Soldiers

Happy Veterans Day to all our men and women who have served and are now serving our country. I am humbled with gratitude for their daily protection of our rights and freedoms. They and their families have offered sacrifices both big and small.

Leslie Wayne Williams was my boyfriend in high school. He joined the Marines and was sent to Viet Nam. He was one of our great service men who gave his life in the service of our country in 1969. His family gave their only son, and brother. They are all remembered today with a grateful and saddened heart.

Without our soldiers we would be at the mercy of evil men who would strip us of our God-given rights and freedoms. Without our soldiers we would lose more than we can possibly imagine. We need our soldiers.

In the same way we need to be soldiers against our spiritual enemy. Those who are disciples of Christ have been enlisted into an army of soldiers ready to do spiritual battle. We are commanded to take up our armor and use it wisely for our own protection and the protection of others.

*We must be honest with God,
*Apply to our lives what we know is true from Gods' word,
*Understand the Good News of the gospel,
*Hold up our faith having total trust in God; who He is and His plan for us,
*Being sure that we are freed from the bondages of sin,
*Know what is written in Gods' word.
With all of this, and in His authority we can stand firm against our enemy who is tough, but already defeated.

I give thanks for those veterans who have fought for our country. I also give thanks for those brothers and sisters in Christ who have taken up their postions beside me to help me fight the enemy through prayer. The battle rages. We need good soldiers. Chrisitans, we need you!

God the Almighty, You are Commander in Chief. Our orders have been given to put on our armor and fight the good fight. I am ashamed to say that I have not always been willing to fight. I have let down my guard at times and felt the fiery darts of the enemy. I would like to think that I do not need to fight this enemy, but I must. Thank You for giving me a vivid picture in our countrys' veterans who would prefer not to fight an enemy but obey their authority for the good of all. Thank You for supplying me with all I need, including a victory already won! Thank You for teaching me that, "We do not fight 'for' victory we fight 'from' victory"* Jesus, I give You thanks today for our many veterans of both the U.S.A. and Your spiritual army.

*This quote and much of the insight in this blog is from Chip Ingrams' study: The Invisible War. This blog shares my notes and my understanding of what Chip taught. Ephesians 6 is the basis of his study.