FULLY PREPARED

I want to be a soldier who is fully prepared for the battlefield. I know that victory is won long before the battle begins. It's won in boot camp, in training and conditioning. When the enemy suddenly comes at me, I'm going to need all available ammunition, and that ammunition is supplied by the powerful Word of God as I hide it away in my heart. So, the next time the devil attacks, I'm confident I'll have reserves to draw on. I'll have won the battle alone with God, prior to the battlefield.

Are you a committed soldier, believing that God is equipping you even now? If so, then you're fulfilling three requirements:

1. You're a diligent reader of God's Word.

As you study Scripture, you're beginning to understand how much God loves you. If you're not convinced of His absolute love, you won't be able to handle any crisis that comes. And you become convinced of His love only by devouring His Word.

2. You're cultivating intimacy with God daily, through time in quality prayer.

Our Lord wants us to cry out to Him in our times of crisis. But prayer during our hardships isn't enough. We have to seek our Father in good times as well. Our faith isn't meant to be merely situational. It has to come from a developing relationship with the Lord.

3. You're trusting that God won't allow you to face any trial without making a way for you to endure it.

Should a great trial come upon you, you don't have to worry whether you'll be strong or faint. Our Father gives grace when it's needed. And if you've developed a close, intimate relationship with Him, He'll pour His enduring grace into you when you need it.

God invites you to enter into His rest—today.

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).