Tozer writes...........
Allowing yourself to be out in such a position that God is exalted is the goal of living the crucified life. When you allow God to be exalted in your difficulties, you will be in the perfect position to smell the sweet fragrance of His presence (Tozer)
Have you found that to be true in your own life? The depths of His presence is no more deeply felt than in the depths of the valleys of our lives. The crucified life runs counter to every human emotion that we have. It is not natural at all it is supernatural. Brothers and sisters, if we can understand this, if we can desire this, if our chief end is truly to glorify God, then we will discover a depth of His presence that we have never known before.
How many of us say that we want the Lord to bless us? What does that actually mean? If the ultimate blessing is to know God in the depths of who He is and the only door that will lead us to that blessing is a door that says above it " crucified," will you walk though that door? Now please do not rush to answer that question. It's an all or nothing question. There is no connection to be had between the mediocre Christian life and the crucified Christian life, they are worlds apart.
If we want to enter into a place of rest and I am sure that you do, then we must come through the crucified door. Think about the children of Israel entering into a place flowing with milk and honey, the promised land, praise the Lord the promised land. They had wandered all those years in the wilderness and now, the promised land. Before they could even start there was a river swollen by spring time waters. It took faith and a mighty miracle just to cross over. Battle over? Not so. Then they came to the most formidable walls you could imagine. It was beyond their ability to conquer. More faith more miracles required. Now, surely, with this huge obstacle removed it is finally plain sailing? No. Then came defeat at Ai. Lessons learned, now Ai is defeated, now we can finally settle down to a peaceful existence? No. More battles, more tests, more faith more miracles.
Brothers and sisters this is our lives as children of the living God. The crucified life is a series of battles, it is a life of overcoming. It is a life of subduing and persevering. Who will endure to the end? To whom are the promises made in the first three chapters of Revelations? To the overcomers, to those who endure to the end. It is to those who live the crucified life that all the promises are made. I want you to take heart today. Perhaps you have been discouraged by a life full of trials. My encouragement today is not to tell you that your trials are behind you or that there are no battles left ahead of you. This I know, there are battles ahead, all along the narrow path that leads to life.
Yet this I know also, that our God goes ahead of us. Our God loves us with an everlasting love and He is well pleased with His children who have laid down their lives and taken up their crosses. He is with us in the midst of our battles, He is with us as we walk through our trials. He is with you right now brothers and sisters. Can you smell His fragrant beauty? It flows down from heaven above when He is exalted in love. When we exalt Him in the midst of our trials then the light that dwells within us shines out through our brokenness to a lost and dark world.
Paul teaches us in Philippians that he had learned to be content. Now he did not "learn," contentment from a book. He was able to walk in contentment because he had been tried by hunger and by having much. He knew what it was to be naked and to be clothed, to have very little or to have a lot. To walk in wholeness or to be scourged and have the skin ripped from his back. To sail on a boat and to be shipwrecked and lost at sea. To have men honor him and to have men desire to rip him to pieces. To walk without chains and to be chained in the darkest of dungeons. The crucified life exalts and glorifies God no matter what situation it finds itself in. It does not come with the wave of a magic wand. There is no rushing forward at a church service and suddenly one has a peace that surpasses understanding. No, the man who walks in peace is the man who has endured and overcome and witnessed the faithfulness of God time and times again.
In a world that is spinning out of control God is raising up men and woman who can speak to the storm and say to those who are caught in it " be still and see the glory of your God." He is not raising up men and woman of little faith but He is raising up a generation of Gideon's who understand that God shares His glory with no one. Who understands what it means to exalt God in the midst of their circumstances whether they live or whether they die. That is why the crucified life is so important because the issue of death has been put to rest. The issues of who we are and what we want to do in this life has been established and is continually willing to be tested without losing faith in God. The man or woman who has not willingly came through the crucified door, who has not taken up his or her cross will begin to resent God with each trial. The surrendered saint with each trial is drawn closer to God and it is in that proximity that the beautiful fragrance of God is experienced. The eternal weight of His glory is realized. The majesty of His holiness and glory is entered into to.
Then we can say that we count all things as loss and rubbish as long as we are found in Him. How does any trial or loss compare to His eternal glory? Our trials and our loss is our opportunity to present to a lost and dying world the true significance of this life. It is not to be found in our circumstance rather it is found in the one who is exalted in our circumstances, glory to God. This puts flesh on the words that we speak, when we walk in such a fashion then we can speak with power and we can exalt and glorify the living God. None of it is natural brothers and sisters, it is all supernatural and it begins with the act of taking up our crosses daily and our determination that no matter what, God shall be glorified in us.