“Thou therefore, my son, be
strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 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. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ. 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.” 2 Timothy 2:1 – 4
We who are True Christians will never enjoy living on
this world, it is not our home. We are awaiting our flight to God’s glorious Kingdom;
we are waiting to appear in the place Jesus has prepared for us with Him. “And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto
myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:3 Here on this
earth we are hated just as He was and for His sake. Oh, we can enjoy a few
things in this life, but life on this earth is not ours to enjoy. As Christians
the Lord tells us not to love this world, which I believe is the system of it
not the world itself. God created this world, and He created it for Himself and
for us who trust Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Always remember when Jesus said
He created a place for us it must be close to Him because as Christians we are
His, a gift from His Father and His love for us will never cease, NEVER! The
churches are His Bride, not all churches but His churches, not all members but
those who have been good solders for Jesus Christ. See, not all church members
are good church members are worthy of the title Bride. Churches are like her
members, none are infallible, and we do not always know what our membership are
doing in secret, but God does. "Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and
not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see
him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD."
Jeremiah 23:23 - 24 Only church members that are faithful to God, their
family, and their churches can enjoy being part of the bride. Being a good soldier
in Jesus Christ requires being a good soldier in church and being a good
Christian in this life. We must understand that God sees everything and no sin
hides from His eyes. Paul wrote “be strong in the grace that is in Christ
Jesus.” We are not on our own, we do not have to travel this life by our
own power. It is Gods grace not only that brings salvation, but it is the same
grace that sustains us in our everyday life. It is that grace that we must
stand strong in, we have no power to sustain ourselves no more than we could
save ourselves. “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the
measure of the gift of Christ.” Ephesians 4:7 We must recognize those
graces given to us and be strong in then, striving to serve and worship the
Lord, being good church members, and recognizing what God wants and expects of
us as His elect soldiers. Listen closely to Albert Barnes “Grace is bestowed
upon all true Christians, and all have enough to enable them to live a life of
holiness. Yet we are taught here: (1) That it is a “gift.” It is “bestowed” on
us. It is not what is originated by ourselves. (2) It is by a certain
“measure.” It is not unlimited, and without rule. There is a wise adaptation;
an imparting it by a certain rule. The same grace is not given to all, but to
all is given enough to enable them to live as they ought to live. (3) That
measure is the gift of Christ, or what is given in Christ. It comes through
him. It is what he has purchased; what he has obtained by his merits. All have
enough for the purposes for which God has called them into his kingdom, but
there are not the same endowments conferred on all. Some have grace given them
to qualify them for the ministry; some to be apostles; some to be martyrs; some
to make them eminent as public benefactors. All this has been obtained by
Christ; and one Should not complain that another has more distinguished
endowments than he has." Well Said Brother!!! We must recognize that life
is our battlefield and fight life everyday to win the battle of life with the
tools God has given to us, remembering always while God’s grace will bring us
to victory, we must run the race. God has chosen your life, it is a gift and
the race is yours, the battle is yours no matter what God has chosen for you
i.e. Job, it is your to run. While we do not understand why that God elected
for us a life on poverty, a life of illness, a life of misery, or a live of
wealth and joy, it is God that chose it for us and that life is our battlefield.
Just make sure the life you are living is God’s will for you and fight for that
life even if it leads to being a martyr for Christ. The harder the battle in
this life the greater the rewards in heaven. “…be content with such things
as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews
13:5 Beloved, our old nature is to sin and our new nature is to be holy,
it is a battle within to fight the good fight always remembering we are not
fighting the fight of life alone, we live, move, and have our being by God’s
grace. Therefore, let us pray for much grace to be strengthened because we
will not always be perfect, but when we fall God will pick us up and tell us to
keep fighting. We ought to pick each other and help our Brothers and Sisters
edifying them without damnation or criticizing them. “Let him know, that he
which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from
death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.” James 5:20 It is our work
in life to serve the Lord our God in this life and if we fail, we not only fail
ourselves, but we fail the church and God. Your life is not yours, it is Gods on
loan to you, therefore it is to be used for the purpose that God has chosen for
you, no matter how ugly the battlefield gets, FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF LIFE FOR God
and Jesus Christ, and in the end God will reward you with eternal rewards. “Labour
not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto
everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God
the Father sealed.” John 6:27
