When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Mark 8:34, NKJV.
The word of God gives the description of a true Christian, which corresponds with the work of the Holy Spirit on the heart and life. The children of God know at once they have the evidence in their own hearts that they are born of God.... It means depth and breadth of experience to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. Self-denial and self-sacrifice will always be found in the path that leads through the strait gate to the broad meadows of the Lord's pastures.
To them that believe, Christ is precious. His Spirit moving upon the mind and heart of the believer is in perfect agreement with that which is written in the Word. The Spirit and the Word agree perfectly. Thus the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit that we are born of God.
The ones who find in their heart no resemblance to the great moral standard of righteousness, the Word of God, have no Christ to confess. Their language, their thoughts, are not in harmony with the Spirit of Christ. Their profession of faith is a counterfeit one. Do you ever find cream rising on water? The soul must have the vivifying influences of the breath of life from Christ in order to reveal in the conversation that Christ is formed within, the hope of glory.
One never gathers grapes from thistles. The words of Christians will be in accordance with their enjoyment of Christ. Those who are perpetually talking doubts and demanding additional evidence to banish their cloud of unbelief do not build on the Word. Their faith rests on haphazard circumstances; it is founded in feeling. But feeling, be it ever so pleasing, is not faith. God's Word is the foundation upon which our hopes of heaven must be built.
It is a great misfortune to be a chronic doubter, keeping the eye and thoughts on self. While you are beholding self, while this is the theme of thought and conversation, you cannot expect to be conformed to the image of Christ. Self is not your savior. You have no redeeming qualities in yourself. “I” is a very leaky boat for your faith to embark in. Just as surely as you trust yourself in it, it will founder. The lifeboat, to the lifeboat! This is your only safety. Jesus is the Captain of the lifeboat, and He has never lost a passenger.—Manuscript Releases 21:23, 24.
From To Be Like Jesus - Page 354
To Be Like Jesus