One of the best and most unique characteristics about the army of God is that every private can have a close, personal relationship with the Commander-in-Chief. In fact, any private can become His very best friend. He will even share with the lowest private His ultimate strategies and plans, but even better than that, even the lowest private can come boldly into His very throne room at any time and be most welcome!

That really is one of the best parts about being in God’s army. However, there is even more! There is a comradeship in the army of God that cannot be found any place else. That, too, is needed in our life—true friends. Remember, when the Lord made Adam, all Adam had for companionship was God, so God Himself said that this was not good enough, but that man needed human companionship also. In fact, the very first thing that God said was not good was loneliness: “It is not good for the man to be alone” (see Genesis 2:18). Companionship with others is crucial to our spiritual and mental health, and God seeks to give His people the very best.

As I have and will reiterate often we can never be fulfilled or have peace in our lives until our relationship to God has been restored. There is nothing as fulfilling as our relationship to Him because we were created for this purpose, and nothing else can fill that void. He also created us to need each other, and there will be a void in our lives without proper human companionship. The army of God is intended to be, and will be, the ultimate human society on the earth. It is meant to be built upon the place of the family, but a family can never be all that it is called to be without also having a right relationship to God and the church.

Of course, a part of our training can include being called away to be alone for a while to develop a closer relationship to God, or families being called away to be alone to get closer to God and one another. But ultimately, a vital local church relationship is essential for our maturity. This is the cord of three strands that is not easily broken (see Ecclesiastes 4:12), but in every relationship getting closer to God is essential.

Now let’s look at some basic factors and strategies for our times. You may have heard the statement, “The impassioned few will control the neutral masses.” This is a historic fact. A tiny percentage of people have controlled the world for good or evil.

Let’s consider this for just a moment. We have probably all witnessed a dominant five-year-old controlling a whole family, determining where they go and what they do. If we have been in the church for long, we have probably experienced small groups arising that are seeking to control the whole church and are often successful. When this happens, in a family or in a church, it establishes a very bad atmosphere in which no one is happy or at peace. These situations often, if not always, lead to a breakup of the family, church, or other organization.

Right now in America and Europe, the most ungodly forces have been taking over and controlling the neutral masses. In just the last few decades, the high places that control a culture, such as education, the media, and government have almost all been taken over by forces hostile to Christianity, displacing Christians. In just a few decades, we have gone from the place where it was considered almost unthinkable in the West to belittle or attack Christianity, where it is now considered politically incorrect not to attack Christians. We are quickly crossing from what has been called “the post-Christian era” to “the anti-Christian era,” at least in the West. 

There are extreme groups who have been quite vocal about their agenda to destroy Christianity and are driving any remaining Christians underground. A very tiny percentage has this agenda, but because the rest of the population is so neutral, including the Christians, the agenda is easily controlled by this tiny group of anti-Christians. This is the nature of the antichrist spirit, and it has been very effective in history and in the present. It can be defeated and this whole process reversed. How? All it will take is for Christians to not be neutral or lukewarm, but to take their stand as bold, courageous, defenders of the faith that they are called to be. To be neutral or lukewarm is one of the worst things that could happen to a Christian according to Revelation 3:14-15:

“The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot.
‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.’”

How could anyone who has met the living God, the all-consuming fire, become lukewarm about Him? The cause of this is one of the ultimate gates or openings through which hell gains access into our lives. Shutting this one gate of hell is one of the most important battles that we must fight. If we win this one, many more victories will soon follow.

We must also keep in mind that cowardice is never an option for a Christian. Cowards are listed along with murderers and the other ungodly ones who will not inherit the kingdom of God. As the Lord Jesus exhorts us in Matthew 16:24-26:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
“For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.
“For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

We have no option but to walk by faith, rejecting fear as any means of guidance in our life. If we will fight the good fight of faith, we cannot lose. If we do not want to fight this fight, we cannot win. Let’s play to win!