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PROLOGUE
What if I told you of a vision so all-encompassing, that is moving swiftly through today's society? A vision of godly principles versus evil ones, that moves behind and through our human current events? A vision of an unseen war of many battles, which could direct the future of a great nation?
How could an event of this magnitude exert such power as to affect such an outcome on a nation?
It's all encompassed in a vision displaying grave spiritual effects. The vision is of an unseen spiritual war, of good against evil.
"I don't see how something like this could possibly be or exist here in the Twenty-first Century," you might say.
Nonetheless, it exists whether one believes in it or not. Doubt doesn't change it. But faith, true faith absolutely wipes it out completely.
It took a simple wooden soldier's coming to life to turn a negative world into a positive one. It turned a negative part-time soldier into a soldier of action and positive faithful duty.
So here in "The Soldier on the Shelf" we see portrayed a nice modern-day parable of Biblical proportions. A vision of spiritual importance is foretold by this dedicated soldier. I trust you will enjoy the intent behind the blog. I hope in taking a personal evaluation of the facts disclosed, you will become more dedicated to God's Holy Word, to the Gospel, and to your faithful witness of the truth. Now, on with this first-rate fiction story!
" Paul gives great counsel to every believer in Jesus Christ. Scripture says, “Suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the One Who enlisted him as a soldier.” (II Timothy 2:3-4)
If only I had not been talked into joining the National Guard! I'm simply too old for this kind of stuff. Just why I let my cousin talk me in to joining up, I'll never know. I guess maybe it was the male ego in me. I realize he's all gung-ho on this sort of duty, but he's a little younger than I am, and twice as active. I'm simply an old man, too old for my years.
Oh well, it's time for some much-needed shut-eye, before this weekend and my official tour of duty. Suddenly, I had a vision. How did this vision happen? Why me? Why now? You see, I don't rightly know. I never had one before. Just a weird haphazard vision, I presume.
I suddenly found myself standing in the midst of a large antique showroom. Instantly catching my eye was a rather large wooden soldier all decked out in full battle gear, standing at parade rest, separately placed all alone on a shelf in front of me.
After gazing around this great room for a spell, I became drawn to a strange shuffling sound. There he was, as big as life, this soldier directly in front of me, again standing at parade rest. The soldier on the shelf had come to life. Something seemed different however, for his stony, battle-hardened facial expression had turned to irritation and massive frustration. He silently grabbed me by the hand and away we went on a tour of this unusual, antique display.
We stopped at a rather unique display of an army of the medieval past. Soldiers were all dressed in full battle gear; the belt, the breastplate, the shield, the helmet, the boots and the sword.
Uneasily I asked, "What's this all about, this uniform of the past?"
Seemly anticipating my inquisitive nature and giving the impression of being ready to answer, he quickly responded, "We are now in a war, an unseen spiritual war of many everyday battles. One need only read the local newspaper, tune in the national main-line TV news, or even talk to a next-door neighbor, to see this war in action. The results of such action are in direct contrast to the principles and Word of God."
"The Scripture pictures this war in (Ephesians 6: 10-12)," he went on. "You see, we believers' enemies are the demonic hosts of Satan, always assembled for mortal combat."
"And (Ephesians 6:13-17) gives us a detailed description of our battle gear. The belt of truth holds everything together. (John 14:6) The breastplate of righteousness protects the heart. (II Corinthians 5:21) The shield of faith is our trust in the promises of Jesus. (Ephesians 6:16) The helmet of salvation protects our thoughts. (I Thessalonians 5:8) The shoes of the Gospel are the readiness to go witness. (Isaiah 52:7) The sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, is ready to penetrate evil hearts, (Zech. 3:6)" he continued.
"Finally, in (Ephesians 6:18-19) we see our plan of action in such a war, which is prayer. Prayer, without a doubt, is our greatest and least-used spiritual battle weapon. It is the main work of the church and its members. We may not be constantly in verbal prayer, but we should pray without ceasing. In other words we should continually be in an attitude of prayer," he concluded.
Then it happened. The rather unique presentation suddenly ended. With the sound of shuffling feet, I found this battle-hardened soldier, or should I say lay preacher, back on the shelf. Once again he was placed there at parade rest. However, this time he had a complete change of countenance, taking on the vivid expression of self-assurance. He seemed to exude confidence in the future of our great country. There was an added inscription etched on the base of his wood frame reading "In God We Trust."
As if by some sort of divine heavenly direction, my vision suddenly returned me to my bed. There I was, sitting up in bed, covered by my old army blanket, staring at my National Guard uniform neatly hung by my bed, ready for the weekend's action.
This time it was different. Instead of the dull, drab camouflage gray, my uniform took on a bright, celestial glow as if drawing me into action, and into my tour of duty.
"What took place next?' you might ask.
After a very peaceful good night's sleep, I arose the next day ready for action, and hurriedly drove to the National Guard Armory. End of story, or should I say, end of vision. Amen!
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28).
EPILOGUE
Sooner or later, every Christian will face spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12), one of the many battles of evil intentions. It's very hard to fight against someone or something you can't even see. This battle is not against people, but against an evil plan.
The only way to win this battle is to know whom you are fighting. In this case, when you realize that the battles you face aren't against other people, then you will have a better understanding of how to win this battle, when you know who you are fighting. (Ephesians 6:12)
In this case, spiritual warfare is just that, spiritual in nature. You have to fight the real opponent, Satan himself, who will do whatever it takes to destroy a free society, destroy basic Christianity and the free-will of mankind and to destroy our great God-blessed America.
Unlike our all-powerful, all-knowing Creator God, Satan doesn't have the celestial privilege or authority. And somehow, I feel that Satan must know his time is getting short, as he is in an all-out campaign to destroy our great nation.
It's time to stop putting our efforts into fighting battles against people, against tangible societies, against philosophic behavior. In the long run, this is a waste of time.
If we will put on the whole armor of God and join hands with Him, we will be protected as we fight against the evil accuser. Yes, we will win every time. So let's go to work in accordance with (II Chronicles 7:14). Amen!
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