Children must be trained in the Lord.

     In the home there should be singing, prayer, lots of the Word of God and discipline living, balanced by grace. And, if your mate is not on board, the Lord will nevertheless honor your example. There are many fine Servants who tell of one godly parent.

     Children should be taught to memorize verses as soon as they begin to speak.   As soon as they are able, they should know the books of the Bible. They should participate in family devotions and they must be introduced to and taught about missions.

     Children are quick to pick up on whether or not you are knit into your church. And, they will reflect you.

     All children must be taught to obey the first time. If the child is given a second chance when he is reprimanded, he will develop an attitude of independence that makes it harder to learn to obey the Lord.

     Never at any time should a child be the one deciding whether he will stay home from a meeting, or when it is time to leave an event.

     All children learn by example. You will never be perfect, but your children will strain to look at the One you are constantly following.

     Thank you Lord for the opportunity to meet with those who love you.   I want so much to learn to lay down my life for the Brethren.

     Please do whatever is needed in me to produce your love.   I do so tend to be preoccupied with duties and making sure things go well.  I long for a mouth that is filled with your Life and hands that reach eagerly to anyone who will receive your touch.  

     Prepare my heart, Lord.  Any way.  Any thing.  Whatever it takes.

      What must the bottom line be?

     It has to be that His way is the only way. 

     That includes everything.   It also means a commitment to pursue Him, to be available for the impossible,  and to lay down our lives for the Brethren.

     In a culture of watery standards and political correctness, His touch is still penetrating.   He still leads us beside the still waters and He still restores the soul. 

     Soldier of The Cross, when you and I agree with God, there is room for the Holy Spirit to reveal Him.  The gifts are in lubricated operation.   We are easily led by Him.   There a richness of ministry and the needs of others loom far larger than our own.

     This declaration should be made daily.
     May He do anything He wants to with your life? Or are you afraid?
     Tell Him today.  Aloud.            
    

    How do we know when the Lord is leading us?

     As I look back on the thirty some years I have known Him, I can see that most of the time, I prayed, made a decision and only after time was able to see the Lord in the result. 

     The exceptions have been few.  I had a period of a few years during which without relief, I was pressed to go to Argentina.  I knew it was the Lord, finally went without a successful contact ahead of time and found  critical need and wonderful fellowship.

     There have been some experiences prefaced by the tender silver strand of the Holy Spirit with a gentle pressing that led me to believe it must be the Lord.  In those cases, there must be a prayerful looking into the matter.  If it is the Lord, there is a witness of His leading as the path becomes defined.

     I have only had one "burning bush" experience, and even at that, we are told that Moses stepped closer to the bush to investigate.  It involved sending Moses somewhere he would not have otherwise known to go.

     Soldier of The Cross, there must be a following of Him.  Where is He?  Where is His Life?  Where is the need?  He has never hidden from nor teased His Own.

     The problem comes when we want predictable security and the guarantee of a hassle-free result.  If we are asking for such a guarantee, we are already closed off to the frontier of faith.

     Will you follow Him anywhere?
     Will you take on anything He asks?
     Will you give up anything He asks?
     Will you serve in anyway He asks?

     He will never fail to lead the one who in obedience takes up The Cross daily and follows Him.

    We are told to resist the enemy, and it is he who will take flight.

     It seems to me that it is the Believer who so often takes flight.  We have been given the armor, the Sword, and instruction to stand.   There is no reason for passivity or ungodly compromise. 

     While it is not by our strength, we are expected to actively appropriate what we have been given and we are to affirmatively run the race.

     The flesh operates in greasy seduction.  As Amy Carmichael put it, ". . . Silken self. . ."  Without God's Word afresh and private prayer (which I believe should be aloud) there is no energy or endurance for the battle.  This is the greatest lack in the church today and the reason so many Christians are seeking to feel good and are ending in shipwreck.

     Soldier of The Cross, look straight ahead.  The busier you are, the more you must protect your private time with the Lord.   Then there is sight.  Then, there is a drawing on His strength.  Then, the insignificant exposes itself.

     Then, He can be seen.

    What a wild little member the tongue can be!

     I am always newly amazed at what people say to one another.

     My godly father was a wonderful example for me, and the older I get, the more precious that example becomes.  I never heard him utter a harsh word.  On many an occasion I watched him remain silent or offer a gentle response when most would have tried to even the score.

     Soldier of The Cross,  we must have speech that reflects who He is and what He has done in our hearts.

     The mouth of the Believer should be clean.  There is no excuse for cursing or filthy language in the life of a Christian.  It opens the door for the enemy, and it also pours oil on the fires of anger.  It compromises communication and fills the atmosphere with darkness.  If there is any such issue it must be dealt with in prayer.

     The mouth of the Believer should be available to declare Truth.   To encourage one another in the Lord.  To sing and to praise.   The Holy Spirit is grieved and quenched when there is a misuse of the tongue and the ground must be recovered.

     This is not a small thing.   Where there is argument instead of discussion, it ought to stop.  Slinging back a barbed comment in response to one received, is simply returning evil for evil. 

     The Soldier of The Cross must have a mouth that is yielded to the Lord. 

     It isn't about being perfect. 
     It is about being changed.

    Every Christian knows that he is taught to live in Today.

     Soldier of The Cross, your attitude can be predetermined.  For example, do you really believe the Lord leads? 

 
     If so, are you available? 
     If you are available, will you tell Him so? 
     If you tell Him so, will you be eager to reflect Him rather than tomorrow’s circumstances?
     Are you interested in Him enough to deal with this matter in prayer before tomorrow?

     Every breath, every decision, every word - all of life in Christ is about eternity.  The "land of endless days."  Soldier, we are sailing Home.  There simply is nothing else.  We must stand in prayer and give it to Him over and over and over.  There is no arrival in this life, and it must not be sought.

     It is about taking up The Cross and following Him.

     Did you mess up today?
     Deal with it in prayer while it is still today.

     Grief and depression are bordered when the Believer is willing to just do the next thing unto the Lord.

     There is nothing else.
     There is no one else.  
   

     In addition to saving us, the Lord also restores.

     When God restores something, it is far better than it was before and His Glory is all over it.  

     Years of decay and neglect can be obliterated in an instant if His hand is to it.  He shines radiantly out of the most pulverized formations when He is allowed.  The deepest scars don't disappear with analysis.  They turn into Ebenezer stones when room is made for Him.

     You never know what He is going to do. 

     You do know that He is preparing you for heaven and He is doing it now.

     If you are fully His, then He is fully yours. 

   
     He will take the situation and He will reveal Himself in it. 
     You must be willing to let Him.

    There is a wonderful old song entitled "Tis the Song of the Soul Set Free."

     I have not heard it for many years, but it was often sung in church when I was a child.

     It strikes me that there are many believers who have not yet had the experience of being set free because it is either not what they really want, or they do not understand the grand freedom that is to be found in Christ.

     Some are addicted to trouble and must be a victim all the time.  Others are still trying to live out the Christian life in the natural instead of the supernatural.


     Soldier of The Cross, this matter does not need to be a problem for you.  When the door is opened and He comes in to sup, there is a song in the heart.  It is the organic result of sweet, intimate fellowship with Him.

     Take it to Him.  If we are told that we must have a glad heart always ( I Thessalonians 5:16) then it is a matter of being available and obedient. 

     I remember being prisoner one minute and being free the next. 


     I will sing about it for all eternity.

     Neither you nor I know what is best for us.

     We have the Word of God, and so we have Light for living.   We are aware of the things that feel good, that feel bad and we evaluate everything around based on what we think the result will be.

     Because He has said that He alone knows what is best and will withhold no good thing from us, we disobey unless we agree with Him.  The attitude must be one that reflects truth.  Real truth.  Not just our assessment of the circumstances.

     What is your attitude about change?
     About being stretched?
     About loss?
     About forgiveness?
     May He do absolutely anything with your life?  Or are there limits?

     In the vastness of His depth there is the assurance that He does not make mistakes.

     He has called you and you have responded.  He is asking for a response that reflects absolute trust concerning the unknown and the things that seem to threaten security.  After all, there is no security outside of a faith-walk.

     Soldier of The Cross, everything falls under this.

     The living sacrifice does not lie on the altar, all the while fretting and moaning about his position.  He chose to be there and his attitude is that of one who has set aside his right to run his own life.  He does not wave a list of grievances. He now belongs to another and will not have anything to do with a diluted purpose.

     For the Soldier of The Cross, attitude is something that is predetermined.  It happens in prayer.   Standing before the Lord and praying to be changed makes more room for the Holy Spirit.  Agreeing with God allows the Christian to wear an attitude that reflects the Lord.

     What a privilege!