Even in the thick of the Battle, He speaks Peace to us.

     Soldier of The cross, you are not allowed to be frustrated. 
     You are not allowed to grumble and complain.
     You are not allowed to point a finger at someone else, nor are you to compare yourself with anyone.
     You are not allowed to rehash the thing over and over to anyone who will listen.
     You are not allowed self-pity.

     You are the object of His affection, and He loves you enough to want you to be able to have the bubble balance in the middle, even when it seems impossible.  That can only happen by going through deep waters and choosing to agree with His Word.

     The Prince of Peace went after you and He is not going to let you go.
 

     Many things simply have to play out.

     It is the flesh that demands a resolution now.

     Prayer brings to light things that would otherwise remain cloaked, and, rarely does the Lord do it instantly. 

     We live in the parenthesis of time, but we do not understand it even though we are familiar with it.  We seem to crave control in the form of having to see how the matter will resolve and at that, according to our tiny realm of experience.

     If I pray for patience,  I will not see a patient woman in the mirror tomorrow morning.  Rather, the Lord will grant me the privilege of going through something that is almost unbearable to the flesh, allowing me the opportunity to come before Him and wait on Him.

     By yielding to Him in the matter of Time, we who are His can taste eternity now. 

     Tell Him.
     Aloud.

     You will never get enough of the Lord.

     There is never a point at which you are saturated with His Word.  Or His Love.  Or His Body. 

     The issue is,  are you in pursuit of Him?    What does that mean?   Modern Christianity has become cheap.   A culture. 

     He who is God demands all and more.  Soldier of The Cross, turn and gaze upon Him who bore your sin.  He is the One who went after you and wooed you.  How can you be invested in anything else?

     Nothing compares with Him.

     Tell Him so.
     Alone and aloud.

     Can He who never changes be trusted enough to take you into the unknown?

     Had I been Moses, would I have stretched out my hand over the Red Sea as God commanded?
     Were I the widow, would I have tossed in my last mite?
     If I were Nehemiah, would I have gone to do the impossible?  And, would I have ignored all of the threats and intimidation?
     Would I have given Elijah my last drop of oil and flour?
     Would I have waited in the Upper Room?
     Is there any chance I would have raised the knife to dash it through my only son of Promise?

     Soldier of The Cross, we have a strange and wonderful God who never repeats Himself.  The issue is, what can He do with you?

     Has He changed, so that He does not require much?
     Has He changed so that you may attend to your matters before attending to His?
     Has He changed so that He can only be recognized by repetition?

     Lord, as I stand before you tonight,  you are my desire.  I love everything about you.  I love your people.  I love your Word. I love what you have made and I love the way you do things. After all these years, I still reel sweetly in the revelation of the Grace that came after me. 

     Again tonight, I present myself as a Living Sacrifice and  asked that you do anything in the deepest parts of me in order to bring about your likeness.   You have always revealed yourself through your Own, and I want to stand in those ranks.

     My Lord and my God.          
    

     Are you a no-risk Christian?

     There are those who will not consider or even pray about a matter unless they can see the end from the beginning.    Everything has to be logical and understandable.

     Grace isn't logical or understandable, neither is redemption.  But we know it is so because we have accepted it and tasted it.

     When did you last tell the Lord He could do absolutely anything with your life?

     The Soldier of The Cross may not be reluctant.  He may not design his own commission.  He must be ready to move, not for himself, but because he is in the Service of Another.

     Faith is a frontier that is infinite.  And, there is no other way to know God.

     No-risk Christians atrophy in their circumstances.  The Soldier of The Cross is on the move, even if he is quadriplegic.  He is not limited by circumstances because he is operating on a different plane.

     If you haven't told Him, tell Him, And, if you haven't told Him in a while, tell Him again that you are available and that He can do anything with your life.

     If you don't, you'll miss the Glory.
     Tell Him aloud.

     Lord, as I stand before you tonight, I ask you to prepare my heart for your special Presence in the Assembly of the Saints tomorrow morning.

     Please bring to my attention any sin that should be confessed.  I want to be available with clean and empty hands.

     I ask to hear you.  I pray against any distraction and particularly ask that you would prepare all the children also.  I  ask that there could be a special joy and freedom in the music.  I give you my not-so-great voice to energetically sing the hymns written by Soldiers of The Cross who have gone before.

     I bring you my body and faculties to sit at attention, to listen for you and to love others. 

     Tonight I stand against any spirit of criticism and ask that those whom you have called together might honor you, worship you and recognize you.

     Protect your preacher and give him freedom and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.  Open the Word to us and reveal yourself, Lord.

     I want to pray against all the attempts of the enemy to get families stirred up before the meeting.

     May there be the complete freedom of the Holy Spirit so that the Father might be glorified through the Son.    

     There is a popular misconception that those who "get it together" no longer experience personal problems and are able to avert the unpleasant at every level.

     God's Word does not substantiate that.

     The fact is, no one gets it together.  It is not about self-improvement and self-protection It is about the Lord and submission.  Those who are Soldiers of The Cross are agreeing with God, acknowledging His sovereignty and they deal differently with the things that come at them than those who struggle for control.

     Peter stepped out in faith.  When he diverted his attention to the howling winds and danger, he started to go down.  He called to the Lord and immediately the Hand was extended for rescue.  We are not told much after that, except that they climbed into the boat (Matt 14:22-33.)

     You were not designed to be independent.
     You were not designed to figure it out.
     Just because you are His, it is not intended that you should always look like a winner.

     Soldier, buck up!  You must submit in prayer and agree with God.  Also, you must thank Him for the hard things.  Yes, we pray about circumstances and God hears and intervenes.  Nevertheless, the design is not for Time, but for Eternity.

     Agree with Him.  Aloud.   
 
 

      Neither rules nor doctrine have never introduced anyone to Christ.

     When a person first meets the Lord, he will tend to reflect the environment of those who are discipling him.  The problem is, he needs to know he should reflect the Lord.

     Legalism produces legalism and polarized doctines produce polarized Christians.

     I am not suggesting a lowered standard or an ecumenical compromise.  The fact is, the new believer must learn to rightly divide the Word of Truth,  be a pillar in the House of The Lord, recognize the Lord, and take up the Cross and follow Him.

     He must be trained to be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, which he cannot do without the Word of God.  He must be loved and receive a ministry of grace.  He must be taken systematically through the Bible.  He should be introduced to missions.  And of course, if he has no teaching of the tenants of the faith, he will not be able to be secure in the most basic doctrines and will be squishy on everything.

     The problem lies when there is an effort to create cookie-cutter Christians. 

     If you grab a new Christian and attempt to train him in all things behavioral, you rob him of the heavenly delight of supernatural transformation.   

     He needs to be trained in getting to know the Lord. 
     In losing his life so he can find it. 
     In putting the other person first.
     In memorizing God's Word.
     In memorizing the hymns of the faith.
     In giving.
     In reading about the Ebenezer stones in the lives of those who have gone before.
     He must learn of the universal Body and the local Body.
     Most importantly, he must learn to meet with the Lord regularly.

     It is rare when one who comes to the Lord sticks to the course from day one.  Often there is a working out of the shedding of the old life and the taking up of The Cross.  

     Minister patience, and love. 
     He needs to know where to put his gaze.       

     The Bible says much about giving.

     The overriding principal is, give first and trust the Lord to sustain you.

     Does He really own the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine?  (Psalm 50:10)  Will He really provide your every need?  Is it true that the children of the righteous need not beg for bread? (Psalm 37:25)

     Soldier of The Cross,  the enemy loves to attack about money, particularly with men.   He whispers that there is no security and that you must do whatever it takes to make sure you can sustain yourself.  What does God say?

     It is good to save, to invest and to be wise.  It is foolish to assume that it will result in financial security.  That is why we are taught to pray in our daily bread.

     We must be liberal givers.  Paul reminds us that the Macedonians gave lavishly our of their lack. 

     God has promised that He will provide our every need.  Do we believe it?  He has also promised that giving results in abundant blessing.

     The bottom line is not the bank balance or the stock market trend.  The bottom line is, are you willing to walk by faith in everything, or are you exempting finances?

     It is a matter for prayer.  Give according to obedience rather than the plea or the bank balance.

     After all, isn't it His?

     Lord, tonight I stand before you and bring you the hours that are to come.

     The matter before me is such that I need a provision I cannot define in prayer.

     Lord, please do the deepest work in me in order to bring about your likeness.  I stand on your Word and your Promises and trust you. 

     I call to you who holds the stars in place.  I only ask to see you and to recognize you in order to pass through each hour in obedient thought.  I understand you have already worked it out, but I need you so.

     It is my prayer tonight that you be glorified.
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