by G. D. Watson
If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. Matthew 16:24-25
If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.
Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.
Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.
Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.
The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.
God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.
The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.
So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.
God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.
Possessing the Treasure 
Aaaaaahhhhhh now that is adorable grandpa 🙂
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What a sweet pic! ‘darling baby boy!
(hey, that desk is wayyy too neat! LOL!)
Many blessings.
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You’re supposed to be looking at the baby Paul and Luann. 🙂
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Thanks Denise! I cropped out the foreground where the rest of the mess is. 🙂
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What a jewel! Isn’t amazing how our grandbabies love keyboards? Looks like he even gave up his pacifier for a time!
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Heather, yep, Calvin loves my keyboard. My wife’s, his Nana, keyboard is one of those flat, nearly keyless ones. He is not interested in it, but he really likes mine. Calvin is 6 months old and he most certainly is a jewel. 🙂
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My granddaughter is 17 months and loves to play on Papa’s keyboard too. You simply cannot deny a grandchild!!!!!!
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Heather, my daughter says that my wife and I are the biggest spoilers of Calvin. She told me yesterday that he had me wrapped around his little finger. 🙂 Well, I just spend time with him. I talk to him and I let him sample things like playing on my keyboard or touching the pear blossoms on the trees in my front yard. I am with him as he experiences these things and I just love watching him react to that stuff. I play games with him like taking him to see himself in the mirror. I put things around him so that if wants them he will have to roll over or whatever to get to them. I talk to him as well and he tries to imitate the movements of my lips and tongue. God created this little person and it is amazing to watch him mature and grow.
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Being a grandparent is one of the most wonderful experiences in all of life! When Camdyn was born I cried like a baby; I was moved beyond comprehension. Just watching our little one roll over or say a first word is monumental in scope. And to think, God has no grandchildren…
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Heather,
Being a grandparent for me has been life changing. I don’t get to see Calvin very often since I live and work in the KC area while he and his parents live in the OKC area. I didn’t get to see him for about 6 weeks and I missed him tremendously. My wife goes down there every couple of weeks to help our daughter out with some stuff so she gets to see him quite a bit more. So, I have to cram all of that in in very short periods of time. 🙂 Yes, it is truly amazing to watch that little person grow and develop and how smart he already is. I have an aunt and uncle who are in the 70’s now who have never had children, by choice. They have no idea how much they have missed. I am very grateful to God that He allowed me to be a parent and now a grandparent.
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Hi Mike and family Congrates to you all. He is a cutie. I am thinking that you may have some competition in a few years? 🙂
Maybe Calvin’s Treasures??
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Thanks Cristina! Could be! 🙂
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