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Soldier Of Lord Doing
Important Exercises Rigorously! (S.O.L.D.I.E.R)
Editors note: These are detailed
devotional times I have had with the Lord that I wanted to share with the
readers.
Today's devotional time was taken from the archives and
revised before 12:00 p.m.
Hi everyone :)
SCRIPTURE:
“Whatever you have
learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into
practice. And the God of peace be with you all.” (Philippians 4:9)
EXPOSITION:
What stuck out to me is the word ‘or’. It is
used 3 times with ‘whatever’!
- Whatever you have learned from me
- Whatever you have received from me
- Whatever you have heard from me
- Whatever you have seen in me
Put it into
practice!!!
It is as if Paul is
drawing the letter to a summation reminding them everything he wrote to
them from Philippians 1:1-4:8. Now he wants them to put everything into
practice.
I saw important
implications for my own life.
It is amazing that
what I learned in Psalm 140 supplements what I have learned in
Philippians. I did not even plan it that way. Reading 4:9 reminded me
of practice for a certain thing.
Practice is not a
one time thing but continuous. There is a saying that ‘practice makes
perfect’. It is not enough for me to just learn, receive, or hear the
Word of God. It is also not enough for me to see the Word of God being
followed in someone else’s life. Rather, I need to put the Word of God
into practice daily.
It is as if I am to
be a soldier 24-7 for the Lord. I cannot let my guard down but need the
Word of God to sustain me as I go through my daily drills. So when war
time comes and I mean spiritual warfare, I will be able to withstand the
devil’s arsenal because I have put into practice the Word of God in my
life.
I need to be a
faithful soldier for the Lord Jesus Christ. That takes effort and
sacrifice on my part. Rarely have I found any people wanting to become
soldiers who like getting up early in the morning to go through drills
and continue it through the day yet they do it. Putting God’s Word into
practice is not going to be easy for me always. There could be times I
just wish I did not have to do it that day but then I lose practice that
day.
In other areas of
life we can afford to take a day off or so but not when it comes to
God’s Word. I need to continue to put into practice the Word of God as
part of my drill to remain a faithful soldier in the Lord’s army. The
more we do that, we become veterans for the Lord as we would have fought
Satan, using the Word of God, multiple times.
When others see me I
want them to see me as a veteran for the Lord being a faithful soldier
handling war of the spiritual warfare kind as my Commander in Chief,
Jesus Christ gives me the orders.
It does not help to
be AWOL when it comes to practice. As I miss more practice times of the
Word of God, I am making myself vulnerable to the enemy and it is
possible that I can be dishonorably discharged if that continues on a
daily basis. This is because I am telling the Commander in Chief that I
do not believe what He stands for and I want to do things my own way. I
don’t want that for me and neither do I want it for you.
I ASK YOU NOW:
I ask you now dear friend what kind of
soldier will you be remembered for?
Dear friend, you have
the opportunity to be an awesome soldier for the Lord. Of course that is
not on your own strength but from the strength your Commander in Chief,
Jesus Christ wants to give you. When you have to go through the practice
drills of applying God’s Word, you won’t be alone for He will be with
you. As a faithful soldier, you can practice daily the Word of God. In
that way, you will be building yourself up with the most powerful
ammunition you can carry with you. As the enemy approaches during war,
you can fight that war with the Word of God. For the Word of God is our
best ammunition against Spiritual Warfare. The Word of God gives us the
full armor we should wear. It starts with practice my friend.
On Memorial Day we
remember all those that fought for this country as they used what they
learned in practice drills to defend this country. They did not just go
to war but had a lot of training before they could be called soldiers of
the United States. We remember those that gave their lives for their
country.
In the same way, can the Lord Jesus see us
as Veteran’s for Him?
Have we become soldiers for the Lord that He
can be proud of?
Friend, it starts
with putting into practice what we have learned, received, heard, and
seen others who follow the Word of God do. We have that opportunity
friend as we fight the Spiritual Warfare that comes our way. It is not
easy being a faithful follower of Christ and His orders but that is the
right thing to do. I like to think of myself as an Evangelical Christian
solider for the Lord.
When we die, we will
have a memorial with the Commander in Chief Jesus Christ giving us all
the medals that we have attained. Not only that but our Names would be
engraved in the Book of Life for having fought the enemy of this world,
Satan and being faithful to our country, Heaven. For remember, we are
citizens of Heaven and our allegiance is to Jesus Christ.
We have been placed
on earth as pilgrims and soldiers for such a time as this. We do not
want to betray our Commander in Chief, Jesus and go our own way. Then we
would have committed treason and would not be worthy to remain a solider
of the Lord. This especially happens in the last days when people decide
to align with the enemy Satan and take the Mark of the beast.
My prayer is that we
would be faithful as soldiers in the Lord’s Army and all believers can
celebrate this day also as a Spiritual Memorial Day of all the saints
that have gone before us as they faithfully served the Lord here on
earth and especially remembering what Jesus Christ did for us 2000 years
ago.
It is because of
Jesus Christ and many of His followers that we now have the Word of God
in print.
Dear friend, it is
not easy being a soldier for the Lord but I have found it to be worth
it. As a soldier for the Lord I know that cannot always happen but I
need to put the Word of God into practice. When that happens, I need to
stand up for what God stands up for rather than what my friends or
family members stand up for. This can cause tension but we need to have
our allegiance to the Lord.
May you know that you
can be a soldier of the Lord as you put the Word of God into practice
everyday! May you know the Lord Jesus Christ will help you!
Soldier Of Lord Doing Important Exercises
Rigorously! (S.O.L.D.I.E.R)/”What
kind of soldier will you be remembered for?”
PRAYER:
Prayer:
Dear Jesus, I love you so much. Thank you Jesus for being my Commander
in Chief and for the orders you have given for my own good. Help me
please Jesus to put into practice your Word Oh God so that I can be
faithful in all my drill training. This way Lord when the real war comes
from the enemy, I can stand up to the Spiritual Warfare for I have your
training to back me up and win the battle. Oh Lord, it is not easy going
against the enemy and many times I have taken casualties because I have
not been focused on you. I am sorry Lord. I want to be a faithful
soldier in your Army and need your help. Thank you for helping me as I
depend on you. And Lord, I thank you as I become a spiritual Veteran
through the years and die later, you will have a special memorial for me
with your medals ready. Thank you for having our names engraved in your
Book of Life for our service here on earth. We know Heaven is our home
and our citizenship but sometimes that’s easy to forget on this
battlefield called Earth. We need your help always. Thank you for your
help and your Word. I thank you for all those that have served you
through the years. Thank you for being an awesome Commander in Chief
that people d to serve you Jesus! I want to serve you too! I
thank you that your peace can be with us no matter what we face. Thank
you for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!
Love in Christ,
Ramesh Reddy
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