"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."
- 2cd Timothy 2:3-4
The purpose of this blog, besides being a devotion thought and study, is to be an eye-opener and an encouraging message to any Christian who reads this. The verses I posted above, 2cd Timothy 2:2-4, is the verse the Lord gave me for the year 2013 and one of the thoughts that came to my mind during that time is "You cant always be a hero to everyone!" We are living in a day and age where we dont see the kind of people written in Hebrews Chapter 11, aka, the Heroes of Faith. Majority of the people mentioned in that chapter were faithful to God no matter what the situation was, even if they were the only ones living faithfully to God they wouldnt waver or be moved. As the end draws near (and I personally believe we are in the End Times when comparing the spiritual state of the world and the events taking place within it to the scriptures) are we going see people like days past that had taken a stand for God by faith even when no one else stands with them? Are we going to see people live a holy God-based standard that, in words similer to that of Leonard Ravenhill, our Christ-based righteousness reflect on the corruption of others. The one thing generations past had that we dont have is Heroes of Faith. The Protestant Reformation had Luther, Calvin, and many others but who do we have? Where are our Heroes of Faith? As the darkness of the enemy begins to surround and thicken will there be pillars of light shining for Him as beacons of hopes for others? I believe the calling God has today is the same calling God had during Ezekiel's generation, for men and women to fill in the gap and make up the hedge. Number 1 question here is "Where are God's heroes?"
"And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." - Ezekiel 22:30
1. The "Batman" Analogy!
If anyone knows me personally they know I am a nerd. When I think of heroes, even though I was never big into comic books, I think of the super heroes I grew up with that were on t.v and in movies and video games. One of my favorite super heroes from childhood even til now is The Dark Knight himself. Reason why he was the best is simply unlike Superman, Spider-man, Hulk, ect., he had no powers or special abilities. He was a average entrepreneur playboy billionaire who, because of a life altering event, had a burden, which lead to purpose and motivation, decided to take up the mantle of the cowl and be a symbol of hope and justice to the people. His life altering event was seeing his parents murdered and killed by gun shot right before his eyes when he was a child. His life altering event gave him a burden, a purpose, and a motivation, to prevent that from happening to anyone else, thus why he became The Batman. Well lets now compare that to the Christian. We had a life altering event to happen in our lives. When we repented and believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and called upon His name, he altered our lives, forgave us of our sins, and made us anew.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." - 2cd Corinthians 5:17
Since we have had a life altering event that had taken place in our lives it shouldve left us with a burden, which lead to a purpose, and to motivation. When we denied ourselves and had taken up the cross to follow him, when we were born again, a burden for others should have been placed into our hearts. A burden to see others experience the the same life altering event that we have experienced through Christ Jesus our Lord. A burden to see souls saved and reconciled back to God through the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. And since we have a burden, we have also been given a purpose in our walk of faith. When we were born again we were given the freedom and liberties to preach and proclaim the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that men and women may believe, call upon his name, and be saved. Since we have been given a burden, since we have been given a purpose, we have also been given motivation from God. The thought that gives us burden is the same thought that gives us motivation within our purpose which is to see souls saved. To see family, friends, enemies, WHOSOEVER, come to the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and be born again.
"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it." - Matthew 16:24-25
"And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." - Matthew 28:18-20
"How then shall they call on him in whom they have no believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom the have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." - Romans 10:14-17
2. Equipping the Hero!
One of the greatest things I was ever taught from my younger days as a Christian is that "he doesnt called the qualify, he qualifies the called!" If God has called you into a work and ministry he will equip you for it. If he has called you to be a singer he will equip you with a voice anointed of God. If he has called you to be a pastor he will equip you with the wisdom and knowledge needed to lead God's people. The key thing overall is that for us to be equiped for our calling we need to let God equip us. To many times do we hinder the work of God in our lives.We are the clay and he is the potter and too many times does the piece of clay choose to harden up over one thing or another, whether it be discouragement or pride. When we came to the Lord by faith it was "just as I am" and when it comes to being equipped for our calling it must be with a humble heart and simply "just as I am."
"Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the might hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." - 1st Peter 5:5-7
"Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it." - Jeremiah 18:3-4
3. The Anti-Hero (Cant be a hero to everybody!)
Like I said previously in this blog, when the Lord first put 2cd Timothy 2:2-4 on my heart for the new year, one of the first thoughts that came to my mind is "You cant be a hero to everybody!" We, as Christians, need to always keep in thought and remembrance that living for the Lord and being popular will most likely never go hand in hand, and sadly, thats even true among the saints. When living for Jesus Christ we need to always remember that even if we dont get the spiritual and moral support from our brothers and sisters that we STILL need to live faithfully to the high calling of God no matter who turns against us or thinks we have gone "extreme with the Jesus thing." When atempting to live God's holy standard by faith we will be looked more as a "Anti-Hero" than a Hero to some whether it be our calling, our personal walk of faith, ect. If you dont know what "Anti-Hero" means it means someone who will continue to do good even when others, even the majority, look at him or her as a "eye sore" and maybe be considered a "Villian" in a sense simply because he dont fit the mold or persona given by the majority.(Remember talking nerd lingo here.) One person from the Bible that comes to my mind that was considered an eye sore to the people was Elijah. Elijah lived during a time where idolatry ran rampant throughout all of Israel and was considered a "Anti-Hero" to a great extent by King Ahab and Queen Jezebel simply because he chose to believe, serve, and worship the one and true living God. Even at one point in his life he thought he was the last prophet of God. He was hunted by the authorities, despised by the rich and powerful, and rejected by his fellow Israelites, but he kept being faithful to God. He cared more about his personal relationship with God that popularity wasnt a concern. Like the first verse states, we are called to "endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" and that includes the hardness of being rejected by your peers, by your friends, by your family, and even your fellow church members. But the question is are you going to compromise God's standard and be accepted just to fit in or are you going to live for Christ no matter occurs. Sometimes we cant be heroes to everybody.
"And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country." - Luke 4:24
I hope and pray this blog and devotion has blessed those who read it, honestly we do live in a generation that lacks what generations had before us. Men and women of faith that had no problem risking it all simply because they loved the Lord. Also remember being called into a work or being called to living up to God's standard has nothing to do with age. You can be in your 60's and still be used of God, and likewise, you can be a teen and be used as well. An example would be of Jeremiah, who was called as a child to be a prophet of God. The question overall is, no matter what factors there are, no matter what the costs are, if and when God calls you to to fill in the gap and make up the hedge will you answer?
Bro. Michael Grant
A Cry in the Wild Ministries
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