Call of Duty: Be Strong!

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. I Corinthians 16:13

Be strong! It is not our physical strength we are talking here, but more importantly our spiritual strength.

We have a general idea of how to get strong physically; eat right and exercise. Same way for spiritual strength too we need to 'eat right' and 'excercise'.

Eat right what? Of course the Word of God! Word of God is referred to as bread, honey, and milk throughout the Bible; let us look at a few:

* "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." I Peter 2:2-3

* "... I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6:48

* How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Psalm 119:103

Just like how we need to eat everyday for a healthy physical body, we need to consume the Word of God everyday for a strong spiritual self.

Can't just stop at that, we need to also exercise it to stay healthy! How do we exercise the Word of God? Of course by practicing it! By doing what it says, by removing what it says, by accepting what it says, by believing what is says, by proclaiming our faith, by living our life as one pleasing to God!

With that our 'Call of Duty' series ends. Now that we have heard the call loud and clear, let us go perform our duty!

Call of Duty: Be men (& women) of courage!

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. I Corinthians 16:13

Today's focus in our ongoing series is, Be men (& women) of good courage!

Courage is defined as 'That quality of mind which enables one to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or without fear, or fainting of heart; valor; boldness; resolution.'

In Acts 4:13 we read, "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

What is it that Peter and John did which made the people see their courage and take note that they had been with Jesus? If you read Acts Chapter 4 from the beginning, you will understand that Peter and John were jailed for preaching the Gospel and yet they were courageous and continued to proclaim the Good News!

How do we fare in terms of our courage? Are we standing up for the Good News or trying to be "politically correct"?

Recently I had shared a facebook video on my profile which raised some concerns from my non-believing friends. What do I do then? Stop sharing such videos? Disconnect from those friends? Quit social sites altogether? Or Continue to stand for what I believe in? That's where courage plays a role, in every day decisions like these little things.

Do we have the quality of mind which enables us to encounter danger and difficulties (even loss of friends) with firmness, or without fear, or fainting of heart to stand for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and for what He means to us? By looking at us will people take note that we have been with Jesus? This is our call of duty!

Call of Duty: Stand Firm in Faith!

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. I Corinthians 16:13

This is a continuation of the Call of Duty we started discussing yesterday. Today we will discuss about standing firm in faith.

What does it mean to stand firm in faith?

Apostle Paul writes in his letter to the Thessalonians, "So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter." 2 Thessalonians 2:15

So, standing firm in faith means to hold on to the teachings that are passed on to us in the Scriptures. A word of caution here... let us be careful not to get carried away by "teachings" that are not in accordance with the Word of God.

Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

So, standing firm in faith means not letting ourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery or sin. Once we were slaves, but now we are set FREE by His blood! Any habit or practice that could tempt us back into slavery is to be avoided at all cost.

It is not by our might we stand, but by the grace of God. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 1:21-22, "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."

Finally remember, only if we stand firm to the end we will be saved(Matthew 24:13)!

Call of Duty: Be on guard!

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. I Corinthians 16:13

This is our call of duty! To be on guard, to stand firm in the faith, to be men(women) of courage and to be strong! Let us look at each one up close.

What does it mean to be on guard? Why is it important?
It means to be alert or vigilant against the devil; and also it means to be ready for the imminent return of our Lord.

The Bible says in I Peter 5:8, Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

If we slack even a little he will devour us alive. No, don't be afraid of his prowling. Scripture teaches us to, Resist the devil, and he will flee from us. James 4:7.

Apostle Paul instructs us in Ephesians 4:27, "...do not give the devil a foothold." A foothold is all the devil is looking for, to get in and settle down squarely in our hearts, instantly ridding off our joy and taking reign over our thoughts and actions.

A little temptation, a little stumble, a little pride, little self pity is all it takes to derail us from our Spiritual journey. Therefore it is extremely important to watch out for his cunning schemes.

Paul goes on to say in Ephesians 6:11, "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." You can read more about the Full Armor of God by clicking here, which we will also discuss at large one of the days.

Finally it is also important to be on our guard or keep watch, because we do not know on what day our Lord will come. Matthew 24:42

More on our Call of Duty tomorrow... Stay blessed!