08/04/2012 - Risen to fight

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Some Gadites joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valour, men trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as gazelles on the mountains.

I Chronicles 12:8

The move of God throughout Israel for David to be crowned king is worth being closely examined. In its several revelations, we find lessons extremely valuable which, once learned, will be of great benefit to our walking in faith. Everything that happened for him to be made king had, in itself, the operation of the hand of the Lord. And the same goes for our lives especially if we are people of faith, people that serve God with a pure and fearless heart. In fact, our attitude makes a lot of difference.

The message above is about the men of the tribe of Gad who went after David in the desert, and they were deemed as brave men. This is one of the attributes that Christians are supposed to have. The devil gets to convince many children of God that only that person whose body is strong, sturdy or well trained in martial arts, that of a warrior, is qualified to face the assaults of the powers of darkness. Yet, the truth is that that has nothing to do with the work of The Lord at all because that work is not done either out of strength or violence, but by The Spirit of God Himself (Zachariah 4:6). The truth is that The Lord fully capacitates those who are called by Him.

The Holy Text also lets us know that those men were warriors, men fit for war. Those who are called to be warriors of The Lord must not accept to stay out of the battle. God calls other men and women to take over an office; to do social work among other jobs. Now brave men, warriors, need always to be remembered that if they do not fight their battles they will be lost with time. Those who have received that calling must not be carried away by business opportunities or by sins which blossom everywhere.

Those who joined the army of King David carried shields and spears. They were ready to attack the enemy and ready to defend themselves. Now, those who are careless will never be successful in their mission unless they follow suit. No soldier on duty is to be found without the necessary weaponry to successfully perform his share in the battle. Those that do not have on them the weaponry that The Lord has given them; at the crucial moment of the battle they will not be victorious. A Christian must never be defeated!

Their faces were like lions, fearless beasts they are, and those men were determined to get into battle and fight with all their strength. You should never get into any battle unless you are determined to win! Even belonging to God, if you go to war without appropriate strategies you will probably end up being very disappointed. On the other hand, with your face being like that of The Lion, Jesus Himself, you will be able to scare the enemy off.

Another thing I want to point out here is that those brave men were swift like the gazelles on the mountains. Nobody could run as fast as them. That serves us as a lesson on how much training they went through to achieve such excellent fitness. Do the same with The Word of The Lord, thus, you will reach complete success in the end.

In Christ, with love,

R. R. Soares