Soldier of The Cross, remember that the Lord looks on the heart.    Many things are not as they appear, and that is the reason we have been told not to judge.     When we come before Him, we know that we are able to come just as we are.  He receives all who come before Him in honesty.  In rescuing those who are without Christ, one of the most important things to be realized is that no one is outside of His reach.    There are verses that no one can explain away - those that say that some will turn away and some will be reprobate.  We do not attempt to present answers.  Many have tried and for the most part, they fail.  We simply take God at His Word and we admit that there are things we can not understand.   In the meantime, we preach in season and out of season.    We have several missionaries who have gone out under our mission, and they are ministering in some of the most difficult areas of the world.  They are in the difficult places of the former Soviet Union, including Siberia.  They minister to the elderly and dying, the severe alcoholics as well as those who are religious without the Lord.    These faithful saints will be there first to tell you that there is always hope for salvation.  Grace is always more than enough to bring the most fallen sinner out of the deepest quicksand.    Prepare your heart.  In the Word and in prayer.  Make sure there is no deliberate sin in your life.    Then, go out and be available.

    The Lord leads His own beside the still waters.    Soldier of The Cross, as long as we live in this world, there will be storms and hardship.  That fact is not the problem, because we serve One who has promised to save us from the fear of evil, even in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.     Moreover, we know that we will have  enemies, but that He will set a table before us in their presence.    We have a Shepherd.  We have one who anoints us with oil.     Does your cup run over? It does if you are taking Him at his Word.    Walking by faith is an active, affirmative expression of agreeing with God.  Either these things are true or they are not.  It is a question of relinquishing pointless independence for reliance on one who is Perfect.    Do  not misunderstand.  He does not make everything go away.      If we allow Him, He will make us like Himself, and the process does  not take place without the fire and the flood.    Look up and move on!

   Soldier of The Cross, have you given your life to the Lord?    Then trust Him,  and do  not speak as though you resent what He has allowed in your life.  When you speak about the matter, your speech should reflect what He has said in His Word, and it should reflect your relationship to His word and His Sovereignty.    This is a great part of walking by faith and giving God room to express Himself in and through your life.    Follow after Him with all your might.  Tell Him you want Him and that He Can do anything with your life.    Tell Him aloud and tell Him now.

   When looking at your daily life, is it possible to see that you have an allegiance that is not of this world?    If you are a Soldier of The Cross, you have made the affirmative decision to take up the Cross and follow Him.  It means that you have decided to be His disciple.  It means that you have been attracted to His Life, His Love, His Body and His Ways.    Those who live with you and those with whom you have casual contact should be able to see your clean living and should also be able to see who it is that you serve, and what your priorities are.    He is reflected in your countenance, your speech, your body language and your use of time.  Is His Word in your mouth?    Do you need to be served or are you a servant?  Are holding anyone responsible for your life?  What is the theme of your conversation?  Is it usually negative?  Is it about Him and His Word?    Or, have you determined to be transformed?  Are you telling Him that you want him to minister through you?  Do those around you know that they are loved with supernatural love?    Soldier, you are being watched.  Carefully.  By all.  Even the person who bags your groceries.  Be assured that everything matters.    Give yourself to Him each morning and do it aloud.  Know that He is listening and that He honors all prayer that lines up with His Word.  The thing is, you must come to Him with abandon and  you must do it aloud.      I have never met a person who said they waited for Him and were disappointed. Neither  have I ever read anything written by anyone who regretted yielding all to Him.    He is the Great Rewarder of those who seek Him, and a Seeker is easily identified  because of Love.    Tell  Him.  Aloud.

   Who can lay all burdens at the feet of the Lord?    Is it possible to live without worry?    We are told we must give him all our anxiety.  We are told to roll our burdens on the Lord.  Therefore, there must be a way.   The problem is,  most people have an addiction to the habit of worry.    There must be a time when the Believer decides that he or she is going to lean on the Everlasting Arms.    If you have met the Lord, you are empowered to do this.  To make matters even simpler, you were not designed to carry the burden of worry.    Worry is the state of mind in which one attempts to fantasize about a solution or a consequence.  Often, worry concerns something that will never happen.     Worry is sin.  It is distracting, crippling and blinding.    Learning to trust the Lord is a process.  It begins with a decision and with telling Him so in prayer.  Then, the Holy Spirit reminds the Soldier of The Cross that there is choice.    Do not be satisfied with less than all of the release into which you have been born.    Tell him that you will learn to lean on Him.  Tell him aloud.

   There is  not one verse in the Bible that encourages you to ask, "Why?".    You were designed to walk by faith.  Faith does not need all the explanations, nor does faith decide if God's reason is acceptable.   To question God is to assume that your reasoning and insight is equal to His.    Soldier, a living sacrifice does not lay on the alter, holding up a list of objections or demands.  It is one thing to pray through the Work of the Lord.  It is another thing to question the Sovereignty of God.  He is not insecure and does not suffer from the lack of faith.  It Is you who will suffer.    We have the Word of God.  We have the Body of Christ.  We have the assurance of Salvation.     We also have Power because the Indwelling Holy Spirit lives within us and empowers us to obey.    What is your priority?  Is it faith?  After all, there is  no other way to know God.  Is there anything else that is a close second?  Of course not. The issues of this life must match the issues of eternity.     You must tell Him aloud.  He will assure you by the very words that the Holy Spirit will give you in prayer.

   Your security must be in the Lord.    There is nothing wrong with insurance.  Insurance, however, falls far short of God's Provision.  He has said He will provide your every need and that He will withhold no good thing.    If that is true, why do so many Christians do all they can to avoid a faith walk, and then worry and fret?    Because they do not believe God.    You have chosen to believe God.  That is why you are a Soldier of The Cross.  You must be constantly praying in your daily bread and expecting to live at the Hand of God.   When you pray thusly, you will rely on Him for everything, even though you may have all the money  in the world and endless insurance.    He has designed you to look to Him.  The Christian who prays in his daily bread sees that the paycheck is from the lord and not from the boss.    That Christian works for the Lord and not for the money.     That Christian is free from money worries.    Take it to him in prayer.    Aloud.

   Soldier of The Cross, have you given your all?    Is there any area that you know you are withholding?    Are you desperate for security?    Must you have certain luxuries?     Do you insist on being right?   Is there some secret thing that you know is wrong, but you do it anyway?   Are you willing to let the Lord do anything He wants to with your time, your money, your faculties, your body, your profession, your reputation and your family?    The living out of the Christian life may not be easy, but it is certainly glorious.   The more eager the Soldier is to travel light, the richer the presence of the Lord.    Simply tell Him.    Aloud.

   We are all familiar with the stories.    Why do we not see the same things today?  Well, we do, but in a different manifestation.  We are in a different dispensation - the dispensation of Grace.     The Lord is the same, but He has chosen to reveal Himself in an expanded manner as time unfolds and advances toward eternity.     Soldier of The Cross, you must be able to commit events and consequences to Him in prayer.  Aloud.  The Lord often speaks to us in the prayer time, and it happens when the Holy Spirit leads in the choosing of words.     Many people claim to pray.  Few have a real prayer life.  What about you?  Do you seek Him out on a daily basis?  Aloud?  Are you aware He is listening and will respond?    He is the same.  He does not change, but He is infinitely creative and can be trusted with regard to the Plan.    Soldier, just look at Him and at His personality.    Talk to Him about the things that you see and love about Him.      When we are present with Him, we will have all the answers.  In the meantime, follow hard after Him.  He is the same as He has always been.    There is no one else.  There is nothing else.

   There is no verse in the Bible that encourages a Believer to ask "why?".    This is because there are many things that you will  not understand until you are present with the Lord in Glory.  You were not created with the capacity to evaluate the eternal versus the temporal.  You are expected and commanded to take God at His Word.     There is nothing squishy in the Bible.  Those who do not agree that there is a sovereign God take issue with everything.  Now, modern society is evolving to the extent that morality is being redefined.    Soldier of The Cross, every word He says is solid.  There is nothing else.  He is right and everything else is wrong.    I have come to realize that there are few who love Truth and Right.  Most people compromise when it comes to right and wrong, based on the consequences that will come to them.  We all know that it is the nature of a child to test this principle.    Soldier,  love God's Word.  Love what is right.  Love to obey.     No compromises.