, the keeper of Roberts (Sir James Douglas, later connected to clan “Lockheart”) heart opened the box, grabbed the heart and threw it into the ensuing enemy army. As he did this, he yelled at the top of his lungs "fight for the heart of your King.......!"

Douglas charged the onslaught in the direction of the heart he had just thrown at the enemy. Instantly (as you can imagine) the ferocity of the battle tempo was elevated; and after all of the dust had cleared the body of Douglas was found...dead, lying upon the heart of his King!
When facing the enemy, how do you fight for the heart of your King? Are you Elisha’s servant whose focus becomes your circumstances and not the heart of your King? Are you taken off course of the mission because the ice is too thick?

When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
(2 Kings 6:15-17 ESV)

How do your eyes see the battle field? Do you see from your perspective or from God’s? You have been chosen as a child of the God of the universe and you have been given a mission.
What I have heard of and been convicted by is that our closeness with Jesus directly correlates how we stand for Him. Peter when focused on and in close proximity to Jesus…walked on water, pulled a sword in the garden ready to take on the entire Empire of Rome! When he was not focused on Jesus, when he was farther away from Him…he denied Him.

The challenge for us all is not to blame, question, critique, or criticize America or the American church – but rather change the perspective of this thought and ask…”In God’s sovereignty, He breathed a 66 book love letter for the world, and how do we as His followers live that out every day, in all we do?” Does the non-believing world see Jesus through the eyes of His church? Do we see through our eyes or His eyes…are we near to Him or are we far from Him? Only each of us can answer that for ourselves but we all know His scared hands are stretched out for us to get back to where He wants us and to “not be afraid” but be “strong and courageous” (Joshua 1)

King of Kings, I pray that we would not loose missional focus for your heart, I pray that we would be close to even the hem of your garment to feel your power as we engage the battlefield that you have soveriegnly placed on. In your precious graceful name, ignite our hearts for your heart my King.
Amen

Adrian "AG" Green