Forgotten Promises Resurrected, Philippians 4:13

Philippians 4:13

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” 

How do you prepare

I generally don’t mention that I was in the military for 21 years. At this point of my life that seems like that time was a whole different life so I just don’t reminisce about that life very often.  However, one thing I constantly remember about the military life is it’s a life of constant training, constant preparation and a constant state of posture to be ready for anything, anywhere.   We were prepared to attack or defend against an attack at a moments notice.  As I’m sure you can imagine the preparation covered a slew of activities on top of our individual physical training.  It’s easy to understand why we constantly prepared, the threats were real and we could physically see the enemy.  With that in mind, how do you prepare for war? As you may have guessed I’m not referring to war as the world defines it but rather spiritual war.  This war is way more intense than physical war and the bounty of the victor has eternal consequences and embraces every soul past, present and future.

The Consequences are Real

The battle is real and the outcome is either eternal damnation or eternal salvation for absolutely everybody.  It’s a battle for souls, and whether you realize it or not, that is the only thing that truly matters in this world. 

We are warned in our war manual, also known as God’s Word and the Holy Bible, not to be deceived, to stand firm, to have unwavering faith, to know and execute promises, to love rather than to hate, and the list goes on.  The fact of the matter is thy most of the “Christians” today don’t have the training, the mentality, or motivation of a Warrior.  We as a community have lost the warrior spirit over the last 200+ years.  We don’t prepare in a way that makes us impervious to attack, and we aren’t prepared to go the offensive.  We have let fear and the illusion of security to take the place of a Warrior Spirit.  Here is an example of what a Satan Worshiper thought about the Christian Community as a whole.  John Ramirez in his book “Fire Prayers” explains when he was a Satanist, before he accepted Jesus, how he worshipped and learned about Satan 24-7-365.  He went on to explain how he reveled in the fact that most Christians are ill prepared for spiritual warfare and how apathetic they were about preparation.  So, even though the Christians have more power and authority available to them they couldn’t access it because they never really leaned or put forth the effort to become a proficient or lethal warrior.  Hence, they were easy targets and couldn’t understand why their lives were always in turmoil.  

What is your strength and authority?

My question for you is, how prepared are you for spiritual battle?  Do you know your strength, authority and power comeso straight from Jesus.  Do you know what God has promised us?  Because if you don’t know what’s in your quiver, how are you going to use it?  Just as Jesus was tempted by the Devil, He was strong and He knew the Word and he defeated the temptation just by stating the phrase, “It is written…”.  Jesus is a strong warrior and as Christian men and women we need to emulate Him in all ways if we are also going to be strong warriors.  If we continue not to prepare for war and take everything for granted or that someone else will take care of the problem, we are missing the boat.  The responsibility falls squarely on our shoulders and it’s time, past time, that we take up our cross and realize who we are in Christ, stand firm in the truth and move courageously forward to glorify God.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

In today’s world there is every excuse under the sun not to prepare for this war that we were born into.  But those excuses don’t make the war go away, ignoring the war does not make it go away.  The war is here to stay until Jesus comes back and in the meantime, we must firmly, courageously and lovingly stand in gap to glorify our Heavenly Father and expand the kingdom of Heaven. 

Full Circle

This brings me full circle to the beginning of this article, Philippians 4:13, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” 

I know this is a very popular  verse and that there probably many people that have it pasted on a wall in their homes.  It’s a verse we as Christians like to quote to our brothers and sisters when they are going through tough times almost as of it were a “fix all” bandage.  The fact of the matter is, we, as a culture, are very good at memorizing verses and repeating those verses but we are also extremely bad at making those verses part of who we are and actually live by them by every action everyday of or lives.  Think about it fr a moment.  Because if you learn any verse in the Bible,  commit it to memory, so you also walk it out in you life?  This is a big and instrumental step from learning to action in becoming a strong spiritual warrior. 

I’m going to close with Romans 10:13, 

 “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”  

What do people see when they look at you?

Many people don’t know Jesus, don’t know the Bible and don’t know this simple verse.  It’s quite possible that “YOU” are the only window to Jesus they will ever have.  Salvation is a gift from God and to be chosen by Him to be His ambassador should make you stand in awe.  Even though salvation is the beginning of a new life and ever lasting life in Heaven with our creator, it’s just the beginning of or path to glorify God.  Are you prepared to be victorious in this war?

May You Always Walk in the TRUTH!