Lord, as I stand before you tonight, I am so grateful for the Grace that is greater than all my sin.

     The more I am with those who want nothing but you, the  more I see of your handiwork, the more I recognize your leading, the more I am thrilled with everything about you.

     I so want to know you more intimately, Lord.

     Please do whatever is needed in the deepest parts of me in order to bring about your own likeness.   Even though it may be hard and may require the painful turning from something long sought, Oh Lord, right now in prayer, I choose whatever glorifies you.

     My Lord and my God.

     A sharp tongue is a sinful tongue.

     Those who rattle off get-back answers and love to render verbal justice are also those who tend to be without empathy and have never learned to respond to the Holy Spirit when dealing with ungodly aggression.

     Soldier of The Cross, it is the flesh that wants to shoot back.  It is always a false balance. 

     We are to return good  for evil.  Sometimes that means being silent and other times the Lord will give a word that reveals His deep work in the heart.

     Most folks grow up with the habit of answering back.  The Soldier of The Cross may not live this way.

     It is what comes out of the mouth that defiles a man.

     Only He can make the deep changes. 
     Dedicate your faculties to Him regularly. 
     Aloud.

     He'll see it through.

     He said He would and He will.  He does not tease us and He knows what is best far better than we.

     Faith is not about hoping a certain thing will happen and then trying to make it come about.  Faith is about trusting God because of what He has done and what He has said.

     You might need to move when it seems impossible.  You might need to wait when it seems impossible.

     He has never disappointed any of His Own who were available for His way.

     Soldier of The Cross, are you easily moved by Him, or is each step of the way a spiritual battle?

     What is humility?  Agreeing with God. 

     The issue is, are you eager to be changed?  This does not mean there has to be a surge of feeling about the matter, only availability.

     You need to be healed from the effects of sin before salvation.  Although you are under the Blood, the old man must be supernaturally deactivated. And though you are now free from the law of sin and death, there is a process that comes about through obedient choice, and it is lifelong.

     You have the Indwelling Holy Spirit.
     You have His Word and His Body.
     You are told to boldly approach the Throne of Grace.

     For what?  To be used.  To be changed.

     Here is the song the children sing in our church:

         Change me, change me, oh Jesus please;
         All of my heart and life, oh Jesus seize.
         Teach me to live out my life on my knees;
         Change me, change me, Jesus.

     Soldier of The Cross, it must be your goal to be clay in the Potter's Hand.
     Tell Him.
     Aloud.

     He is not going to give you any overview of His Plan for your life.

     He leads one step at a time and wants you to learn to move by faith, based on His Word.

     This should not be about your life, but about His.  Living for Him.  Leaving all else behind.  Learning to recognize Him.

     Again and again I hear Christians express the desire to have God ratify their plans.  The reality is, God is looking for hearts who are His so totally that they will take up The Cross daily and follow Him.

     Lord, as I stand before you tonight, I declare that it is my desire that you be glorified in and through my life.   I am so drawn to all that you are, but I know I need to be changed.  So Lord please do whatever is needed in the deepest places of me in order to make me like you.

     I am willing to follow you one step at a time and will go anywhere and do anything for your glory.

     Soldier of The Cross, we are asked to identify with His sufferings.

     Can this happen without suffering?  No.

     So then, we have before us a Treasure that can be received or rejected.  Which will it be?   Are we willing for the thing that is the best but may be the hardest?

     The bottom line is always the same - can He be trusted?

     So Soldier,  the question is, how far are you willing to go?

     Tell Him and do it aloud.    

     The Soldier of The Cross must live by prayer.

     And of course, without the fresh taking in of God's Word, there is no effectiveness in prayer because there can be no Holy Spirit led agreement with God.

     I once heard A. W, Tozer say that he would not consider attending even a committee meeting without preparing his heart in prayer.  How remarkably easy it is to sachet through the day moving from one thing to the next, all the while operating in dim light and barely able to hear.

     Prayerfully going through the day does not mean that there must be a little ceremony over each activity or encounter.  There does however, need to be a commitment of the day in prayer and an affirmatively stated availability to be a living sacrifice.  A stated desire to take up The Cross and follow Him.  A request to be changed into His likeness, whatever it takes.

     Prayer leads to more prayer. Prayer opens the door and He comes in to sup.

     Where He is, there is always healing.
     Where He is, there is Light.
     Where He is, there are ears to hear.
     Where He is, sin is exposed.
     Where He is the Divine fire burns away what has to go.

     Soldier, pray. 
     Aloud, and in the language of your heart - your every day language.
   

     Know that our Sovereign Lord is an attentive listener.

     Pray according to God's Word.  He listens and He is active, and so He says from cover to cover.

     The ball is in your court

     Are you willing to wait for Him?  Will you agree that He knows best? Didn't He die for you?

     Is there really going to be a Wedding Supper of The Lamb?

     This is no small thing.  He heard and He is actively addressing the matter.     

     Soldier of The Cross, in prayer, state again that His way is eternal and that you know by His Word that He has already addressed the matter.

     Do this aloud and alone.

     Our God does the most with the least, uses the lowest to reveal the highest, and sets free those who are in the worst bondage.

     If He did things as we think they should be done and on our schedule, we would be revealed rather then seeing Him.

     Soldier, you must agree with God.  About everything.  Even when there is a matter that must be changed, the flesh tugs to see and experience the release in a way that can't compare to His.

     Doesn't He give and doesn't take away?  Can you say "Blessed be the name of the Lord?

     You must agree with God.
     Aloud. 

     It is  His business and you must let it go.

     If you hang on to it, you will either never feel victorious enough or you will be a monument to regret.

     Give it up in prayer - to the One whose design included it in the first place.

     Aloud.