Truth is the basis of faith, not fact.

     In God's economy, the whole is always greater than the sum of the parts. Answers to prayer come in ways we could not have imagined and sometimes we might have thought such a thing to be impossible.

     In fact, it seems that what God does is impossible to the human mind.

     It is tempting to pray about a situation by approaching the Lord with how the matter should be resolved.  We must be careful about this.  We have the tiniest little hairline view and understanding, whereas He spoke everything into being.

     Soldier of The cross, you have often heard me say that the walk of Faith is a frontier..

     There is no place freer.
     There is no safer place.
     There is no place more interesting.

     Fueled by the Word of God, we move on in the Faith Walk.

     Tell Him today.
     Aloud.

     Today someone told me she is angry at God for not healing her child.

     I have never understood being angry at God.  He can certainly take it, but it makes no sense.  The supposition is that the one who is angry sees God a having made a mistake.  Or sees Him as having failed to pay attention to the problem.  

     The Soldier of The Cross must predetermine that the Lord can do anything with that Soldier's life or anything that touches him or her.   If we believe the Word, we know for sure that He is interested in everything and deeply cares for His Own. 

     So, the issue is whether or not you actually believe what He has said.

     Grief has a myriad of expressions.  It is not possible to suffer deep loss and just move on without feeling something.  A famous missionary of yesteryear went into the woods by himself for two years when his wife died.

     One of the deepest pains is the loss of a child and there is little that can be said to assuage that seering grief.  Knowing others care is important, but getting all sorts of advice about "getting over it" is worse than hearing nothing.

     These things must be given to the Lord and that happens in prayer.  It is by faith.   Aloud.  Telling God that you release whatever it is to Him.  This has to be done because it is an act of affirmatively agreeing with Him.  It protects the Soldier against many of the enemy's flaming darts concerning the loss.

     And, it is critical to be aware of thoughts that  are swirling in the mind.

     If allowed, the Indwelling Holy Spirit comforts in remarkably creative ways. 

     Soldier, if this is about you, take it to Him, and if physically possible, it must be aloud.

     Then, go and do something for someone else who is hurting. 

        Oh Soldier, do you understand you are called to follow Him and you may not follow your feelings?

     The feelings we have are so strong and if we are not in agreement with God, we will move and behave according to how we feel.

     Feelings cannot dictate action or life.

     Truth is greater than fact, and God's Word is more real than the way that you feel.

     It is His call, not ours.

     Tell Him today and aloud.
     Then, look up and move on!

     " Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ All of us who are mature [pursuing spiritual perfection] should have this attitude. And if in any respect you have a different attitude, that too God will make clear to you."
      Phillipians 3:13-15

      What a tremendous statement from one who had persecuted Believers.

     The past is always a dangling haunt and few can resist rehashing injuries suffered or guilt from hurting others.   Many are still focused on mistakes made years and years ago.

     The enemy loves to flash scenes on the screen of your mind and get you carried away into the past.  

     It is crippling;
     It detours around Peace;
     It distracts from the present;
     It makes your feelings the focus of your thoughts.

     Soldier of The Cross, learn to leave the past behind.  Everyone has a past and the older we get, the more critical it is to live in the present and minister Love.

     You can learn to do this. You long to have your thoughts line up with the Word of God.

     Tell Him today.
     Aloud.
     

     There is a Place of Rest that results from the determination to agree with God no matter what.

     So the issue is, no matter what, will you agree with God?

     What do you think about that?  Does that seem impossible?  In speaking to groups around the world over the years, I have seen people get up and leave when I have begun to talk about the importance of telling the Lord He can do absolutely anything with you and your life.

     Is anything wrong with that?  Can He not be trusted?  Do you think if you give Him carte blanche, He will find a way to hurt you?  

     Who is He?  Who does He say He is?  And hasn’t He said He will withhold no good thing from you?

     "He who did not spare [even] His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?"
                         (Romans 8:32,  Amplified Bible)

     Ephesians 5:19 talks about a melody in the heart.  This happens when there is a revelation about the stunning Loving Hand of a Savior who left Glory and suffered so that we might be able to know trust, experience freedom and have relief now, in anticipation of being with Him later.

     Soldier, you were not designed to bear burdens. You were designed to go through the fire and the deep waters with supernatural empowerment.

     Sing.
     Now, sing.

     Give it to Him over and over.
     Today and aloud.

     All of the richest lessons are the fruit of experience.

     How easy it is to read or listen and be inspired.  The heart leaps at the depth of truth.  The impact is so deep that there is prayer about it, and hopefully there is prayer to be changed in that area.  Or prayer to see or to understand.

     Then, the test begins.  For many, the test is such that it has to be moaned and groaned about constantly.  There is huffing and snorting and pawing the ground because it has not been resolved yet.  Or perhaps there is withdrawal and a constant pity party.

     There is no such thing as spiritual riches being ours just be being inspired by hearing about them or seeing an example. 

     We must be changed. 
     And we must pray to be changed. 
     Change comes through testing and Obedience.
     We must learn to praise and trust Him in the midst of the thing that seems unfair or otherwise grievous.
     No test, no power.
     
     The pursuit of a walk by faith is a frontier.  You are not like anyone else, and you are being tested in ways that seem out of the boundaries.  

     He is still the same.  He is giving you what leads to Treasure when you tell Him you will trust Him and will move on.  It doesn't mean you have to like the situation or that you have to feel light-hearted. It does mean that you put your money where your mouth is.

     Either it is all true or none of it is true.

     Agree with God.

     Tell Him today. Aloud.
     Then, look up and move on!

     Soldier of The Cross, you can't figure it out.

     In the bye and bye, we will learn all about it, but not now.  Now, your job is to take up The Cross and follow hard after Him.  That means embracing the death of the flesh, (death of the old man) and leaving behind all that is not healthy.

     Are you aware of your thoughts?  Most of the time, when there is an unexpected or unpleasant circumstance, the mind goes into action and is like a runaway horse- no stopping it.  Thoughts tend to rotate round and round, reviewing and fantasizing.

     But you have decided to live according to God's Word. So that means the governing of your thoughts: 

      "We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ. . ."
                          (II Corinthians 10:5,  Amplified Bible)

     Your thoughts determine your life.  

      Be aware.  Get into The Word.  Memorize and say it over and over aloud.  If it is not a full verse, get a phrase.  The Indwelling Holy Spirit will bring it up many times during the day.

     This is why I am so big on memorization.  Haven't done it in years?  Start now.

     Years ago I taught a bible study in the apartment of a lady who was 93 years old.  She loved God but had never been taught to get into the Bible.

     I made my pitch, and she decided to go with it.  The next week, she quoted (with some hesitation) Romans 8:6- not an easy verse:

     "Now the mind of the flesh is death [both now and forever—because it pursues sin]; but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace [the spiritual well-being that comes from walking with God—both now and forever];"
                              (Amplified Bible)

     It is not so hard.  To start, write it in long hand 10 times.  Takes only about 10 minutes.  And it will come back to you over and over all day when things arise.  That is God initiating to you.  What a stunning privilege we have.

     Do you understand that the Word of God is Light and apart from the fresh taking in of it, there no sight or hearing?

     Take this to Him.
     Aloud.
     Today.

     Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.
                                                               (Proverbs 18:21, Amplified Bible)

     Your Words reflect your thought life. You wield power all the time, often without knowing it.

      You are not allowed to live and speak as you did before the Indwelling Holy Spirit came to reside in your spirit. 

     Your words curse or bless.   
     Your words open doors or close them.
     Your words heal or wound.
     And your words create or destroy.

     Soldier of The Cross, this is not about tiptoeing through conversations or being paranoid.   It is about changing- being transformed.   It is about being obedient and resisting the ever so strong urge to say the thing that is deserved or that is needed to combat someone else's verbal assault.

     What does the book of Proverbs have to say about words?

     Wasn't the universe spoken into being?  And isn't it sustained by the Word? (Hebrews 1:3)

     This has to be a matter of much prayer and no one ever arrives. 

     Truth must be spoken aloud and often.

     The One whom we adore and to whom we belong is called The Word.
   
        ". . .His name is called The Word of God."
                                        Revelation19:13

     This is one of the reasons it is so important to pray aloud when possible.  We choose words according to The Word and we say it and hear it at the same time.  And, so often, He speaks to us in the very choice of those words as we pray.

     The chains of habit are dissolved when prayer addresses this matter.

     When Truth is spoken, words and actions match.

     Soldier, take this to Him and deal with Him aloud on this matter.
     Today.
     Then, look up and move on.

     The flow of God's Love through His Own is a stunningly healing force. 

     I remember a young man who came to my door in Columbus, Ohio as I was getting ready to move.  He rang my doorbell and when I looked up at the open screen, there stood one of the ugliest faces I had ever seen.  

     He was in his twenties and had been through something that disfigured his face to the extent that his features were all distorted.

     Except for his eyes.  They were blue and blazed with Love. 

     Through the screen, he said "May I tell you about Jesus?"  Of course, having been raised in a missionary home, thinking I knew it all, and also having decided to have nothing to do with anything having to do with Jesus, I was furious.  I demanded that he leave and told him never to come back.

     The minute I met the Lord, I remembered that young man and remembered his eyes.  I recognized that Love, and was so amazed at the Grace that reached out to me a year earlier. 

     God's Love knows no time limit.   Many have come to Christ and then are embraced by the living memories of the Love shown to them by parents or grandparents who have already gone to be with the Lord.

     I needed a rescue. And Love rescued me.

     Oh Soldier, let us move on into the flow of Love.  Less of us and more of Him.

     Tell Him.
     Today
     Aloud.

     One of the most devastating influences in the Body of Christ is gossip.

     Unfortunately, so many do not even recognize what they are doing.  It seems so innocent to pass something juicy on to another and then to try to get a a promise of confidentiality,. But keeping a confidence takes maturity and depth of character..

     The enemy loves gossip and always fans the flames . .There are few more serious dividers than this.

     The one who has the news is like a walker with a pebble in his shoe- it is so disturbing that it has to be relieved before moving on..

     If you are in the company of someone who has this problem, you absolutely must change the subject or leave.  Do not subject yourself to the infection.  Even if you do not fully  accept what you are hearing, you will see the subject  through what you have heard.

     Oh Soldier, get a backbone!.  Obey the word of God- step away from this mine field and move on in Love.

     Take the matter to Him today because it is so, so serious.

     Ask for wisdom and discernment and ask aloud..