In peace there's nothing so becomes a man as modest stillness and humility; but when the blast of war blows in our ears, then imitate the action of the tiger; stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, disguise fair nature with hard-favor'd rage
Henry V, Shakespeare
No one has to teach us to defend our families. We are born with an instinct that seems to be an unstoppable force! Nothing is more dangerous than a parent whose young are in danger.
It is also natural to preserve and defend the things that we have worked hard to build or acquire. The warrior holds a highly regarded place in society because they stand between the enemy and everything that we love and value. They are ready to sacrifice themselves to protect the lives and property of their tribe or nation-state.
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
As part of the family of God, committed to living by the principles of the Gospel of Christ and by the law of the Kingdom of God, there is work for us warriors to do!
We are the line of defense that keeps our family safe from the enemy. Our family includes our spouses and children, and also a New Nation made up of every tribe, nation, language, and race all over the world.
There is no longer division between races, genders, social classes- we are brothers and sisters with one Father in common, who loves everyone more than we love our own children!
In order to create this Family and to reconcile each one of us to Himself, Our Father has gone to great lengths to rescue us, to forgive us, to liberate us from our bondage to sin and death and hell and the curse.
His desire is to accomplish this purpose for all people -- to reconcile all things and all people to Himself. He is not willing that anyone should be destroyed, but that all should come to repentance.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
The mystery of His will, His purpose, and His plan for the fullness of time is to unite ALL things in heaven and on earth, thereby healing everything and everyone. We understand that Jesus' incarnation, death, and resurrection were the ways in which God brought his plan into reality.
His plan to create a new family, a new nation, a new kingdom, and a redeemed people who belong to him was initiated through Christ. Nothing can separate us from the love that is in Christ Jesus. Not even death.
In his resurrection, we can see the Reality of our own New Life.
If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
We are invited to join our Lord and Master in bringing His purpose to full fruition. We are invited to cooperate with His Spirit in bringing His family together- in uniting all things under His Lordship. Through our words and actions, other people should be able to clearly see that they are loved and that they are welcome.
Why is there so much division? Turmoil? Destruction? Falsehood? Suffering? If a loving and all-powerful Creator wants Unity and Harmony, Fellowship and Peace, why do we not see that Reality in our world?
The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God".
Hatred is the product of our enemy.
Our enemy does not want humans to see the Truth revealed through Christ, that God loves them and has done everything he can to bring them into his family.
Satan uses all the power at his disposal to keep people in delusion, believing falsehoods and maintaining division. If we are weak in our faith and do not maintain our spiritual armor, he will do the same to us. We will stop seeing the glory of God and his plan of redemption and start seeing other humans as our enemy.
Condemnation and hatred are products of our enemy. Another name for Satan is "the accuser." When we think of our enemies, opponents, or people different from us as being beneath us, deserving of damnation and punishment, or beyond hope, we place them in a category that Jesus does not place anyone in, even though he has every right to.
We do not have the right to judge.
The standard of measurement we use against others is the standard that will be used against us. What we plant is what we harvest. That is why we pray, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." When we condemn others we serve the deceiver, the father of lies.
Jesus (the embodiment of the Revelation of God as Love) tells us, "I did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through me might be saved." He knew that the world was in deep trouble. He knew how deceived humanity had become, and His GOAL was, and is, to liberate humanity from bondage and curse.
Our goal is the same as his, our message the same, our passion the same, so our actions should be the same too, we should strive to be like Him. Yet, we are not capable of this without being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
The only way humans have ever handled a threat to survival is to be an even bigger threat. At this point, we could annihilate every living thing with the technology at our disposal, and the ever-escalating competition for who can be the biggest military and economic threat in order to maintain "peace and safety".
By contrast, consider the most powerful being in the universe becoming human, taking on the form of a servant, obedient even unto death by crucifixion. No one took his life from him, he laid it down of his own volition. One of his last words was to forgive the ones who brutally murdered him.
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
How should we prepare?
In the face of hardship, suffering, famine, economic depressions, and civil unrest amid vast political corruption, according to our master, we should be prepared to invite our oppressors to a massive barbeque, with all the fixins’.
If we are abused, forgive and bless, do not curse and take revenge, or treat those who want to kill us and take all our liberty as if they are not the beloved children of God…because they are!
If you are experiencing fear in regards to a perceived dangerous group, (be they racists, communists, fascists, or even terrorists) please know that it is a result of careful programming. I refer to this as a program for a reason. There are people who work, very successfully I might add, to keep everyone afraid of each other.
The "us versus them" mentality has pushed us to the brink of disaster. We must be reprogrammed by the Holy Spirit, brainwashed (if you will) with the agenda of God's Kingdom, saturating ourselves in the Good News of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Reprogramming
All authority on Earth and in Heaven has been given to me.
Please consider turning off all forms of media and entertainment and dedicating yourselves to prayer and fasting. The result might save our nation from destruction but more importantly, the people of God will have their hearts aligned with His and begin again to look, sound, think, and feel more like Christ.
Jesus wants to be king not only of our soul but of our bodies, of our minds, our families, and our neighborhoods.
If you are stockpiling weapons and ammunition in order to defend your property, food, or cash from marauders, you are preparing to disobey our true King, Jesus Christ. Murder begins in one’s heart.
If you are reading this as a warrior who has already taken human life, or done grave harm to an enemy on the battlefield, and your heart is hurting because of it, I have it on the word of the King that you can be forgiven. You can be healed and you can be made new.
If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There is no transgression so horrible that our loving Father will not forgive.
If you have never heard of the Way of the Spiritual Warrior, the Eternal Rule of Jehovah, or the commandment to surrender our lives to the One who judges rightly and it sounds like something you want to be a part of, pray this prayer out loud often:
I want to know Christ
and the power of his resurrection,
the fellowship of sharing in his suffering,
becoming like him in his death,
so somehow to attain to the resurrection of the dead
Hold the line
The King is soon returning to set the world right, to unify Heaven and Earth under one rule. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. We will be like Him when we see Him as He is.
Do not fall into deception or give yourself to any dark falsehoods. Let us not engage in ill-fated and misguided attempts to solve the brokenness in the world by force, the power of humans, but through
Christ’s love. Set the captives free, bind up the wounds of the hurting, bring them into Our Family. We will never die, so do not fear those who kill the body, remember they cannot kill the soul.
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven.
About the Author
Jonathan Cannone studied Constitutional Law and History before hitch-hiking around the American Southeast a while.
He settled down in the Allegheny Mountains, to the West of the Shenandoah Valley, where he is a husband, father of four, homesteader, and carpenter.