We are at war, believer, in fierce ongoing conflict.
There is no way to fight this war except to
become a shining warrior by virtue of a
disciplined life under the Great Commander!

Astoundingly,
the proof we are in the spiritual war
is the increasing presence of the war!
The onslaught of the Enemy rolls
against the True Way by pressure
within and betrayal without.

We are cast down but not despairing.

And we ever see . . . the inevitable victory
of our Unconquerable King!

Training is all for the same outcome but
training is unique to each one's weakness.
The goal is conformity to Christ,
to live Him, to embody Him and to
present Him.

The disciplines are spiritual, mental
physical and emotional.
The whole being is brought to the
chastening and even scourgings by
God's infinite knowledge of us and
His high agenda for our destiny.
(Hebrews 12)

The discipline is not to might but to
holiness, to His character pressed
into my marrow and His life rising
out of my death.

The training of this soldier is
the loss of all. Even "self."

As the soldier commits even unto death,
so we believers sign up for that
sure and certain outcome,
that duty to the absolute and the end. 

The great citadel of the mind
must be disciplined even to its most
hidden thoughts, conformed to God's
revelation of His Being by the scriptures.

Only by radical transforming
of the intellect is the will of God
in all its rich fullness seen in crystal.
And the ways of God become
indelibly pressed on the mind
right down into the unconscious.

Be transformed by the renewing of your
mind . . . .
Romans 12

Oswald Chambers:

"The day we live in is a day of wild imagination, everywhere, unchecked imaginations in music, in literature and worst of all, in he interpretation of Scripture. People are going off on wild speculations they get hold of one line and run clear off at a tangent and try to explain everything on that line, then they go off on another line; none of it is in accordance with the Spirit of God. There is no royal road for bringing our brains into harmony with the Spirit God has put in our hearts, we do not get there all at once, but only by steady discipline."

For the military person, there are only two parts to life
1. the grim preparedness to fight - by mental,
physical and spiritual trial
2. and the actual living battle.

We are prepared
for warfare by warfare.

Our wonderful Leader has the future
fully in His view, and under His command
we will be disciplined in perfect preparation
for our private strife and world battles.

See your preparation!
Cooperate with your General.
Come under His command. 

1 Cor. 9:26 NKJ
Therefore I run thus, not with uncertainty;    
 Thus I fight, not as one who beats the air:
But I discipline my body, and
bring it into subjection: lest,
when I have preached to others,
         I myself should have become disqualified.

Copyright © 2003 Martha Kilpatrick