Tonight during a time of worship we sang a song that was new to me but whose lyrics spoke to me in a profound way. The lyrics are pretty simple:
Fiery Arrows; I’m the bull’s eye.
We are the army of God; here we come.
On our knees, we march to the battlefield,
To lose our lives, but to find life in You.
O Awake, you sleepers; Arise from the dead;
O Awake, you sleepers; Arise from the dead.
I will not give up; I will not turn around;
I am a soldier marching, Heaven-bound.
Here I stand; will you stand with me?
How do we fight? Marching on our knees in prayer. Calling “the sleepers” to awake and arise. Sacrificing our lives (although not necessarily our physical lives… our dreams, desires, plans, etc.) to do whatever God calls us to do on the battlefield. Standing side by side.
How will you do battle today in the places you go and the situations you face? Ask God to teach you to pray with power; it is the greatest weapon we have. You can be assured that God will win the war, but know that you are called to fight the battle every day until the day Christ comes to establish Himself as the rightful ruler of this world.
It’s not easy, but I’m choosing to say, “I will not give up; I will not turn around; I am a soldier marching, Heaven-bound.”
“Sacrificing our lives (although not necessarily our physical lives… our dreams, desires, plans, etc.)” – always had issues with wrapping my brain around losing our lives and dying to self… I don’t know why, but this one sentence finally resonates with me in a new way. Not that I ever thought I would be chosen for martyrdom in my little neck of Middletown, PA (although you never know…) however, the dying to self (and sometimes selfish) dreams and desires and MY plans for my life makes a whole lot of sense, especially now that I have entered physical motherhood. My plans and desires come second to Benjamin’s and they should come thridly to the Lord’s.
In church today the pastor put together several truths in a new way for me. God is I AM (His Name) as US (the Trinity) for THEM (humans). I AM as US has entered our world – first as God with skin (Christ) and now as a daily presence with us (Holy Spirit). We, as the Church and as his children made in his likeness and image are also I AM (me) as US (the church) for THEM (the world). Just like God came to us and is with us, we are to model his example, and do the same by going to the world. Everything we (me and the church) have been given is for THEM (the world) – but we often fail to live that way because we don’t die to self first.
Thanks for putting those two sermons together for me today (especially since I only heard bits and pieces of my sermon because Benjamin woke up halfway through!!!) Love you!