These are our main weapons and are to be applied consistently and in concert with each other. Other weapons include prayer, unity, boldness, wisdom, knowledge and understanding and alignment with the authority of God and His decrees. These will arm us to be effective. We also must take on agape love to be conscientious soldiers and not become mechanical or cold in our fighting, knowing even though we are fighting a spiritual war; satan has blinded many for his bidding. In the Old Testament; the battles wasn’t that different from what we face now. Many of God’s generals, such as Joshua had no choice but to kill those who were ungodly and would pose a threat to the foundations of the Faith and to Christianity today. Because of that; God’s plans and strategies have evolved to some extent into how we fight today, even though we face similar opposition as Joshua did. The weapons were no different then, to what we use today. This shows how confident God is in demonstrating no matter how much things change; He has given us an expected victory. God’s strategy is sound and has longevity.
When we stand to attention in God's army; we demonstrate our abilities of discipline, knowledge and confidence, as well as we acknowledge Him as our supreme commander. We also must know that at any time, He can inspect us to see how dedicated we are to His cause and how well trained we are with the weapons of warfare. Just like all military establishment, there are surprised drills (tests) that allow us to demonstrate our competence. This enables some to be selected for greater missions and rewards. There are no lone wolves in the army of God, but like any special ops team, only certain individuals with their team support can accomplish the task at hand. God's army is not for pretty boys, who concern themselves more with looks than substance. This approach will not only subject these individuals to satan defeating them but will also cause collateral damage to other souls. No one can be lukewarm or try and hope to win without commitment. God also will not accept this - Rev. 3:16.
Why is it necessary to achieve such a well-oiled machine for the military, where men and women without question are required to obey their commander even to the point of death. In many cases, commanders make decisions of deception so as to fool the enemy; all the while pursuing a different objective. This results in many lives being sacrificed for the greater goal. These strategies of men do not account for souls lost and is a common practise in attempting to win on the battlefield. For God, every soul matters. The reality of our spiritual warfare is physical casualties as well as spiritual ones. This is why Jesus alluded that; He came to create division among the people; knowing that two armies would develop for good and evil respectively. We all have experienced it within our families and associations.
Our battle started with the first strategy of deception by satan in the garden and the subsequent failure of Adam and Eve to fight the good fight. Even though Jesus took back the spiritual ground (authority) over our enemy, we still have challenges today. Jesus, said, "These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." - Jn. 16:33.
Jesus intent was not to sweep away the evil forces, but like every commander in an army, His goal is to equip His soldiers to fight, knowing that with discipline, conviction and effective weapons; victory will be assured. We can only win daily, not by defensive posturing, but only by a continuous offensive attack. We need to employ our own version of the “shock and awe” military strategy. The best way to defeat your enemy is to overwhelm him to the point he is always retreating and running for cover. As with all successes, only by the winning attitude of “practise makes perfect”; otherwise known as “drills”; will we see the desired results. This attitude is linked to understanding our enemy's abilities and strategies. The enemy, satan knows that once we have our “actions committed”; he must find a way to distract us from it. He, satan has not changed his strategy since the garden and knows he does not have to defeat us; but by deception and confusion; he can reduce or eliminate our efforts against him. This is why discipline is the key to winning and why we always need to be prepared for when he attacks. He, satan has no authority to take your life as is demonstrated in Job 1:10, "you have place a hedge (protection) about him." Therefore, we should have no fear of satan and seize the opportunities to put him down. All soldiers require effective training and equipment to threaten their enemy. For the army of Christ, the standard issue is as follows:
As Christian soldiers; some are ready and rearing to be deployed and some still in basic training. For God, all will be welcomed, because life was chosen over death. Some may have to give the ultimate sacrifice knowing, "whoever loses his life for my (Jesus) sake will find it" - Matt. 16:25. In God's army, soldiers are not discarded and forgotten, but having overcome; receive their just rewards; hearing the words, “good and faithful servant"; welcome and thanks for “Standing to Attention”.
Flush it Out! - God loves a good parade.
Spiritual Awakening
●The Helmet of Salvation; referring to our mind and thoughts which are the prime area of attack from the enemy. When we protect and control our thoughts, we automatically have won a battle against satan; for without our thoughts, he cannot get us to take action that is contrary to our Salvation. We must come to understand how our mind operates, which is by the interfacing of the world mainly through our eyes and ears. Matthew 6:22 states, "if our eye is clear, so is our body full of light." We must reduce our exposure to evil displays and overflow the mind with righteous thoughts and things.
●The sword of the Spirit; the Word is an essential part of our offensive weapon against satan as Jesus demonstrated when He was tempted in the wilderness - Matt. 4. Our enemy satan, cannot deny the written word as it is the oracles of God, which he has no choice but to obey them, and because Christ re-established our authority and has made us righteous in Him. The Word is not only to speak against the enemy but is vital to speak to ourselves and reinforce in our minds and spirits, who we are and the rights of being in the army of God. That's why it is acceptable to say, "I have the mind of Christ"; meaning all I do is from Christ's ways. No army speaks defeat to themselves but shouts with the conviction of victory over their enemy.
●The Breastplate of Righteousness. This is like modern body armour used to protect vital organs such as the heart. All Christians need to keep the heart protected from satan and his accusations that can lead to strife, envy and even death. By constantly keeping our Righteousness within God (being right), we are able to defend against satan, because our will is God’s and from the issues of the heart is what we truly believe in, reinforcing our words. This can be difficult as these accusations come from those we think would understand; testing our joy and patience. This is why we are commanded to love knowing perfect love casts out any form of fear, hurt and disappointments - 1 Cor. 13:4-8. Especially today, we need to guard our hearts.
●The Truth girthed around the loins. Without this we can never know right from wrong; good from evil and have the ability to discern all things. Every soldier has to be able to move on a moment notice, this only occurs when we are confident; having the Spirit of Truth abiding in us, so upon any confrontation with evil, whether by spiritual or physical manifestation, we can act accordingly and not second guess our actions. The loin is the area that gives us balance and facilitates movements and girthed is to surround ourselves as by a force field, ready for anything.
●The feet shod with the gospel of peace. There is a saying, “to know someone, is to walk in their sandals”. In other words, don’t be too quick to condemn a person without first appreciating their challenges. He, satan will try to aggravate us into doing something contrary to God’s will. Phil. 4:7 tells us "God's peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus". The enemy is the author of confusion, stress and fear. Also, when we are at peace; rolling all our cares onto God; it allows the Holy Spirit to move in us; guiding and directing us. In all dire situations, the people who are saved are usually those who heed the words, "keep calm and follow me".
●The shield of Faith cannot be left out as we battle against satan and his evil spirits, principalities and powers. This weapon is not only for defence but also for offensive actions. We do this as we live the written Word, being as our assurance and knowing God will not abandon us, but will in His love redeem us from any distresses or lack we are facing. The shield of Faith is used to badger satan; as we constantly remind him of God’s promises and His will for our lives, to the point he has no recourse but to flee because we have submitted us ourselves to God by Faith - Jm. 4:7.
March 11, 2016.
Stand to Attention!
The Empowered Christian Faith
If you ever admire the military or watch war movies, you hear the words shouted constantly; “Attention!”; usually, when there is an inspection of the troops or when an officer of rank is passing by. This is done to main a level of discipline and respect for not only the military but more so for the uniform and what it stands for and represents. Every military arm has their standards when it comes to standing to attention and what soldiers train for and are willing to die for.
In the army of God, it is no different. We may not be as rigid or mechanically oriented, but there are aspects of the physical military that are key parts of the body of Christ as the army of God.