Father, You have given Your children skills with which to build Your Church. Skills must be honed to be perfected and used properly. You have given me the picture of a gladiator where our skills are concerned. They wore armor, they practiced daily, they built muscle, they walked in confidence and they fought to the death. This is how to build the Church. We must take the time needed to become the gladiators and then walk into battle with the confidence and determination to win, even at the cost of our own physical death.
Lord, You have already placed the skills within us, but it is up to us to do the rest. A man did not become a gladiator overnight. They prepared anywhere from 4 months to 2 years before going to battle. They cleaned and oiled their weapons and armor daily. They practiced daily and continued practicing the rest of their lives. After all this, THEN they went into battle. The difference is, they were fighting for their own lives. We are fighting for the lives of the lost. We sometimes forget and begin fighting against them. Forgive us and turn us back around to face our real enemy, because in turning our backs to him we can be blindsided by his attacks against us.
Lord, help us to learn from the gladiators. Luke 12:35 tells us to “stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning.”
We are Your gladiators for the lost souls of this world. Make us strong and vigilant. Help us remember to keep our focus on the true enemy and not allow it to be drawn away by the deceptive spirits that whisper lies to try to blur our vision and make us see those we are fighting FOR as the enemy.
Lord, we must keep our vision clear by focusing our thoughts on Your Word and keeping our hearts pure before You through obedience to it. So we must prepare and it begins with knowing, (not simply reading, but truly getting to know, understand and walk in) Your Word. This builds our strength and gives us the weapons of our warfare, which are spiritual, not carnal (II Corinthians 10:4). It also reveals to us how to wear and care for our armor.
A gladiator always listened to and obeyed his instructor, because it meant his life or death. Lord, help us to love the lost more and more daily so that we WANT to listen to and obey Your commands for their benefit and salvation. Help us truly come to terms with the fact that this is a life or death struggle we are involved in and if we refuse to fight it, our section of the Church will not only stop being built, but will be destroyed. It is just like when Nehemiah oversaw the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem. He stationed men over each section. They worked to build with one hand, while holding a sword in the other. (Nehemiah 4:17) We must continue to serve the lost while being prepared at all times to fight on their behalf through prayer. But it is up to us to become prepared. Grant us this understanding and give us the desire and determination to become so.
You love all people and, according to I Timothy 2:4, You desire ALL people to be saved. We cry out for Your return, as we should, but You tell us in II Peter 3:9 that You are not slow in keeping the promise of Your return. It is Your desire for peoples’ salvation that holds You back. So Lord, make us warriors who refuse defeat; who fight through prayer as well as acts of compassion for the lost and love them to salvation so the day of Your appearing can come with shouts of victory, playing of musical instruments, tears of joy and heads held high as we look up in awe and love at Your appearing!! We love and thank You in Jesus’ name! Amen!
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