Posted on 11/05/2013 1:30:06 PM PST by RBStealth
DO not waste time thinking about the heroics of the saints, their miracles, extraordinary penances, or ecstasies if it only brings you discouragement in your present state (“I’ll never be one of them,” we mumble, and then promptly return to the status quo beneath the heel of Satan). Rather, then, occupy yourself with simply walking on the The Little Path, which leads no less, to the beatitude of the saints.
THE LITTLE PATH
Jesus set forth The Little Path when He said to His followers:
Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. (Matt 16:24)
I would like to restate this another way: Deny, Apply, and Deify.
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(Excerpt) Read more at markmallett.com ...
It isn't that we must deny ourselves of 'things'; it's the 'self' part that must be denied. I don't believe that God calls us to be ascetics.
Instead, we should, in all things, endeavor to put our will, our wishes, our desires behind His will, His wishes, his desires.
Also, Jesus put it in the negative sense here. In a world that takes blessings for granted but keeps a sharp eye out for curses, that’s the sense that registers the strongest. Once the blessings are more prominent in our eyes than the curses are, we can put it in the positive sense.
And the positive sense is to willingly yield to the Spirit of the Lord and to embrace the power of that same Spirit. The self that needs to be denied is the self that once had been yielded to Satan. Once it’s yielded to the Lord then it does not need to be denied because it is doing what the Lord wants. As salvation won’t be perfected until we exit this mortal coil, we do have something left to deny but that something will get smaller day by day if we have a robust walk with the Lord.
...In this way, God begins to reign on earth as it is in heaven little by little, because when we act in love, God “who is love” occupies our acts.
Good piece.
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