O my children, you go your own way as though you belonged to another;
yes, you behave not as sons and daughters, but as strangers. You hold
meetings in my name and give honor to men but not to me. You boast that
you serve me, but in truth you serve your own ego; for that which you
do is calculated to enhance your own position and advance your own
prestige, and you give it all a sanctimonious cloak.
Get to the prayer closet! This is the reason I have taught you to pray
in secret.: because there you are beset by fewer false motives and less
temptation. He who does not habitually commune with Me alone is almost
sure to find true prayer impossible in public.
You would make Christianity pleasant and acceptable. Your Savior did
not find it so. You would make it comfortable and accommodating to your
own schedule. He knew nothing of such a false religion. Lonely nights
He wrestled in prayer nor spared himself physical discomfort.Yes, the
more you pamper the flesh as to bodily comfort, the more it will demand
from you, until you become its servant. Do not be deceived. I gave you
no such commandment. Hear Me as I repeat what I gave to your fathers:
"Deny your self and take up your cross and follow Me." Yes follow Me,
not some worldy form of a backslidden church.
Do not think it becomes blessed because it bears the name "church". My
church is a living body, not a dead form. My people may be recognized by
their humility and sufferings, not by social acceptability and
self-advertized successes; not by extravagent physical structures, but
by the grace of God at work in their hearts. Sacrifice is my status
symbol, and humanity has not been eager to recognize My type of
spiritual leadership.
Do you desire to follow me? Look for the bloodstained prints at my feet.
Go to the cold unyielding rock in the garden of Gethsemane, where self
is put aside, and the cup of suffering is accepted. Die to your own
treacherous and deceitful heart. Rise with determination to go
unflinchingly not hoping to spare yourself. Save your life and you will
surely lose it. Offer it up to Me, this very day in renewed
consecration to sacrificial living and I will accept you- and you shall
know joy as new wine.
-from the book Come Away My Beloved
by Frances J Roberts
