Yesterday I wrote a post about “spiritual special forces,” men and women who would not love their own lives, even unto death, for the sake of the gospel. I began to pray about what I believe is a coming army of Nazarites devoted totally to the radical purity and devotion to the Lord that will be necessary to carry the end-times prophetic anointing. The Lord started to show me some parallels between Spiritual Special Forces and actual special forces soldiers:
Sacrifice: For some reason, the word sacrifice has taken on a negative connotation in the New Testament church. I have no idea why. The Lord honors a sacrifice of love. It’s not the sacrifice of religious duty, but rather the acknowledgement that a gap exists between the prophetic promise of the Lord to our generation and the measure of power that we currently walk in. Sacrifice, in this context, is being willing to do anything necessary to bridge the gap and access God’s power and love for us.
Just as special forces soldiers sacrifice through years of training, physical conditioning, and deployments, we must also bear the burden of preparation if we are to walk in the fullness of His power. If we are to see a Nazarite Army, we must begin praying and fasting as a lifestyle now. It may take twenty years of sacrifice to see our destiny made manifest.
Total Devotion: You would be hard pressed to find a special forces soldier who is not willing to die for his country. He understands that the risk is part of the job. Likewise, we must be willing to die for our cause, both in the literal and figurative sense.
If we really believe what we say we believe, then we should not fear death. Have you ever read the book of Revelation? Even if we are the generation that will be raised up to usher in the return of the Lord, some of us will die. It’s in the book, folks. However, the death to which I’m referring right now is the death of self; to take up our cross and follow Jesus. Prayer and fasting isn’t the cool thing to do. It’s not going to become cool next week or next year. It’s sacrifice, and people don’t understand sacrifice. All I know is that I feel something within me that compels me to do it. I must suppress my flesh in order to see Christ made manifest in me.
Militant: Special Forces soldiers can be nice guys. I’ve known many over the years. But make no mistake, when there is a mission to be accomplished they become totally devoted, single-minded prosecuters of warfare. We would do well to mimic this trait.
2 Timothy 2:4 says, “No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life.” I’m not trying to be elitist or stuck-up, but not everybody has what it takes to live the Nazarite lifestyle. If you’re boy or girl crazy, then you don’t have time for this type of devotion. If you always want to be the center of attention, this is not for you. We’re not here to hold hands, although I suspect we will end up doing much weeping together. We’re here to raise up Nazarites. If I tried to talk you into it, you would just quit in two weeks.
Do you have what it takes to be fully devoted?
