Let me take a moment and set up the stage for you. You’re in the military, special ops; you’re
just about to make a raid on a building against an unknown amount of
enemies. You believe with all your heart
in what you are doing and you have a mission to enter, and recover an
item. You stand at the edge of the door
and wait, you wait for the call of your commanding officer and not until he
says the word GO do you make a move. You
have been training, preparing, pushing yourself to get to this point where
before you is an unknown ending, but you’re ready – because you are prepared
for battle.
A little side note here, I work with a lot of military men
and women – and am friends with many as well.
The men I work closest too just happen to be Marines. I keep seeing a recurring theme with these
men, and it intrigues me enough to liken their behavior to that of a warrior in
the army of Christ. When there is an
obstacle, it seems that they instinctively find a way around it with whatever
means necessary. They take orders from
their leader and they follow it, an obstacle is just a wall to climb. I’m sure in the darkness of war, these brave
men and women didn’t sit behind the warfront reading a book on the ins and outs
of battle, they trained, and trained, and when the day arrived – they waited
for the call to GO – and they did.
What are you choosing to listen to as your commanding
officer? The world, your job, the bible?
Here’s something that might wreck your theology… The world
is not the commanding officer you should be following, and certainly your job
is not a God you should be serving, not even the bible should be the ultimate
authority in your life – if you are living out your faith by chasing after
every word you read in the bible – you’re chasing death. God is life – and God is the ULTIMATE
authority. A spirit filled believer is
alive because of the spirit – not because of a book. Raised by humans, and becoming products of
our environments, we get so used to – and tied up in rules. If you don’t do X the way the rule book says
C is the result. I’m not saying rules
aren’t good to have, but what I am saying is that the more I learn about God
and who he is, the more I’m learning that listening to him and his direction is
proving to be way more powerful and rewarding than trying to find him in some
random written texts.
Being a warrior for Christ is a lot like that. We can read the rulebook and never get out of
our comfy church pew, or we can be true warriors and go out into the world and
do.
What holds many Christians back from doing what God is
calling us to is the fear of what other people might think. But if you are really ready and willing to
follow after God with all of your heart there is one thing that you’re going to
have to be ready for – opposition. Our
military doesn’t go into war without facing opposition – and neither do
we. Facing opposition is as necessary to
battle as the training that leads up to it.
But why the battle – aren’t Christians supposed to be peace loving, kind
and gentle pushovers? Nooo – I think we
established that in the first few blogs in this series. If you didn’t read those yet, click on the
links at the bottom of this page to catch up.
Let me challenge your thinking here for a minute – if you really feel
Christianity is all about peace, and not about being tough, trained warriors,
then you must also believe that the world is a safe place? There are no predators that rape and molest,
no murderers who kill just because you don’t have the right hair color? No babies in war torn countries that are
being sold into slavery and starving to death? If none of that existed, we could provide
earth with the “heaven on earth” as the bible declares it will be one day. But for now, we are called to be warriors, we
are called to face opposition, we are called to train so that when he says “GO”
we will be ready.
I can only imagine what Jesus must have gone through when
God said GO. Leaving his heavenly throne
to join us here on earth as a mere baby.
His first days were filled with being hidden from the horrible ruler
Herod who wanted him murdered for fear of his great power. Then throughout his thirty something years
here on earth he was hated and mocked, and ultimately set up for crucifixion –
all because he was following after God’s GO.
But he had a plan; he knew the end of the story. Don’t you – when you know what an end result
is going to be, find that you have the drive and willpower to get that job
accomplished? That’s what Jesus
did. Jesus endured all of that – just
for you.
So what “GO” do you think God is calling you to today? Have you ever taken the time to get quiet
with him and see where he wants to lead your life? Do you really think that your life here is
about being a “good person”? Is that
what you’re going to church for? Don’t
feel condemned by that – I’ve been there – I thought church was to make life
perfect – if I did all the right things – I’d be blessed. But I was missing the point. This life is not about you – you were put on
this planet to fulfill a purpose, a destiny, a calling. Don’t say no to God because the people in
your circle aren’t going to like your decision – be strong and courageous – do
not be terrified – for the Lord your God will be with you WHEREVER you go! There is no place on earth that God will send
you to that he will leave you abandoned.
He is ALWAYS with you.
When God says Go – you might find that you’re breaking the
natural rules that you have been holding on to – breaking off the legalism and
freeing you to be who he is calling you to be
Maybe part of the problem is that you don’t know what the
end result is like Jesus did. The Go
choice in front of you is a huge risk – it usually is. But if it’s truly God calling you to it, the
end result is definitely going to be worth it – and in your obedience He will
bless you along the way. God’s plan for
your life is to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a
future.
I have a challenge
for you… knowing where I was as a baby Christian, the thought of hearing God’s
voice was a bit foreign to me. I thought
God speaking was only something special that he did in the bible, to very special
people. I want you to know that YOU are
hearing from God – and you are capable of having dialogue with him on an
ongoing basis. He is your best friend
and your most amazing resource living right within you. If you are not currently in a bible teaching,
spirit filled church, I challenge you to search one out. Start your journey of knowing who God is and
honing in his voice within you. Through
the pages of the bible, you can start learning about who God is. God is love, God is justice, God is peace.
God is also the ultimate master of war and victory. War games are not only physical, but mental. It’s
time to change your mindset – change your perception and become empowered. Fill your mind with the goodness of who God
is and be blessed by the eternal sacrifice that he has laid out for you in
Jesus Christ. If you are weak minded and
wishy washy, God has no use for you at this point of the battle front. It’s time to get strong, its time to start
training. Do yourself and your destiny a
favor and mark this day as a new starting point – set your focus on the victory
marker on the mountaintop and start climbing.
Never lose your focus on what God has called you to – he didn’t give up
when he marched himself to the cross to be slain to save you from a life in
hell. Your strength and your victory
will give onlookers the power to start their own journeys and be set free from
the bonds of hell that this world puts us in.
No more wimpy Christianity – you are called to be a warrior – you are
called to fight!
Jesus! YOU are the
ultimate warrior – the ultimate example of victory – you trained – you fought –
and you won! And as a result we earn the
benefits of your struggle – your holy spirit who resides within us. Lord I pray that I can mark this day as a
turning point in my life; that I can have you Jesus living within me –
empowering me to become the mighty warrior that you have called me to be. Open my spiritual ears to hear your voice and
to have dialogue with you. Help me to
see the rewards that you have waiting for me – give me a focal point that grabs
my attention so strongly that I will never want again what I may leave
behind. In the name of Jesus I have
power and strength to push through the obstacles that lay ahead of me – and a
strength and determination to get up if I get knocked down. Surround me Lord with people who will support
me when I am weak and cheer with me when I am strong. Help me to realize that no matter what battle
you are calling me to – that I am NEVER alone I my calling – that you Lord have
a support unit for me. You loved me
enough God to send Jesus to rescue me – I ask for the fire of the holy spirit
to ignite itself within me and give me the drive and the passion I need to
accomplish your will. In the powerful
and victorious name of Jesus I pray – AMEN!
2. http://laughingatyourreligion.blogspot.com/2014/01/wimp-or-warrior-part-ii-slave-mentality_2.html
