Soldier of The Cross, there is no time for wound-licking, whining or attention-getting. The battle is in the mind. You must allow Him to use all your faculties, all your time. If you are passive or careless, your mind will automatically revert to pruning the flesh in one way or another. We have no time for that. There are poor. There are dying. There are the ill. There are the lost. How are your hours spent? Those watching you must be able to see that you are living as though the Lord were going to come in a few hours or a few minutes. It is hard for the flesh, but not for the Spirit. Lower your head and plunge into freedom. He who is Lord is able to make the way. Rest in and on His Lordship. No Lordship, no Lord.

     Serving the Lord means thinking of Him first, His agenda first and His Body first.      Soldier of The Cross, He delights in you.  He has said that His heart is ravished when you think of Him.  He gave His life for your salvation and freedom, and He is accutely aware of your thoughts, discomforts and circumstances.      God has designed you to love Him and to serve Him.  He has designed you so that the best for you is in  subitting to Him.       He has not left you wihout instruction and He has not left you without provision.  He who is preparing a Place for you is One who takes pleasure in every act of obedience.  Every thought of obedience.      Soldier of The Cross, make sure you take time to gaze upon Him.  If you race to Him each day and hastily unload a bundle of needs, you will not be satisfied with Him.       You are so precious to Him - is He enough for you?

The Lord never asks you to do the possible.

He is the God of the impossible.

Soldier of The Cross, make sure you do not fall into the trap of evaluating the job God has given you. You do not have that capacity.

He has called us to follow Him no matter what- He has not called us to follow according to our limited concepts or experiences.

Those who are His are always on the cusp of an infinite frontier. There is no limit to what He can do.

Soldier, tell Him He can do anything with your life. With your time. With your faculties.

Invest in eternity.

There is nothing else.

Live them to the fullest. That is, according to God's Word.

Soldier of The Cross, putting aside pettiness is the result of a decision. The decision leads to the discipline of the mind.

One godly decision leads to another. When the obedient pattern begins to be established, there is release from the tentacles that would so desperately choke out the exuberant Life that is yours in Christ.

Stand before Him and tell Him He may have your hours. Your minutes.

Tell Him aloud.

There is a beautiful reward in ministering to the poor.

Remember, there are many kinds of poverty. There are those who have no home. There are those who are hungry. There are those who are ill and are poor in spirit. There are those who are in prison and are so impoverished, they are barely living.

Then, there are those who are old. In need. Lonely.

One of my most beautiful childhood memories is that of my father visiting a man who lived in a chicken coop. I remember the tiny shack, barely standing. The man must have had a degenerative disease, probably cancer. I remember how frail he was, I could see his bones - all of them. He coughed and had to hold on to the splintered, gray boards as he spoke to my father.

In my memory, the most striking thing was my father's love for the man.

I was seven years old, and we were in New Jersey, preparing to be missionaries. I think that was the first time I realized what it meant to reach out to those who were alone and without anyone else.

I have no idea if the man accepted the Lord, or if there was any other contact. I only know that we rode for a long time on dry, dusty roads to see someone we did not know. I knew the man was dying, and I knew that if we had not come, he would have died alone and without Jesus.

Oh, Soldier! Please. Look away from your own comfort needs, and be available. What is it to you if you live or die? What does it matter if you have much or little? You know where you are going and you have the assurance of eternal security.

He took up the Cross. Will you?

When the Lord blows a wind of change, move with it.

There are times when you know the flag has been planted. You must stand and give your life to hold the land.

There are other times when the door has closed behind you, and you know you are being directed another way.

It is tough. When years of work have gone into the work, when money has been prayed in, when prayer has resulted in evidence of God's blessing, it is not easy to move.

We know so little. All we know is what we know. Yet, the Alongside One indwells, and He is able to lead, to restrain and to bring a new vision.

Soldier of The Cross, be sure you are only looking for the next move. Those who have to know the whole Plan always miss the next step.

Just look up, and move on.

The Soldier of The Cross must be a minister of Life in the home.

So often, it is the little daily things of life that penetrate the soul and rub callouses or leave infected prints.

It is easy to be come so familiar with the habits and personalities of others, that you have immediate reactions, or even have reactions to things that have not yet happened. Often the most harmless or well-intended things can become annoying, just because the flesh is demanding, and because we have an enemy.

Most often, people in the home are treated by others according to concept. There is rarely a fresh opportunity for any family member to be treated differently, once a pattern of reaction is established.

Would your family say that you don't complain? Would they say you reveal patience? Would they say you are more aware of the needs of others than your own needs? Do they know you listen to them? Would they say you reveal Jesus?

Christian Soldier, when the immature and self-centered try to interfere with the work of the Lord, don't miss a beat.

It is His work. Not yours. Leave it with Him in prayer and attend to the thing He has given you.

In this life, there will always be those who are not surrendered enough to stay the course. There will always be those who are jealous. There will always be those who are to easily swayed. There will always be those who feed on conflict. There will always be those who can never be wrong.

Learn to look at Him and keep moving.

You must be discerning. Self-defense, irate accusation, wound-licking, and gossip are all attempts to hook the attention of the soul and bleed out its ability to concentrate on heavenly things.

You must walk in Christian momentum. Walk where the Light is. Refuse to be seduced into the fruitless and sinful quicksand of distraction.

He could come tonight!

What a precious thing it is to know what the Word of God teaches.

There are basic doctrines that are precious to the faith and to the living out of the daily life. There can be no compromising or cheapening of the tenants of the faith.

Yet, there is so much more.

Knowledge must lead to action. We are to be dead to the world and alive unto Christ. That calls for affirmative appropriation of the eternal vision God gives to those who make themselves available.

Knowing what God's Word says is a compelling gravity that draws the Soldier of The Cross to press into anything and everything the Lord will do in order to bring about His Own Likeness.

Is there anything else? This life offers nothing precious. Nothing lasting.

Without the Power of the Holy Spirit, catechism instills a pharisaical religion in the listener.

We need Life. We need to be touched.

We need to know the truth, and that without compromise. And we need to see Jesus.

As you pray, remember that the Lord is not going to answer prayer according to your concept.

He will answer far beyond anything you can imagine.

So, be sure not to limit God in prayer. I have heard people outline and describe to the Lord how the situation should be addressed. I have also heard people pray specifically about situations that they know nothing about - perhaps there has been a secondhand prayer request. How dangerous it is to just take the ball and run.

We must pray according to God's Word. He can not be put in a box, and He never does the same thing twice.

If you are praying for a job for someone, that is wonderful. If you are praying for a specific job for that person, you must have a witness of the Holy Spirit that the job is the will of God for that person. Otherwise, you must pray for for the will of God with regard to the person's job.

Soldier of The Cross, we are told to pray about specifics. I have often prayed for things I did not know the Lord would bring - a free church, certain pieces of furniture, money for a particular trip and many other things.

When it comes to the lives of others, simply be careful. Do not pray, for example, that the Lord would put someone's child in a specific college. Instead, the issue is the will of God, and the eagerness of involved parties to submit to His will.

If you have found you have participated in gossip, tread carefully. You are already on thin ice and you must confess your sin before you pray about the thing you have just heard.

Being accepted in Christian circles should never determine the direction of prayer.

God's Word is the only Standard.