Matthew 10:39, "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it."

        The Greek word used here for "life" is "psuche." The corresponding Hebrew word is "nephesh," and means: a breathing one. It bespeaks of the soulish realm, the self-life, embracing the mind and personality, the feelings and desires, affections and aversions, which you, as a breathing one, identify as being you. The emphasis of the world these days is upon "finding one's self, and nurturing that "self" until it blooms with distinction, to make a name for one's self, a reputation, and a favorable identity.
         In the natural one needs to move with confidence, feeling good about their self, with a sense of self-worth. A very low sense of self-esteem, self- respect, etc. produces certain attitudes and actions which are detrimental. Negativism destroys! Our youth must be taught that their own bodies are too precious to be destroyed and ruined by smoking, drinking, sex, junk foods, etc. as the list goes on and on. It is because they place so little value upon themselves, that they waste their substance. They need to know that "GOD DOES NOT MAKE JUNK." As Jesus once said, "You are of more value than many sparrows." (Matt. 10:31). Think about it! God has a treasure in these earthen vessels, and we need to glorify God in our body, in our mind, and in our spirit.
         Having set forth these vital FACTS/TRUTHS, which pertain to our living in this world, we would also point out a real need for a balance, even in the natural, lest pride arise, a super-ego is developed, and we become pompous, arrogant, egotistic. And so Paul admonished, "Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." (Romans 12:3).
         And it is also vital that we remember there is a vast difference in natural things and spiritual things. Well did God speak through the prophet, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9).
         There are those who give much emphasis upon self-realization with a "do-it-yourself" improvement course. You must convince yourself that you have the power, the greatness, etc. They will use many of the Scriptures which speak of "Christ in you," and how "In Him we live, and move and have our being," etc. as they twist the Word of God to their own SELF-USE.
         We find that this MAN-EXALTING teaching is quite at variance with the deep in workings of His cross, until we come to the place where we realize that, "I can of mine own self do nothing." (John 5:30). And it is only "By the grace of God I am what I am." (1 Cor. 15:10). For it is "NOT I, but Christ liveth in me." (Gal. 2:20).
         It is not a SELF-EXERCISE, but the in working of the Holy Spirit. We need to let HIS MIND be in us. HE will think positively, but not with a carnal SELF-assertiveness. For this we have found-- the deep in workings of the Cross do not take away our self-respect, sense of self-value that belongs to the natural realm. It is dealing with an entirely different realm. The cross is used to cancel out any self-effort to become spiritual. All of the natural gifts and graces with which we are endowed in the earthy, which are proper for their sphere, do not qualify us for spiritual glories. It is true that the spiritual will help you to be a better natural person, but the natural can never help you to be a better spiritual person. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing," regarding spiritual things. (John 6:63).
         And so Jesus clearly taught, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be." (John 12:24-26).
         To pursue a course of trying to find our TRUE SPIRITUAL LIFE in natural things is an exercise in futility.  To try and find this LIFE in soulish improvement is also heading down a dead-end street. To subject ourselves to a system of religious works proves to accomplish just the opposite of what we set about to obtain. "I know that these regulations look wise with their self-inspired efforts at worship, their policy of self-humbling, and their studied neglect of the body. But in actual practice they do honor, not to God, but to man's own pride." (Col. 2:23, Phillips).
         To seek to save our life is only to lose it. But, to offer it up to our Lord, to yield ourselves to Him continually-- to daily take up our cross to follow Him, and you will find that HIS LIFE super abounds. And you have not passed from life into death, but just the opposite, you have gone from the realm of death (the carnal mind) into the LIFE OF CHRIST which abides. And it is not just a one time experience, but an ON-GOING REALIZATION, with the greater victories yet before us.
         Some folk are tempted to try and repeat yesterday's sacrifice and blessing , to find their life in a re-living of what has already been, not realizing that this becomes a barrier to going on, for it stunts spiritual growth and progression. This is not God's plan. The former things must pass away, they are not sufficient for today.  "Remember not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now shall it spring forth; shall ye not know it?" (Isa. 43:18-19).
         Remember not-- the Hebrew word is "zakar" to imprint, make a memorial. It is more than just a recalling to mind, but has the thought of re-living, to participate in. We are not called to recite and re-live the past over and over. The more you recite the past the more you build it into a structure against the future-- it becomes an obstruction. Milking the memory dry of those things which once blessed us in the past, is surely an exercise in futility, it does not birth the new. Too much of this re-living and we miss the light and life that He has for us today. To seek to find our life in that which has already passed, is to LOSE IT. Re-living a bye-gone order is not LIFE. Living in the realm of memories is but a shadow of existence, it does not produce satisfaction and a vibrant life sufficient for the now.
         God is a Fountain of life-- pools just stay where they are, and often even become stagnant, but a fountain flows and flows. We need a fresh drink from the Living Fountain! A SPRINGING FORTH of His life to lead us onward.
        We have prayed too long about "doing" the will of God, not realizing that service is secondary-- the result of living out His life. It is not what we DO, but what we ARE-- we become a manifestation of His will. When we are willing to die to self, and yes, all religious programs, then HIS LIFE will flow in. In losing our life, we find HIS! The inner transformation takes place when self-life ends, and His life is released through us. Even the mind is renewed-- thoughts and imaginations bow to the supremacy of HIS MIND-- and truly, He says "My thoughts are not your thoughts..."
         Willing to walk, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. To be led by the guidance and rule of the Spirit. Thus, it is only when we come to know that HE LIVES IN US, that we can say, "In Him we live, and move, and have our being.," For in reality, HE lives and moves and has HIS being in us!
         He is calling a people unto/into Himself, to be ONE IN HIM. Often this will take us away from the field of activity, to wait before Him. People often misunderstand this, and say, "Why aren't you out in ministry?" How little do men realize that service, out of human effort, outside the will of God, accomplishes nothing. Of what use is "our" ministry unless it is HIS appointment? Of what use is it to go unless He sends?
         How legalistic we become! Professing to have been delivered from the Law, we immediately legalize the New Testament, "If you will do this... if you will do that... if you will give this..." and soon we are in bondage which always comes when we nullify His sacrifice, and try to add to it with our own works. "Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not..."
         It is time to quiet our hearts before Him, that HE might speak within us of those truths which are so essential for these days. To BE STILL-- ah, that is a challenge! Regardless of how tumultuous the waves were on the sea of Galilee, He could rise up, and say "Peace, be still," and they would quiet down again. His creative power ruled over all the forces of His creation. When He gave the command, the creation obeyed. They had no ears to hear, they had no minds to receive Him, but those waves were subject to His Word/power. Likewise God could exact an obedience from our hearts-- but He is not coercive, He desires far more from His people, for He would have us to BE WILLING. "Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely." (Rev. 22:17). He would commune with us. He says to us, "be still and KNOW that I am God." To the waves, He said, "Be still..." but to His people He says, "Be still AND KNOW," for He would not only quiet our stormy hearts, but He would whisper His secrets into us, that we might know-- KNOW THAT HE IS GOD, in sovereign control of all our circumstances. Often we give lip service to this truth, but we do not really KNOW IT deep within. And why do we not know it? Because we have not been STILL long enough before Him for Him to communicate to us of these verities of His over-flowing life.
          How desperately we need to know, as the hymn beautifully states, that--
                                                       "THE CROSS is not greater than His grace,
                                                       The storms cannot hide His blessed face;
                                                        I am satisfied to know that with Jesus here below,
                                                        I can conquer every foe . "
         It is only when we recognize that "all things work together into good for them that love God..." that these events in our life take on their proper perspective. HE is fulfilling HIS PLAN in and for us-- and He must needs lead us through these valleys, guide us homeward by the way of His Cross.
       We are not to focus our attention on the storm, but on HIM who is "the . Author and the Finisher of our faith." The more we see Him IN all these things, the more we will lose our fear, and embrace His peace.
         "Fear hath torment," (1 John 4:18). What fears have worked their torment in the children of God. Did what happened happen because I failed? Was it because I did not pray right? Because I did not do right? etc. as if the responsibility for the all these events was upon our own shoulder. Have we never read, "And the government shall be upon HIS shoulder..."? (Isa. 9:6). Truly, He hath said, "ALL power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." (Matt. 28:18). "There is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things: and we in Him..." (1 Cor. 8:6). Can we, do we really believe this?
         Fear–  what if I prayed and nothing happened? The prayer is on our part, the answer is on His part. We are not forced to answer our own prayers. We commit the whole unto the Lord, and trust Him to work out whatever is best for us. Unbelief misses the mark! "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Rom. 14:23). We must believe that HE is working out that which is GOOD-- good for us, and which will redound to His praise.
         Often people will quote Job 3:25, "For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me." This is not a guaranteed happening. FEAR  DOES NOT CREATE! How many thousand times have we feared and worried about things, and they never did happen. People are altogether too superstitious, tormented with groundless fears, because they do not KNOW that GOD ALONE IS IN CONTROL. Seems like we need to repeat it often, "The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord; and He delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with His hand." (Ps. 37:23-24).
         He does not demand of us a series of sacrifices that become some spiritual penance whereby we work our way into the Kingdom. It is the broken and con- trite heart that He will not despise. We cannot develop a LIFE like His, no matter how we try, for only Christ can live the Christ-life through us. Surely He would cleanse us of all the unnecessary thoughts and words which are sacrilegious in His holy Place.
         The good in self is to be laid upon the altar just as much as the evil-- HE IS COMPLETE, and we cannot add to His completeness. And He will be IN US ALL THAT HE IS-- so that "Through union with Him, you, too, are filled with it." (Col. 2:9-10 Williams).
         There is so much of our "religion" that we need to let go of-- all of this soulish, selfish system which repudiates the Presence of the indwelling Christ. Religion fails, but our Lord ever remains the Victor! All human systems might be stripped naked and reveal their appalling helplessness, but CHRIST STILL REIGNS. It is "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." (Zech. 4:6). Often it is a struggle to YIELD UP our "former life of doing," especially if we were, for a moment, successful in seeing a few miracles because the grace of God went beyond our feeble efforts, to answer the need of an open heart. But the more He opens our eyes to see the futility of a religious soulish life, the more we are convinced of the absolute helplessness of man, unless he is anointed by the Spirit of God, and it is "no more I, but Christ liveth in me."
         Knowing of our human tendencies to exalt self, and enthrone the flesh, Paul laid it out plainly, "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;... that no flesh should glory in His Presence." (1 Cor. 1:27, 29). Even though our creed and doctrine may be true, it cannot convey the manifestation of His power. Therefore, it is "not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." (2 Cor. 3:6). How we desire to move out of that abstract realm in which men take pride in their understanding of the printed Word, and enter into that realm where the SPIRIT OF THE WORD quickens us, and we behold His glory-- the glory of our Living Lord!
         This glory is not found in our self-life, no matter how much we embellish it with images of spirituality. There is such futility in trying to lift man's understanding into higher dimensions of life. You explain it over and over again, draw the charts, list the seven points, etc. but this does not produce a QUICKENED HEART-- for only the Spirit can infuse us with His life. It is when we DIE to the realm of types and shadows, images of the real, that He can impart resurrection life that causes us to KNOW AS HE KNOWS, and bring us into greater expressions of His life.
         Ah, yes, "He that loseth his life shall find it. But he that seeketh to save his life, shall lose it." Herein is an outworking principle that is found all the way through the Scriptures. It is the remarkable mystery of the divine interplay of good and evil, and how HE sows the seeds of gain in loss itself. What you thought you had lost, you find you have gained, but what you thought you had retained, kept to yourself, you will have lost. To lose and yet to gain-- only in the realm of divine economy can this be so.
         "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out." (Rom. 11:33).
         Often do we read with amazement, "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil." (Isa. 45:7). Interplaying the negative with the positive, to work out a purpose so glorious that "Since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside Thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember Thee in Thy ways." (Isa. 64:4-5).
       With remarkable candor He states, "I kill, and I make alive: I wound, and I heal..." (Deut. 32:39). And again, "He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten, and He will bind us up." (Hosea 6:1). Thus, HE CAUSES US TO SUFFER LOSS, that He might ultimately bless us with His ETERNAL GAIN.
        Hannah experienced the depth of sorrow, she was barren, and "Her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb." (1 Sam. 1:6). Talk about losing her life, unfulfilled desires, being torn, wounded, etc. it was a bitter time. BUT GOD-- when she poured it all out before Him, He turned her sorrow into joy, and with rejoicing she declared-- "The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: He bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory..." (1 Sam. 2:6-8). Yes, Hannah may have thought she had lost her life-- shamed by her adversary, her pride was demolished, her sense of value to her husband was diminished, but turning to the Lord, to cast herself upon Him, she found her life in a way she could never have imagined. Out of her barrenness God produced a new life-- life that would glorify God-- for Samuel would be given to minister to the Lord.
        Experiencing the deep in workings of this principle of "losing and finding," Paul writes, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you."' (2 Cor. 4:10-22).
         Herein is a spiritual in working of grace-- note it, A SPIRITUAL IN WORKING, for this is a "heart attitude " not just a physical exhibition. Jesus made, this very clear when He taught His disciples, "But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret..." (Matt. 6:17-18). Men see the outward-- "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7). Take care on how you APPEAR BEFORE MEN-- to have a smile upon your face, while you are "dying within." The laying down of our life is UNTO GOD, not unto men, so do not subject men to the agony. Only God knows how deeply the cross is penetrating into your self-life, to bring an end to that wherein the flesh would boast. The death is inward, it does not have to "appear before men" unless you want them to see it and sympathize with you on how heavy your cross must be, but such a portrayal will only nourish the "suffering self" and prolong the process. But the more we "lay down our life," then the more HE can unite us with HIS LIFE, and it is IN HIM that we would be found. "Found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable unto His death." (Phil. 3:9-10).
         "He that loseth his life for My sake shall find it." FIND IT-- interesting Greek word, "heurisko" meaning: to find, to come upon, find a thing sought, to discover. FINDING OUR LIFE IN HIM-- "Your life is hid with Christ in God." (Col. 3:3). We do nothing to cause that life to BE-- it is HIS LIFE that He shares with us. The creature contributes nothing, we but RECEIVE what He so freely gives. And it has been well stated that, "Man never discovers God's strength until he first finds his own weakness." It is in the losing of our life, that we find His life. As we share with Him His death, we shall also share His resurrection. HE causes us to rise above natural things, above the soulish impulses-- yes, above the appeal to our carnal reasoning, to where we become one with the moving of His Spirit.
         I know it is one thing to write/speak of these things, and quite another to experientially live them out. It is easy to read the Word, and yet not read it. Though we might nod our heads in approval, it fails to become a daily in working/outliving. But more and more He is revealing to us how "nothing" we are, and how much HE IS EVERYTHING. And once again, in our spirit, we hear Jesus saying, "For with God all things are possible." (Mark 10:27). Usually we read it to mean, "all things are possible TO God." And while this is true, it is not what Jesus said here. He is not talking about the power of God apart from man, but of the power of God working IN and THROUGH man-- man working WITH Him. We readily confess that "Only God could do it." And in a sense that is true, but when we become ONE WITH HIM-- then we are made partakers of that LIFE and POWER. And what does it take to become one with Him? LOSING OUR LIFE, that we might be enriched with HIS life.
     There is a "togetherness" which needs to become a living reality in us. As Paul said, "If so be that we suffer WITH Him, that we may be also glorified together." (Rom. 8:17). The Greek prefix "sum, or, sun," is attached to many words, making them a TOGETHER WITH-- we suffer WITH Him, and we'll also reign WITH  Him. We are "Planted together in the likeness of His death, (and) we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection." (Rom. 6:5).
     Unless God does it, we cannot do it, and there is no use in trying. We can shout and carry on, forgetting that the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:26-28) did that very thing but it brought no power, and there was no manifestation of fire. But when we come into UNION WITH GOD, there is a WITH-NESS wherein all things are possible. "The Lord working WITH them, and confirming the Word with signs following." (Mark 15:20). Praise God, in the losing of our life, we then become partakers of HIS LIFE-- all to His glory and praise!
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(1) Prinzing, Ray and Doris "Letters of Truth"  Boise, Idaho 83705, P.O. Box 5822

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