A Soldier of The Cross may not be a scoffer.

One who is honest in prayer, one who is determined to Serve The Master, one who is confessing sin, that Soldier may not allow his or her mind to dwell on the faults of others.

If there is disobedience to the Word in this area, the Christian will begin speaking ill of a brother or sister. Thoughts get entrenched in circles of speculation, wonder and fantasy.

The Word of God must be on your mind and in your mouth.

Why would you waste time on anything that is not in agreement with Him? Why would you fail to invest in eternity?

Christian Soldier, you will see things according to the way you have prayed. If you have prayed about the matter according to God's Word, you will, over time, see things as God sees them.

Watch the tongue. Watch the thoughts. Honor The Word.

For years, the age old question is one that has haunted the intellectual and soulical searchings.

Those who have crossed The Line and made the decision to live according to The Word, understand that there is no gap and there is no conflict.

Prayer must go before everything. If there is waiting to be done, there will be a resistance to movement and it will not go away. It will seem slight and it may not be logical, but as long as there is prayer, it will be there.

Often, when the Lord is indicating a restraint, the agreement or confirmation will come from from another believer. If there is to be movement, the restraint will be removed and there will be confirmation from those who have private prayer lives and have experience with the Lord.

Soldier of The Cross, it is critical that you understand that no Believer does everything right by sight. When we get to heaven, we will know more. In the meantime, we are here and we are learning.

In the Body of Christ, the problem arises when there is a spirit of discontent and it always begins with a woman. Often there is criticism and complaint from one who wants to influence another in order to bring about change. It is not possible for the discontent person to keep the matter silent.

Learn to wait. Never catch the falling ark.

Soldier of The Cross, learn to remind yourself that we serve another who is able to lead us.

He never teases. He never hides.

There is no other communicator like our Lord.

There is no other leader like our Lord.

Do you have to know what is going to happen? Do you have to be right? Soldier of The Cross, when you told Him you would be His, there was no turning back. Your goal must be to be a Living Sacrifice. You must determine to recognize His voice, and to press into His agenda. What else is there? Soldier, look at those around you. They are lost. They need a Savior. They are in distress. Press into the battle. Do it in prayer. We have only a few hours. Let's redeem the time and hold up each other. To know Him, and the Power of His resurrection. Soldier, make this your goal!

I enjoy my office so much. It has been many years since I have had real privacy, and I am a terribly private person. Far more than most.

I can come into the office and when the door closes, no one will come in unless he is admitted. It is a large space and every piece of furniture has been prayed in. There are beautiful oriental rugs and lovely furniture. I have fresh flowers, and everything is neat (or at least everything except an occasional desk explosion.)

Today, I have a lilac scented candle burning all the time. It is the only place in our nineteen room missionary guest house where nothing is moved by anyone except me.

No one watches me. I work all the time and attend to each matter as it comes in without supervision.

Yet, even in my office, I live in transparency. The beings in the unseen world watch every move I make. Every breath I take. My idiosyncratic movements and expressions are closely examined.

I am never alone.

Far beyond that, I have a Savior. I have a Lord whom I love and serve. He attends to each little thing. When I approach Him in prayer, I am aware that there is nothing in my life that is truly private.

Love furnished this office.

If He wants to, Love can take it away. It really belongs to Him. Love watches me always. Love is there with the Everlasting Arms beneath me.

Love is waiting for something to correct, because I am being prepared for heaven.

Love prods me to go beyond my comfort zone. Love parades the needs of others before my eyes. Love never, never leaves me alone.

Loving the Lord is a matter of choice.

In fact, all obedience is a matter of choice. If we are told to Love Him with all we are and have, then it is possible.

As we live in a fallen world and have temporal bodies of flesh, choosing to obey Him is a matter of process. We made decisions and them proceed into the momentum of those decisions by faith when we declare our position to the Lord.

Such a declaration can not be a declaration of intention. It must be a reporting of what has happened - a decision already made in response to the Word of God. A decision already made under the challenge of the Holy Spirit.

Obedience is not to be confused with legalism, which is an attempt to earn God's favor by keeping rules.

Obedience happens when we take Him at His Word and press into it by faith, just because He said.

Soldier of The Cross, when you begin the day telling Him that you long to be dead to the world and alive unto Christ, when you tell Him you long to learn to obey Him, then there is an eagerness to serve the Master that supersedes the need of the flesh to know why.

We have to learn to obey. There are times when it is not possible to know which turn to take. When the Lord seems to be silent, one must either stand still or just do the thing that seems to be what should be done. If the matter has been covered in prayer, it will become apparent that He is not there. The ground must be recovered and the other fork in the road taken.

After a child knows he is loved, the most important thing for a child is to be trained to obey immediately. This prepares him to serve the living God and to watch, listen and follow after the One whose instruction is perfect.

There is not one tiny little thing that escapes His attention.

For those who are His Own, Obedience begins with the mouth. Then the mind.Then the body. Then time, money and service.

We are not on our own. We have the Indwelling Holy Spirit.

We are accountable.

There will be no excuse for independence.

He is the Giver of bubbling joy.

There is no question that in Him is Life, and Life more abundant.

Today is a day that will not be repeated. Recorded, but not repeated. He has said that those who obey His commandments are His friends and His disciples.

In this obedience is the experience of freedom from anxiety.. The experience of freedom from resentment and anger. The experience of freedom from guilt. The experience of clean hands. The experience of knowing and seeing Him

It is the Sabbath Rest. There is nothing else that is so healing and so profoundly joyous.

Is that something one can know for sure?

There are fewer than you think, and more than you think, who know they walk with Him. They know this because they love to obey Him. They Love His Word and they crave to be with those who treasure Him above all else.

It is not a feeling. There is no formula that brings this about.

It is simple. It is a decision.

Life will now be spent in obedience to Him and honoring Him. Life will now be spent in loving His people.Life will now be spent in loving the unlovely.Life will now be spent immersed in His Word.

Walking with Him means recognizing Him and being repelled by all else.Walking with Him means that the needs of the Body are taken on as one's own needs.Walking with Him means turning the other cheek.Walking with Him is the result of a decision. This decision must be made in prayer. It must be made aloud.

It must be reaffirmed over and over.

Those who walk with Him are those who walk in the Light, and they have exquisitefellowship with one another.

That fellowship is never based on agreeing about the negative.It is always based on agreeing about Jesus.

There is no terrible life for the one who decides to follow hard after the Lord.

Soldier, no matter what the circumstances are, there is only freedom and Glory for those who are His own.

He has a design to make each of His Own like Him. It does not happen by doctrine or teaching or belief. It happens by faith.

The putting of your weight on His Word.

Obedience stems from and results in Love.

Love reveals Jesus.

Are you willing to allow His Love to fill you and to flow through you?

Are you available to live in such a way that you take no account of an evil done to you?

Soldier of the Cross, this is one of the most challenging things to the flesh. There is no greater opportunity to reveal Jesus. There is no greater demonstration of Love.

Soldier, if you are available to this in prayer, there is no limit to what He can and will do with your life.

How much can you do?

Who should you go after? How should your day be spent? What is ministry?

Soldier of The Cross, we who have crossed over The Line have experienced the Call. There is no turning back, because we have seen that there is nothing else.

We must accept that we have to learn to lean on the Everlasting Arms.

It is not possible to walk on the water until we understand that the storm is not the issue.

The Master is the issue.

If there is only one more day, it must be spent in agreement with God's Word. You can not do more than follow Him to the best of your ability.

How can you know you are doing this?

You must tell Him that you want Him to do anything He wants to, in order to bring about His likeness in you. You must say it in words and it must be aloud. You must tell Him that that there are no limits.

You must tell Him that you want Him. You want to know Him. You want to recognize Him. You want to serve Him. You want to obey Him.

Do you want to be like Him?

Let Him take each hour. Let Him teach you that Love takes no account of an evil done to it.

Go after it. Go after Him. This only happens in prayer.