Soldier of The Cross, the Battle is in the mind.

     Of course things really happen.  And, things appear to be out of control.    According to His Word, is that possible?

     Psalm 91 is incredibly interesting.  It begins by telling us that he who is in the "hidden place"  can be an observer only when the arrows are flying.   Wouldn't that be a relief?   What is the "hidden place of the Almighty?

     Psalm 119 says "Thy Word have I hid in my heart . . ."

     When I was a child, real Christian churches all had intensive memorization programs.  When I was three, I won a family camp for a week by quoting one hundred verses.   That is rare these days.  The memorization of The Word  has been dumbed down like so many other aspects of Body Life.

     In my quiet time each day, I do my regular reading - straight thorough the Bible over and over.  And if no verse that day grabs me, I  memorize any verse.  Let me tell you - when you memorize a portion of the "begats", the Indwelling Holy Spirit will minister to you through whatever verse comes to mind.   I do this just for the day, and often the following day I can't remember it.   But the mind marinates in the verse for the dy.

     Every Christian should know 200 hundred or so basic verses.  Apart form that, repeat over and over a verse for each day from your time in The Word.  When the enemy comes at you in an effort to take over your thoughts, the Holy Spirit will burp up that verse, and  you will have the immediate conscious choice enabling you to take each thought captive and lead it away.

     Oh, Soldier.  Your money is not yours.  Neither is your debt.
     Have you been falsely accused?  So was He.
     Is your child off the rail?  He saw it before it happened.  He is listening attentively to your every plea.
     He made your body, and He understands what you are going through.  Yes, He does heal,  but He may have something better.

     You were not designed to put roots down in this life.

     Memorize the Word.   Put on the Armour and resist the enemy.

     This is done by prayer.   So, soldier of The Cross,  tell Him today.
     Aloud.
    
    

     Soldier of The Cross, you will never feel in control.

     Faith is a frontier.  It is an adventure, and as we know from God's Word, it leads to more faith.

     Over a lifetime, we learn that He will intervene, but absolutely never in the ways we have imagined or wanted.  He is far more creative and classy than our designs.

     There is no availability to His leading us in faith unless we are expressly wanting this and presenting ourselves in prayer.

     The flesh writhes and explodes to know what is going to happen and how.  The flesh screams for control.   But the Soldier of The Cross has decided to submit to the surgical knife of the Lover of his or her Soul.   This is only possible as an outflow of the private prayer life.

     Oh, Soldier, tell Him today.  Then you will see Him.  You will recognize Him, and you will be able to walk above the circumstances.

     Tell Him.  today.
     Aloud.

     Most Christians don't understand how attentive He is.

     So, prayer feels like a one way effort.

     The rarest thing in the world is a consistent private prayer life.  Soldier,  we must all be reminded of the basics.   His Word fuels prayer, and prayer brings Sight.

     The enemy has all sorts of designs to stifle the prayer life.  Here's the issue - we have business to do.  

     I don't need to feel spiritual. 
     I don't need a pressing reason.
     I will almost never feel like it.
     The body often resists.  So does the tongue.

     Soldier of The Cross, it has to become a habit.  It should be aloud if at all possible.  Silent prayer always turns into wool-gathering and disintegrates into nothing.

     Begin by acknowledging who He is, and what He did for you.   As you speak aloud, the Holy Spirit will lead you into seeing Him.  We often hear Him as we select words while we are led by the Indwelling Holy Spirit.

     You were created for this communion.  Without it, there is no Sight, no hot fellowship, and no power to wait.  Worry and frustration prevail. The mind goes into the spiral of desperately seeking a way to solve issues.   Fantasy overtakes the thought life.

     Tell Him you want to learn to be alone with Him and fellowship with Him.  Tell him you want to learn to lean on the Everlasting Arms.

     Tell Him today.
     Aloud.

     Although not all bad, one of the problems with today's Christian music is that it puts the highest emphasis on how I feel about God.

     There is little about obedience.  There is little about the taking up of The Cross, which is about the death of the flesh.

     It is the flesh that wants to feel something and to be in control.  Of course there are times of worship when the Soldier is overwhelmed by His Majesty, His Grace, and His Constant Love.   But it does not happen all the time.  There are more times than not when the Soldier is bowing before Him, asking to be changed.  Asking to be led through the wilderness.   Asking to having some verse opened up to him or her.

     Soldier of The Cross, we don't live here.  We only stay here.  Our home is over there.

     That means gladly submitting to His surgical scapel.

     Pray to be changed.

     Aloud.

     Soldier of The Cross,s remember that this world is not your home.

     You are a Sojourner and a Pilgrim ( I Peter 2:11,12)  and that fact puts many things in perspective.

     All you know is what you know.  You don't know the future, and you really don't understand the past.  You need to be led through the wilderness of life.

     The flesh huffs and paws the ground in pursuit of independence.  Guaranteed spiritual death.

     We take one step at a time, and we do it by prayer.  Learning to follow the Lord is by trial and error.  There is no such thing as getting up off your knees and then immediately making all the right turns and decisions.

     We are to learn to lean on Him.  To be sensitive to the leading of the Indwelling Holy Spirit.

     It's not about bucking up and being a rock - He is The Rock.    It is about obedience.  It's about learning to listen and  learning to follow.  Learning to recognize Him.

     What is your purpose for the tomorrow?  Regardless of the day's agenda, you have a Lord who is attentive and will lead through each tangle.

     Tell Him.  Today.
     Aloud.

     All Believers agree our God is attentive to our thoughts and actions.

     Yet, many live as though it were not true.  

     The soldier of The Cross has no privacy.    Though I do not believe the enemy is able to read your thoughts,  consider that your countenance, your body language, your speech and your actions either betray you, or confirm that you have determined to live according to His Word.

     There is a protected Place - agreeing with God and telling Him so each day.

        The reverent fear and worship of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and skill [the  preceeding and the first essential, the prerequisite and the alphabet]: a good undersanding, wisdom and meaning have all those who d0 [the will of the Lord].  Their praise of Him endures forever.         

                                             Psalm 111:10 (Amplified Bible)

     Tell Him today.  Aloud.

     Soldier of The Cross, if you must be treated well, you will never be free.

     Christians often forget it is the old nature that huffs and snorts to be treated with respect and understood.

     We are protected.  We have choice.  We have the indwelling Holy Spirit and we have unlimited prayer access to The Prince of Peace who went through it all for us.

      "Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
                       Hebrews 12:2  (Amplified Bible)

     Tell Him Today.
     Aloud

     You must learn to pray.

     This means a time set apart from all else and it has to be aloud.  You need to articulate your purpose and desire  to The One who holds the stars in place.

     No time?  Not true.  He has given you enough time to obey Him and to know Him.  Stop making excuses.

     Oh, soldier of The Cross, there is no other way to live.  Those who have a prayer life know release.

     They know Peace.
     They know energy.
     They know Sight.
     They know Wisdom

      Most importantly, they recognize the Lord.

     Fuel up in the Word and then go to Him.  Approach Him in the cathedral of your heart.

     There is no other way to live.  It is either unto Him or unto life by sight. 

     Who would chose the latter?

     Soldier, tell Him today.
     Aloud.

     Unless there is some imposed restriction, there must be prayer that is aloud.

     After one or two specific requests, silent prayer usually dissolves into wool-gathering and then dissinigrates entirely.

     Vigorous prayer lives are not that common, but they are the result of letting the Holy Spirit lead in the formation of thoughts and selection of words.  the Lord often speaks to the Soldier of The Cross through words  offered in prayer.       

     He who is The Word specifically leads and cleanses in this way.

     There must be verbal adoration.  Verbal confession. Verbal intercession.   Verbal submission.  Verbal agreeing with God.

     Yes, He intercedes for us and fills the gap when words can't be found.

     Yes, there are situations such incarceration and  hospitalization that make it difficult to have this kind of privacy.  In and with Grace, He attends to those Soldiers.

     Folks pray while they drive, while they clean, while they walk. 

     There must be another time that is set aside for a private time with the Lord (carefully watched by the unseen world) for the Soldier to approach the Throne of Grace.  He or she will be led in prayer for eternal impact.

     Tell Him today.

     One of the identifying characteristics of the Soldier of The Cross is his or her pursuit of God.

     Yes, it is supernatural and, no it can't be drummed up.  Nonetheless,  it takes obedience and a willingness to move out of the comfort zone into the realm of His Presence.

      This is not about a gooey feeling.   Gooey is addictive and addicts the Believer to want feel the same thing. 

    The pursuit of God means doing the thing that results in the no-matter-what position before the Lord.  What does that for you?  For me, it is being with those whose determined purpose it is to know Him.  I am deeply stirred and challenged by the lives of many who have gone before.  Many years ago I determined to read as many Christian biographies as I could.

     Soldier, you must seek out the thing that makes you eager to be a Living Sacrifice.    What is it that reveals Jesus to you?  

      There must be a devotional life and there must be fellowship.  Locate those who want Him no-matter -what.   Be with them.  Pray with them.  Read about them.

     Tell him you want Him more than anything and more than ever.
     Tell Him aloud.