"In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that - and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison - you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. ... The real test of being in the presence of God is, that you either forget about yourself altogether or see yourself as a small, dirty object. It is better to forget about yourself altogether."
If you only see yourself as a small, dirty object compared to God, you miss His grace completely. Though we are small and dirty and completely sinful by nature before the Creator God (Ephesians 2:1-3, Romans 3:23), His desire is that we might be saved by Him and Him alone (1 Timothy 2:4).
Being saved, however, is an invitation to a crucifixion. God will call you to literally "lose yourself altogether." Sometimes this is a painful process; but one that God is doing in us and through us to shape us into the image of our big brother, Jesus (Romans 8:29).
Once we realize our state before God - our small and dirty position - then we can lose ourselves by giving all control of our lives completely over to Him. He gets all control, He refines us, He makes us new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) and calls us to do great things for His glory (Ephesians 2:10).
It is better to forget about yourself altogether - then you can become your true self, living for God, looking up to Him and out to others.
"... But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:43-45
"... If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." - Luke 9:23
5 comments:
I completely agree. When we truly hand over our lives to God, then we become everything He has planned for us from the beginning. In this case, the ultimate loss is the ultimate gain.
Glad to see you blogging, too! :)
Thanks Jessica. I agreet - the ultimate loss is the ultimate gain. See you at VBS tonight
Your two year update rate is still much, much, much better than mine ever was! :)
I enjoyed your comments and insight to God's truth. Please keep doing the updates. I have you bookmarked now. - Bert Moffitt -
Thanks Bert - I appreciate your encouragement.
Post a Comment