Soldiers Part 1

Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 

No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.  2 Timothy 2:3,4

Every day is a new day of battle.  Are you ready?  Have you armed yourself?  Have you put your armour on?  Fighting the enemy requires the proper weapons and proper protection.

How do I know what I will need to fight this battle?

Ephesians 6 tells us what we need to have Victory!

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Ephesians 6:10,11

Finally-after all that has been said in the previous verses, I like to think that Paul was saving the best for last!

Strong-Having power, mentally and physically!

In-Inclusion!  (I like that!)  When I'm in the place I need to be, in the Lord, I will have the mental and physical power to fight the enemy!

Whole-entire.  If I am missing a piece of my armour, Satan will know exactly where to attack!

Stand-To maintain my position.  (I love that too!)  I will have SURE FOOTING!  For some reason I picture boxing in my mind.  When a fighter goes down, he usually stays down.  Defeat is certain.  But in Christ, we have sure footing!

Wiles-A trick or strategy intended to ensnare or deceive.  I guarantee you, my friend.  Satan knows your weakest area!

The Christian Soldier is armed for battle:  daily.  So, as we go through the pieces of our armour, make sure you are properly attired!

We are Comrades with Christ.  A comrade is an intimate friend, or fellow soldier.

We are not alone in the battle!

The Lord supplies us with everything we need to live a victorious life, but only when we follow His directions.  He has purchased and supplied every specific part of our armour to wear in battle against specific attacks the devil can throw our way.

God's Word deflects ALL arrows if we LET it.

    But that's just me!

Soldiers Again

by Dallas Holm, Tim Sheppard, Phil Johnson

1989

Backyard soldiers, little boys,

we fought the enemy with little toys,

sticks for swords, hands for guns,

every battle always won.

But as we grew and went our way,

we forgot about our soldier days,

no more swords, no more guns, 

no more battles to be won.

But we were wrong,

we did not see, we still had an enemy,

so now we stand Friend with friend,

we are soldiers once again.

We are soldiers again,

in the army of the Lord,

we are soldiers again,

and His Word is our sword,

we will not be denied with Him by our side,

we know the victory we'll win,

we will fight till the end.

Soldiers again.

And we still can't even see the one we are fighting,

but we stand with One who can, 

the Lord God Almight!

Hearers

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.  Ephesians 4:29

If you played back the words you spoke today, would they be words worth hearing?  Did they encourage someone, or discourage?  Did they build someone up or were your words used to tear down?

Did they bless others?

Did they bless you?

That's how God spoke to my heart today through this verse.  Often, we quote this verse as a reminder of how we should speak towards others, but I had to ask myself, "As a listener to my own words, did I encourage myself or discourage myself?  Did I tear myself down, or did I build myself up?

God's word tells us that we are 'fearfully and wonderfully made,' so don't let the disappointments in life make you think that you are a failure.

There is an Amish Proverb that says, 'When you speak, always remember that God is one of your listeners.'  But let me add, so are you.

So, as a Child of God, what have you been telling yourself lately?

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless."  Mother Teresa

Each word spoken, should be golden.  To those around us and to ourselves.

    But that's just me!

"The Golden Rule is a two-edged sword.  If some of us treated others as we treat ourselves, we would be jailed."  (Excerpt from The Mistletoe Promise.  Elise Dutton's Diary, by Richard Paul Evans, 2014 

Simon & Schuster)

Confusion

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.  

1 Corinthians 14:33

I've heard it before.  I've seen it happen.  A person is convicted by the Holy Spirit of God to be saved, and then after being 'dealt' with by a counselor, walks away in their unsaved condition.  It's tragic!

God made salvation easy for us, by allowing Jesus to fulfill the hard part.

So, if God is not the author of confusion, why does salvation seem so hard?

MAN.

Man will say, "You must clean up your life before you can be saved."

God says, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new Creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."  2 Corinthians 5:17

Man will say, "You must do good works for your salvation."

God says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God:

not of works, lest any man should boast."  Ephesians 2:8,9

Man says, "You need great faith to be saved."

God says, "And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you."  Luke 17:6

Man says, "You need to come forward during the Invitation at church, kneel at the Altar and let me lead you in the Sinner's Prayer."

Jesus says, "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out."  John 6:37

Jesus also says, "Verily, Verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life."

John 6:44

The Samaritan woman got saved by a well-John 4:1-30

Cornelius got saved in his own home-Acts 10:21-48

The Ethiopian Eunuch got saved while traveling by chariot-Acts 8:28-39

The Philippian Jailer got saved outside of the prison walls-Acts 16:25-31

Salvation is personal.  It is between you and God.  When the Holy Spirit of God draws you to Himself through His Word, you can be saved, no matter where you are!

    But that's just me!       

"Since no man is excluded from calling upon God, the gate of salvation is open to all.  There is nothing else to hinder us from entering, but our own unbelief."  John Calvin

"Is it not wonderful news to believe that salvation lies outside ourselves-"  Martin Luther

 

Christian Tears

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.  Romans 12:15

I took my puppy, Grace to the Vet the other day, and while we were waiting our turn a man walked in cradling his dog.  Mya, as the man called his furry companion, was spooning so close to her Master, you could barely see the material of his jacket.  She was calm, serene and didn't even twitch a whisker as I watched the man pull out his wallet and sign a consent form; dread overcame my heart and tears formed in my eyes as I realized this was not a Wellness Check, but a goodbye.

The man turned to me and saw me crying.  I said, "I'm so sorry."  He nodded and said, 'It's ok, she is old, and it's time.'  He handed his dear pet over to the Nurse, and with the palm of his hand, caressed her chin, then walked out the door.  I cried while watching him pull away.

Compassion even for a stranger.  Why?  Because I knew exactly what he was going through at this moment in time.  I've been in that very place.

The word compassion is mentioned, by name in the Bible 145 times.

Jesus showed compassion towards every person He came in contact with, so, shouldn't we?  Do we? 

Over the course of the past few days, I have asked God to comfort that man.  I'm sure he misses his Faithful Friend.

And I've asked God to allow me more opportunities to rejoice with those who rejoice and opportunities to weep with them that weep, because I want to be just like my Saviour.

    But that's just me!

"The truth is that there are such things as Christian Tears, and too few of us ever weep them."

    John Stott

The Cup

Lord, forgive us for the times we have read about Gethsemane with dry eyes-Frederick S. Leahy

Before anything existed, there was God.

-In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.  Genesis 1:1

The Godhead of the Trinity.

-For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.  1 John 5:7

God already knew that man would sin.  A plan was prepared even before Creation.  The Answer?

God in flesh.

-In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  John 1:1

-And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

References to 'the cup' in Matthew 26:39,42, Mark 14:36, and Luke 22:42, have been debated for as long as I can remember.  Can I tell you without any doubt what the 'cup' is?  No; but I can tell you what it is not:  Jesus never asked not to die.

How do I know that?  Because the Bible tells us that that is the very reason Jesus came:  He was born to die.

For my sin and for yours.

-And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:2

-Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  1 John 4:10

-Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; Romans 3:24,25

"To this end was I born."  Jesus speaking to Pilate in John 18:37

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed the most agonizing, personal prayer ever recorded in Scripture.  In the hours to come, Jesus already knew what lay ahead:  Mocking, beatings, scourging, the Cross and death.  He began to sweat drops of blood as He prayed for this cup to be removed.  Again, I do not know what that cup was, the secret things belong to God alone, (Deuteronomy 29:29) but, perhaps, it was knowing that He, the Sinless Son of Man was about to become Sin.  Not His sin, because He had no sin of His own, but my sin and your sin.  Jesus knew the Oneness with His Father would be severed. God the Father would turn His face away from Jesus as He became sin for us. 

-For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.  2 Corinthians 5:6

Jesus would pay the price for our sins alone.

When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He surrendered His will and submitted Himself to the Father's will.

And victory was won!

May I never forget the price the Lord paid to save me!

    But that's just me!

-Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:2

The Bible is the story of two gardens.  Eden and Gethsemane.  In the first, Adam took a fall.  In the second, Jesus took a stand-Max Lucado

Easter

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

1 Corinthians 15:3-4

If you were to walk into any store in America the day after Valentine's Day, you would see aisles of Easter baskets, green paper grass, plastic eggs, dye for coloring eggs, chocolate bunnies, and peeps.

Easter is just around the corner.

It's tragic how a Nation built on the Fundamentals of Faith has forgotten the Person behind that Faith.  Even the President of the United States is more focused on the Annual Easter Egg Hunt on the White House lawn, than the real reason Easter is celebrated in the first place.

Things of this world so easily remove what really matters.

Easter is about the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Easter is not about chocolate bunnies, colored-egg searches, and peeps.

    But that's just me!

"Why seek ye the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen:"  Luke 24:5b-6a

The Clay

"Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold he wrought a work on the wheels.  And the vessel was marred in the hand of the potter:  so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD.  Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.'"  Jeremiah 18:4-6

I was talking to my friend the other day, explaining (and maybe complaining) how I was getting pretty tired of dealing with my chronic illnesses.  At one point in the conversation I said, "Maybe I'm sick all the time because God knows my heart, and maybe I wouldn't depend on Him as much as I should if I didn't have health problems?"

Interesting thought.  Honest too.  I think sometimes when things are going well and we feel good, we tend to rely on the Lord less than when things are not going so well and we are ill.

I had to ask myself, "In what condition can the LORD best use me in, for His glory alone?"

According to Jeremiah, what truly mattered was not that the pot was marred, but that it remained in the hand of the Potter.  I realized that no matter what condition I am in, there is no other place I'd rather be, than in the Potter's Hand.

    But that's just me!

"God can remove our illnesses and change our circumstances in an instant-the moment they are no longer needed for His Divine purposes.  Until then, or until He calls us home, we can rest in the fact that our illnesses or circumstances are part of His good purpose for our Lives.  God truly uses all things.  There is a purpose in my pain and weaknesses, and it's not a question of my faith:  It's a matter of God's Will."

    Unknown