Soft Soldiers

Now is not the time to hold back from doing the will of God. The days are few and the time is short. Any discussions about when the Lord will return only distract us from the urgency of every moment. Why would the children be concerned about when their parents would return if all things were in order and they had been doing, all along, what they had been told to do? Why are we wanting to know the time of his return when He told us we would not know the day or the hour? “But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming’ and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers’. (Lu. 12:45-46).

It is time to wake up, stand up, shape up, and stop acting on all the excuses the Devil gives us to delay. Most of us live a lifestyle unfitting a soldier. We winne. We complain, we make it someone else’s fault, job, or mistake. We blame the preacher who is has preached a soft worldly gospel. We blame the world who beats us at every game. We blame those around us for making our lives hard when the only thing they have done is reacted to our own unChrist-like lifestyle. And we withhold that which is in our power to give because of fear and selfishness. (If this shoe is not your size, do not put it on and sulk in some other place of unprofitable posture.)

There is always room for grace and love in the Gospel of Christ, but some of us have used it as the excuse to put off true Christ-like living and waited for someone else to “do the dishes.” It is not like that in the kingdom of God. Everyone is required to carry his own load, though we are called to bear one another’s burdens. Let us not mince words or incorrectly divide the word of God to find an excuse for not doing what the Master is calling us to do.

We are like those who chose to live in the momentary comfort of the Titanic, basking in the confidence of their own predictions that she was unsinkable, who refused to admit the ship had been struck and would surely sink and there was NOTHING they could do about it!

The disaster is approaching. “Thus says the Lord God; ‘A disaster, a singular disaster; Behold, it has come! An end has come, the end has come; it has dawned for you; behold, it has come! Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land; the time has come, a day of trouble is near, and not of rejoicing in the mountains. Now upon you I will soon pour our My fury, and spend My anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations. (Eze. 7:5-8).

What part of that verse seems to be obscure??? What has obscured us from the urgency is our own soft lifestyle of promiscuous self-indulgence and denial. Do you think your denial will stop the force of God’s wrath and justice when it comes? Do you not understand that the long delay that the devil has used to sing us to sleep, was God’s longsuffering that leads men to repentance? How the devil has used it to seduce us into slumber.

The only thing that will avail us now is repentance. We need to change our mind and stop living according to the thoughts and feelings of our souls that have been our guiding light, along with endless hours of mindless television, video games and lustful indulgences that have left us fat and sick and given the devil yet another opportunity to medicate us into oblivion.

We need to grow up and redeem the time. The days are full of evil and the time is short. No more excuses. No more making someone else responsible for my spiritual warfare. Yes, some are beaten up and need to be rescued. But if you do not engage in your own spiritual battle, no amount of soliciting of aid from someone else will avail in the end. No one has been appointed to carry you to heaven. Some may have been assigned to walk with you a mile or two, or even go back for you when you were struck down, but you will have to give an account of your own life and how you used the grace of God that had been given to you.

It is time for the body of Christ to wake up, grow up, and get up. No body and nothing can separate us from the love of God and His power but believing the lie that it can. What will your excuses be in that day when we must stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well-known to God, and I trust are well-known to our consciences. His message makes the difference between life and death, not just in this world but for eternity.

Is the problem that we have believed two opposing things, that God does not care and that God is not to be feared? We do not grasp the terror of the Lord because there is no fear of God in our midst. God forgive us and restore us to the greatness You intended.

The first step is to repent. Change your mind as to Who gets to call the shots and make the decisions in your life.

Second, we must unite. Are we are the body of Christ, or some carcass left lying along side the road of life, torn apart by pride and religious self-righteous babble?

Third, we must show up. The war was is not won by sitting on your couch watching it happen on CNN or warming your church pew waiting for the dismissal benediction. The war goes on everywhere, night and day. Face into it and listen to the Holy Spirit. He is our God-General.

And finally, give. Give your time, your attention, and your resources. Let go of the almighty dollar, which is soon to be worthless, (See Eze. 7:19). Spend your money on souls, things that profit the true Kingdom of God. Give yourself to prayer and repentance, and most of all, give of yourself. Listen to what God is saying to you and be OBEDIENT.

PRAYER:
God forgive us for being outdone by the athletes and soldiers of the world who sacrifice and die for a cause so inferior to ours and do it willingly. Ignite us to prevail against our enemies with the strength of Your love and spend ourselves without reserve until Your Kingdom Comes and Your will is done. Amen!!