From Pity to Praise

Years ago, I heard a story about a man named Audie Murphy a World War 2 soldier. He was a small-statured man who saved the day when 200 Germans and six tanks overwhelmed his unit. At one point, he jumped on a tank after it burned and fired a gun for an hour killing 50 of them. He did this while having shrapnel in his leg he later recalled wondering how he was alive. We all like stories of heroes, and I think for good reason. We all want to be someone with courage who doesn’t back away when the battle heats up. Someone who runs toward danger in the service of others, sacrificing their own safety for the well-being of their friends.

I wonder how much more we should be soldiers for Jesus, those who follow Him. After all, He is our Leader and Commander who sacrificed Himself by enduring the cross, and physically, emotionally, and spiritually, took the penalty of our sins and reconciled as God.

The original text for Timothy 1:7 in Ancient Greek tells us “For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of self-control.”

The key is to be strengthened by God’s grace. God’s grace is not just a pardon for sin. It is the power of living. God’s grace is His constant never ending, gracious disposition. If we are in Christ Jesus, God is 100% for us -now and forever. There is nothing that will change that. Not because He thinks we are amazing, but because we are in Christ Jesus. And that I think is meant to strengthen us.

In 2 Timothy 2:3-4 Paul tells Timothy, “You therefore must endure hardship, as a good soldier of Christ. No soldier on duty entangles himself in the affairs of life, that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier.” A good soldier is not merely a soldier. Someone who is in the military could be dishonorably discharged and if so he wouldn’t be a soldier at all. Paul commands Timothy (and you and I) to be good soldiers of Christ Jesus.

To be a good soldier is to be willing to suffer. Paul says to Timothy in to share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Paul, who is in prison for sharing the message of Jesus is saying to Timothy. Suffer with me for the truth of the gospel and for our Lord.

The first mark of a good soldier is the willingness to suffer. To share in suffering literally means to suffer hardship with someone else. That is not calling us to go looking for opportunities to suffer, but it is most certainly calling us to choose that path when there is a fork in the road, and the other path is cowardice. Choose the path of suffering for Christ and His truth. That is what a good soldier does. We have plenty of opportunities to suffer for Jesus, and when we suffer in the path of obedience -slander, mocking, or worse, we need to remember that we are joining a group of saints, both now and the cloud of witness who have gone before us.

A good soldier is on duty all the time. Paul goes on to say in 2 Timothy 2:4 “No one on duty entangles himself in the affairs of life, that he may please Him who enrolled him as a soldier.” a good soldier is never on leave. His assignment might change, but he is called to active duty at all times. No matter what we do in life whether it is changing diapers, cleaning or mowing the yard we still need to be a faithful soldier and do it for the glory of God. A good soldier is not tied up and not or so inner woven with worldly affairs that it Hibbetts them from faithful service to Jesus. A good soldier doesn’t allow themselves to be tied up and become ineffective in service to their King.

When a person joins the military, all that they are belongs to the military -their body, their time, their skills, their effort, everything. They are the militaries 24 hours a day. When we choose to become believers we belong to Jesus. Romans 14:7-8 says, “For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If therefore we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”

There is no time when a mother is not watchful over her children. And there is no time when a father is not leading, guarding, protecting, or providing for the mother or his children. There is not a time when we shouldn’t be concerned for unbelievers, friends, parents, or children. There is not a time we should be indifferent about loving and caring for other believers. There is not a time when we should not be watchful and vigilant over our own souls. Proverbs 2:23 says, “Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.”

There are many false teachers that ravage the church, stray friends that walk away from Jesus, and a bloated governments that will always lust for more authority to rule our lives telling us when and how to do something. And a good soldier stays active all the time against the spiritual forces of evil.

Charles Spurgeon wrote “The good Christian is a soldier in an enemy’s country always needing to stand on his watchtower, constantly needing to be contending, though not with flesh and blood, with far worse foes, namely, with spiritual wickedness in high places.”

A good soldier aim to please his commanding officer. A good soldier wants to please, the one who enlisted them, namely Jesus in everything and at all times. That is their chief aim. They are not mostly concerned with other duties that have not been assigned to them. Where ever Jesus has us, we should aim to please Him and glorify Him. Listen to how Paul says it in Acts 20:24, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.”

Paul said his aim was not to live as long as he possibly could or to make a bucket list of exciting adventures to get it done before he died. His aim was to finish the course that he was put on by Jesus. His aim was to please his master. So wherever we are at home or away, we should make our aim to please Him.

“Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you will get neither” – C.S. Lewis

“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” -Matthew 16:26

Many people have little time for God, even believers. They are too busy with everyday things to be bothered by reading the Bible, or praying.

People go to church only on Christmas and Easter thinking it’s their “duty.” They go to church every Sabbath and then act like they paid the “debt.”

The Bible warns against neglecting our souls. It is possible to harden our hearts, until we lose our zeal for God.

Soul neglect happens when we stop caring for our inner life. It’s easy because, when you don’t pay attention, our flesh (worldly desires) can take over. Our souls slowly fade, not through a sudden choice.

An uncared-for soul leads to deep exhaustion. We begin to feel anxious or stressed, or that feeling of never having enough energy. Just like a plant needs water and sunlight to grow our souls need attention.

“My sheep hear My voice. I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish” John 10:27-28

When Jesus says My sheep hear My voice, and follow Me -He wants that to be true.

After all, we live in a very noisy world these days. The world is filled with all kinds of different voices, all competing for our attention. It seems difficult in the mess of all the noise to hear the voice of our Shepherd.

Every day, we hear several different voices competing for our attention, and some of them are really good at convincing us to pay attention. There are people who create advertisements geared just toward us. They convince us that we need whatever they are selling, to be safe, to be popular, to be successful, or to feel better. Modern technology and social media mean that companies know us better than they ever have, and they use that information to convince us that we need whatever they have.

It’s no doubt there are voices that make promises they can’t keep. There is only one true shepherd, that keeps promises he cannot break. And when we choose to only listen to that voice it becomes the only voice that matters to our souls. That voice is our Savior Jesus Christ.

There are many other competing voices that can drown out the Saviors voice we don’t always take the time to listen for His voice. Because Jesus is not saying what we expect. We expect Jesus to act differently. It’s like putting Him in a box, we are trying to limit Him to human rules, expectations, and understanding.

These days, it’s challenging to listen to anyone or anything with an open mind. As soon as anyone speaks to us, we are listening for their agenda, or for evidence of how they view the world. So many things people say are taken out of context, and we make up our minds about what they are saying, sometimes even before they finish. That’s the nature of the world we live in. And this is why it is more important than ever to listen to Jesus with an open mind and heart. Not to listen for what we expect Him to say, but to simply listen. To let our minds be changed along with our hearts. To put aside all the voices in the world, and listen for the living voice of our true Shepherd.

Sometimes we don’t hear Jesus because we are too ashamed to listen. When I first chose to follow Jesus, I didn’t do it because I received a miracle, it was because I had tried everything else, and it failed. Jesus was my last hope. When He began talking to me, the words were painful, and more often than not I was ashamed of the words He was saying. I had to relive all the mistakes I made throughout my life, but at the same time He was healing my broken soul. My sins made me feel naked and ashamed, and I was tempted to hide myself from God, so I could miss hearing His voice.

I know people who won’t enter a church because they are ashamed and want to “get their act together.” But, Martin Luther King reminds us, “Church is not a hotel for saints, it is a hospital for sinners. We have to acknowledge that not one of us is worthy, and many don’t have their acts together. God gives us grace, mercy, and love, and through what Jesus did on the cross we are made worthy.

Jesus tells us Revelation 3:20, “I am standing at the door, knocking, if you will hear my voice and open the door I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”

I believe Jesus is outside the fellowship of most people because of their self-reliance and offers us restoration and intimate communion to anyone who is willing to listen. Hearing His voice involves responding to His calling, correction, and truth, rather than an audible sound.

Psalm 1 is the doorway to the entire book of Psalms. It’s where the grand theme is revealed: the two paths -the path of the righteous and the path of the wicked. This Psalm marks the beginning of the greatest journey of life. It sets forth a way of life and the way of death.

This Psalm shows us, in advance, what the final end of the wicked will be. The two paths of righteousness and wickedness remain far apart except for the one point in history where they converge at the Cross of Jesus. It is there that Jesus took upon himself all the shame, Guild, and judgment of wickedness. Yet, He remained the Righteous One. It is there where grace found us where we could choose to stand at the fork in the road way, one leading to life, or the other road the leads to death and destruction.

In Deuteronomy 30:19 we are given a choice,

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessing and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live.” (NLT)

Moses spoke words like this to the Israelites. They stood at the edge of the Promised Land, representing a clear turning point or decision between two distinct paths.

Choosing my is not just about existing; it is actively defined in Deuteronomy 30:20 as loving God, obeying His voice, and clinging (holding fast) to Him.

Our path of life brings blessings for the future and turning away, or disobedience, brings destruction and death.

In a culture that thrives on contention and conflict, is it truly possible to be unoffendable?

Jesus told His disciples in Luke 17:1, “It’s impossible that no occasions of stumbling (offenses) should come, but woe to him through who, they come.”

Scripture clearly shows that throughout our lives, we will have ample opportunity to take the enemy’s bait and become offended.

But there is another option -we can prepare our hearts and exercise forgiveness so that when an opportunity for offense comes our way, we can be prepared to respond in a way that honors God.

We should choose patience, gentleness, and forgiveness instead of revenge. Listen before you speak. Do not get angry quickly. James 1:19 says, “Let every man be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.” Do not fight back or try to get revenge. Matthew 5:39 tells us to let go of the desire to punish the other person. We should overcome evil with good. Romans 1:21-22 tells us, “Knowing God, they didn’t glorify Him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools.” God will always reveal His invisible power and nature through the physical world. We should treat the person who hurts us with kindness. And use gentle words that calm their anger instead of harsh words that start fights. Proverbs 15:1-2 says,” A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of a fool gushes out folly.” Sometimes we need to walk away if the person is dangerous or refuses to listen, it’s better to leave the situation to protect our peace.