Pastor Bell's Words To Live By

The whole point of being in the army is to be trained to be the best fighter you can be to be able to defend your country. When a civilian joins the armed forces, he or she is signing away their civilian rights and is committing themselves to service for a set period. They become a part of a community and must learn the protocol of that community.

When we enlist in the ‘Salvation Army’, we are operating as spiritual soldiers. We embark on the training programme where we learn about our enemy, our weaponry and the tactics needed to overcome the enemy. So we are told that the first and most important trait we must develop is that of DISCIPLINE (Heb 12:5-11). A disciplined life leads to great success. Next we must learn about our enemy. We cannot defeat the enemy if we do not understand his tactics. Our enemy uses the same tactics over and over again, but it works. He tries to get the individual to operate in the realm of the ‘soul’. That is, we make important decisions based upon our feelings rather than consulting our commanding officer, Jesus. When we walk by our feelings our faith is sidelined and we end up taking the long road home. The enemy tries to get us isolated so that he can ‘wear us down’. This is why we need to be in communion with others. So when we fell down, they can give us a lift by speaking a timely word to our spirit.

The last thing we need to learn to do is to know our weaponry and how to use them. For our weapons are not carnal or fleshy, but are mighty through God. They are: the word of God, the blood of Jesus and name of Jesus among others. And when we go into a battle we must be fully clothed with the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit and the shoes of peace.  Once we are clothed in the right manner, we can then engage in the battle.

Today put on the correct garment so that you can defeat the enemy.

Read Galatians 5:16-26.