Daily Archives: April 5, 2026

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Bold, Brave, Unstoppable: US Rescue in Iran Defines Our Spirit

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We’ve been reading and hearing a lot about the brilliant operation to bring home one of our people, an as-yet-unnamed F-15E Weapons Systems Officer (WSO). I won’t go into the details of that operation, as that’s already been revealed; suffice it to say that the War Department and our people in the air and on the ground performed brilliantly, did the seemingly impossible, even building an improvised airfield deep in Iranian territory, only a short drive from a good-sized Iranian city. The WSO followed his training, escaped and evaded, and managed to surmount a ridge from where he could be extracted while American munitions pounded the goblins who were after him.

The WSO is now on his way home. He’s safe. And that’s as it should be. We’re Americans. That’s one of the great things about being an American — knowing that your country will come for you. There have been lapses in this matter; some of us are old enough to remember when Iran held American hostages for over a year, until a president took office who even the mullahs feared: Ronald Reagan.

In some parts of the world, in some cultures, the WSO would have been abandoned. Some countries, some cultures would have decided he wasn’t worth the risk, wasn’t worth the cost. Not America. Not now. And we should note that this brilliant operation was planned and carried out, literally, in a matter of hours: Special operations people brought in, briefed and deployed, equipment staged forward, even that improvised airfield built and held for the time we needed it. Yes, we had to leave some aircraft behind, destroyed to deny the enemy any intel. So? We can build more.

This was important. There was an American out there whom we had to bring home. And we did.

We’ve done this kind of thing before; just read about the Vietnam War operation to bring in Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Iceal Hambleton, call sign Bat 21 Bravo. Read about the Balkans war rescue of Air Force aviator Scott O’Grady. Read about the 1945 raid at Cabanatuan, where we freed prisoners of a Japanese prison camp in the Philippines.

We did these things not because it was strategically or tactically important. We did these things knowing there would be costs involved, certainly of equipment, very likely of people. We did these things not because the war effort depended on it. We did these things because there were Americans in captivity, in trouble, and we had to bring them home. We did these things because being an American means your country’s men-at-arms will never, ever leave you behind.

That’s what being an American means: Every one of us is valuable. That’s why you can’t just make someone an American by having them pass a test and sign a piece of paper. Being an American means more than that. Being an American means you know that, regardless of where you came from originally, you have value to your fellow citizens, and they, to you. Being an American means that if you’re in trouble in a foreign place, America will come for you, and get you home — even if that means building an improvised airfield deep in enemy territory, even if it means the loss of some equipment.  We’ve fallen short of that standard a few times, but not today, not this time. This operation, this rescue, epitomizes what it means to be an American: A fighting spirit, a loyalty that has been unknown to most cultures throughout human history. It means knowing that if you’re in trouble, your country will come for you.

 

So we lost some equipment. So what? After all, we can build more equipment. But every one of us is worth more than an airplane or a helicopter, because we’re Americans.

 

That’s what that means.

 

 

By Ward Clark  | 11:50 AM on April 05, 2026

Ward Clark hails from Alaska’s Susitna Valley, where he maintains his rural household in one of America’s last free places.  Ward is a twelve-year veteran of the U.S. Army, including service in Operation Desert Storm and (in Germany in support of) Operation Joint Endeavor, and today is a staunch minarchist libertarian, along with being an author, novelist, self-employed small businessman, woods bum, and semi-professional bad influence. You can see some of Ward’s fiction writing here, and be sure to follow Ward on Rumble!

 

Source: Bold, Brave, Unstoppable: US Rescue in Iran Defines Our Spirit – RedState

Today in the Word

Today in the Word – Moody Bible Institute – Naomi’s Blessing

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Read Ruth 1:7–9

As an author crafts a story, deliberate choices are made. It’s almost like standing behind a video camera—deciding exactly what the audience will see in each frame. When needed, the camera pulls back for a wide, “establishing shot” to provide setting and context and summarized background. That is what we found in the opening verses of the book of Ruth.

But to help readers experience the characters and feel their emotions, the author “zooms in” for a close-up. Characters are described in more detail. We see their actions and body language and idiosyncrasies. We listen to dialogue that moves the action and exposes motivation.

Today’s passage is the first of many “close-up scenes” in the book of Ruth. Naomi and her two daughters- in-law had left Moab and began the journey back to Bethlehem. The author doesn’t reveal whether the women had discussed this arrangement prior to their departure. Suddenly Naomi stopped them in their tracks and expressed second thoughts. Perhaps the journey had given her time to see the situation from Ruth and Orpah’s perspective. The two young widows were leaving their home just as Naomi had done during the famine. She knew what struggles and loneliness they would face, and she intended to spare them additional pain. She told them to return to their “mother’s home” (v. 8). It is interesting that she used “mother’s” rather than “father’s”—since their fathers would have been their primary source of provision and protection.

Then, Naomi pronounced a blessing on the young widows (v. 9). She asked Yahweh to shower hesed on the women, just as they had already shown hesed to her and their husbands. It couldn’t have been easy for Naomi to send them home. Their departure would seal her lonesome fate. But releasing them was Naomi’s own act of hesed—even in her grief.

Go Deeper

What does this passage reveal about Naomi’s character? Have you ever had to make a similar decision?

Pray with Us

O Lord, when we face difficult circumstances, help us to extend love to others like Naomi did. We desire to put others first and trust You no matter our circumstances.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you.Numbers 6:24–25

 

 

https://www.moodybible.org/

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Resurrection Power

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You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. Mark 16:6

Today’s Scripture

Mark 16:1-8

Listen to Today’s Devotion

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Today’s Devotion

At one hundred dollars, Loretta’s utility bill was much higher than usual. “But the Lord will provide,” she told her son. That same day she received a text from her youngest brother: “Loretta, you’re always encouraging me, and I want to thank you. Look in your mail for something from me.” That afternoon in her mail, she found a gift card from her brother for one hundred dollars. A miracle? Not to some, perhaps. To Loretta, however, the “coincidence” felt miraculous. She always expects the living God to provide for her.

Her outlook highlights a lesson in the resurrection story of Jesus. After the Sabbath, three women bought spices to anoint Jesus’ body in the tomb. But walking there after sunrise, the women expected not a miracle but a problem: “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” (Mark 16:1-3).

Embedded in their question was a curious doubt, especially from these women—including Mary Magdalene—who had traveled with Jesus and witnessed His power. All of them, however, were looking that morning for a dead Jesus.

Instead, “He has risen! He is not here,” they were told (v. 6). That declaration explains what we can expect from the living Jesus: His miraculous resurrection power. He is alive. When we face “heavy stones” that need moving, He will be with us and help us. He’s not in a tomb. He is risen, indeed!

Reflect & Pray

How have you witnessed God working in an amazing way? What does it mean to you to live out Jesus’ resurrection power?

You’re alive, Jesus, and You possess the resurrection power I need!

Today’s Insights

Three key women are named in Mark’s account of the discovery of Jesus’ resurrection: “Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome” (Mark 16:1). The women enter the scene on the road to the tomb carrying spices for Christ’s body and asking a legitimate question: “Who will roll the stone away?” (v. 3). Yet their question was needless. The stone had already been rolled away. Mark concludes this vignette with the women even more bewildered than before. And now they’re frightened (v. 8). Luke adds, “Then they remembered his words” (Luke 24:8). Matthew provides more information: “The women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples” (Matthew 28:8). These three accounts have the ring of authenticity for they reveal the reactions of humans as they discover the remarkable truth that Jesus is risen. Today, the same power that rolled the stone away is available to us when we face stones that need moving.

Visit go.odb.org/040526 to learn more about Resurrection Power.

 

http://www.odb.org

Days of Praise

Days of Praise – Risen with Christ

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by John D. Morris, Ph.D.

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.” (Colossians 3:1)

The wise believer revels in the fact of Christ’s resurrection. Some things in Scripture may be easier to identify with and apply, including Christ’s substitutionary death, but it is the resurrection that gives us power to live victoriously. “Like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).

We have been “crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed” (Romans 6:6). Nevertheless, we are risen with Him, as our text and elsewhere clearly teaches (Romans 6; Ephesians 2:1–10; etc.). This resurrection is an inward one, of course, but our bodily resurrection is also guaranteed by Christ’s bodily resurrection, should we physically die. “Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:14).

Power to serve Him effectively comes through His resurrection, for we have access to the “exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead” (Ephesians 1:19–20). We have authority over all human and demonic institutions through Him who even now operates as head of the living church of His followers.

Perhaps the most precious of all benefits of the resurrection is that “we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens” who is sympathetic to “the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14–16). JDM

 

 

https://www.icr.org/articles/type/6

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Do Unto Others

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So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them….

Matthew 7:12 (AMPC)

I was awake for a couple of hours last night, and as I lay in the darkness, the words of Jesus—“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”—came to mind. I thought about them until I fell asleep, and this morning I continued to ponder them. When I opened my Bible and studied this passage along with the surrounding Scriptures, I received new insight—one that connects this teaching to answered prayer.

Prior to the statement about how we treat others, we find an invitation from our Lord Jesus to ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, and knock and keep on knocking. He also promises that we will receive favorable answers to each request. We will receive, we will find, and doors will be opened (Matthew 7:7–8). He assures us of His goodness and willingness to help us and then makes this statement: So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them (Matthew 7:12 AMPC). The phrase “so then” means there is a connection between answered prayer and how we treat other people.

I think we would be astonished at the difference in our lives in every respect if we truly did treat others the way we want to be treated. It certainly would change many things in how we respond to people and how we live our lives. Actually, it would change the world! I have decided to purposely be more focused every day on doing so, and I pray you will join me. That scripture is often called the Golden Rule, but I prefer to call it the “Golden Key” that will unlock and release God’s best in our lives.

Prayer of the Day: Lord, help me treat others as I want to be treated. Fill my heart with kindness, compassion, and love, and let my actions reflect Your goodness each day, amen.

 

http://www.joycemeyer.org