arming for battle

So are you ready to follow Jesus? Are you finally convinced that being more than you can be is truly possible? Are you ready for a life that won’t only take you down the twists and turns and hills and drops of a roller coaster, but throttle you from your seat? Are you ready to face peril and dangers, ready to experience the thrill of following Jesus into the unknown, ready to break the rules and send the world into utter chaos? If your decision is ‘yes’, be prepared for a lot of feedback from others—feedback that, most likely, won’t be too good! We will be called ‘idiots’ by Christians and non-Christians alike; they will say we are stupid, immature, irresponsible and too idealistic. Well, guess what! Rejoice, because in the name of Jesus you are being stupid, immature, irresponsible and idealistic—at least in the world's eyes. In Jesus’ eyes, you’re a patriarch of the truth! The world jerks us back, scolding us; Jesus gently prods us forward, whispering encouragement into our ears as we teeter on the edge of normality, and plunge into nonconformity. The war will be grand and costly; you will be barraged at all sides with temptation; but your resolve must remain strong! Use the Armor of God (Ephesians 6:1-18), but here are seven more ‘weapons’ to help you in your race through life with God:

Prayer: Be sure to pray honestly, with truthfulness. God resents using ‘standardized prayers’ unless they hold significant meaning to you personally. I personally suggest talking to God not as a Spirit, but as a ‘Daddy’. He is our true Daddy, and he longs to hear our thoughts, our problems, our anger and our sorrows. Pray earnestly and honestly, and be prepared to wait on his timeline, always with the security of knowing he will answer.

Emotions: Do not be afraid of your emotions, no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Don’t bottle them up; it only stresses you out and ‘ruins your appetite’. Instead be free to express them: while sometimes, for instance, crying is embarrassing, it speaks louder than words ever could!

Ask for Help!: As humans, we are self-confident and prideful. To ask for help is to admit that we’re not perfect, and that naturally comes as a hindrance. But push aside all pride and self-confidence, screaming for help when you need it. Sure, it’ll be difficult, but it’s needed. Better to succeed in discomfort than to completely bomb out! Many of the people around us would love to help us out; God thirsts to lend a hand when we need some help!

Read the Word: God expressed his love for us and gave us a historical account that is known as the Bible. The Bible is God’s love letter to us—he tells through the writings of mere men (the Bible was God-breathed, not God-written) that he desperately wants us to come to him and be with him for eternity. Powerful love. The Bible is factual, error-free, and God’s revelation to all creation. He speaks through the Word, making it an extreme component for every Christian.

Steadiness: Hard times will come. Jesus didn’t promise wealth and fortune. He promised a life of joy. Sometimes that joy comes in the darkest of places: becoming broken before God in peril, or surrendering everything to him in crises. But no matter what, God is there, and he overshadows us, through thick and thin. Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven: we will make mistakes and jam ourselves into nasty messes. But rely on God and see your way into the light! Steadfastness in times of trouble is a tasty quality, a show of our strength through adversity, and is necessary to overcome the evils of this world.

Fight: It has been said that temptation is Satan worried about you. The moment we turn ourselves over to God—the very moment we surrender our lives to Jesus—Satan and his demons wage a secret war against us, wringing temptation into our lives to pull us from God (everyone, Christian or not, suffers physical temptation—temptation brought on by our own sinful desires and addictions; we must fight physical and spiritual temptations). Fight! Fight against the temptation, fight against the demons and the devil, against your old sinful nature trying to grab control once more! A war surrounds us—a war against Christians. It is being fought in the streets, in our homes, in our minds and souls. It is real. It’s here. And it’s angrily fighting against all Christians, mature and new, all across the planet! If there was ever a righteous battle, this is the one.

Be Prepared: Be ready for God to do great things through you. God has a plan for each and every one of us: we must surrender completely to his plans and wills for our lives; this is the essence of surrendering all for God. He will call us to wild and unimaginable things, things we cannot even begin to understand; but God can do everything, no matter how big or small it appears in our eyes. Trust in him, and he will direct your paths. Be prepared. God’s gonna move this world. Through people like you.