Soldiers of Light
Greetings and good morning brothers and sisters. This is Dr. James Perry continuing with our series
where we seek to explore the deeper meanings of our relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the years,
the heavenly Father has revealed many revelations of spiritual truth to me, and I want to share them
with you. This morning we seek to understand the meaning of the story: Soldiers of Light.
And now, sit back and listen to today's message.
Soldiers of Light
"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand.." Ephesians, Chapter 6, Verse 13.
As the darkness gave way to the light of day, my soul slumbered and slept, but not for long. At first
it did not hear the quiet still voice that beckoned to it in a similar manner that a still breeze blows
over a quiet sea. It was a quiet call, barely audible: you had to listen intently. But the call was for me,
and though it was quiet and soft, it somehow had the power to awaken me. For some reason, I know
not why, I tossed and turned in my soul's restless sleep and must have accidentally rolled onto an
uncomfortable spot because I awoke sufficiently to realize that a still voice was calling me.
Detecting that something was amiss, I fully aroused myself and diligently strained to hear the soft,
gentle call: "I need you," it quietly said. "I want you to join my Army of Light. I want you to be a
soldier of light. My Son, Jesus has been given command of the Army of Light." Having recently
registered for the spiritual draft, I responded at once: "Yes, you can count on me; I will go all the
way." "Good," the voice whispered. "Training will begin right away. Report to Camp Mercy."
I reported to Camp Mercy right away, where those angelic drill sergeants of mercy were waiting for
me. This training was designed to develop my budding faith, trust and tenacity. My soul underwent
a real test under this discipline as it was transformed from a soul that meant good to one that actually
did good. Under their tutelage, those persistent stimulators of moral and spiritual choices, my soul
moved from doubting to faith, from insecurity to certainty, from impatience to forbearance, from a
weak believing weed blowing in the wind to a rugged oak tree of faith.
It was topsy turvy for awhile as my emotions struggled to adapt to the constantly shifting changes
in what I thought I knew. The preconceived ideas that I had caused me a lot of suffering and
disappointment, but my emotions eventually became teachable. They learned to follow my will,
dominated by truth, mercy and even love. And eventually my emotions finally calmed down and
accepted the truth of uncertainty with security. I must admit that the uncertainty, the not knowing
from day to day what was coming next, was quite unsettling. My instructors told me not to worry
about it. They instructed me that I knew all I needed to know, all that I could know, and still be
successful. Now that was an odd bit of philosophy. Why could I not know more? I was instructed
that the training required that it be done that way--that while I may never be able to fully understand
why it was done this way, I would grow to appreciate it being done that way, even learn to love it
being done that way.
Finally the training was completed, at least that phase of it, for I discerned there was no end to this
training. We were finally given the mission. We were going to attack the Nation of Evil. Part of our
training was designed to get rid of the evil infiltrators within us. Filled now with goodness and armed
with the weapons of Truth, we were ready to assault the cruel, joy-robbing and peace-destroying
Nation of Evil. The attack was launched in a three pronged approach--by air, land and sea. There
were temporary setbacks as soon as some of our comrades suffered emotional casualties and had to
be taken care of, not to mention the delays of time and the handicaps of space. And of course we had
to be very careful because each enemy soldier had the doomsday weapon of free will. They had the
power to self destruct if they chose not to surrender, and we really did not want to lose a single one
of the evildoers. We wanted them to join us and become Soldiers of Light as we had become.
We soon appreciated the wisdom of our training and now fully understood the role of
disappointment, and the need to become disappointment-proof. We also understood the unavoidable
spectacle of suffering and were thankful that our drill instructors were merciful. They really prepared
us to succeed. They did not want us to fail. As we engaged the enemy of evildoers, we appreciated
the role of patience in our training for it took some time for even our most powerful weapon of love
to break through the armor of evil. The enemy forces fought bravely and intensely but were
eventually defeated. We used the balm of mercy and the salve of forgiveness to heal their many
moral and spiritual infirmities. Not only did we conquer them, but we made them one of us--soldiers
of light. We were more than conquerors.
Unfortunately, there were some who used the doomsday weapons of free will to self destruct, but
before they did, we rescued the hostages of spiritual value from their control. In a daring early
morning raid while they were sleeping, using our ultimate weapon of persistent values and eternal
meanings, we rescued them even before the enemy was aware. "He who has shall be given more, he
who has not, even that which he thinks he has shall be taken away." The soldiers of light stand ready
at all times to go into spiritual battle wherever there is evildoing under the command and leadership
of their beloved commander, Lord Jesus.
This concludes today's message on understanding meaning of the story, Soldiers of Light. We hope
you find something in this message to ponder and pray about as you go about your day. Until next
time, this is Dr. James Perry.
Inspirational Messages
By Dr. James Perry
Your Kingdom Come, Your Will Be Done!
Soldiers of Light
