OPEN HEAVENS Devotional – Wednesday
September 21st 2016
TOPIC: SOLDIERS OF THE CROSS
Memorize: Thou therefore
endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 2nd Timothy
2:3
Read: 2nd Timothy
2:1-4,
1 Thou
therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the
things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to
faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 Thou
therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 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.
Bible in one year: Ezekiel
1-3, Psalms 65
MESSAGE
The word ‘soldier’ appears in
the Bible quite frequently, along with a number of synonymous terms. A soldier
is a person involved in military activity, one who is specially trained for
war. In Bible days, the phrase ‘men who drew the sword,’ was commonly used to
identify a soldier’s primary function as a combatant and to symbolise warfare
in general. Ephesians 6:11-17, is a Bible reference comparing the weapons
of a fully armed Roman soldier to that of a Christian’s spiritual armour. In
recruiting earthly soldiers, some are chosen while others who are unfit are
dropped. The fact that you are born again shows that you have scaled through
the first selection hurdle. The next thing is to prove that you are a good
solider of Jesus Christ. Why? There are bad soldiers of the Cross. There are
many supposed soldiers in God’s army who are no better than earthly civilians.
In 1st Timothy 6:12, Paul enjoins fellow Heavenly soldiers
to fight the good fight of faith. We have been called into a fight. It is a
fight that is based on your faith in Christ. 2nd Timothy 2:4 says:
“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.”
The chosen is also expected to
be a soldier. Therefore, if you cannot fight to resist and terminate Satan’s
operation in your life, family or church, you are a civilian not a soldier. If
you cannot fight for God’s promise to be fulfilled in your life and
circumstances, you are a civilian, not a soldier. Can you imagine a soldier who
is armed and at the battle front drops his weapons, only to plead with fellow
soldiers to assist him in shooting at his enemies? That is a civilian solider!
In the Christian faith, there are many civilian soldiers. If you keep relying
on others to pray for you, you are a civilian solider. If you pay prayer
contractors to go to Prayer Mountains on your behalf while you are asleep at
home, you are a civilian soldier.
Civilian soldier make God
nauseous. If you are a soldier of the Cross, you must endure hardness. If
because of little trials- delayed conception, no money, or some persecution,
you decide to call it quits with your faith in Christ, you become a deserter,
not a soldier. Soldiers are tough and able to go through tough and difficult
terrains. What would stop civilians cannot stop soldiers. They are armed,
disciplined and operate according to the orders of their superiors. They are
faithful to their oath to defend and kill identified enemies of the kingdom.
They fight, putting their lives on the line. The big question that every
Christian must answer with all sincerity is, are you a soldier of the cross, a
deserter, or a civilian?
Prayer Point
Father, I am determined to be
a soldier of the cross, please help my resolve to stand for you and the Gospel
in Jesus’ name.
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