And what shall I more say?

Heb 11:32 And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets:

What a wonderful weekend that God allowed me to have. Saturday started off with a great time of prayer and fellowship with the men of the church. We gathered together and went out to go plinking, what a joy to have fun and be safe. The next greatest thing that day was a surprise visit by my folks, where they were able to spend the night and join us for church the next morning. What a wonderful service we had in the AM as the Pastor brought a message from his heart about the sacrifice of the soldier in honor of our men and women in the Armed Forces. The message was likened to ourselves as we are enlisted when we join the family of God into the Lords Army. I am not speaking of some type of radical double talk, but the sincerity of which we that love God will do as a soldier does. As our daily verse shows, and what shall I say more, there is to much to say about God and His people in one post so I will sum up what has been on my hear throughout the day.

1. In America's army it is an all volunteer fighting force, to be in the Lords army it is a free conscience decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Then the enlistment begins.
2. In America's army you don't just become the leader there is much training involved and time to prove yourself, in the Lords army you aren't automatically some spiritual giant ready to take on the devil and the whole world alone, you must read your bible and pray, be built up in the faith. It's a growing process.
3. In America's army it is a battle for physical territory, in the Lords army its a battle for spiritual territory. The battle is for our hearts against the wiles of the devil.
4. In America's army it takes dedication, discipline, and a desire to serve to be effective, in the Lords army it also takes dedication to do the things that normally you wouldn't want to do, discipline to read your bible, pray and be humble, and a desire to serve versus always being chided to do the things mentioned, for out of the heart come the issues of life. God would want you to give your all willingly.
5. In America's army as you learn to lead you teach others to follow and train them, in the Lords army we are to be learning to do so that we may teach others to be.

To begin the enlistment in the army of the United States of America there is an oath that is taken. It goes something like this:

"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

Now dear reader you may say what of this, well I just wanted you to take a challenge and see the wording of this document and apply it to your lives as a Christian. When you join the military you are no longer a single entity, no you are a team, a family if you will. The same goes when you join into fellowship with one another in serving the Lord, your a family of believers, and there ought to be some sort of dedication to our lives in the way we devote ourselves to God and to each other. In the oath of enlistment you see that the enlistee recognizes a few things in order for them to become effective soldiers.
1. They will defend a document from an enemy whether it be foreign or domestic, we as Christians should read enough of our Bible that we can defend its values and commandments from an enemy both foreign (those that don't inhabit our land) and domestic (those that would try from within our own borders to eradicate the Word of God).
2. The soldier will bear faith (trust) and allegiance (the loyalty of a citizen to his or her government or of a subject to his or her sovereign.), we should bear a loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him for all that He has done and is willing to do in our lives.
3. The soldier affirms this to positions of authority, setting themselves and their desires aside for the use of those in authority, we as Christians should be heeded to God and His perfect will for our lives. This also goes for the man of God in the pulpit, that we have a commitment to him as the under shepherd, the man appointed of God to lead. We should set our selfish desires aside and bear our cross for the work that needs to be done.
4. The soldier has a set of rules that he must attain to so that he knows how to conduct himself, not only in battle, but in everyday service, we as Christians have a set of rules and those are contained in the Word of God, the bible in its entirety.

Friend I hope this was a blessing today to see that as much as there is a service man willing to forsake all for the good of his country, that there are those in the Christian life willing to forsake all for their heavenly father. We must not forget the ultimate soldier however was the Lord Jesus Christ, as he bore his cross in willful desire that none should perish, but all come unto repentance for their sins. Jesus lead the way, and made the way that we can enter into His rest through the shedding of His blood on the cross of Calvary.