Sojourn:
“Not all who those wander are lost” Tolkein. John the Baptist lived in the wilderness, living off the land, yet he was never lost. Christians often find ourselves living in a world designed by Satan to be hostile to Christians who do not stay silent about their faith. While martyrdom is fairly common place in places where the church is under constant attack, it’s less common here in the U.S. Recently a brother in Christ, Charlie Kirk was martyred for his faith in a public assassination/execution. In the wake of his death, many have begun to stand up and scream their faith from the highest mountain tops. Social media is flooded with new voices coming from the darkness to debate in the public square. College campuses have seen these new voices take on the secular world with boldness. Silence one voice and many will rise to take its place.
For a long time, I stayed quiet about my faith, afraid of pushing people away because I wanted to feel like I belonged. For a long time, I filled my life with those of the secular world, but as long as they called me friend, I overlooked blatant sin. Scripture tells us in 2 Corinthians 6:14, 14 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?” How can a Christian live in this life and do so with so few standing beside them? Scripture tells us not to forsake the assembly (Heb 10:25). We must learn to stand together, join together, and together let our voices be heard. We are sojourners in this life, citizens of heaven (Phill 3:20). We are given warning in 1 Peter 2:11 11 “Beloved, I urge you as aliens (Sojourners) and strangers (Exiles) to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” We must learn how to do this though, learn how to walk as an ambassador (2 Corinth 5:20) for the Lord.
In order for us to be ready for the war we face on earth, we must learn what each piece of the armor is for, how it works, and why. We must prepare our fingers for battle, the spiritual battle. We must be prepared to give up one’s life for the Lord if called upon. Scripture tells us to have a defense of our faith (1 Peter 3:15), to be able to articulate the Gospel to the non-believer. We must acknowledge that Paul calls us a soldier for Christ. 2 Timothy 2:3-4 3 “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” We know we will suffer for Christ because to pick up ones cross as we are called to do, Matthew 16:24 24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” We are to deny the lusts of this world, the lusts that draw us away from The Kingdom of God. When we focus on the riches, the baubles of this world, we take our eyes away from the Kingdom, and thus, that object becomes an idol. We must guard our eyes, our minds, our bodies of the draw of Satan, the desires that make us feel good in the moment, but empty and dead in the end.
The righteous man will fight the good fight, and train his mind, his body, and his soul for the battle ahead. We as soldiers must be prepared for the journey we face daily. The first thing we must do is the use the belt of truth. (Eph 6:14) What is truth, the Gospel, Jesus, the Bible is truth. Next is protecting your heart with the Breastplate of Righteousness. We must protect our heart, and allow God to make us born again, turning our heart from stone to flesh. From dead men to alive. Put on the Sandals of the Gospel of Peace. Everywhere we go we must walk with that peace. We must be willing to share the gospel and spread truth with every step we take. We must know that the sandals allow us to dig in when the storm comes, like cleats on the football field. This allows us to bury our feet into the ground with the spikes on the bottoms of the sandals. This symbolizes not giving into the attacks of Satan. Not allowing the secular world to change, alter, water down, or compromise the Gospel, the Truth of Jesus Christ. We must then take up the Shield of Faith. Knowing that the war is upon us, and the flaming arrows from Satan will reign down all around us, the shield protects us in our faith. There will be times when Satan will reign down hell upon us, and we must learn to ‘get small’ behind that shield. Allow it to take the arrows, allow your faith to absorb the attacks knowing that this is not home, and there is a far better place awaiting the believer. What is a little suffering compared to the eternity of Heaven? Little Christian, protect your mind by wearing the Helmet of Salvation. Be mindful of what you watch, read, and listen too. Guard your tongue and know that the tongue can build up or tear down. Proverbs 18:21 says the tongue has the power of life and death. What we say is a representation of what’s in our hearts. We must use the helmet to protect against the propaganda machine of the deceiver. Social media has leveled up the Devils ability to push his narrative, his lies, and desensitize us to the lies he spreads.
Finally brothers and sisters, take up the SWORD OF THE SPIRIT. Ephesians 6:18-20 18 “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, 19 and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.” The sword is the gospel, and with the spirit of God with us, we take our prayers to the Lord. We lift up our daily and continuous prayers before the Throne of Grace. Since we are against the spiritual, our weapon is the spiritual kind. The truth we find in scripture is the one and only truth, the way to heaven, and the way to life. Outside of the truth in scripture is death. For those who are not born again, for them, life has no hope. Death and darkness await the unbeliever. Many however, would be happy to lift the sword towards the believer of Jesus Christ. The sword of the spirit must be trained with. We must learn scripture, for there may come a day when the physical Bible we all have may be outlawed and we must rely on what we have stored in our hearts. If the Bible was banned today how much would you have to rely on? We must train our minds, train our souls for the war we are in. We must study to show ourselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15)
Little Christian, run the race, run with endurance, and never grow tired of doing good. Never grow weary, for when you do, pray to the Lord, and allow Him to give you rest in the knowledge that our suffering is only for a little while. When we find ourselves nearing the valley of death, do not be afraid. We wear the full armor, and this armor we never take off after we put it on. Never give the Devil one moment of opportunity where he could exploit your complacency. We wear the Armor which is the attributes of God upon ourselves. Each piece is an attribute of God, so let us run with assurance that if God is for us, who can be against us. Train to fight little Christian, train as if your life depends on it, because it does. Train to face the enemy and know that the moment you put on this armor the deceiver, the lion that wishes to devour you will begin the hunt. Be prepared for the fight to come.
We know that time is a vapor in the eternity of Heaven. We are a mere speck of time and our opportunities must be taken advantage of. We are called ambassadors, so we represent the country we call home. Let us represent Christ well. Let us share the gospel to the unbeliever spread the seeds of the Gospel everywhere we go. Let us face this fight together, and walk with a humble heart. Let us be rid of the pride and lusts that once held our hearts, and walk with meekness. Women, be women, be the helper God has called you to be. Be the nurturer of your home. Be the soft tone, and be the home for the husband to escape the snares of life. Husbands, guard your home and protect it. Be the spiritual head of the household, and be willing to die for it, as Christ died for the church.
Ephesians 5:22-30 22 “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body.”
We each complement one another, and we must see each role as a place in a military squad. We have our duties, our responsibilities, and when we fill our rolls as God has planned, we can fight the fight together, instead of fighting one another or fighting the world alone. We are a team, one body, one flesh, and we fight together.
As a sojourner of this world, we all should have the same goal, please the Lord. In all we do let us do to bring glory and pleasure to God. When we finally finnish the race, let us do so with honor and present ourselves as a “olah tamid” a perpetual daily burnt offering to the Lord. This is where the Hebrew word for disciple comes from “talmid”. When we reach heaven let us be the disciple we are called to be. Let us be a complete burnt offering to the Lord, let us have given everything to the Lord and there was nothing left to give when we leave this life. Let our service to the Lord be a sweet aroma. And in the end, let us hear ‘Well done my good and faithful servant.’ Let us keep our eyes upon the Lord, and seek always the Kingdom of God.
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