God's Army

I think everyone with us today believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He was born of a virgin birth, gave His life on the cross, and rose again from the grave, and is now at the right hand of God as our High Priest.

If you don’t have, or are unsure if you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, I want you to talk to you. God loves you and has been calling your name for a long time. God made it so easy to have this relationship Him, and it is a simple confession.

[Romans 10:9-10 NLT] 9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

Once you make this confession, you are now part of God’s Army, and remember God does extraordinary things with ordinary people. God has plans for you and we need you.

There was a Pastor of a small church, and he enjoyed shaking everyone’s hands as they left from the church services. He noticed one young man leaving the church he had not seen in a while. He grabbed him, and shook his hand and brought him in for a big hug. As he was hugging him he told the man… You need to join the “Army of the Lord!” … the young man whispered back to the Pastor… “I am in the Army of the Lord!” … The Pastor then asked him then why do I only see you on occasions like Easter and Christmas? The young man said to him… “I am in the Secret Service” …

Don’t be part of the secret service…

Difference Believer / Follower

It takes Faith in a relationship with God for the Holy Spirit to use you. It is the relationship… the better we get to know God that enables the power of the Holy Spirit to work in us. Kind of like Wi-Fi… The closer you are to that router… the better the signal and the better the power you can use. As you move away from the router… just like sin takes us away from God the weaker the signal and the less you can do. You don’t have to be a Christian to believe in God.

[James 2:19 NLT] 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.

There is a difference between having faith and a relationship built on faith. There is a difference in believing and following. Would you be guilty of acting like a Christian?

You can see followers, but the workers are few.

[Luke 10:2 NLT] 2 These were his instructions to them: "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.

How many times have you come across someone that after talking for a bit you find out they claim to be a Christian, and you are like… are you sure?

It happens. James continued to write the following:

[James 2:17-18 NLT] 17 So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, "Some people have faith; others have good deeds." But I say, "How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds."

We have meaning in life, and God needs to be our direction to follow, and not only believe. Following requires you to show the Love of God to your neighbors, and as your driving, and as you interact with society. I can tell you that it is not an easy task. We tend to fall to anger, frustration, envy and many other things that push us away from God. The struggle is real!

[1Thessalonians 5:19-22 NLT] 19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at prophecies, 21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 22 Stay away from every kind of evil.

Then, in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians he goes on to say:

[1Thessalonians 5:23-24 NLT] 23 Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. 24 God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.

It is important that we show others what it means to follow Christ by showing the Love of God in everything we do. Being humble and turning the other cheek is not weak. That is what the devil wants you to think. We need to be turning to God’s Word, see that is our router of today. We feed the Holy Spirit through our prayer and being in God’s word to learn and build a relationship with Him

When you accepted Jesus Christ you filled your inner circle within your being with the Holy Spirit. It is what guides you each and every day as you walk with the Lord. But, you have to feed it.

Logo therapy / Don’t let Circumstance Define You

Many years ago, there was an Austrian psychiatrist named Victor Frankl who was in a Nazi concentration camp for approximately 7 months from Winter of 1944 to the early Spring of 1945. On average a person that was in camps like Auschwitz and Dachau survived 1 to 3 months maximum. This was due to the lack of food, and disease as well as the climate. They had nothing to keep them warm in the winter, and only the prisoner uniform which usually were rags. Or, they were carted or marched off to the ovens, or gassed in chambers which the Nazis called “Showers”.

Victor wrote a book called “Man’s Search for Meaning”. This book he developed a form of therapy on living a life of abundance with no regard to the circumstances that were around him. This is called “Logotherapy”. This therapy was based on the principle of finding the meaning for existence in all circumstances no matter how hard these circumstances were.

His mother, and father, and his pregnant wife were all killed in the concentration camps. The only survivor of his family was his sister. He did not find this out until after he was released. But, his conclusion to all this and the reason for his writing of the book was that even under the most intense of situations and circumstances, that life has potential meaning, and therefore even suffering is meaningful.

Here is an excerpt from “Man’s Search for Meaning”:

A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth – that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which Man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of Man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when Man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way – an honorable way – in such a position Man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, "The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory."*

This man even in the deepest and dire of circumstances did not let the circumstances prevail, and define who he was. In fact, it propelled him to share this with the world and his hope was to help others to realize that your life is not and does not have to feel like it is meaningless.

It seems to me that the Apostle Paul was under the same thought process many centuries before Frankl’s book.

[Philippians 1:12-14 NIV] 12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14 And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

Paul knew that no matter what his life had meaning, and even in chains he still preached the message of love to all the people outside the prison. He did as Frankl did and kept a purpose in his life, and that was Jesus Christ and the Love that Jesus showed us all.

Paul even went a little further and explained that his living was going to be in faith, was going to be in love, and he would continue to preach the word of God to anyone that had ears to hear. That nothing would destroy that faith he had in Jesus Christ. Even to the point of death.

[Philippians 1:20-30 NLT] 20 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. 21 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don't know which is better. 23 I'm torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24 But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live. 25 Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. 26 And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me. 27 Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. 28 Don't be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. 29 For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. 30 We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

Highest Goal to Mans Inspiration

Paul taught it and lived it, and Frankl got it! Take a look at the line that he states in the book excerpt from “Man’s Search for Meaning”

The truth – that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which Man can aspire.

He really did get it, and that is the message of the Gospel. We need to understand and walk and talk the love of Jesus Christ. Jesus went to the cross for each and every one of us.

[Romans 5:8 NIV] 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We are all sinners, and the good news the Gospel is that Jesus died for our sins once and for all. We are free from the shackles of the flesh. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 13 that Love is the answer. The whole chapter is about love. 1 Corinthians 13: 8 says that Love Never Fails. And we all know that God does not lie.

We need to show the world that we are followers of Jesus Christ, and not just believers, we are His Army. We need to feed the Holy Spirit being in God’s Word every day, and praying and claiming the promises of God. Then we will start to see the world in a new way. We will see through the eyes of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and we need to follow His commands and receive His abundance for us in His Kingdom.

Religious people are too far away from the router the source God’s word. These people tend to be the most critical of others and the way they live their lives. But the truth of God’s words is restoring and forgiving and full of grace and 2nd… 3rd chances and more. True followers and disciples of Christ that follow the plans and Word of God restore their brothers and sisters, and teach others without condemnation of the love of Jesus Christ!

We need more workers to build this family and bring in the harvest. As His disciples and followers, you have the ability to restore broken families, broken homes, and broken hearts. Pray for a building for our family, pray for a worship leader for our family, pray for an audio-visual helper for our family… we need to work on the harvest and showing the world the love of God… the work is great we need help to show the love of Jesus Christ!

How can you help?

Let’s pray.