God’s desire is to use us powerfully in all situations, but He will never do so until we’re emptied of everything first.
He only uses the jars of clay that He can fill Himself. So it’s up to us to submit our hearts to Him and to rid our hearts of our pride, our self-love, and arrogance. Once He has room to operate in our lives…He then can pour out His Spirit in us so that we become the overflow of His goodness on others.
Of course, none of this is easy. And, we may become discouraged if we think it’s a quick thing to do. But it’s worth the sacrifice if we desire His intimacy above all else. Like Paul, we can experience the revelation of what it means to be one with Christ and be filled with His Spirit. As it says in Galatians 2:20:
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
So, for us, that means we have to die to ourselves before we can be made alive in Jesus. We have to surrender everything to Him before we can be complete in Him. He alone gives us our value and self-worth. And only He can create within us what we so tragically lack in ourselves: our sense of who we are and what our true purpose is.
~Roone Acree
Christ Fellowship