God's Army

If you will allow me to, let's have a moment of honesty! Anyone who knows me knows I HAD to write an entry on this! I just recently saw some amazing movies this week. One of these movies of course was God's Not Dead. This movie got me fired up about defending God's glory and power, even in our modern day society! The funny thing is defending the Christian lifestyle has been a heavy subject in my life lately. It seems that as I draw closer and closer to God, the people around me understand me less and less. Not that these people became horrible people or I became better than them, we just don't seem to see eye to eye on certain things anymore. I am talking about people who have known me for many years, even my whole life! I believe what they fail to understand is that I am no longer who I use to be, but I am a newly transformed person in Christ. "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!" (2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT). At first glance, this may seem like a bad thing, but I chose to take a positive perspective on the situation. After all, I kinda saw this coming. Jesus himself said, “Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household! If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it" (Matthew 10:34-39 NLT). This is not to say that I should view or treat these people differently because we don't see eye to eye, but that we simply agree to disagree and continue to love each other no matter what. Sometimes, the best argument is not to argue at all, but to lead by example, pray for them, and let God do the rest! 

Friends, it's important to understand that through your walk as a Christ-follower, you are going to have people in your life who are going to question why you do the things you do, say the things you say, or think the way you think. Just look at Jesus! Pharisees and scholars questioned Jesus all the time and He was even scorned by the ones He came to save! Personally, I enjoy interacting with these particular people because they help me grow in my faith by teaching me what I need to know to defend it! However, if you don't know the word or are not strong in your faith, the enemy can use these people to bring you down and make you doubt yourself and even God! If the movie taught me anything, it's that God deserves followers who are going to defend His honor, proclaim His power in their lives, and not be afraid to be a representation of His love to others, even in the most unlikely circumstances! Not that God needs us, but He chooses us and uses us to go out into the world and be bold about our faith because He was bold enough to sacrifice His only son for US, even when we didn't deserve it! Do not place anyone above God in your life! Let us dare to be bold enough to display the love Jesus displayed for us EVERYWHERE we go and in EVERYTHING we do! Let us join God's Army and do our part to make sure future generations still know who God is! Stay Strong! 

Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33 NLT)