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TRAIN LIKE A SOLDIER OF GOD!
"Be Strong In The Lord And In His Mighty Power!" -Ephesians 6:10
This special spiritual training program is designed to train all Christians in the basic spiritual disciplines necessary to be able to unleash God’s full power in your life and in our world in the way that God desires so that you can truly become "a good soldier of Christ." These practices are inspired from the life and teachings of Jesus and are what has allowed great saints like Joan of Arc to be able to perform truly spectacular feats during their lives for God. For a better understanding of what it actually means to have the full power of God and exactly what God expects from every Christian please read the paper directly below titled Learn How To Overcome Evil With The Full Power of God before you begin. Once you are ready to make the commitment to draw closer to God through the practices detailed on the rest of this page then please begin this training program and allow God Himself to lead you through it and turn you into a mighty soldier for Him!
Learn How To Overcome Evil With The Full Power Of God!
The story of Saint Joan of Arc’s life has been hailed as “the wonder tale of the ages” for good reason because all that she was able to accomplish is truly unparalleled in the history of the world. Only seventeen years old when she took command of the army of France she is the youngest person to ever hold supreme command of the army of a nation. Within only a few months of taking command she won one of the great turning point battles in all of history and just a month later she won one of the most overwhelming victories in all of history. Her brilliant successes on the battlefield saved her country from being enslaved by a foreign invader and made her a hero forever to her country and to everyone who loves God and freedom. While some people still struggle to explain in worldly terms how she could accomplish so much what Saint Joan of Arc’s life really shows so dramatically to our world is what a Christian can achieve when they possess the full power of God.
Unfortunately the average Christian never even comes close to exhibiting the full power of God during their life which is a great tragedy because Jesus declared that: “All things are possible for one who believes!”(Mark 9:23) Jesus said this while healing a demon possessed boy after His own disciples had failed in trying to drive out the demonic spirit from the child. This particular biblical story is a very important one for all Christians to know because it shows that even people who follow Jesus closely like His disciples and have personal relationships with Him do not always have the full power of God to be able to overcome evil. This is however not at all what Jesus expects from His people which is what had caused Jesus to exclaim to all of them with such great exasperation: “O faithless and perverse generation. How long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?” (Matthew 17:17, Mark 9:19, Luke 9:41)
There is little doubt that Jesus is just as upset with Christians today who have no more ability to overcome evil than His disciples did in this instance with the demon possessed boy. The answer for everyone today is the same as it was for His disciples who had asked Jesus later when they were alone with Him to explain why they had failed. Jesus told them the reason why they could not drive out the evil spirit in the boy was: “Because of your unbelief. For truly I tell you that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you!” (Matthew 17:20)
Having faith in God is what is absolutely essential to being able to overcome evil with the power of God. And it only takes a very little genuine faith because a mustard seed was the tiniest seed known to anyone when Jesus walked the earth. On the other hand lack of faith is what keeps God from being able to perform “mighty works” as shown by the people in the very hometown of Jesus. When Jesus went back to Nazareth He tried to teach the people there God’s truth from the scriptures but they did not believe in Him and “He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” (Matthew 13:58) When people do not truly believe in God then it greatly limits what He is able to do for us so we must do all that we possibly can to strengthen our faith in Him.
Fortunately for us Jesus also gave His disciples some indication during the whole discussion concerning the demon possessed boy about what can help us to have the faith necessary to be able to do “all things.” The Apostles Matthew and Mark both recorded Jesus further telling His disciples: “This kind [of demon] can only be driven out by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17:21 & Mark 9:29) In telling His disciples this Jesus was revealing how important having a deep relationship with God is for being able to overcome evil because prayer and fasting are such essential parts of truly knowing God intimately and being in union with His will. It is therefore extremely important for Christians today to understand that to be able to do anything of consequence for God requires having a deep relationship with Him which is only possible through spiritual disciplines like prayer and fasting.
We can certainly see this modeled in the life of Saint Joan of Arc because prayer and fasting were central to the way that she lived out her incredible faith. It is no coincidence that prior to her being chosen by God to save her country by driving the enemy invaders out of France she passionately engaged in prayer and fasting just as her mother later described: "Because the people suffered so much, she had a great compassion for them in her heart and despite her youth she would fast and pray for them with great devotion and fervor." The real secret to Saint Joan of Arc’s success was her deep relationship with God that gave her the full power of God to do be able to perform deeds so great that even someone as cynical about human nature as Mark Twain would say about her: “Whatever thing men call great, look for it in Joan of Arc and there you will find it.”
Saint Joan of Arc is far from being the only saint of God to have performed miraculous feats during their life and the Apostle Paul makes a point of showing exactly how much Christians can accomplish with faith in Hebrews 11. Paul lists some of the great Christian heroes like Moses, Joseph, David, Samson along with many others and tells us how they “through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.”(Hebrews 11:32) Paul’s whole discourse in Hebrews 11 makes it overwhelmingly clear that Christians can accomplish “all things,” just as Jesus promised, when we have the same kind of faith that all the great Christian heroes possessed.
It is high time for all Christians today to start living their lives with the full power of God and become forces for good in this dark and evil infested world. Even if we fear we still do not have the faith necessary to do “all things” after doing all that we can to be close to God we need only remember one other great lesson from the story of Jesus healing the demon possessed boy because what the boy’s father said to Jesus is what we all need to say to God: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”(Mark 9:24) And once we truly have the faith of Christian heroes like Saint Joan of Arc then we will unleash God’s full power in our lives and be able to overcome any and all evil that we will ever face which will contribute greatly to restoring freedom to all of our lost humanity! May God Bless us all with the faith to do exactly this!
“For the Kingdom of God is not in words but in Power!”
1 Corinthians 4:20
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"I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being."-Ephesians 3:16
"Transcend this physical world by training your inner senses to be more perceptive to the full eternal realty of God's Kingdom!" -BDK
† THE TRAINING PROGRAM †
"DRAW CLOSE TO GOD AND
HE WILL DRAW CLOSE TO YOU!"
-James 4:8
STEP 1 - Draw Closer To God Through Prayer!
"The fervent prayer of a righteous person has tremendous power to prevail!"-James 5:16
The great necessity of prayer in order to have any kind of real relationship with God is usually understood by just about every Christian however what is not well understood is that the way in which we engage in prayer has a huge impact upon how closely we are actually able to connect with God. Few Christians today have even heard of contemplative prayer which is the type of prayer that all the great spiritual masters used to obtain deep mystical relationships with God. While contemplative prayer is usually associated mostly with monks or hermits who have chosen a life of prayer apart from the world it does not mean that only such people should engage in this type of prayer. In fact many of the great heroes of the faith like St. Joan of Arc or the famed knights associated with Christian military orders led lives centered around contemplative prayer precisely because it gave them the close relationship with God that they absolutely needed to be able to fully unleash His power as they battled evil in the active world.
The word “contemplate” means to reflect upon and meditate about a subject which is the way to begin contemplative prayer by focusing upon one of God’s spiritual truths as revealed in the Holy Bible. Contemplative prayer also requires inner silence that can only be achieved through time spent alone with God and Jesus is the ultimate role model here because even He had to withdraw at times to be alone with God the Father. By stilling ourselves in the presence of God and allowing Him to transform us with His truth into the powerful beings He created us to be we can unleash His full power to accomplish “all things” through Him for His Glory.
The next 3 Steps of this training program will all help you to be able to better engage in contemplative prayer in order to obtain a much deeper relationship with God and the devotional messages provided below in STEP 4 will especially facilitate contemplative prayer so please use them in the way detailed below and “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2) through your prayer and time alone with God. You can also look forward to learning a lot more about prayer as you progress through these devotionals with messages like “The Lord’s Prayer IS The Perfect Prayer!” And “God Fought For Us: The Power Of Faith & Prayer On Display At The Battle Of Agincourt!”
STEP 2 - Refresh Yourself Daily With Communion!
"Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you!”-John 6:53
The practice of communion was instituted by God Himself and not by man and it is therefore a great gift of grace to us from Jesus to help us to better embrace Him and more fully receive His all-sustaining love. As Jesus said in Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all of you who are weary and over-burdened, and I will refresh you.” And communion is exactly what every Christian must do regularly to be refreshed and renewed by the very body and blood of Jesus which is our heavenly manna today.
Because this practice was instituted by Jesus it means that it is beyond our ability to even comprehend all that it actually means in terms of sustaining us because of the great mysteries of God that are indwelled in this practice. At the very least every Christian should look at communion as the ultimate performance enhancing supplement ever and desire to receive it regularly just as athletes use supplements regularly to improve their performance in competition. But communion is also so much more than this because when we receive it in the way it was intended as the actual body and blood of our Lord Jesus it helps us to become more a part of God by receiving His power and strength and all that He Is into our own fallen bodies.
One of the best ways to receive communion is while also engaging in contemplative prayer which further helps enhance our link to God as we pray. By doing this on a regular basis as in EVERY DAY we will be continuously refreshed with God’s power and presence in a way that will much more fully unleash His Divine power in us and through us. This is exactly how so many of the great saints of God lived out their faith and why they were able to accomplish so much for God during their lives so let us all learn to have the same passion and desire as they did toward receiving communion. For more detailed information about all that communion means to us as Christians and how to best receive this great gift from God please read these additional Maid of Heaven Foundation resources:
Learn to Love Communion Like St. Joan of Arc
and Book 4 of The Imitation Of Christ
STEP 3 - Fast For Deeper Spiritual Connection With God!
“Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God's mouth!”-Matthew 4:4
The great spiritual benefits of fasting are lost upon most Christians today which is very unfortunate and not at all what God intended for us. Jesus certainly fasted and He expects His people to also fast which is why He gave some instructions about the proper way to fast in Matthew 6:16. The greatest benefit of fasting is that it helps us to become much less attached to the things of this world allowing a much deeper connection with God. This is what makes fasting so very helpful when we are also engaging in contemplative prayer and why it should be an essential component in every serious Christian’s life.
You can certainly see in many Biblical examples including Jesus Himself that God’s people resorted to fasting whenever they had an intense spiritual need for God. When David’s son was very sick: “David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground.” (2 Samuel 12:16) When King Jehoshaphat received disturbing news that a vast enemy army was approaching: “Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.” (2 Chronicles 20:3) And to begin His earthly ministry after being baptized Jesus fasted for “forty days and forty nights” in the wilderness while He was tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:1)
These examples teach us that fasting can help us to draw much closer to God in times of great need however we do not need to wait until we are desperate for God to perform a fast. We can use fasting on a regular basis to give us the extra boost that we need to connect deeper with God to really know and love Him “with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) And by combining fasting with contemplative prayer we can achieve such a deep mystical link with God that we will truly be able to “do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
There are no exact rules about how to go about fasting and each individual must figure out what works the best for them remembering that the greatest goal in fasting is to become closer to God. Some people may need to go without food completely while others may just need to restrict themselves to juice or another beverage. The length of a fast can also vary greatly from person to person as some may feel the need to fast for several days while others may only need to do mini-fasts for a day or even less. Again your goal should be to draw closer to God through your fasting. You will know when you are fasting properly because you will sense being much closer to God and your connection with Him will be much more intense making your communication with Him so much easier and fulfilling.
STEP 4 - Use Inspirational Devotional Message To Focus On Key Scriptures Lived Out By Great
Christian Soldiers of God!
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword!”-Hebrews 4:12
Just as someone who desires to learn how to fly an airplane must do a lot more than just read the manual so someone who wants to be a true soldier of God must do more than just read the Bible and must also be trained in the Word by great Christians of the past like the Apostle Paul intended in Hebrews 11.
The messages contained in the book Glorious Messages About God & Freedom make excellent weekly devotionals to do exactly this because they will help bring you much closer to God in the way necessary to unleash His full power in your life and in our world because they use the examples of great Christians and how they lived out God's Word during their own lives. These messages are especially powerful when they are used along with contemplative prayer, communion and fasting as outlined above in the first 3 steps of this training program. Each message focuses upon one or more of God’s great truths as revealed in His written word that will help you to be transformed by His truth into the powerful person He created you to be in His own “Glorious” image. To better understand all that these messages can do to help you to unleash God’s full power please read the book’s introduction directly below this step on this page.
To get the most out of these messages as you use them during this training program it is recommended that you read each weekly devotional message fully and then continue to use the message every day as needed during the week while you pray about the truths of God contained in each message. By using each message in this way you will be facilitating contemplative prayer as you “contemplate” these truths of God while also allowing Him to speak to you directly about all that He desires that you know about His Truth.
The Maid of Heaven Foundation is very pleased then to be able to provide you with each weekly devotional message for you to use as you proceed through the Unleash God’s Full Power Training Program. The complete book is available HERE to all members of the Maid of Heaven Foundation however you do not need to be a member to receive every message contained in this book on a weekly basis by simply visiting the page linked below as part of this training program. May God use them all to Bless you with His Great Truth so as to Unleash His Full Power through YOU!
GO TO THIS WEEK'S INSPIRATIONAL DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE NOW BY CLICKING THE LINK BELOW:
THIS WEEK'S MESSAGE: Physical Training Is Of Some Value, But…
from Glorious Messages About God & Freedom
***ATTENTION: Just as an elite athlete eats a diet that is much more "nutrient rich" than the average "sugary" diet so these messages are much more "rich" in God's Truth so give yourself plenty of time to digest them and get conditioned to this level of transformative messages about God!
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INTRODUCTION to Glorious Messages About God & Freedom
"They shall speak of the glory of your Kingdom, and talk of your power; so that all people may know of your mighty acts and the glorious majesty of your Kingdom." (Psalm 145:11-12)
The messages contained in this book can help everyone to obtain a much deeper relationship with God which is exactly what God Himself desires so that we can all become the “glorious” beings that He created us to be in His image. (2 Corinthians 3:18) When I began writing these messages my intent was simple to reach out to people who were not receiving the full truth about God because of various factors related to modern life. As the messages began to pour out of me each week I realized how much God wants me to share His truth with everyone in exactly this way. By examining key scriptures from His written word along with the shining examples of His saints throughout history and how they lived out these very truths of God during their lives the scriptures absolutely come alive fully displaying His Divine Glory and Love for all of us!
The extreme importance of becoming close to God cannot be understated both in terms of our eternal destiny and for being able to live out our lives to the highest level of service to God and our fellow man. A big part of my motivation for writing these messages is seeing how little ability Christians today have in being able to effectively resist and overcome the forces of evil in our world. This is certainly not what God expects from His people and is not consistent with the illustrious history of God’s people down through the ages. When we become Christians we become forever a part of the greatest power in the universe which is God and He can and will give us whatever we need to always be victorious in whatever He calls us to do but we must learn how to conquer through Him (1 John 5:4) as His saints have always done.
In my own quest to become closer to God I have benefited greatly at times from the wisdom of other devout Christians and there are two pieces of literature in particular that have always helped me the most of any books outside of the Bible. The Imitation of Christ and My Utmost For His Highest are both Christian classics that I continue to use as devotionals because the messages contained in these books present God’s truth in such a powerful and transforming way. It is my hope and desire that Glorious Messages About God & Freedom will also greatly help believers in the same way to become closer to God and be transformed into the very likeness of His Son Jesus Christ which should be the ultimate goal of every Christian.
The best way to get the most out of each of these messages is by using them as weekly devotionals to focus on the piece of God’s truth presented in each message for the particular week of the year in which they are presented. This means that just because they were originally written to serve as a message to use for worship on Sunday does not mean that they should only be used once on Sunday. To even begin to understand the great truths of God requires serious contemplation and tremendous help from His Holy Spirit. Each message should therefore be used as a means of facilitating deeper contemplation as led by His Holy Spirit so as to achieve the close communion with God necessary to ever obtain true wisdom.
An explanation about the scriptures used in this book is necessary because they are not from any one particular translation of the Holy Bible as is the customary method of presenting Biblical scripture in literature today. Though I personally prefer either the King James Bible or the New International Version there is unfortunately no single translation of the Bible that is completely accurate in every instance because of the severe limits of human ability to be able to first comprehend and then translate into modern English the great truths of God as contained in His written Word. My goal was to present each scripture as closely as possible to the way that God has written them upon my own heart after praying to Him to give me greater understanding along with the ability to communicate His truth in the most accurate way possible. I advise everyone to also pray for understanding and guidance from God as you read and contemplate each scripture given and allow Him to Show you His truth and write it upon your own heart which He is always ready to do when we come to Him with a sincere longing to know Him better. The writing of this book is a prime example of this because God actually showed me many translations of His Word from past leaders in Christian History that pre-date any modern translation of the Bible which allowed me to better present His truth exactly as He desires as you will soon see.
One of the more joyous parts of writing these messages was being able to use St. Joan of Arc as an example so frequently because I could actually feel God’s pleasure whenever I did. There were so many instances when I was praying to God to give me greater help to be able to explain His truth when I would hear Him answer saying: “Why aren’t you using my daughter Joan as an example here?” Then I would remember a story from her life that demonstrated perfectly what I was trying to say or find the perfect picture of her to visually display the whole point of a certain message. I must with extreme gratitude to God say that if not for all the assistance He has given to me by way of His beloved daughter then this book would never ever have been possible to write.
This should serve as enough of an introduction to help everyone to get the most out of these Glorious Messages About God & Freedom as you read and study them over the course of the next year. The complete book actually contains Fifty-Six different messages because in addition to one for every week of the year there is a special message for Christmas and three special messages for Easter. By reading these messages every week and using them to draw closer to God you will be able to hear Him speak to you through each message and “THEN YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE!” (John 8:32)
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FINAL STEP - TRAIN
CONTINUOUSLY LIKE A
GOOD SOLDIER OF CHRIST!!!
"And let us run with perseverance the race that God has set before us!"-Hebrews 12:1
This training program should seem simple for the very reason that it is simple however few Christians today actually engage in all of these practices on a regular basis which is the reason that they have virtually no power to overcome evil in our world. Just as it takes regular training for any athlete to be able to excel in athletics so it also takes regular training in these spiritual disciplines to be able to unleash the full power of God through you. THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS TRAINING PROGRAM IS THEREFORE YOUR TOTAL COMMITMENT TO PERFORM THE PRACTICES OUTLINED ABOVE CONTINUOUSLY! Whenever you need extra motivation to continue just remember the triumphant words of the Apostle Paul about what it really means to complete a training program like this for God:
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever!”
1 Corinthians 9:25
“TRAIN YOURSELF FOR GODLINESS!”
1 Timothy 4:7
“Strengthened with all might, according to His Glorious Power!”
1 Colossians 1:11
"Gird yourselves and be powerful sons because it is better for us to die in battle than to witness the desecration of our nation and our saints."
1 Mc 3:58-59 as translated by Pope Gregory VIII in his famous Audita tremendi of 1187
"The fixed determination to aquire the Warrior Soul, and having aquired it to either conquer or perish with honor, is the secret of victory!"
Legendary American General George S. Patton
"TO ALL WHO RECEIVED HIM, TO THEM HE GAVE POWER TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD!"
John 1:12
TRAINING TIPS
- Start slowly by incorporating a step at a time into your life schedule until you get used to doing all the steps on a regular basis.
- Determine your own peaceful place where you can be alone with God away from any and all distractions.
- The best way to become more adept at contemplative prayer is simple by engaging in it again and again until it becomes as natural as breathing and it will over time.
- Visualizing the whole scene of the last supper of Jesus greatly helps to kindle a deeper desire to regularly receive the Lord’s body.
- ALL of these steps can be performed every morning upon first waking when the body is in a natural state of fasting before break-fast.
- Discipline yourself to perform these steps regularly until they become as much of a habit as any other physical necessity of life such as brushing your teeth every day.
- Find a training partner to give you support and accountability to help keep you motivated to continue training regularly.
- Just as an elite athlete eats a diet that is much more "nutrient rich" than the average "sugary" diet so these messages are much more "rich" in God's Truth so give yourself plenty of time to digest them and get conditioned to this level of transformative messages about God!
HOW TO ALWAYS RECEIVE THE CURRENT WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL MESSAGE
This page HERE displays the current Weekly Devotional Message for every day of the year!
Make sure to "refresh" the page if the message does not change every week on Sunday.
To receive the current weekly message on your own computer as a feed please
To receive the weekly message by email please signup by clicking the image below:
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