Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. . .

Psalm 119:11

Soldier, there is a battle raging around. You need to be taking in God's Word afresh each day. And, you must be memorizing each day.

So often children and new believers are taught to learn the primary verses of the faith. After a time, the practice of memorizing wanes.

Without memorizing (even if only a phrase at a time), there can be no meditating on the Word. Without meditating, the Word is not penetrating deeply or constantly.

There can be no power in prayer until the one who prays can agree with God. Agreeing with God requires a depth in His Word.

He is always fresh. He is always new. He is always infinite.

He is always revealing Himself.

Memorize.

What is the Lord's delight?

Obedience.

Soldier of The Cross, when you step across the Line into the service of The King, you must agree with God. You must take Him at His Word.

His Word becomes your Standard. You experience strength by faith alone. To assume independence is to be weak and apart from Power.

Hell will be abundantly filled with fools who took things into their own hands, apart from the Lord.

Heaven will be radiant with the glow of those who took Him at His Word.

Stand on the promises!

Many have bled and died in the spreading of the Gospel.

In fact, some of the things people have endured seem incomprehensible.

Yet, when you read missionary biographies, the life of the Soldier is marked by stories of God's faithfulness. There are stories of His deliverance. There are stories of exquisite fellowship with others.

If you are available to serve, you will have a special place where you put life's mysteries. This special place is deep in the heart, where things are completely given up to the Lord.

We do not have the capacity to understand everything, nor do we need to know why. In fact, it is none of our business. If we have to know why, it means we are not trusting.

The bottom line is, we follow Him by and through His Word.

To the death, by His Life!

In Isaiah 7, God says He will "whistle" for the flies and the bees.

What an amazing God, who has all things in His control.

Soldier of The Cross, in prayer, you must state the purpose of your day.

Is your purpose to get through unscathed? Is your purpose to complete your agenda? Is your purpose to placate others? Is your purpose to complete some project?

Or, is your purpose to be a Living Sacrifice, in obedience to Romans 12?

What makes a Soldier?

He who knows he has signed up to be in the service of another.

Does that include you?

What does it mean to be a Soldier of The Cross?

He has said the Cross must be taken up daily, and the Soldier is to follow Him.

This means there is One to follow. This means there is a Cross to be taken up. This means that those not adhering to this instruction are not disciples.

Soldier, there is no in-between. You must make your choice.

All the world offers, or Jesus!

Be sure you are not a respecter of persons.

The cool person is not more admirable. The successful person is not to be admired. God gave the increase. The wealthy must not be pandered to. The beautiful should not hold your gaze.

Learn to love the unlovely. Learn to touch the unappealing.

Learn unconditional love.

What encourages you the most?

One who is fixed firmly upon Him. One who loves unconditionally. One who is deep enough to value things of this world as they ought to be valued. One who is eager to help the poor and the lost.

One who is available to walk by faith and will do so regardless of the opinions of others.

One who has a fresh zest for the Word of God.

One who is like Jesus.

Those who don't know Him are always in a yank to get things done quickly, and according to sight.

The Soldier of The Cross must not operate in such a manner. The Word records numerous accounts of His faithful, both waiting until it seemed too late, or launching in when a move seemed far too early and defeat appeared certain.

The issue is, the battle is the Lord's.

Endurance is wrenching for the flesh, but freeing to the New Man.

What a fantastic thing is faith. We have One on whom we can rely, and He has promised He will never be deaf, never be insufficient, never be wrong and never be late.

Do the next thing as unto the Lord. Even if it is eating a meal, or attending to a child, there can be a conscious rest in appropriating the peace God gives to His Own.

His Word is the determining factor.

Refuse to be turned over. Refuse to be anxious. Refuse to run ahead of the Lord. Refuse to be offended. Refuse to be distracted.

Look up. Move on!

Dig into The Word.

Know the theme of each book.

Get a good map of Bible geography and learn who was where. Draw a timeline. Know who all the "ites" are.

There are a few of the books in the Bible that are not chronological. Know which they are.

Take it with you everywhere.

Memorize.

Read it outloud.

Ask him to reveal Himself through His Word.

He has never refused anyone.