Writing with faith, hope, and love
Express your letters to the Editor

Editors note: These are detailed devotional times I have had with the Lord that I wanted to share with the readers. Today's devotional time was taken from the archives and revised before 12:00 p.m.

Hi everyone :)

SCRIPTURE:

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace be with you all.” (Philippians 4:9)

EXPOSITION:

What stuck out to me is the word ‘or’. It is used 3 times with ‘whatever’!

Whatever you have learned from me
Whatever you have received from me
Whatever you have heard from me
Whatever you have seen in me

Put it into practice!!!

It is as if Paul is drawing the letter to a summation reminding them everything he wrote to them from Philippians 1:1-4:8. Now he wants them to put everything into practice.

I saw important implications for my own life.

It is amazing that what I learned in Psalm 140 supplements what I have learned in Philippians. I did not even plan it that way. Reading 4:9 reminded me of practice for a certain thing.

Practice is not a one time thing but continuous. There is a saying that ‘practice makes perfect’. It is not enough for me to just learn, receive, or hear the Word of God. It is also not enough for me to see the Word of God being followed in someone else’s life. Rather, I need to put the Word of God into practice daily.

It is as if I am to be a soldier 24-7 for the Lord. I cannot let my guard down but need the Word of God to sustain me as I go through my daily drills. So when war time comes and I mean spiritual warfare, I will be able to withstand the devil’s arsenal because I have put into practice the Word of God in my life.

I need to be a faithful soldier for the Lord Jesus Christ. That takes effort and sacrifice on my part. Rarely have I found any people wanting to become soldiers who like getting up early in the morning to go through drills and continue it through the day yet they do it. Putting God’s Word into practice is not going to be easy for me always. There could be times I just wish I did not have to do it that day but then I lose practice that day.

In other areas of life we can afford to take a day off or so but not when it comes to God’s Word. I need to continue to put into practice the Word of God as part of my drill to remain a faithful soldier in the Lord’s army. The more we do that, we become veterans for the Lord as we would have fought Satan, using the Word of God, multiple times.

When others see me I want them to see me as a veteran for the Lord being a faithful soldier handling war of the spiritual warfare kind as my Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ gives me the orders.

It does not help to be AWOL when it comes to practice. As I miss more practice times of the Word of God, I am making myself vulnerable to the enemy and it is possible that I can be dishonorably discharged if that continues on a daily basis. This is because I am telling the Commander in Chief that I do not believe what He stands for and I want to do things my own way. I don’t want that for me and neither do I want it for you.

I ASK YOU NOW:

I ask you now dear friend what kind of soldier will you be remembered for?

Dear friend, you have the opportunity to be an awesome soldier for the Lord. Of course that is not on your own strength but from the strength your Commander in Chief, Jesus Christ wants to give you. When you have to go through the practice drills of applying God’s Word, you won’t be alone for He will be with you. As a faithful soldier, you can practice daily the Word of God. In that way, you will be building yourself up with the most powerful ammunition you can carry with you. As the enemy approaches during war, you can fight that war with the Word of God. For the Word of God is our best ammunition against Spiritual Warfare. The Word of God gives us the full armor we should wear. It starts with practice my friend.

On Memorial Day we remember all those that fought for this country as they used what they learned in practice drills to defend this country. They did not just go to war but had a lot of training before they could be called soldiers of the United States. We remember those that gave their lives for their country.

In the same way, can the Lord Jesus see us as Veteran’s for Him?

Have we become soldiers for the Lord that He can be proud of?

Friend, it starts with putting into practice what we have learned, received, heard, and seen others who follow the Word of God do. We have that opportunity friend as we fight the Spiritual Warfare that comes our way. It is not easy being a faithful follower of Christ and His orders but that is the right thing to do. I like to think of myself as an Evangelical Christian solider for the Lord.

When we die, we will have a memorial with the Commander in Chief Jesus Christ giving us all the medals that we have attained. Not only that but our Names would be engraved in the Book of Life for having fought the enemy of this world, Satan and being faithful to our country, Heaven. For remember, we are citizens of Heaven and our allegiance is to Jesus Christ.

We have been placed on earth as pilgrims and soldiers for such a time as this. We do not want to betray our Commander in Chief, Jesus and go our own way. Then we would have committed treason and would not be worthy to remain a solider of the Lord. This especially happens in the last days when people decide to align with the enemy Satan and take the Mark of the beast.

My prayer is that we would be faithful as soldiers in the Lord’s Army and all believers can celebrate this day also as a Spiritual Memorial Day of all the saints that have gone before us as they faithfully served the Lord here on earth and especially remembering what Jesus Christ did for us 2000 years ago.

It is because of Jesus Christ and many of His followers that we now have the Word of God in print.

Dear friend, it is not easy being a soldier for the Lord but I have found it to be worth it. As a soldier for the Lord I know that cannot always happen but I need to put the Word of God into practice. When that happens, I need to stand up for what God stands up for rather than what my friends or family members stand up for. This can cause tension but we need to have our allegiance to the Lord.

May you know that you can be a soldier of the Lord as you put the Word of God into practice everyday! May you know the Lord Jesus Christ will help you!

Soldier Of Lord Doing Important Exercises Rigorously! (S.O.L.D.I.E.R)/”What kind of soldier will you be remembered for?”

PRAYER:

Prayer:
Dear Jesus, I love you so much. Thank you Jesus for being my Commander in Chief and for the orders you have given for my own good. Help me please Jesus to put into practice your Word Oh God so that I can be faithful in all my drill training. This way Lord when the real war comes from the enemy, I can stand up to the Spiritual Warfare for I have your training to back me up and win the battle. Oh Lord, it is not easy going against the enemy and many times I have taken casualties because I have not been focused on you. I am sorry Lord. I want to be a faithful soldier in your Army and need your help. Thank you for helping me as I depend on you. And Lord, I thank you as I become a spiritual Veteran through the years and die later, you will have a special memorial for me with your medals ready. Thank you for having our names engraved in your Book of Life for our service here on earth. We know Heaven is our home and our citizenship but sometimes that’s easy to forget on this battlefield called Earth. We need your help always. Thank you for your help and your Word. I thank you for all those that have served you through the years. Thank you for being an awesome Commander in Chief that people d to serve you Jesus! I want to serve you too! I thank you that your peace can be with us no matter what we face. Thank you for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

Love in Christ,
Ramesh Reddy