Die to self

What is death to self? What does it mean to die-to-self? If I die to myself where does my "self" go and whom do I become?

In order to be able to be in God's will we have to be out of our own.

Here are some things written by people that might help to understand the process of dying-to-self.

If our goal is to be in God's will all the time then we need to go through some processes to purge ourselves of pride, self-will, selfishness, self-esteem, and all the other things that cause us to think about ourselves first and God second. Those processes will lead us through a journey that will involve humility, strengthening our faith, and will ultimately result in holiness.

(After you finish studying about dying-to-self you may want to check out the article on holiness.)
Other studies on dying-to-self are here.

Bible Verses Relating to Dying-to-Self
Psalm 51:17	"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."
Psalm 116:15	"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."
Matthew 16:24-25	"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."
Matthew 21:44	"And whosoever shall fall on this stone [Jesus] shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder."
Mark 8:35	"For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it."
John 3:30	"He must increase, but I must decrease."
John 12:24-25	"Verily, verily, I say unto you, 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."
Romans 6	Rom 6:1-23 (1)What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? (2) God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (3) Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? (4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (5) For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: (6) Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. (7) For he that is dead is freed from sin. (8) Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: (9) Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. (10) For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. (11) Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (12) Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. (13) Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. (14) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (15) What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. (16) Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (17) But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. (18) Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. (19) I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. (20) For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. (21) What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. (22) But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. (23) For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
2Corinthians 4:10-12	"Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway 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."
2Corinthians 4:16-17	"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;"
Galatians 2:20	"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
Galatians 5:24	"And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts."
Philippians 3:8	"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,"
Colossians 2:13	"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;"
Colossians 2:11	"In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:"
Colossians 2:20	"Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,"
Colossians 3:5	"Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:"
2Timothy 2:11	"It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:"
Revelation 4:10-11	"The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (The crowns are their worldly titles and who they are.)

Other Sources of Information About Dying-to-Self
Here are suggestions on how to buy some of the books that are mentioned.

Don't Resist

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
Colossians 1:27

Union of this intimate kind is inconceivable to our human minds. But we are given the power to possess it by faith. Christ does "dwell in our hearts by faith." Our part is to realize it. To realize it and make use of it.

We have not been given the chance to make a new start. We have been given an entirely new life! And this life is the very life of Christ Himself. When we receive Him as our Saviour, He comes. But there is more to follow.

"My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you." There has to be more, or Paul would not have spoken this way of his beloved Galatian "problem children." Christ comes in when we open the door to Him. We have His own word for that. "...if any man will open the door, I will come in..." But we need to "decrease that He might increase." Sin is, after all, resistance to God. And as we continue to resist, we continue to hinder the creative power of this new and glorious life within us. The Creator God Himself has come to indwell our mortal bodies.

And His highest will is to turn His full creative energy toward re-creating us in the very depths of our beings. But He waits for us to stop resisting. And somehow the realization that He is there in us causes us to want to let Him have His lovely way in all things. Ask the Holy Spirit to make it real to you that He is in you.

Nevertheless not I, but Christ liveth in me

Excerpt from Share My Pleasant Stones, Zondervan, 1957
Eugenia Price

Launch Out!

Thus saith the Lord unto His people: lo, ye have touched only the fringes. Yea, thou hast lingered upon the shore lines. Launch out, yea, launch out upon the vast bosom of My love and mercy, yea, My mighty power and limitless resources.

For lo, if thou wouldst enter into all that I have for thee, thou must walk by faith upon the waters. Thou must relinquish forever thy doubts; and thy thoughts of self-preservation thou must forever cast aside. For I will carry thee, and I will have chosen and prepared for thee. Thou shalt not take even the first step in thine own strength.

For thou art not able in thyself -- even as flesh is ever unable to walk the way of the Spirit, but Mine arm shall uphold thee, and the power of My Spirit shall bear thee up.

Yea, thou shalt walk upon the waves, and the storm shall but drive thee more quickly to the desired port.

Chart and compass shalt thou not need, for, lo, My Spirit shall direct thy goings, and are not the winds held in My fist?

Be not fearful but believing.

Excerpt from Come Away My Beloved, King's Farspan, Inc. 1970
Frances J. Roberts

A Spirit of Mercy

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew 5:7

Scripture reading: Hosea 6:1-6; Ps 85:4-13

I pray that God will bring you to a death of self and a life of righteousness, which will please God in the Spirit. Thus we understand in some measure what God has for us in the seventh verse of Matthew 5: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

I believe this is truly a spiritual condition, which is higher than the natural law. Sometimes when we talk about mercy, we think of being kind, amiable, or philanthropic toward others. We think those are respected positions. So they are, but the world has that. Beloved, we should have all that, but we should have much more. We will never understand the meaning of the mercy of Jesus until He fills us with Himself. My blessed Lord! Can there ever be one like Him? Can you think of such rarity, such beauty, such self-sacrifice? "Blessed are the merciful." You cannot be filled with the Lord and not be merciful. You cannot have the baptism with power without this supernatural mercy, this divine touch of heaven that stops satanic forces, frees the oppressed, and strengthens the helpless. This is the spirit that God wants to give us. Oh, for heaven to bend down upon us with this deep inward cry for a touch of Him, His majesty, His glory, His might, His power!

It is a very remarkable thing that the merciful always obtain mercy. Look at the measure of this spiritual life: first full, then pressed down, then shaken together, and then running over (Luke 6:38). This divine touch of heaven is lovely. It is the most charming thing on earth, sweeter than all. God wants you to have this new wine. It thrills the human heart. How it mightily sweeps you right into heaven!

I ask you all, needy souls, whatever you want, to "come boldly to the throne of grace" (Heb 4:16). Come, and the Lord will bless you.

Thought for today: We must have heaven's riches to give to souls in poverty.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

The Need for Humility

"Serving the Lord with all humility...." Acts 20:19

Scripture reading: James 4

None of us will be able to be ministers of the new covenant of promise in the power of the Holy Spirit without humility. It is clear to me that in the measure the death of the Lord is in me, the life of the Lord will abound in me. To me, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is not a goal; it is an infilling that allows us to reach the highest level, the holiest position that it is possible for human nature to reach. The baptism of the Holy Spirit comes to reveal Him who is filled fully with God.

To be baptized with the Holy Spirit is to be baptized into death into life, into power, into fellowship with the Trinity, where we cease to be and God takes us forever. Paul said, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal 2:20). I believe that God wants to put His hand upon us so that we may reach ideal definitions of humility, of human helplessness, of human insufficiency, until we will rest no more upon human plans, but have God's thoughts, God's voice, and God the Holy Spirit to speak to us. Now here is a word for us: "And see, now I go bound in the spirit" (Acts 29:22). There is the Word. Is that a possibility? Is there a possibility for a person to align himself so completely with the divine will of God?

Jesus was a man, flesh and blood like us, while at the same time, He was the incarnation of divine authority, power, and majesty of the glory of heaven. He bore in His body the weaknesses of human flesh. He was tempted "in all points...as we are, yet without sin" (Heb 4:15). He is so lovely, such a perfect Savior. Oh, that I could shout "Jesus" in such a way that the world would hear. There is salvation, life, power, and deliverance through His name. But, beloved, I see that "the Spirit drove Him" (Mark 1:12), that He was "led by the Spirit" (Luke 4:1), and here comes Paul "bound in the spirit" (Acts 20:22).

What an ideal condescension of heaven that God should lay hold of humanity and possess it with His holiness, His righteousness, His truth, and His faith so that Paul could say, "I go bound (v 22); I have no choice. The only choice is for God. The only desire or ambition is God's. I am bound with God." Is it possible, beloved?

If you look at the first chapter of Galatians, you will see how wonderfully Paul rose to this state of bliss. If you look at the third chapter of Ephesians, you see how he became "less than the least of all saints" (v 8). In Acts 26, you will hear him say, "King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision" (v 19). In order to keep the vision, he yielded not to flesh and blood. God laid hold of him; God bound him; God preserved him. I ought to say, however, that it is a wonderful position to be preserved by the Almighty. We ought to see to it in our Christian experience that when we commit ourselves to God, the consequences will be all right. He who "seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it" (Luke 17:33).

What is it to be bound by the Almighty, preserved by the Infinite? There is no end to God's resources. They reach right into glory. They never finish on the earth. God takes control of a man in the baptism of the Holy Spirit as he yields himself to God. There is the possibility of being taken and yet left--taken charge of by God and left in the world to carry out His commands. That is one of God's possibilities for humanity: to be taken over by the power of God while being left in the world to be salt as the Scripture describes (Matt 5:13).

Thought for today: The way to get up is to get down.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

The Life of God Within Us

"All things were made by him...." John 1:3

Scripture reading: Galatians 3:1-4

All was made by the Word. I am begotten by His Word. There is a substance within me that has almighty power in it if I dare to believe. Faith goes on to be an act, a reality, a deposit of God, an almighty flame moving me to act, so that signs and wonders are manifested.

Are you begotten? Is faith an act within you? Some need a touch; some are captives and need liberty. As many as Jesus touched were made perfectly whole. Faith takes you to the place where God reigns, and you drink from God's bountiful store. Unbelief is sin, for Jesus went to death to bring us the light of life.

His life is manifested power overflowing. We must decrease if the life of God is to be manifested. (See John 3:30.) There is not room for two kinds of life in one body. Death for life--that is the price to pay for the manifested power of God through you. As you die to human desire, there comes a fellowship within, perfected co-operation, you ceasing, God increasing. God in you is a living substance, a spiritual nature. You live by another life, the "faith in the Son of God" (Gal 2:20).

As the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus, He is real--the living Word, effective, acting, speaking, thinking, praying, singing. Oh, it is a wonderful life, this substance of the Word of God, which includes possibility and opportunity, which confronts you, bringing you to a place undaunted. Jesus have give us power over all the power of the Enemy (Luke 10:19). He won it for us at Calvary. All must be subject to His power. What should we do to "work the works of God?" (John 6:28). "This is the work of God, that you believe" (v. 29). Whatsoever He says will come to pass. That is God's Word.

We must remain in a strong, resolute resting on the authority of God's Word. We must have one great desire and purpose: to do what He says. We must live in this holy Word, rejoicing in the manifestation of the life of God on behalf of the sick and perishing multitudes. Amen.

Thought for today: I have a living faith within my earthly body.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

Full of Life

"... filled with all the fulness of God." Eph 3:19

Scripture reading: Ephesians 3:14-21

We want our whole being to be so full of the life of our Lord that the Holy Spirit can speak and act through us. We want to live always in Him. Oh, the charm of His divine plan! We cry out for the inspiration of the God of power. We want to act in the Holy Spirit. We want to breathe out divine life. We want the glory, miracles, and wonders that work out the plan of the Most High God. We want to be absorbed by God, and we want to know nothing among men except Jesus and Him crucified (1Cor 2:2). Unto You, O God, be the glory and the honor and the power (Rev 5:13)!

Yes, filled with God,
Yes, filled with God,
Emptied of self and filled with God.

For He is so precious to me,
For He is so precious to me;
It's heaven below
My Redeemer to know,
For He is so precious to me.

Can you wonder why I love Him so? May there be a cry until we witness Acts 11:15: "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them."

Oh, be on fire, oh, be on fire,
Oh, be on fire for God.
Oh, be on fire, be all on fire,
Be all on fire for God.

Thought for today: To live two days in succession on the same spiritual plane is a tragedy.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

From Glory to Glory

"But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2Cor 3:18

Scripture reading: Psalm 34

There are glories upon glories, and joys upon joys, exceeding joys and an abundance of joys, and a measureless measure. Beloved, when we get the Word so wonderfully into our hearts, it absolutely changes us in everything. As we feast on the Word of the Lord, eat and digest the truth, inwardly eat of Him, we are absolutely changed every day from one state of grace to another.

Look into the perfect mirror of the face of the Lord, and you will be changed "from glory to glory." You will never find anything else except the Word of God to take you there. So you cannot afford to put aside the Word.

I implore you, beloved, that you do not come short in your own lives of any of these blessed teachings we have been sharing. These grand truths of the Word of God must be your testimony, must be your life, must be your pattern. You must be in the Word; in fact, you are of the Word. God says to you by the Spirit that "you are an epistle of Christ" (2Cor 3:3). Let us see to it that we put off everything so that by the grace of God we may put on everything.

Where there is a standard that hasn't been reached in your life, God, in His grace, by His mercy and your yieldedness, can equip you for that place. He can prepare you for that place that you can never be prepared for except by a broken heart and a contrite spirit, except by yielding to the will of God. If you will come with a whole heart to the throne of grace, God will meet you and build you on His spiritual plane. Amen. Praise the Lord!

Thought for today: Give Him all; let Him have all: your heart's joy, your very life. Let Him have it. He is worthy. He is King of Kings. He is Lord of Lords. He is my Savior. He died to deliver me. He should have the crown.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

Dying Brings Life

"...for when I am weak, then am I strong." 2Cor 12:10

I must understand how mortality can be "swallowed up" (2Cor 5:4). I must know how the old body, the old tendencies to the fallen nature, may be swallowed up. There is a verse we must come to. It would serve us to look at it now: "Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body" (2Cor 4:10).

What is this "dying of the Lord"? It is dying to desire. In the measure that we look to one another for our help, we lose faith in God. If you rely upon any man or woman, upon any human assistance, to help you, you fall out of the greater purpose God has for you.

You must learn that no earthly source can ever assist you in this. You are going to this realm of life only by mortality being swallowed up by life: "And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God" (Gal 2:20). It is a process of dying and living.

This life I am speaking about absolutely ravishes you. It absolutely severs you from earthly connections. It absolutely disjoins you from all earthly help. And I can understand this word now more than ever: "You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin" (Heb 12:4).

The great striving to the point of bloodshed--blood being the very essence of life--we have not yet resisted to that degree, but we will. I know the Scripture says we have not, but I know it means that we have not arrived there yet. But thank God, we are in it in a measure.

Thought for today: You cannot get into life except through death to self.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

God Will Keep You

"...count it all joy...." James 1:2

Scripture reading: Job 2:1-10

The verse does not mean "Count a bit of it as joy" but "count it all joy." It doesn't matter from what source the trial comes, whether it is your business or your home or what. "Count it all joy." Why? Because "we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

That is a great Scripture. It means that you have a special position. God is electrifying the very position that you hold so that the Devil will see that you have a godly character, and god can say about you what he said about Job. (See Job 1:8.)

Recall the scene. God asked, "Satan , what is your opinion about Job?" Then the Lord went on and said, "Don't you think he is wonderful? Don't you think he is the most excellent man in all the earth?"

Satan replied, "Yes, but You know, You are keeping him."

Praise the Lord! I am glad the Devil has to tell the truth. And don't you know that God can keep you, also?

"If you touch everything he has," the Devil said, "he will curse You to Your face."

God answered, "You can touch all he has, but you cannot touch him." (See Job 1:8-12.)

The Scripture says that Jesus was dead but is alive again and has power over death and hell. To this, the Scripture adds a big "Amen" (Revelation 1:18). The Devil cannot take your life unless the Lord allows it. "You cannot touch Job's life," God told satan . (See Job 2:6.)

Satan thought he could destroy Job, and you know the calamity that befell this righteous man. But Job said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there....Blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21). Oh, it is lovely! The Lord can give us that kind of language. It is not the language of the head. This is divine language; this is heart acquaintance.

I want you to know that we can have heart acquaintance. I learned a long time ago that libraries often create swelled heads, but nothing except the Library, the Bible, can make swelled hearts. You are to have swelled hearts because out of the heart full of the fragrance of the love of God, the living life of the Lord flows.

You must cease to be. That is a difficult thing--for both you and me--but it is no trouble at all when you are in the hands of the Potter. You are only wrong when you are kicking. You are all right when you are still and He is forming you afresh. So let Him form you afresh today into a new vessel so that you will stand the stress.

Thought for today: It is far more to speak out of the abundance of your heart than the abundance of your head.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

Be Perfect

"But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." James 1:4

Scripture reading: Matthew 27:27-54

Is it possible for patience to make us "perfect and complete"? Certainly, it is possible. Who was speaking in this verse? It was the breath of the Spirit; it was also the hidden man of the heart who had a heart like his Brother. This was James, the Lord's brother, who was speaking. He spoke very much like his Brother. When we read these wonderful words, we might very likely be encountering a true kindred spirit with Christ.

James had to learn patience. It was not an easy thing for him to understand how his Brother could be the Son of God and be in the same family as he, Judas, and the other brothers. (See Matthew 13:55.) It was not an easy thing for him, and he had to learn to be patient to see how it worked out.

There are many things in your life that you cannot understand, but be patient. When the hand of God is upon something, it may grind very slowly, but it will form the finest thing possible if you dare to wait until it is completed. Do not kick until you have gone through the process--and when you are dead enough to yourself, you will never kick at all. It is a death we die so that we might be alive unto God. It is only by the deaths we die that we are able to be still before God.

Jesus said, "The cross? I can endure the cross. The shame? I can despise it." (See Hebrews 12:2) He withstood the bitter language spoken to Him at the cross: "If You are the Christ, come down, and we will believe." (See Matthew 27:40,42.) They struck Him, but He "did not revile in return" (1Pet 2:23). He is the picture for us.

You cannot tell what God has in mind for you. As you are still before God--pliable in His hands--He will be working out a greater vessel than you could ever imagine in all your life.

Thought for today: Jesus knew that when He came to the end of the Cross, He would forever save all those who would believe.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

Hindrances to Discernment

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip." Hebrews 2:1

Scripture reading: Hebrews 2

You will never be able to discern or deal with evil powers as long as there is anything in you that the Devil can touch. Before satan can bring his evil spirits, there has to be an open door. Hear what the Scriptures say: "The wicked one does not touch him" (1John 5:18), and "The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul" (Ps 121:7). How does satan get an opening? When the believer ceases to seek holiness, purity, righteousness, truth; when he ceases to pray, stops reading the Word and gives way to carnal appetites. Then it is that satan comes. So often sickness comes as a result of disobedience. David said, "Before I was afflicted I went astray" (Ps 119:67).

You will never be able to reach out your hand to destroy the power of satan as long as there is the vestige of human desire or attainment in you. It is in the death of the death that you are in the life of the life. Don't fool yourself; don't mislead yourself. Never think that God overlooks sins. Sins have to be dealt with, and the only way God ever deals with sin is to absolutely destroy its power. You can be made so clean that the Devil comes and finds nothing in you. (See John 14:30.) And then you have power by the power of God over the powers of satan .

Discernment is not mind or eye. Discernment is an intuition. Your heart knows exactly what you are dealing with, and you are dealing with it because of your heart purity against evil and uncleanness.

God continues to purify me. I can safely say that unless the power of the Spirit purges me through and through, I cannot help you. First of all, before I can give any life to you, the life must be in me. And remember that the Scriptures are very clear: death works in us so that life may work in you. (See 2Cor 4:12.)

Now, the death that is working is all carnal, evil, sensual. Don't forget the remarkable thing in the Scriptures that leads us to this; there are sixty-six evil things listed in the Bible, such as murder, covetousness, evil propensities. But I am here to say by the power of God that one fruit will destroy every evil thing. "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matt 6:33).Thought for today: You are only able to do what God desires for you to do as you have come into the depths of death to self, so that the supernatural life of Christ is abounding in you to destroy the powers of evil.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

Abide in Christ

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." John 15:5

Scripture reading: John 15:1-17

Beloved, it is lovely to be in the will of God. Now then, how may we be something? By just being nothing, by receiving the Holy Spirit, by being in the place where we can be directed by God and filled with His power.

What it must be to have speaking ability, to have a beautiful language, as so many men have! It is wonderful to have the tongue of an angel so that all the people who hear you are moved by your use of language. Yet how I would weep, how my heart would be broken, if I came to speak before you in beautiful language without the power.

If I had an angel's language and the people were all taken with what I said, but Jesus was not glorified at all, it would all be hopeless, barren, and unfruitful. I myself should be nothing. but if I speak and say, "Lord, let them hear Your voice. Lord, let them be compelled to hear Your truth. Lord, anyhow, any way, hide me today," then He becomes glorious, and all the people say, "We have seen Jesus!"

Lose all your identity in the Son of God. Let Him become all in all. Seek only the Lord, and let Him be glorified. You will have gifts; you will have grace and wisdom. God is waiting for the person who will lay all on the altar, fifty-two weeks in the year, three hundred and sixty-five days in the year, and then continue perpetually in the Holy Spirit.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

God is All You Need

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." 2Cor 12:10

Scripture reading: 2Corinthians 12:1-10

When God comes into your life, you will find Him to be enough. As Israel came forth, the sun rose upon him, and he had power over all the things of the world and over Esau. Esau met him, but there was no fight now; there was reconciliation. They kissed each other How true it is that "when a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him" (Prov 16:7). The material things did not count for much after the night of revelation. Who brought about the change? God did.

Can you hold on to God as Jacob did? You certainly can if you are sincere, dependent, broken, and weak. It is when you are weak that you are strong. But if you are self-righteous, if you are proud, if you are high-minded, if you are puffed up in your own mind, you can receive nothing from Him. I f you become lukewarm instead of being on fire for God, you can become a disappointment to Him. And He says, "I will vomit you out of My mouth" (Rev 3:16).

But there is a place of holiness, a place of meekness, a place of faith, where you can call to God, "I will not let You go unless you bless me!" (Gen 32:26). And in response, He will bless you "exceedingly abundantly above all that [you] ask or think" (Eph 3:20).

Sometimes we are tempted to think that He has left us. Oh, no. He has promised never to leave us or forsake us (Deut 31:6). He had promised not to leave Jacob, and He did not break His promise. He has promised not to leave us, and He will not fail. Jacob held on until the blessing came. We can do the same.

If God does not help us, we are no good for this world's need; we are no longer salt, we lose our savor. But, as we spend time alone with God, and cry to Him to bless us, He re-salts us. He empowers us, but He brings us to brokenness and moves us into the orbit of His own perfect will.

Oh, the blessedness of being brought into a life of dependence upon the power of the Holy Spirit. Henceforth, we know that we are nothing without Him; we are absolutely dependent upon Him. I am absolutely nothing without the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. Oh, for a life of absolute dependence! It is through a life of dependence that there is a life of power. If you are not there, get alone with God. If you must, spend a whole night alone with God, and let Him change and transform you. Never let Him go until He blesses you, until He makes you an Israel, a prince with God.

Thought for today: It is those who have seen the face of God and have been broken by Him who can meet the forces of the Enemy and break down the bulwarks of satan 's kingdom.

Excerpt from Smith Wigglesworth Devotional, Whitaker House 1999
Smith Wigglesworth 1859-1947

Humility

Humility is the path to death, because in death it gives the highest proof of its perfection. Humility is the blossom of which death to self is the perfect fruit. Humility must lead us to die to self: so we prove how wholly we have given ourselves up to it and to God; so alone we are freed from our fallen nature and find the path that leads to life in God, to that full birth of the new nature, of which humility is the breath and the joy.

Death to self is not your work; it is God's work. Self can never cast out self, even in the regenerate man.

Accept every humiliation; look upon every person who tries or troubles you as a means of grace to humble you. God will see such acceptance as proof that your whole heart desires it. It is the path of humility that leads to the full and perfect experience of our death with Christ. With Christ, who committed His spirit into the Father's hands, humble yourself and acknowledge each day your helpless dependence upon God. God will raise you up and exalt you.

Every morning remind yourself afresh of your emptiness so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in you. All God's dealings with man are characterized by two stages. There is the time of preparation, when command and promise, with the mingled experience of effort and impotence, of failure and partial success, with the holy expectancy of something better, that these waken, train, and discipline men for a higher stage. Then comes the time of fulfillment, when faith inherits the promise and enjoys what it had so often struggled for in vain. T

his law holds good in every part of the Christian life and in the pursuit of every separate virtue. And that is because it is grounded in the very nature of things. In all that concerns our redemption, God must take the initiative. When that has been done, it is man's turn. In the effort after obedience and attainment, he must learn to know his powerlessness, in self-despair to die to himself, and so be fitted voluntarily and intelligently to receive from God the end, the completion of that which he had accepted in the beginning in ignorance.

So God who had been the Beginning before man rightly knew Him or fully understood what His purpose was, is longed for and welcomed as the End, as the All in All.

Excerpts from Humility, The Journey Toward Holiness
by Andrew Murray 1828-1917
Bethany House, 2001

Other things about dying-to-self:

Disappear
A song by Bebo Norman

So Long Self
A song by Mercy Me

My Will
A song by dc Talk

Quit Striving
An article by Lisa Rogers

Death of Self
An article by Donald Eilers

A Relationship with Papa
An article by Donald Eilers

Bible Studies
From the Weekly Word

The Christian Counter

Total hits all pages