" And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint."
     Galatians 6:9 (Amplified Bible)

     Soldier of The Cross, we who are His know that  we may not tire of serving.
     We may not tire of Loving.
     We may not tire of declaring the truth of His Word.
     We may not tire of answering the phone at three in the morning or receiving people in the middle of the night.
     We may not tire of going to the nursing home or the prison.
     We may not tire of meeting with the ones who want to say the same
things over and over and over.
     We may not tire of vacuuming the carpets or cleaning the toilets.

     Most certainly, we may not tire of following hard after Him, for by doing so, we are energized for all of the other things we must do.

     Soldier, the provision is supernatural.  

     You feel like you can't keep on?  Remember, we have an enemy who is the master of illusion.

     Most certainly you can minister.  Put your foot forward and the Lord will honor it.

     He who called you and equipped you will certainly provide for the next duty.

     Call on Him and declare your availability.
     Do so alone and aloud.        

     He who answers prayer always does so in a way we could not have anticipated.

     Hallelujah!

     When something has been prayed through, the result is always new and has all the earmarks of heaven.  It seems beyond belief and could never have been possible, the strangest thing being, it is not strange.

     Soldier of The Cross,  when you have been praying about a matter, movement in that corner means God is answering prayer.    It may look like the opposite of your conception of a good resolution, but you must let the Lord have His way. 

     Remember, we only know what we know and we pray according to His Word in order to be in agreement with Him.

     Can He be trusted?  Absolutely.  Does something appear to be going up in flames?  Have you been pounding heaven about the situation?

     If so, He is answering and you must trust Him. You will see Him glorified.

     If He didn't know better than we, there would be no reason to pray.

     Be sure you don't throw out the baby with the bath water.

     Albeit He does not change nor does He evolve, our God is not a formulaic God.   He is infinitely creative, and by not letting us in on all of His thoughts and plans, we are free to walk by faith rather than relying on the illusionary insurance of legalism.

     How grateful we are for the Word of God in which He spells out many things and never mentions others.

     Let's take music, for example.  I have been a professional orchestral musician for forty-five years.  I was raised in the faith and it is rare for me to hear a hymn I can't sing by memory.  I am somewhat abhorrent of Christian rock music, yet one of the finest missionaries I know found the Lord when he discovered a record in the trunk of his car.  How he understood the words, I'll never know.  But the Lord drew Him and saved Him by using the content of that rock music.

     When someone says "God told me. . ."  I usually break out in hives.  But I have a close friend with whom I have fellowshipped for thirty years.  She is right on target, mature and rightly divides the Word of Truth.  She was a student in one of my university classes when she met the Lord.  Later, she told me that she invited the Lord into her life when He addressed her in an audible voice.  I believe her.  There is nothing about her life that  points to her being an experience-driven Christian.  She is a woman in love with God's Word and His people, and  is determined to live by faith.

     Today, there is a wave of testimonies coming out of the Muslim world.  Many are saying that the Lord has appeared to them and explained who He is, inviting them to receive Him.  Lives are transformed.  Nothing is amiss.  The Word is not distorted.  There is evidence of the lean and desirable taking up of The Cross to follow Him.

     Soldier of The Cross, here is the issue:  If the Lord is in it, He can be seen in the life of the follower and His voice can easily recognized by those who already know Him.  Nothing will conflict with His Word.

     We do not worship the offbeat or strange. We are not interested in different for its own sake.  God's Word lays out His heart in such a way that His Own must tow the mark.  No exceptions.

     But, be careful not to live by formula.   We must be sensitive and available to be led by the Holy Spirit.
     We live by every Word that comes out of the Mouth of God as set forth in His Word.
     Nothing more, and certainly nothing less.   

     What have you ever done with all your might?

     When asked this question, most will say, "Nothing, really."  A few will describe an attempt to win a relationship with someone.  Then there are those who have gone after achievements in fields such as the arts or sports.  Generally, the question is met with little reflection, because most people do not identify with such intensity.

     For the Soldier of The Cross, the question is a bottom line to each day.

     This is not about an adrenaline level that reflects effort or excitement.  This is simply about a commitment that is unwavering.  It is about agreeing with God.

     To love God, there must be a willingness to allow Him anything and everything. 
     It means when He reveals that there must be a change, there is immediate agreement.
     It means when He calls, obedience goes into action before knowing where the first step should be.
     It means asking to be changed and learning to thank Him for the hard things.
     It means deciding that faith is more beautiful than sight.
     It means praying when you don't feel like it.
     It means telling Him that you submit to the death of the flesh.
     It means speaking in season and out of season.

     Your body is His.
     Your faculties are His.
     Your money is His.
     So is your time.  Your family.  Your reputation.
     Your personal property is not yours, and He can do whatever He wills with it in order to Glorify Himself.

     Soldier, when did you first determine to be His?
     Has anything changed?   Is He less attractive? 

     Tell Him again.
     Alone and aloud.     

     When the three Hebrew children went into the fiery furnace, the Lord did not turn off the fire.

     Nor did He sweep in with an eleventh hour respite. 

     In fact, the fire was turned up seven times hotter.    They went in.   Bound.  And the fire was so intense that those who put them in were killed.

     Still, there was no rescue from the experience.  But the Rescuer was seen with them in the furnace.

     "And the satraps, the deputies, the governors, and the king's counselors gathered around together and saw these men--that the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed; neither were their garments scorched or changed in color or condition, nor had even the smell of smoke clung to them . . ."
              Daniel 3:27 (Amplified Bible)

     Soldier of The Cross,  we are not looking for the easy route.  We are looking for God's Will, God's Glory and God's Presence.

     There is nothing more, and we want nothing less.    

     You were not designed to analyze the circumstances.

     You were designed to look to Him, to follow Him and to obey Him.  

     It is tempting to assume that obedience will result in understanding the situation.  Of course that is not the case.  He intended you to live with the impossible, be confronted by the unsolvable, while dealing with the unreliable.  Yet always, gazing upon Him and following hard after Him.

     Looking up means vigorously taking in His Word.
     Looking up means loving the unlovely.
     Looking up means telling Him in prayer what you value about Him.
     Looking up means refusing to lend your mouth in agreement with the circumstances.
     Looking up means praying according to the Plan and Promises of God.

     Looking up means taking up The Cross and following Him.

     Soldier of The Cross, look up and move on.

     . . . Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.
               Jeremiah 31:3 (Amplified Bible)

     His Love for us far exceeds the needs of Time.  He is drawing us to Himself in a manner and for purposes that are beyond our understanding.  The important thing is, we can rest in this Love.

     Everlasting means no end. 
     No changes.
     No conditions.
     No ripples.

     Can it be true?

     Soldier of The Cross, this Love can be appropriated in prayer.  It is more than a fact - it is a profound and transforming experience that gives value to life, regardless of the circumstances.

     Lord, tonight I bring you the thing that tugs on me so and I am glad to be able to come before the One who loves me with an Everlasting Love.
     I know you have hidden me in the cleft of The Rock and have covered me with your hand for my own protection.  You first loved me and Grace allowed me to respond.
     By faith, I step into the flow of Love that you have showered on me, and as I stand before you, I yield to you in every matter.  I know I must be changed.  I know I must be chastened.  I know I must be stretched.
     You have said your Love is personal and forever.  I want my life to reflect that Love.
     Please  do whatever is needed in the deepest parts of me, in order to bring about your likeness.      

     Are you available to be used for the Glory of God?

     If so, you must learn to sidestep both false accusation and accolade.

     We have been instructed to be being filled with the Holy Spirit and to walk forward in a straight line. So, He is gracious enough to lead us through the process of learning to look at Him, instead of clinging to our addiction of the opinion of others.

    This does not come easily.  The Soldier of The Cross must understand that while he must be easily moved by the Lord, he may not be easily influenced by the matters of flattery or negative attack.

     Some things should be brought to prayer and other things should bounce off without a penetrating influence. 

     How have you prayed?  If you want to be like Him, you must learn to be a minister of His life and not the protector and defender of your own.

     Soldier, come before Him and give up your right to need human approval.  Give up your right to deal with every little thing that comes at you.  Give up your right to have everyone agree with you.

     Do it in prayer.
     Alone and aloud.

     I have heard many people say, "I would not have gotten through it without the Lord."

     Or course they would have gotten through it.  Those without Christ get through all sorts of things.  The difference is, we who are His have Hope, the teaching of the Sovereignty of God and  Place to go.

     And He is surely that in the storm.  A Place to go.  He is our Fortress and our High Tower.  The Rock of Ages can't be budged, even when all else is crumbling.  He is a Place of protection.  He shields us from all that is not good for us. 

     He holds us and lifts us above the matter.

      Soon there will be no sorrow or sickness.  No darkness. No time.

     In the meantime, He who has engraved your name on the palm of His hand knows what you need, what you want and what you can take.   Can He be trusted?

     You are not a Soldier of the journey, or a Soldier of the plan.  You are not a Soldier of the try-harder camp. 

     You are a Soldier of The Cross.  The place where the flesh is put to death and your will is given in service to His.

     The experience of the Fortress and the High Tower is in prayer.  Tell Him you need Him.  And trust Him. And will serve Him no matter what.  Make room for God to be glorified.

     Tell Him.  Alone and aloud.

     Whose are you?

     Paul says he is a bond servant.  A volunteer who has made a commitment to be in the service of another.

     You know you are not your own, and that you were bought with a Price.  There is great protection in that. Your life is of infinite value and the tiniest little thing does not escape Him.

     The problem comes when it seems like it is the big things that escape Him.

     Whose are you? 

     If you are yours, it is your business.  But if you are His, it is His business.  It just looks and feels like it is your business.

     Lord, as I stand before you tonight, I life up hands before you that are clean and empty as far as I know. Again, I want to tell you I am yours.  I don't want to live any other way.  I don't want to pray any other way. 
     Lord, take my hand and lead me on.