You know you are in basic Training when…

See Luke 14:26 & 27; John 8:31 - 34

The Army knows that in a combat situation you cannot ignore a command and do your own thing. The entire army unit must operate as one and for that to happen each part of it must operate in an exact way. The parts must also operate in this exact way every time so as to create inter-dependability. Without the trust of knowing that all the parts are dependable it would be foolish to go into battle (unless of course you had spare parts that were fully equipped and trained to replace them).

Basic training is therefore the preparation of these parts (you and I). To become fully equipped, dependable, evil resistant parts that can be relied on and depended on to do whatever our Heavenly Father requires of us to do.

You know you are in basic training when:

1. You are being forced to rely on others and others are being forced to rely on you and both of these are painful experiences. (You graduate when there is no longer any pain in relying on/being relied on)
2. You are being forced (hopefully through your own self discipline) to read the Bible and go to church and both of these are difficult to do and not your first choice. (You graduate when they are both the first thing you would like to do when you have any spare time.)
3. You know you are still in Basic Training when you hear a voice in your head and cannot differentiate between God, satan and yourself or memories of previous conversations. (You graduate when you test every thought against The word of God which you have studied very well.)
4. You know you are in basic training when God is the last place you go when you face even the simplest of problems. (You graduate when even the mundane tasks you do regularly you ask The Holy spirit to guide you and when He does, you follow the advice however strange it may seem – provided of course this is in line with God’s Laws, Character and Word.)
5. You know you are in basic training when you are not quite sure what God would think of something you are contemplating. (You graduate when you cast out every thought that comes against the word of God which you know very well.)
6. You know you are in basic training when you cannot distinguish between good and bad behaviour in yourself and allow your mind and body to overrule your spirit. (You graduate when you can overrule your desires whenever you choose to and you do choose to whenever anything bad comes along.)
7. You know you are in Basic training when you speak about someone else behind their back (do not fool yourself that you are saying something good about someone when it’s just sensationalism and your own ego that is being boosted). (You graduate when you can get up and walk away from discussions which are in essence gossip.)
8. You know you are in Basic training when you pray to God because of what you need and what you are going through. (You graduate when your prayers are mostly for others and you thank God that He will walk with you through the problems.
9. You know you are in Basic Training when your relationship is still at the superficial level of God loves me so I love Him. (You graduate when you come to the deep understanding of who God really is and you approach Him with Fear and Trembling and prove your faith by nevertheless approaching Him with confidence.)

10. You know you are in Basic Training when you join a part of the

       church to give them what you can offer. (You have graduated  

       when you let the church suck out of you whatever they truly need

       (not everything they want to give, but what they need) (sacrificing

         to their needs))