13/05/2024
OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL
DATE: MONDAY, MAY 13, 2024.
TOPIC: OLD SOLDIER
MEMORISE
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” - (Philippians 3:13)
READ: Philippians 3:12-15 (KJV)
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
MESSAGE
Many people dwell on their past achievements in the kingdom of God. They talk about the days they were on fire for God, how they used to pray for long hours, and how they used to win souls for God. Currently, however, you cannot see any sign of that same zeal they talk about in them. These are the kind of people we call ‘old soldier’ where I come from in Nigeria.
An old soldier in this context is someone who used to be very active in the army but who, after a while, became old, unfit and irrelevant. Old soldiers, in this sense, are Christians who used to be very vibrant, win souls for God, heal the sick, and perform many wonders in Jesus’ name. However, somehow, they started to lose their zeal and became unfit, so that now, when people are talking about zealous Christians, they hardly mention them. Such Christians have moved from hot to cold in the things of God. If this describes you, then you need to retrace your steps and return to your first love.
You need to go back to the days when you put God’s will above your comfort and convenience; the days when the things of this world