Galatians 2:20 - Amplified Classic Version – “I have been crucified with Christ (in Him I have shared His crucifixion); it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (By adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

No one says it better than the Apostle Paul! He was forever transformed on his road to Damascus experience, where the Lord Jesus overcame him and transformed Paul’s life from being a persecutor of Christ to becoming a lover of Christ! 

When we accept Jesus’ invitation to follow Him, we also make the choice to be crucified together with Him. We choose to lay down our lives and to put on Christ, to become a new creation in Him and pick up our Cross... take on His purpose for our lives and we choose to become An Unexpected Warrior!

Romans 10:9 – “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

v. 10 goes on to say, “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

It is all about faith… faith in who He says that He is! Faith in the fact that Jesus IS the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us… Faith that He was born of a virgin, that He was crucified for our sins to restore us back to the Father, faith that He rose again on the third day, victorious over death, hell, and the grave!

Jesus came from heaven to earth to live a life we couldn’t live, to pay a debt we couldn’t pay, and break the curse of sin and death that we could not break…

He didn’t do it to form some religion… He didn’t do it to BE loved… He did it because He IS love! “For God so loved the World that He gave…” John 3:16

He came so you and I can be the Unexpected Warriors we were created to be!

I Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Often times we can find ourselves in a place where we are wondering what the will of God is for our lives… And it all begins right here! Rejoice! Pray! Give thanks! When we begin with those things, the will of the Lord will begin to be revealed to us.

When we take the focus off of ourselves… off of our struggles and circumstances… and give those things over to Him, He will begin to open up His will and His plan for our lives!

Create a place of fellowship with the Father, “a secret place”, where you can wait on God and hear from heaven! A place where He will reveal His will for your life and make you to be an Unexpected Warrior!

Colossians 4:2 – Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; 

The Apostle Paul was telling about the importance of prayer... Praying with intention, with fervency… Always being watchful, always being thankful to God for His leading and guiding us through…

Remember to stand in the gap for our Pastors, for evangelists, missionaries… supporting them in prayer… You may never know the difference you are making... The Word of God says effective, fervent prayer make tremendous power available! Prayer changes things!  

Pray without ceasing for God’s will to be done in and through our Nation’s… In and through our elected officials, whether we like them, whether we voted for them or not… Only God can change the hearts of men… It is our job to pray that His kingdom come, His will be done on earth, just as it is in heaven…

It is our job to be the Unexpected Warrior we were created to be!

Hebrews 12:2 – “…looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Jesus paid it all for us! He made a way where there seemed to be no way… He is the Lamb that was slain from the foundations of the earth… God’s redemption plan was made complete in Jesus Christ!

Paul said, we can lay aside every weight that tries to sidetrack us, every sin which the enemy has set to trap us. And we can run the race, we can finish our course because Jesus has completed His race and our faith is complete in Him! 

So, don’t become discouraged, don’t grow weary in well doing. Keep your eyes on Him and fight from a place of victory! Be the Unexpected Warrior the He has created you to be!

Matthew 6:14 – For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Jesus had been teaching His disciples that we do good deeds to please God, not to be seen and praised my man… He was teaching them how to pray… not standing in the streets or in the synagogues to be seen by others… But to go into our secret place and pray and fellowship with God… He sees us in our secret place and He will reward us openly… 

So then when we pray, we first praise and worship Him… We ask Him for His will to be done in our lives just as it is in heaven… We ask and thank God for meeting our daily needs… We ask the Lord to forgive us for things we have done wrong and to help us to be quick to forgive others… 

Thank Him for keeping us from temptation and from the traps of the enemy… For His is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever! And He has created you to be an Unexpected Warrior! 

Revelation 4:11 – “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” 

God alone is worthy of all our praise… Everything was made through Him. He spoke and the worlds were formed. Light be! Heavens be! Oceans be!

Without Him, nothing would be that was made… By Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on the earth…

And we were created in the very image of God! We are His workmanship, created to create and to be creative! And just as He spoke and created the heavens and the earth, we too can speak good or bad things into or out of our lives. 

But most importantly, we were created to praise Him and honor Him with our lives and be the Unexpected Warriors we were created to be!

John 10:11 - “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” 

He said that someone who is not the true shepherd will not give his own life for the flock… Only the true shepherd is prepared to give his life for them…

Jesus was teaching that He is The Way, The Truth, and The Life… He is the door… No one comes to the Father but through Jesus. There have been many false shepherds that have come and that will come. But the true sheep, the true followers of Christ know His voice and follow Him… He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. He knows the Father and the Father knows Him.

The thief, the false shepherd, comes only to steal, kill and destroy… But Jesus came to lay His life down and He rose victorious over death, Hell, and the grave for His sheep that we may have abundant life! That we may become Unexpected Warriors 

Colossians 3:17 – And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

We are to put on Christ! Be a new man in Christ Jesus! Putting on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering… forgiveness, love… letting the peace of God rule in our hearts… 

Do everything in the name of the Lord, being thankful to God… in our work, do it unto the Lord with thankfulness… and if it is not where you want to be, begin thanking Him for a promotion or a new position…  

In our relationships, walking in the love of Christ toward our friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors… being thankful for those relationships we have or ones we would like to have… in our trials and struggles… No matter the difficulty, being thankful for where He’s brought us from and where He’s taking us to, knowing He’ll not leave us in the valley of shadows… But that He will empower us to be Unexpected Warriors! 

John 19:30 – So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

The Father’s gift to a broken world had been given upon the cross… It’s at the cross that we can freely accept that gift into our lives… But there are some things that we may have to lay down… Things that we treat as precious family treasures, memories that we don’t want to let go of… 

They are all the hurts, the pains, the sorrows that we have carried through our lives… All the sin, the shame, and the regrets the we have held so tightly to… 

But the blood of Jesus cries out to you today, “I paid it all for you! I took it all upon me! All your sin and shame, your failures, your fears… Give it all to me, you can trust me with it… Lay it down at My feet. Let Me turn your sorrow into joy. Let me give you beauty for your ashes. Let My blood wash away the sin and the shame… Become a new creation in Me. Become the Unexpected Warrior I created you to be!