Boot Camp for God's Army, Part 3

Boot Camp for God's Army, part 3

            II Timothy 2:3-4 (AMP), Take (with me) your share of the hardships and suffering (which you are called to endure) as a good (first class) soldier of Christ Jesus.  Vs4, No soldier when in service gets entangles in the enterprises of (civilian) life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him.

            Any one who is or even has been in service knows that there are hardships and sufferings that go with enlistment.  I was sent away from my home and family, I was subjected to speed marches, tear gas, heavy packs, loneliness, homesickness, frustration – a whole lifestyle that was totally different.

            The Platoon Sergeant - that also was my drill instructor – stood before all of us and said, “This is your home, you belong to me!  I am your Mother, your Father and everything you are.  You don’t think unless I tell you.  You get up in the morning when I say, you go to bed at night when I say.  You wear what I tell you and how I tell you.  You eat what and when I say, you speak when I say, and if I don’t say, be quiet!”

            To some kid off the block, these are fighting words until you find out that what he is doing is for your own good.  When you are learning mine warfare and demolitions, you get to where you listen very closely.  When you go through the infiltration course and they tell you, “Keep your head down”.  As you watch the tracer bullets (they look like they are about 10” above your head), you see what he means when he says, “Listen”.  You come to the place “in spite of some of the things that seem unnecessary” and you learn to trust his call.  Finally, you come to the point you know he is training you for something and some one that you know nothing about.

            The rigid discipline that you learn is something that stays with you all of your life and is for your own good and protection.  You finally learn that you are not the lone ranger, but part of something much bigger than yourself.

            Learning to go on field maneuvers in the rain, snow, heat, cold, dry or otherwise is to prepare you for whatever comes (I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me).  I have learned to be abased and I have learned to abound.

            Suddenly, you learn that you are no longer “entangled in the enterprises of civilian life”, but only the one who enlists you.

            When you are dealing with an enemy that is as cunning as the one the church deals with, you find that you rely on your training to keep you (and others) safe.

            When you are called upon for night patrol, you learn to look to the training of the leadership to get you back safely.

            John 16:13 (AMP), “But when He, the Spirit of truth (the truth giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the truth (the whole, full truth), for He will not speak His own message (on His own authority), but He will give the message that has been given Him.  He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come (what will happen in the future).

            It dawns on you that the closer you listen and follow “the guide” or Sergeant or Lt., the better your chance of coming back alive will be.

            If only the church would begin to listen and the Drill Instructors teach and train the Army of God, the less chance of having all the wounded, dead and POW’s that we have lost to the enemy.  Sometimes, the civilian population doesn't understand the commitment and the oath you took, sometimes they fail to see and appreciate the hardships that you endure, but you know in your heart that you didn't do it for praise of the people, but to please Him who has enlisted you (II Tim 2:4).

            Learn to use your spiritual weaponry as you learn to use your rifle, learn to put on the Armor of God as you would put on your body armor in combat.  Learn to trust in the Word of God as you would trust in your oath of induction.  It is He who will train you in spiritual warfare, it is He who will provide you with armor (Eph 6:10), it is He who will lead you in “paths of righteousness for His namesake” (Ps 23).  Trust in the head of the church (Jesus), trust in the Holy Spirit to guide you safely back.

            Those of you, who read this and are now or have been in the military, know what I am saying and the danger and hardships that can go with it.  But you also know the feeling of what goes on in your heart at the knowledge of whom and what you are.  You don’t always need the thanks of others.  It’s the knowing that you have done that which was required of you and you have done it to the best of your ability.  (Colossians 1:8-11)  “to be worthy of the Lord and pleasing in His sight” is all the reward a “Christian Combat Soldier” needs.  There are those on the front lines and those behind the line.  There are those that hold the lines and replacements to keep the lines.  Ephesians 6:10-19 (AMP), especially vs. 14: STAND therefore (hold your ground).

            The last Medal of Honor recipient simply said, “I have only done what was required of me”.

The Awakening of America, Part 3

The Awakening of America

Romans 4:16-21  This may seem to you like a strange scripture to use in awakening a nation, but follow with me because the principle is still the same.  Many Americans have seen things wrong in our Government for a long time.  We have done as Abraham and tried to fix it ourselves.  As you recall, Abraham went to the flesh to try and bring the promise to pass, and brought forth Ishmael.  Because of this, there has been trouble ever since.

When we began to see a decline in our nation and our Government, we went to the arm of the flesh to fix it, not realizing it was God who made America great, not us.  I don’t believe that most people thought about it, then decided we don’t need God anymore.  I think we thought it was something politics could fix.  It wasn’t a deliberate decision to throw God out, but a complacent mind about the greatness of who we were.

We made a decision to throw out the Democrats and put in Republicans, or throw out Republicans and put in Democrats.  By not acknowledging God in our decision we made matters worse.

Finally, we need to come to the decision that Abraham did.  We look at the nation as it has become over the last two or three decades and see what Abraham saw when he looked at his 100 year old body and the body of his 90 year old wife.  There was no hope of the fulfillment of the promise, but he hoped in God and not himself.  Romans 4:18 (AMP) For Abraham, human reason for hope being gone,  he hoped in faith.

When we give up in total futility and want to quit, we need to realize that “with God, all things are possible”.  We have to hope in faith in Him and His promise that II Chronicles 7:14 still works, when politics and parties don’t work.  It has never been the result of politics that the nation declined, but a lack of confidence that God is still the answer.

We as Christians have had the responsibility of Godly government all along, but we went along with the world, not raising a voice when they took Him out of our language and even out of some of our churches.

I don’t believe we will ever go back to what we were, but I do believe we can make a difference in putting Him back at the center of hearts of the people.  In Hosea 4:16-17, God said “my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge, because you have rejected me as your God, I will reject you as priests”.  In other words, when you acknowledge me once again as your God, I will again acknowledge you.

Intercessors have always been what the Father used to reach His people and He is moved by intercession as His people call on His name.  You may recall the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18:23-33.  Abraham stood in the gap and interceded on behalf of the two cities until God would have spared them even for ten righteous people.  Surely you must believe that there are at least ten righteous people in America (See this also in Exodus 32:7-14 and Exodus 32:31-32). 

                                                       

You will find in the Book in Jonah that God gave him the task of preaching and interceding for Nineveh so He wouldn’t have to destroy it.  Jonah, on the other hand, was upset because God spared it.  I hear a whole lot of preaching today about the judgment of God on our nation as it seems that a lot of people are calling for judgment instead of mercy and compassion.

I believe that our Father wants us to stand in the gap as priests between Him and His people and pray, so He can do as He did in Nineveh.  We still, through God, have a chance at revival to reach a large portion of people before judgment falls on this nation of His.

Let’s quit looking for the Anti-Christ and begin once again to look toward Jesus Christ.  Judgment falls when the people stop hearing, but we are a people who hear the voice of the Shepherd and obey His voice.

Isaiah 59:16 When everything was going wrong for Israel, God said He looked and wondered why there was no man, no intercessor to stand in the gap for His people, so He, Himself became the intercessor so as not to have to destroy them.  Jesus came as an intercessor and even now as in Heb 7:25, He ever lives to make intercession.

What have we got to lose by spending time in prayer for the people to awaken and the judgment to be withheld until the awakening and the harvest has been completed?

Pray for an awakening!  Proverbs 17:10, reproof enters into the heart of a wise man, better than a hundred stripes on the back of a fool.  Hear the reproof!  Proverbs 14:34, Righteousness exalts a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. 

LET RIGHTEOUSNESS REIGN!

The Awakening of America, Part 2

The Awakening of America

          I keep hearing more and more about how bad America is and how it is doomed to be judged and destroyed.  I find that in the Book of Jonah, a city by the name of Nineveh was on God’s hit list for their wickedness.  God did not want to judge or destroy the city, but He needed someone to announce the impending judgment and to pray.  Jonah, like the church today, didn’t want to do what God wanted done.   To make a long story short, Jonah went.  The city repented and was saved (for a time).

           I don’t believe that God wants to judge America, but He needs some Jonah people to “blow the trumpet in Zion” and awaken the people.  I believe that America’s best days are still to come if we will “humble ourselves and pray”.  I don’t believe we will go on forever or return to the covenant “Constitution” that God set up for us here, but I do believe we have one more great revival left before Jesus comes back.  God has always looked for intercessors to stand in the gap and I believe that is you and me.

          James 5:16-17 (AMP)

Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored (to a spiritual tone of mind and heart).  The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available (dynamic in its working).  (Remember that you are that righteous man because of Jesus  II Cor 5:17-21)

          James 5:17-18

Elijah prayed and stopped the rain for 3½ years.  He prayed again and the rain came and the land produced crops.

          I truly believe that if we stand in the gap and pray for an awakening, that the Father will grant it.  We need an end time revival to awaken the sleeping giant which is the Body of Christ.

          The most powerful thing in this planet is the Spirit-filled church of the Living God, not bombs, military or nations, but the church with prayer in their hearts and on their lips.

          Once again, James 5:16, the prayers of a righteous man are dynamic in their workings.  Pray for an awakening and be ready to minister to the multitudes that the Father will bring into the church.

The Awakening of America Part 1

Pray for an Awakening

II Chronicles 7:14

If my people who are called by my name…

The Lord has declared if we will humble ourselves, seek His face, repent and pray, He will heal our land.

With all that is going on in America, now is the time to get about the task of responsibility of an awakening unto righteousness.

For years, the church has been taught that Christians shouldn’t be involved in politics.  No thing can be further from the truth!  The responsibility of authority was given to us when God founded this nation.

With all that is going on in politics – drought, debt, control of the people, removing God from the Nation – if ever a nation needed to turn back to God, it is NOW.

What is going on in America now is not a matter of politics.  We don’t need a jackass or an elephant in office, we need people who know Jesus.

We have allowed ourselves to be lulled to sleep by our prosperity in America and forgot that it was God and His blessing that made us great.

As we pray for an awakening of the Nation, by the Spirit of God, we need to stand in the gap for not just America, but the whole Earth.

These are the last days, and the promise of His return is at hand.  The spiritual battle that is raging now is one that only prayer can handle by the Grace of God.  The authority and power of prayer has been given to us and we need to look beyond our own needs unto the needs of the people and the plan of the Father.

Psalms, chapter 2 sets the whole stage for today.  The Heathen rage against God, and the promise of inheritance of the Nations is for OUR possession if we ask and seek HIM.

Boot Camp for God's Army, Part 2

Boot Camp for God's Army

Part II

     In the United States, we have the best body armor and the best weapons that have ever been devised, but without knowing how to use them, it would leave our military useless in the face of the enemy.

     What good would a good rifle do for a man in war that doesn't know how to load it?  What good is body armor for a man that doesn't know how to put it on?  How can you send or take soldiers into war if they don't understand warfare?  We all need training to be skilled in the use of things that are there for our benefit.  You don't just induct them, dress them, give them a weapon and send them to war.

     In the church, we have lead them into induction by confessing and receiving Jesus as Lord.  Most don't know they have joined an Army.  They don't even know there is a war.  They don't know who the enemy is and because of this, most Christians are wounded by friendly fire (we war against one another).  One of the first things you learn in the Army is, "don't shoot the guy that wears the same uniform".  We have many people of God that are still in bondage (or captivity) by the enemy because they don't know how to use the weapons of their warfare.

     We have weapons that the enemy has no defense for at all.  The name of Jesus is the greatest weapon we have.  The Blood of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, the Armor of God.  His gift of righteousness, His truth, the shield of faith, the power of prayer, the ability through Jesus to come to the Throne of Grace and receive.  The ability and the privilege of being able to come into and have fellowship at any time with the Creator of all heaven and earth and call Him Father, and the angels of the Lord that have been sent to minister to us (Heb 1:14).

     John 17:14-26  Jesus prayed to His Father (our Father), that even the glory that God gave Him, He has given to us (vs 21-22).  Luke 10:17-20  Jesus declared that we have been given power over the ability of the enemy.  Mark 16:15-20 The orders to the Army of God are summed up in these verses.  NOTICE the Lord did not confirm the men, but the words they preached by signs and wonders.

     Find a place (Boot Camp) that will familiarize you with the weapons of our warfare, work at it until you become a master of it.  Identify who your enemy is, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might!

Boot Camp for God's Army, Part 1

Boot Camp for God's Army

Part I

Isaiah 8:13-14

God is spoken of as the Lord of Hosts.  A translation of this is "the God of Armies".

     

     As Christians we have become a part of an Army that is invincible.  This is an all voluntary Army.

Romans 10:8-10

If we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth, we shall be saved.

     In the induction center in the Army, I did the same thing.  I came in with a group of men from all walks of life.  We were of different colors, backgrounds, sizes and ways of seeing things.  We had nothing in common but the Oath we had taken.

     As we left the induction center and were put into units and were all issued the same clothing (Robes of righteousness were given to all Christians as they took the oath of Salvation).  We all dressed and looks alike in the Army.  Being a small man, my Army clothes didn't fit me very well  (also like being a new Christian, my robes felt like it didn't belong to me).

     As we were placed in our Platoons, we hardly knew each other and spent a lot of time getting used to our new surroundings.

     The first thing we were taught was discipline.  Most of us had none because of the life we had lived prior to induction.  In the church, we had to let old things pass away and all things become new.

    We were separated from all of our past people to start over in our Army life.  In the church we were commanded to "come ye out from among them" and touch not the unclean things.

     As we were called out for inspection, we had so many things wrong that our Sargent was almost overwhelmed, but he knew from experience, things would change.  We spent hours and endless miles of marching and drills that would cause us to rise up - even at night - and be ready.  In the church, we are commanded to be "vigilant and sober and be aware always".

     Later, we would be separated into different jobs (but still one Army).  Some would become engineers, clerk typists, supply, cooks, motor pool, etc., but each job was of importance.  In the church, we were all given gifts accordingly as the Lord saw fit (I Cor 12, Eph 4, Rom 12) but still one body (or Army) in Christ.

     We were all schooled in warfare with rifles, bayonet, mines, digging in, 3 point 5 rocket launcher - whatever weapons a Soldier would need, we used - because above all our different job descriptions, we were still a combat soldier.  Whatever your calling in Christ may be, you are still a combat soldier...Pastor, teacher, apostle, prophet, evangelist, exhorter, giving aid to the poor, missionary, whatever it may be.  You are trained and experienced to be at any and all times, a combat soldier.

     Some were sent off into combat, some sent to different places, but we built up a brotherhood that lasts unto this day.  Some gave their lives, some were taken captive, but none were ever forgotten and returned.

     In the Army, we were all issued the same combat gear.  In the church, we were all instructed to put on the whole armor of God and to learn to use the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God and pray in all manner of prayer (Eph 6).

     Right now, the Military is involved in a war in different lands.  In the church, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places, but the war is really all the same.  Jesus said we were to occupy until He comes back.  This is also a Military term as in Korea right now is an occupied land. It means to hold at bay the enemy by your presence there.

     There is no discharge from God's Army, all His soldiers are "lifers".