J
The Inward Cross
I saw a young man tonight with a cross around his neck. And I could not help but wonder whether this was just an outward manifestion of what was truly in his heart, or if it was an illusion to hide the emptiness of his soul.
Looking back, I wished I asked him what the cross meant to him and why he wore it. I wondered, did he wear it because it was a popular thing to do? Or was it an outward symbol to show all the world who he really was in his heart? Was it to show he was religious? Or was it to show his devotion and love for Jesus Christ?
How many of us wear all the trappings of Christianity and yet do not have Christ embroidered into our hearts? When the fire burns all the dross away, will there be anything left? Will there be purest gold inside our hearts or will all our good works be burned up because we did not have the Spirit of Christ in us.
You can not have the All Consuming Fire of God's Spirit in your heart and your flesh not get burned. A Vessel of wood can not carry fire, for it will be consumed; so our hearts, unless pure, can not hold the fire of God. How are we to be a light in the darkness, when our own soul still hides our darkest sins?
Who is willing to be laid bare before the fire of God? Who is willing to be naked and exposed? To allow the piercing Gaze of Christ to cut right through you and expose who you truely are. How many of us are willing to allow all things that are hidden to be revealed in the light? And not just any light, but the most pure light that exposes every blemish, every wrinkle, and every spot? Am I even willing to go through such a refining process? To be stripped to the bone? To find out in reality and not just word, that there literally is no good thing in me.
This is the greatest horror of Christianity. The greatest horror to the flesh, and yet the most powerful and exhilirating thing for the Spirit. To be stripped to the bone, nay, to the very marrow of our soul. Who can bare to see that they are in fact nothing compared to the awesome and infinite Glory of our Creator? Who is willing to lay themselves low and become nothing?
Lord, with great trembling, do I ask this of You. Eventhough I don't really even know what Im getting myself into. I ask to be laid bare. Because my only hope is that once im laid naked and bare, that I will then be clothed with Christ. That is my only Hope. Do it within me O Lord. For within me is where Revival truly begins.
I saw a young man tonight with a cross around his neck. And I could not help but wonder whether this was just an outward manifestion of what was truly in his heart, or if it was an illusion to hide the emptiness of his soul.
Looking back, I wished I asked him what the cross meant to him and why he wore it. I wondered, did he wear it because it was a popular thing to do? Or was it an outward symbol to show all the world who he really was in his heart? Was it to show he was religious? Or was it to show his devotion and love for Jesus Christ?
How many of us wear all the trappings of Christianity and yet do not have Christ embroidered into our hearts? When the fire burns all the dross away, will there be anything left? Will there be purest gold inside our hearts or will all our good works be burned up because we did not have the Spirit of Christ in us.
You can not have the All Consuming Fire of God's Spirit in your heart and your flesh not get burned. A Vessel of wood can not carry fire, for it will be consumed; so our hearts, unless pure, can not hold the fire of God. How are we to be a light in the darkness, when our own soul still hides our darkest sins?
Who is willing to be laid bare before the fire of God? Who is willing to be naked and exposed? To allow the piercing Gaze of Christ to cut right through you and expose who you truely are. How many of us are willing to allow all things that are hidden to be revealed in the light? And not just any light, but the most pure light that exposes every blemish, every wrinkle, and every spot? Am I even willing to go through such a refining process? To be stripped to the bone? To find out in reality and not just word, that there literally is no good thing in me.
This is the greatest horror of Christianity. The greatest horror to the flesh, and yet the most powerful and exhilirating thing for the Spirit. To be stripped to the bone, nay, to the very marrow of our soul. Who can bare to see that they are in fact nothing compared to the awesome and infinite Glory of our Creator? Who is willing to lay themselves low and become nothing?
Lord, with great trembling, do I ask this of You. Eventhough I don't really even know what Im getting myself into. I ask to be laid bare. Because my only hope is that once im laid naked and bare, that I will then be clothed with Christ. That is my only Hope. Do it within me O Lord. For within me is where Revival truly begins.
