Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. II Tim.
One thing that amazes me about men, and especially about men who are soldiers, is their ability to endure hardness ... They endure hot, cold, day, night, loneliness, hunger, pain, torture, and other hardship as they fight the enemy.
Soldiers of Jesus Christ must also be able to endure hardships. The only thing that matters is the word of God and fulfilling the word of God.
Jesus even said ... Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? 54But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be? Mt. 26
So to fulfill the scriptures, Jesus endured death on a cross. This is a picture of enduring hardness ...
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Mt. 10
There are times in our lives that we have to stand against, or give up, father, mother, children, everyone to uphold scripture. This is "hardness". The word of God must be more important to us than anything or any person. Unless this is the case, we are not worthy of Jesus nor of God.
We uphold the word of God. We do not back down when confronted by "the enemy" of the word which are those going in a direction opposite to the word. We give up whatever is necessary to cling to the word of God. This is our basic requirement as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. 29And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, 30But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. 31But many that are first shall be last; and the last first. Mt. 10
It is so important to take advantage of opportunities. When the opportunity is there, we take it. A good soldier risks everything (even his own life) to accomplish the mission. We lay down our lives, our reputations, our friendships, our positions in life to exalt the Word which is our life.
A good soldier cannot go by how he feels. Feeling is simply an emotion of our flesh. Everything must be set aside to accomplish the word that is carried by us.