here's another
i didn't write this
"He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30
Why are we content to preserve some bit of our fallen life or fleshly ambitions while lightly clinging to the hem of God's garment of salvation? We can hold on to the remains of "our own thing"--but only at the expense of a deeper walk. We can survive on the meager handouts that God is able to give us when He sticks out His hand from under the veil--but we'll never flourish. We take enough to keep us from spiritual famine. God doesn't dare come any closer because it would kill the very flesh we prize so highly. The choice is ours. God will not force our surrender. He searches for hearts who voluntarily choose sacrificial love.
God is looking for someone desperate enough to tie a rope around an ankle and say, "If I perish, I perish; but I am going to see the King. I want to do everything I can to go behind that veil. I'm going to put on the blood, I'm going to repent, I'm going to do everything I can because I'm tired of knowing about Him. I've got to see His face."
No matter who you are, what you've done, or what religious tradition you embrace; the only way you will ever get through the veil is through the death of your flesh. The death in genuine repentance and brokenness before God will allow Him to draw near to you. The apostle Paul said, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12). One day we will know God in the full measure of who we are. The day when power of the flesh is fully defeated within us is the day God will be able to completely show us His every part.
We want life, but God is looking for death. The Bible says, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death" (Revelation 12:11). The greatest blessing doesn't come from God's hand, but from His face in intimate communion. When we finally see Him and know Him, we have come to the source of all power. He makes every sacrifice worth nothing, but it's still not going to be a cheap blessing. It is true that all flesh must die in the presence of His glory, but it is also true that everything of the Spirit lives forever in His glory. We need to pray for a breakthrough, but we cannot pray for a breakthrough unless we're broken ourselves. Breakthroughs only come to broken people who are not pursuing their own ambition, but who are after the purposes of God. It takes death to truly see Him.
It's a good day to die. Is it hard? Oh yes. Sometimes, right when we think we're dead, we suddenly resurrect again. Is it frustrating? Of course. We lose some battles, but through steadfast grace and mercy we're enabled to win the war. C'mon guys. Let's fight the good fight; starting today.
-www.xanga.com/voire_dire