Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits. – 2 Timothy 2:3-6.

What does it mean to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ? My hope is that by the time you are done reading the post, watching the videos, and revisiting previous lessons, you may gain a better understanding of what we are all called to do once we have gained an understanding of the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We will begin with a portion of the story of David and Goliath. We will look at a humble shepherd boy with no fear of man, no fear of death, and no fear of his enemy. Why? Because the LORD is on his side. And, if the LORD is truly for you, you have nothing to fear.

And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.
And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.
Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands.
And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.
And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.
And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.

In a previous post, Fit For The Kingdom Of Heaven, we looked at following Jesus as His disciple, and more specifically, to do as He did. Once we have gained a deeper understanding of what we all did, who we all are, and sanctification of the Spirit, we should no longer have a fear of death. To be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, means to follow after our Father with complete trust and faith in Him. As we begin to follow by His example in sharing the Good News of the Gospel, the struggles that we have in the flesh begin to take care of themselves.

Once you have fully understood the deeper meaning behind the words of Jesus when he says, “Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do,” we learn of a parable of Jesus. I will expand further on this. “And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.” What Jesus is telling us, is that by pushing forward by sharing His message, our “father” the devil, begins to lose his grip within our flesh. As we see the lives of the early Apostles before they had received His Spirit, they were still teaching and sharing what they knew. For my brothers and sisters who “See” and “Hear” the LORD, there is never a better time than right now to push forward. A good lesson to look at next would be, Feed My Sheep.

If you feel as if you are unworthy to serve the LORD, you are not. If you feel as if you can’t share His Love with others because of how deep your personal pain is, or because your sins are great, you don’t need to feel that way. I personally began sharing the WORD the very first moment I knew something to be true. As I continue, taking up my cross daily, my flesh takes care of itself, and the things that I used to do, I no longer do anymore. With each passing moment, day, or period of time, something else I struggled with, no longer affects me. The “dead” will bury the “dead.” If… we follow after and reach forth unto the things which are before. If we are stalling out, we are in danger of losing even what we have. The LORD is ever patient and merciful to us, but the time is drawing extremely short. Let us now look at a short video.

Be A Good Soldier For Christ

Jesus tells us in John 7, “My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.” To add to this is, we can look at, Your Time Is Always Ready. I pray that you are taking the time to click through the links, and watch what is contained therein. If you are stalling out for another reason such as friends, family, loved ones, a spouse, etc., we are told this by the Messiah, “And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Below is a playlist that I put together for my friends who are still holding on to this world, with one foot in and one foot out. Remember what we are told, “they that are in the flesh, cannot please God.” It is time to let go. It is time to forsake everything, and if need be, according to the Word, even everyone. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”

“We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses.” There truly is no better time then now to become A Good Soldier Of Jesus Christ. I earnestly pray that we all figure this out.

Jonathan Heller – Lift Up A Banner