Dear Ones:
WE ARE WHAT WE CHOOSE TO BE.
In Charles Wesley‘s great hymn, “Soldiers of Christ Arise,” we read:
“Soldiers of Christ, arise,
And put your armor on,
Strong in the strength which God supplies,
Through His eternal Son;
Strong in the Lord of Hosts,
And in His mighty power,
Who in the strength of Jesus trusts,
Is more than conqueror.”
What happens if the soldier does NOT arise, and put his armor on? What happens if the soldier does not trust the “strength which God supplies”? He will be trampled upon. He will be overcome by adversity, difficulty, temptation, even life itself. Wesley exhorts us to be, “Strong in the Lord of Hosts, and in His mighty power.” Wesley also tells us how. The one who lives the life of a conqueror is the one “Who in the strength of Jesus TRUSTS.”
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?…Nay, in ALL these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” (Romans 8:35,37) The Apostle Paul understood the work of Christ.
When we trust Christ to save us, the Father puts us in the Son and makes us inseparably ONE with Him. It is an indissoluble union.
Priscilla J. Owens illustrates this in her hymn, “Will Your Anchor Hold?”
“It (the anchor of our soul) is safely moor’d, ’twill the storm withstand,
For ’tis well secured by the Savior’s hand;
And the cables pass’d from His heart to mine,
Can DEFY the blast, through strength divine.”
Listen: Will Your Anchor Hold“Nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:39) Only the soldier who arises, and puts his armor on lives in the reality of this blessed union. Only the one who has chosen to stand, to be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.
One last thought, in Isaiah 52 Israel had been trampled by her enemies, crushed, and thrust down into the dust and the Lord intervenes to lift her up. The call comes to her: “Awake, awake; put on thy strength…no more shall come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean .” God deals with her sin of disloyalty, and duplicity. He continues by commanding her, “Shake thyself from the dust; arise, and sit down…loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.” (v.1-2)
Our calling is clear, we are not to live in the dust but rise to realize the desire and will of God. It is His will for us to BE more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Christ has made every provision that this should be so. His blood can make the foulest clean. His Spirit can make the weakest strong. He is present to cheer and to guide. We are inseparably one with Him. In light of these great realities, let us not be downtrodden, disappointed, and discouraged. May we this moment trust God for grace to arise and put our armor on and live this day strong in His strength, for His glory.
Love,
Dad